22 Aug
2016
22 Aug
'16
4:28 p.m.
To a neighbor so the knowledge gets passed around.
Half a chain bc if they get behind and discombobulated on both halves of a full chain
it's harder for them to fix.
Preceded by a partner swing and by Long lines so they are definitely in the correct place.
(Callers have time to cue "end with the lady on the right and long lines go forward
and back" and then chain)
Followed by ladies do something in the middle. They get the flow that sends them in and I
find that humans dancing the lady's role tend to be a little more reliable as dancers.
So to have the ladies lead the figure after a chain which some dancers will find confusing
might be more successful and can give whoever is dancing he gents role a few seconds of
recovery time.
Nice topic!
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 22, 2016, at 11:18 AM, Luke Donforth via
Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hello all,
I've been thinking about glossary dances, and building vocabulary for new dancers.
I'm curious what your favorite dance is for teaching a ladies chain for a crowd of
mostly new dancers? Or if you don't have a specific dance, what do you look for in a
dance to make the chain as accessible as possible?
Just a chain over? Or a full chain over and back?
Chain to neighbor? Chain to partner?
What move best precedes the chain to set it up?
What move best follows the chain that still helps new dancers succeed?
Other factors you consider?
I don't have a go-to favorite, but I'll walk through some of the things I think
about:
I very seldom call a dance with a full chain. Experienced dancers don't whoop and
holler over them, and for new dancers, I'd worry the confusion would snowball.
Programatically, in a hall with a reasonable mix of new and experienced dancers, I shoot
for the first chain to be to neighbor so that the new dancers can feel it with different
experienced dancers; rather than new dancers (who will partner up and clump, no matter how
many helpful dance angels you have) continually chaining to each other. If I were trying
to teach a chain to ALL new dancers... well, I doubt I'd teach a chain to completely
new dancers... but if I were, I'd probably go to partner.
For moves, while I love the chain->left hand star transition; I'm not convinced
it's the best for teaching the chain. It often goes B2 chain->star, find new
neighbor; and the new neighbor from a left hand star is non-trivial for new dancers.
Possibly a dance where the chain->star wasn't followed by the progression would
work, but it's such a great progression when they're ready for it; I don't see
many of those dances. chain->star->left allemande maybe? I do like long lines either
before or after the chain as a set-up; but not on both ends. I'm not sure which side
of the chain the lines help more. The Trip to ___ dances that end with chains and start
with women walking in to long wavy lines flow well, but I don't know that they're
the best for teaching chains, since the long wavy line is another new piece.
Anyway, just some of my thoughts (started by the other thread about simple glossary
dances). I look forward to hearing what others on Shared Weight have to say about the
dances they use to teach chains (and I certainly won't be offended if folks tangent
off into gent's chains; just start a new thread ;-)
Take care,
--
Luke Donforth
Luke.Donforth(a)gmail.com
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