Re: [Callers] Re Allemande Hold (was Analysis of Stars)

I don't know if seasoned dancers who engage in a bad habit are able to hear that they are in error. In a new dancer workshop, I show and tell that the two dancers in an allemande are like two panes in a revolving door and their joined hands are like the post they turn around. Their arms should be in a flat open W shape along the plane of the glass. They should maintain the same relative position to one another. If they do so, and keep their wrists flat, I say, they are well positioned to help one another around with the firm presence of their bodies flowing into their arms. I demonstrate that when one person tries to speed up by curling their wrist and scooting faster than their complement, they not only break down all possibility of teamwork, but can do damage. Here I make exaggerated contortions with my demo partner. The point is generally well taken. I don't know if one could get away with such a teaching point during the evening, unless you were doing a dance with an allemande 2X round and could justify trying to keep everyone safe while ensuring they had the tools to get all the way round twice? I don't know. I think uncurling the curled fists that people impose on us while dancing might be the best we can do for those with a deeply ingrained habit. Andrea Sent from my iPhone On Mar 13, 2012, at 8:42 PM, Chris Page <chriscpage(a)gmail.com> wrote: