I have wondered about this issue for years. I understand the value of
calling simple dances with no partner swing at venues such as one night
stands, or at a middle school where the kids might be too shy to enjoy
dancing with a partner of the opposite gender, but as a dancer it drives
me nuts. Once I've managed to recruit a partner, I would really like to
dance with her, and I find it pretty frustrating when the caller comes
up with a dance in which I have practically no interaction with my
partner at all. It's especially annoying if I'm dancing with my wife,
since we don't get to dance together that frequently if I'm calling for
half the evening. I fully appreciate the fact that contra is a community
dance, and we dance with everyone in the line as well as our partner,
that's one of the things I love about contra, but the partner aspect of
the dance is also very enriching. I wonder how the rest of this group
feels about dances with no partner swing.
Lewis Land