[Callers] Re Swinging

What a great discussion - some wonderful ideas and quotes to use. But I am afraid that I don't agree with everything that has been said, and I see some people have also already sent in some dissenting comments to some of the statements that have been made. Please forgive me if I have misunderstood anything, but the written word is not the best way to communicate, and American English v UK English can sometimes be a challenge as well. Someone said: "The ladies put their left hand over the gent's shoulder" I don't believe that it is a good idea to tell the lady to put her hand over the gent's shoulder. 1) Quite often the length of the man's arm and the relative heights and position of the bodies mean that it is not easy for the lady to reach there, so she ends up pulling him too close. 2) What is she going to do with it when she puts it there? She shouldn't be using it to hang on with as she should be keeping her own balance. 3) If you want to add any interesting variations, during the swing, or on the exit, then the lady's hand being stuck behind the man means you are very limited in what you can do without dislocating her shoulder. A MUCH better position for the lady's hand is resting gently on the man's upper arm so that she can turn in either direction easily. "and lean back very gently." I find it VERY dangerous to suggest to anyone that they should lean in any part of the dance. A swing should be an effortless, relaxed symmetrical, counter-balanced, coupling that both parties can enjoy. You are responsible for your own balance at all times in a dance. If you let go in a swing then you will move backwards because of centrifugal force, but you shouldn't fall over. Leaning back commits part of your weight to your partner who then has to waste their energy trying to stop you falling over; it takes them off balance and is very tiring. "If they can't hold themselves up, their hand is in the wrong place." They shouldn't be trying to hold themselves up by using their partner - that is what their legs are for! "Then I place the gent's hands and point out to the ladies that if it's uncomfortable they should tell the gent, as he probably won't know if you don't tell him." Absolutely, but you should also tell the men to let the ladies know if it is uncomfortable. The ladies can be just as bad - I have met ones who push, pull, lean, drag, lift, squeeze, strangle, clamp, grip, dig in or hang off the man! "Push gently against those pointy hands." Why? The connection is through the man's right hand on the lady's left shoulder-blade. Any tension you put into your other hands is wasted energy, and prevents interesting variations and exits (see article reference below). Someone else said: "The upper back remains essentially upright," Yes. "but pressing into the hands wrapped around them." Why? The man places his hand gently on the lady's left shoulder-blade. They spin. Centrifugal force will generate some pressure at the connection point. Why do you want any more? Pressing in causes discomfort and is completely unnecessary. I prefer to say gentle counter-balance rather than counter-weight - changes the emphasis to be more positive. The swing should be relaxed and the only tension you need to put into it is the minimum necessary to overcome the centrifugal force. It is dancing, not wrestling! :-) There have also been lots of references to "giving weight". This is a technical dance term, useful in a dance studio for certain dance styles when there is plenty of time to teach what it really means; but it is too easily misunderstood, resulting in people thinking that they have to lean backwards or pull. I try to avoid the term. I swing very fast and do countless variations of entry, swing-type, and exit. But only if my partner is balanced and relaxed! Otherwise I go for a slow swing and try to protect myself from injury. For a much fuller description of how I teach swinging please see: http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#swinging And more about technique in the article below it: http://www.contrafusion.co.uk/Contra.html#connection If you like either of those articles and want to use them you will find a downloaded PDF just below each article. If you want to improve your twirls (as in Ladies' Chains) and swing variations/entries/exits then you may find this article useful: http://www.modernjive.com/history/tension.html It was written for a different dance style, but the principles still apply. Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England <mailto:john@modernjive.com> john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 <http://www.modernjive.com> http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive Events, Instructional DVDs and Interactive Maps <http://www.contrafusion.co.uk> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent