Re: [Callers] The Beginners' Lesson Tips?

I'd disagree with Richard re: dropping teaching the swing. For most modern contra dancers, that's one of the 2-3 most important things about why people do these dances, at least in the Midwest. With every dance having at least one swing, the instructor should get them prepared. And I'd rather that a teacher show them how to swing than the "experienced" dancers within the dance. First, "experienced" does not equal "good" in contra dancing, as you many know. here in my town there's a large percentage of experienced dancers that I would never want to have teach newbies, because they have yet to learn how to swing properly. A teacher can show proper position and motions, as well as warn people about etiquette regarding swings. Also, teaching swings is a chance to teach about giving weight, positioning, and "where you go from here". Out community has, coincidentally, debated issues re" beginner sessions recently. One issue is length of the lesson. One dancer likes to emphasize that George Marshall's beginner session runs about 10 minutes, tops. and George teaches weight, swings, how a musical line sounds, and that's it. Other thought longer lengths would be better... After calling 5 years, I've found that 15 minutes gives me enough to get people ready. I teach in a circle, and steal most of my session approach from Seth Tepfer. Walk to the 8-count; allemandes, dosodo, swings; show how to give weight; string the moves together and call a "dance", and congratulate them for doing a dance already. Think about what's going through a newbie's mind when they walk into a hall. Think how much new stuff they're processing from that first moment through the night. You don't want to try to teach twelve things in a half-hour, because no newbie will retain it all, it's time and energy wasted. Get them to the dancing, because getting them out of their head sooner rather than later will serve them and you better. Good luck, Davey, and have a great time (and THAT'S the most important thing)! Keith Tuxhorn Austin, TX