8 Dec
2006
8 Dec
'06
12:56 p.m.
I think that sequence (Circle, swing, circle, swing) is usually not to
bad for beginners. You just need to be sure they know where to swing. A
nice thing about this sequence is that it is very well connected. That
is everyone always has the hand of someone else who can lead them to the
right place. Its much more difficult to get lost if you always have a
hand to guide you and to reinforce your (hopefully correct) motions.
That sequence is also used in the dance "Roll in the Hey" (Who wrote
it?), which starts out:
A1: C L 1X; Swing neighbor.
A2: C L 3/4; swing partner.
Then:
B1: F & Back; Ladies' chain.
B2: Hey for 4.
Except for the hey, you are always connected to someone else who can
push or pull a beginner in the right direction, if necessary. I like to
use this dance when I need to introduce the hey, because the hey is the
only complicated part that needs much instruction, after beginners have
gotten a few of the basics down. It works very nicely with smoothly
flowing tunes, too. Its also a good dance to mention the need to glide
smoothly, rather than bouncing like a beginner, if necessary.
Rich.
Jerome Grisanti remarked on 12/8/2006 1:00 PM:
One of the questions Rickey asked was whether dancers
would have trouble
with the sequence of circle, swing, circle a different amount, swing. I
don't think this is particularly confusing sequence, but there may be other
issues worth considering.
Cary Ravitz (http://ravitz.cnc.net/dance/call.shtml) suggests that dances
with more than 32 counts of consecutive clockwise rotation should be
examined closely. This dance has exactly but not more than 32 counts of
same-direction movement.
I would avoid doing more than one or two such dances in an evening's program
because of potential dizziness and the wear on one's legs and arms of so
much motion in the same direction. Given that, I can see this particular
dance as a good "cruiser" requiring only a minimal (or no) walkthrough.
Jerome