tldr: those of you who are anti-Petronella claps (in general, not just in specific cases where they interrupt flow from the spin into the next move), I want to understand why!
Clapping on Petronella turns has been the overwhelming norm ever since I started dancing, but I know that it wasn't always this way, and that some folks vehemently dislike it. Well recently I've noted the (baffling?? inexplicable??) rise of clapping after the spin on Rory O'Moore's, which makes my blood boil (it's so satisfying to catch hands in the new wave out of the spin, why would you ever NOT do that??), and it's making me think more about Petronella claps.
Clapping on a Rory bugs me so much because it interrupts the momentum of spin-and-catch-hands. I'll admit that I don't understand the objection to Petronella claps, at least through that lens. Like certainly, in a specifically Cure for the Claps-type* dance (with e.g. Petronella spin into allemande left, Petronella spin into swing, etc.), clapping interrupts the momentum, and it's way more satisfying to spin directly into the next move. But given a bog standard "Petronella, Petronella, balance and swing" or similar, I don't feel like the claps interrupt the momentum or disrupt transitions, and in fact are a nice fun way to fill space.
To be clear, the above isn't an argument in favor of Petronella claps, just me explaining where I'm coming from. So now we come to my question:
1. those of you who are anti-Petronella claps, can you explain why? I want to understand! Is it a satisfying momentum thing that I've just never experienced because I'm so used to clapping? Dedication to historical accuracy? Something else entirely?
2. what dance(s) would you use to make your case to a contemporary contra hall, that aren't explicitly written as Cure for the Claps dances? Petronella spin to a swing feels great, and of course you shouldn't clap there (although some folks inexplicably do, sigh)—but if you'd prefer that we didn't clap even in a dance like Tica Tica Timing, then a CftC dance isn't the whole story. If you had the infinite good will of a contemporary contra hall, and were able to say to the dancers "don't clap on the Petronellas in this one and just pay attention to how nice it feels to X and how satisfying it is to Y", what dance would you use, what things would you tell the dancers to clue into, etc. to make your case? (And what would you ask the band for?)
Thanks as always for your expertise!
Cheers,
Maia
* Cure for the Claps contra: a dance that discourages clapping during the Petronella turn, often by putting moves directly after the Petronella that flow nicely from a spin. May be intentional or incidental. See e.g.:
The Cure for the Claps (Bob Isaacs),
Becket in the Kitchen (Becky Hill)
--Maia McCormick (she/her)
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