4 Oct
2011
4 Oct
'11
4:47 p.m.
I quite agree that a walking swing is a crucial skill to learn (some
choreographies obviously work better with it), and a perfectly good
thing to start with. But I still think the buzzstep needs to be
taught, because it's easy to get it wrong. I've started attending a
couple of established but new-to-me dances and see people (not many
but some) who are obviously reasonably experienced contra dancers but
getting the buzzstep wrong, leading with the left foot rather than
the right (so it's a chasse). Because it has the same rhythm as a
buzzstep I suspect one could keep doing it forever unless explicitly
taught otherwise. (The fact that there's no one at these dances who
takes on that responsibility is an interesting thing to note, quite
different from my home dance.)
On Oct 4, 2011, at 12:28 PM, Richard Mckeever wrote:
It makes me cringe when I see anyone trying to teach
beginners a
buzz step. We emphasize the dance is done with a smooth walking
step - so let them continue that into the swing rather than
encouraging them to start bouncing up and down.
Once they are comfortable with the walking swing they can proceed
on their own to a buzz step. There is nothing wrong with a walking
step and teaching the buzz step makes it seem like a requirement.
Mac Mckeever