25 Jan
2010
25 Jan
'10
12:31 p.m.
There are many dancers with "special needs" at most contra
dances. When there are individuals with more profound mental,
physical, or social disabilities present the primary job of the
caller is, as always, to integrate those dancers into the dance
community as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. That is not easy
and requires an emphasis on the most basic caller skills, such as
clear pronunciation, setting up the mike properly, earning and
holding the dancers' attention, calling with effective word order,
and setting a generous and gracious community tone through
programming and by example.
Basically, this is a situation that puts all of your calling skills
to the test. Other than that it is not that different from any other
open, public contra dance, (as opposed to a camp, festival, or other
event that is designed for contra dance enthusiasts). This kind of
gig is a great opportunity for any caller to hone their calling skills.
Good luck!
***********
At 06:45 AM 1/25/2010, you wrote:
Hi,
I am preparing for a public dance series where special needs folks, folks
with some learning disabilities, have been present in the past. I have my
share of easy dances but I am wondering if any of you have experience with
the special needs of special needs dancers. One of these dancers has been
described to me as on the autistic spectrum. Do you have experience
teaching such dancers? Were there approaches that worked well, or otherwise
good teaching that in this situation did not work well? Are there dances
you would suggest? Have you found that dances that keep dancers physically
connected are any better than those that do so less? Your help in giving as
many dancers a good time as possible will be appreciated by all.
Thanks,
Rickey Holt
P.S. The rest of the dancers at this series are already used to easy
dances.
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