24 Jan
2012
24 Jan
'12
7:55 p.m.
To be honest (and I do try to be), as a dancer I don't care all that much
about getting that last swing. Indeed, too many times callers attempt to
do it and botch it. Generally speaking, chaining across to a swing doesn't
work very well. Crossing the set for a last ditch swing also takes time and
the one or maybe two whirls seems to me to be somewhat disruptive. It's
okay if it works, but...
Thanks, George
On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 6:01 PM, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing <
winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
A data point, or something. Last Monday I attended a dance with Elixir,
Nils
Fredland calling and playing. This was a special dance in Palo Alto,
California, where we don't get them very often. Hall full of happy people;
still four lines all the way to 10:30 pm on a Monday night.
I noticed that Nils didn't change the endings of _any_ contras. He would
have
had to put down the trombone to do it. (In fact, because I'd been thinking
about the issue of endings and whether you're with your partner, I noticed
that
the band mostly finished a round of the dance/tune and then played a few
additional ending notes, so that it more than once happened that you'd
start
the next round interacting with neighbor, who you then either have to turn
away
from to bow to partner, or acknowledge first to thank your partner.)
One dancer commented to me on the tune endings. No dancer commented to me
on
changing or not changing to end with partner swing. Many dancers
commented to
me (as one of the organizers of the dance) on what a wonderful evening it
was,
what a great time they had, etc.
I conclude that this is not an issue of overwhelming importance to most
dancers - and yet still worth thinking about for callers.
-- Alan
>> Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 18:00:44 -0800
>> From: winston(a)slac.stanford.edu
>> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
>> Subject: [Callers] Changing on the last round for a partner swing
>>
>> Callers --
>>
>> Looking for opinions.
>>
>> As a caller, I will usually alter (if necessary), the last dance of a
medley,
>> the last dance of the first half, or the
last dance of evening to end
with a
>> partner swing if it doesn't work
that way in the choreography. (You
know, that
>> "This time, circle half and swing
your partner" or "This time, just
keep on
>> swinging!" thing.)
>>
>> I'll usually leave the other dances alone. They end how they end; the
band
>> gets to crescendo and I don't have
to be heard, and the dancers get
something
>> other than utter predictability.
>>
>> (As a dancer I don't like utter predictability; I begin to get a
teeny bit
>> bored if the callers changes every dance
to end with a partner swing.)
>>
>> But I mentioned this to my date, and she *loves* it when the caller
changes the
>> dance to make it a partner swing so that
it feels like you're
finishing with
>> the partner who asked you, and feels
disappointed if the caller
doesn't make
>> those changes. I mentioned the issue of
stepping on the band's hot
ending; as
>> a dancer, that meant nothing to her.
>>
>> So what do y'all think? What do you do? How you do think people like
it?
>>
>> (Nobody's ever complained to me that I didn't alter endings enough,
and I
>> doubt that's the kind of thing
anybody complains to anybody about,
but it
>> probably has some impact on dancers
enjoyment of the evening.)
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> -- Alan
>>
>> --
>>
===============================================================================
>> Alan Winston ---
WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
>> Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone:
650/926-3056
>> Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575
Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA
94025
>>
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>>
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===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone:
650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA
94025
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