Re: [Callers] Mixers: [was: Request about requests]

I love mixers as a dancer and caller, but just had an instance of how they can go wrong. There was a very large crowd with a huge group of new dancers. People had already begun to line up for a contra, with, as often happens, a bunch of experienced couples at the top of the hall. When we switched to circle formation, there was a wide swath of new dancers in the outer ring at the back of the hall. The caller then walked us perfunctorily through a mixer with a wavy balance, N DSD, allemande, grand R&L, allemande, come back to N with another grande R&L. No one around me had a clue, the sound back there was bad, made worse by the hubbub of chatter created by confused dancers. The caller may not have seen how bad it was or maybe assumed music would make it better. Given the crowd, I think something on the order of La Bastringue would have been a better choice, but the point I wanted to make was that it behooves the caller to make sure everyone can dance the mixer they call. Many in that corner gave up in frustration, and since the point of a mixer is to bring new and experienced dancers together as well as to do something everyone can enjoy together, it was very much a lost opportunity. I felt powerless to help the many new dancers I encountered there trying to figure out what they were being asked to do. Andrea Sent from my iPhone On Mar 3, 2012, at 10:19 AM, "Bree Kalb" <bree(a)mindspring.com> wrote: