21 May
2019
21 May
'19
8:38 p.m.
The forearm turn works well in MWSD because men wear long-sleeved shirts. Don’t know
about you, but with short sleeved Ts typically worn by men in contra dancing, I’d hate to
get a load of sweat on my arm , especially up and down the line with the all-too-frequent
gents (or larks) allemand left once and a half.
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 21, 2019, at 4:07 PM, callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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> 1. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Richard Fischer)
> 2. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Rich Sbardella)
> 3. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Don Veino)
> 4. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Rich Sbardella)
> 5. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Erik Hoffman)
> 6. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Andrea Nettleton)
> 7. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (John Sweeney)
> 8. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Folk Dance)
> 9. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (John Sweeney)
> 10. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (Andrea Nettleton)
> 11. Re: Hand Turns & Safety (John Sweeney)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2019 18:58:41 -0400
> From: Richard Fischer <richardallenfischer(a)verizon.net>
> To: Andrea Nettleton <twirly-girl(a)bellsouth.net>
> Cc: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] Hand Turns & Safety
> Message-ID: <52479A7C-5587-493A-8B69-F85F8519BE71(a)verizon.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Andrea, could you describe the forearm allemande? I don't think I've seen it
and can't quite picture it. Or maybe send a link to a video that shows it?
>
> Of possible interest to some, one of the scenes portrayed on the Shield of Achilles
in the Iliad shows youths and maidens dancing, "holding their hands on one
another's wrists."
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Richard Fischer
> Princeton, NJ
>
>> On May 18, 2019, at 12:14 PM, Andrea Nettleton via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>> I?m going to add a controversial note. I also loathe the many poor allemandes I
get, unweighted, awkward handed, arm pulled in like a chicken wing, what have you. As a
MWSD, I have come to love the forearm allemande for arm turns. Callerlab made the switch
some years ago, and at first I was like, wut??? But it?s a position which save everyone?s
hands and wrists, and even shoulders, is intrinsically very stable, and makes the chicken
wing almost impossible. I started using it for dances with revolving doors, as a dancer,
because those turns are so brief and necessarily tight and need a quick strong connection.
I was so pleased I began using them elsewhere. People generally go along with it. I
have been wishing Contra could just switch to this for all allemandes. I know it would be
an uphill struggle to get everyone on board. But I had to put it out there.
>>
>> Currently I still teach an old fashioned allemande. I demonstrate and emphasize
meaty parts of the thumb together, fingers curled around the base of the opposite?s thumb,
flat wrist. And I always add that the thumb itself is an injurious device which lands at
a tender spot if depressed, so leave it loose. Then I demonstrate how to produce enough
connection to make a 2 person unit that turns on a post. I?m sure everyone on this list
has similar teaches.
>> If teaching this allemande was ever going to work, it would have by now. I
suspect it?s failure as a hold is why callerlab opted for the forearm hold instead.
>> My 2c,
>> Andrea N
>> Arlington VA
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On May 17, 2019, at 6:01 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
wrote:
>>>
>>> John Sweeny below hoped we callers would teach more about hand turns and the
like.
>>>
>>> I?ve been thinking on this for quite a while. Years ago I had a discussion
with Brad Foster. We both lamented the loss of the allemande with mildly interlocking
thumbs to the modern overprotective thumb against the side of the palm allemande. At that
time I think I was still in Santa Barbara, thus it must have been pre 1994. I wrote an
article for our dance rag called, ?If Allemande Left, Where?d Allemande Go??
>>>
>>> I talked about what I do when someone grips my hand?and I think all of us
should remove that word, ?grip? from our caller?s vocabulary?
>>>
>>> But the most important thing I discussed is:
>>> Our Wrist is Strongest When It?s Straight
>>> Our Fingers are Strongest When Curved
>>> Thus, however one does an allemande, it should be a hook, with curved fingers
and a straight wrist.
>>>
>>> Lately I?ve seen teachers promote the straight fingers, bent wrist, and flat
palm method. The almost always makes one person?s wrist uncomfortable. Not as bad as when
someone draws the others hand into that almost-Aikido-put-them-on-the-ground position, but
usually quite uncomfortable.
>>>
>>> Thus I hope most of us learn the curved fingers, straight wrist, no grip,
and, no thumb clamping allemande, ECD hand turn, two hand turn type hand connections.
>>>
>>> ~Erik Hoffman,
>>> Oakland, CA
>>>
>>> From: Callers <callers-bounces(a)lists.sharedweight.net
<mailto:callers-bounces@lists.sharedweight.net>> On Behalf Of John Sweeney via
Callers
>>> Sent: Friday, May 17, 2019 2:09 PM
>>> To: 'Caller's discussion list' <callers(a)sharedweight.net
<mailto:callers@sharedweight.net>>
>>> Subject: Re: [Callers] Name that Dance
>>>
>>> Hi Rich,
>>> I would just call it a ?Big Set Mixer?. It is a slight
variation of the one in the Community Dances Manual. Callers just make up a 32 bar
sequence that works for their dancers.
>>>
>>> While it is a good example of all ages having fun together, I
really wish callers would teach the dancers just a tiny bit about how to do better
hand/arm turns and swings :-)
>>>
>>> Happy dancing,
>>> John
>>>
>>> John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com
<mailto:john@modernjive.com> 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
>>> http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html
<http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html> for Live Music Ceilidhs
>>> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/> for
Dancing in Kent
>>> http://www.modernjive.com <http://www.modernjive.com/> for Modern Jive
DVDs
>>>
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