I suspect that if you try to announce after the previous dance, many people still will be
unable to visualize who their shadow is. I also dislike the idea that from the mic, we
might suggest that unpleasantness could result from the dance. I'm with Ron on this.
If the dance is really that wonderful, teach it with the swing while saying what other
move people can do if they choose that will have the same result (which will depend on
what comes next, but allemande 1.5 covers a lot of scenarios, or DSD 1.5.). And let's
think about the scenarios in which people would not wish to swing:
1) it's an ex or some other relationship drama. Um. If you both showed up at the
dance, I assume it's because you have decided to be grown up about it. The choices
above let you choose how to deal, but I'm not bending over backwards. Anecdotally, I
know these two oldsters in my community, he is a bit of a rakish gent and an odd one, she
is an old school feminist with a strong personality. They will neither touch nor look at
one another, but will position themselves correctly for the next move. If they found
themselves shadows, they would grit their teeth and deal.
2) it's a creeper. If this person is that creepy, the leadership need to be dealing
with them. It is not the caller who polices creepy behavior. Refusing the swing is legit
here. Options above should help.
3) the person is a terrible swinger. Yup. I have had this happen. To this I shrug, say
it's just a dance. Swing defensively, or use the alternate. Either way, it's
only a few seconds each time, and only one dance, in a lifetime of dances.
I might choose not to call such a dance in a regular hall, but save it for a festival,
where most people are good dancers, ex's and enemies have generally already either
decided who is not going to attend or screwed themselves up to deal with it.
That leaves creepers. Still a kindness to suggest an alternate, to be used without
judgement or hurt feelings if anyone decides they like it better than a swing.
My 2c
Andrea
Sent from my iOnlypretendtomultitask
On Sep 8, 2015, at 11:16 AM, Rich Sbardella via
Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Maia,
I think it might be better to mention it at the end of the previous dance, so people can
choose carefully where they dance without as much chance of offending someone. Clearly
explain what a shadow is, and the relative proximity to a dancers position.
Rich
On Tue, Sep 8, 2015 at 11:06 AM, Maia McCormick
via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hey all,
First, a disclaimer: Some people on this listserv thing shadow swings are problematic.
Some don't see any issue with them. This is NOT the conversation I want to have in
this thread; I ask that you respond to the question I'm asking and do not debate my
premise--at least not in this particular thread. This should help keep this thread on
track and hopefully reduce excess noise and go-nowhere discussions on this listserv.
Thanks!
Anyway, the actual question I wanted to ask (whew!)--
There do exist some really fabulous shadow-swing dances that I would love to be able to
call, as long as I could do so without putting anyone in an uncomfortable position. Do
folks have ideas for ways to mitigate the potential harms of shadow swing dances? I was
considering, at the beginning of the dance, having dancers identify their shadow and
mentioning, "this will be a shadow swing dance, so if you need to make any changes,
do so now" (or something like that)--haven't gotten the wording down-pat, but the
idea is giving dancers advance warning of a shadow swing so they can move (thereby
changing their shadow) if they need to. Any thoughts on this method? Suggestions of
others?
Cheers.
Maia
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