25 Jun
2010
25 Jun
'10
3:18 p.m.
Will Loving wrote:
When you do gender role switching every other time it basically turns a
32-bar dance into a 64-bar one, at least that's what seems to be happening
inside my head when I realize that I have stopped thinking about when to
switch.
I swap genders a lot when I dance, but I find switching every time is
hard for exactly this reason: it turns a 32 bar dance into a 64 bar
one. I can hold a 64 bar dance in my head, but it's harder and less
fun. I much prefer switching on whim, where we might switch more or
less often than once per time through the dance. Because the switch
is then a kind of flourish instead of a 'required' move, I don't have
to think about it at all until it happens.
There are some dances like Alternating Corners where you do
something similar in that the dance in different every other time
through, though with continued prompting from the caller. In the
case of Alternating Corners, the 1s and 2s alternate doing the swing
and contra corners.
I don't like the dance alternating corners because dancers don't
internalize it properly. They learn it ok, so they can do it, but
they usually can't handle the caller dropping out. Once the caller
drops out people forget which turn it is and they have to step back
in. I've seen this happen even in groups where a caller could drop
out after two times through on a simplish dance.
Jeff