15 Feb
2012
15 Feb
'12
10:55 p.m.
When I teach a half Hey in an intro workshop I do it right after the Ladies
Chain. I start by telling the women that they already know this next move
and have them do the chain with no hands -- including walking around the
opposite gent. Then I tell the gents that they'll be following the same
path but not right behind the lady -- poeple will be passing in between.
Once everybody gets the half hey -- usually pretty quickly -- I introduce
the full hey -- talking about taking your time on the loop at the ends
because that's usually a source of problems and confusion when someone
tries to start back in too soon.
And of course I mention for the full hey, when all else fails, just get
back to where you started.
Dale
On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 9:14 PM, Hilton Baxter <hiltonb(a)binghamton.edu>wrote;wrote:
Adding to Linda's good thoughts -
For a full hey I usually point out that people should end up in their
starting place, and if there are lots of newer dancers I may add "how you
get there is just a detail, as long as you don't crash into anyone else."
Folks often chuckle at that point, which I take as a good sign. But how to
officially teach it? If most people are new I've done the first walkthrough
with hands, as in Grand R & L, then without hands.
One thing that confuses a lot of new folks is how to turn and re-enter on
the other side. I've seem many people turn sharply back and collide. It
sometimes helps to describe it as a LH U-turn (or RH U-turn as the case may
be), or to suggest pretending that they're hooking their arm around an
imaginary lamppost. Or pretend they are little airplanes and have to "bank"
to turn. Most kids (and some adults) embrace being silly with the airplane
idea, which makes the whole figure less intimidating.
For a half hey, it helps to point out they'll be diagonally across from
their staring place at the end (usually the same gender neighbor's spot).
Hilton Baxter
--
*So if you knew what was broken...how long would it take you to fix it?*
I agree with Tavi that heys don't have to be
perceived as a difficult
move. I use them all the time with newer dancers, using the following
guidelines:
A full hey which occurs anywhere but in the B2 is easier, since the
dancers do not have to progress out of the hey
A hey which ends up with a B & S, or gypsy and S (either P or N) will
smooth over any tendency to get a bit lost. Great dances that are
perfect examples are:
The Carousel by Tom Hinds
Flirtation Reel by Tony Parkes
There are many others!
Sometimes using a dance that introduces a half hey is a great way to
get folks ready for a full hey later on in the evening.
These dances add variety.
One other quick point that I thought about when Emily first posted,
but did not share at the time: I use four in line down the hall quite
a bit with new dancers. I have never found that it caused confusion
about location in space/the dance. Quite the contrary, it gives folks
encouragement to move to the music in a quite natural way, and is
another move that adds variety. I can understand avoiding these dances
because of space constraints. However, four in line down the hall to a
great march makes for wonderful dancing.
Cheers! Linda
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