New subject: Callers Digest, Vol 41, Issue 15

26 Jan 2008

Linda,
I enjoyed your post. Years ago we had two dancers at our dance who  
were terrible dancers, though they had danced for a long time and  
thought of themselves as experienced dancers, and the combination of  
that and being avoided by the women who knew them meant they would  
ask beginners to dance, totally confusing them and causing whole sets  
to fall apart. Similar to your story, a group of us women got  
together and decided we would be the "sacrificial squad" and take  
turns "neutralizing" them when they showed up by asking  them to  
dance before they could ask a beginner. It certainly made the dances  
go a lot more smoothly and beginners came back more frequently when  
they felt competent and not confused, so it was worth the sacrifice.  
I wonder if they ever marveled at why suddenly they were so popular.  
I wish I could say they became better dancers, but they eventually  
moved so the squad happily disbanded.

Regarding shadow swings - at a dance out of town I ended up with a  
shadow and we suddenly recognized each other as having been in school  
together years ago, so that was fun. Part of the mystery of life -  
sometimes you get a prize, sometimes you don't.
Martha

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 Today's Topics:

    1. Re: Shadow swings (Jerome Grisanti)
    2. A Shadow Swing and New moves for contras... (Linda Leslie)
    3. Re: Shadow swings (Chris Page)
    4. Re: Shadow swings and Irrational Hypocrisy (Greg McKenzie)
    5. Re: Shadow swings (gtwood(a)worldpath.net)

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 Message: 1
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:56:58 -0600
 From: "Jerome Grisanti" &lt;jerome.grisanti(a)gmail.com&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
 Message-ID:
 	&lt;78dbc7c60801240956j297e9456n18bab2ed5ff49d45(a)mail.gmail.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

 I believe shadow swings should be limited to dance weekends or  
 workshops,
 and even then only rarely. While keeping in mind Cary Ravitz's  
 rationale
 that you don't choose your shadow, your chances of having a very  
 pleasant
 interaction with a shadow are very much higher at a dance weekend. Of
 course, not all weekends are made the same.

 As a dancer I sometimes replace certain interactions (such as shadow
 allemande right once and a half) with a shadow swing when it's  
 someone I
 enjoy swinging with. If my shadow is a beginner or a so-so swinger,  
 I dance
 the figure as called.

 And I like Mark Galipeau's suggestion that the caller can change  
 shadow
 interaction to a swing on the last iteration of the dance, but only  
 if that
 would not confuse the dancers.

 --Jerome

 On Jan 24, 2008 11:00 AM, &lt;callers-request(a)sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:25:25 -0500
 From: J L Korr &lt;jeremykorr(a)hotmail.com&gt;
 Subject: [Callers] Shadow swings

 During the same open mike session, I enjoyed dancing Nils  
 Fredland's "Head
 of the Bed" to Dave Eisenstatter's calling, and it got me  
 thinking. I've
 called dances with shadow swings infrequently, because in the back  
 of my
 head I think about the following excerpt from Cary Ravitz's notes  
 on contra
 choreography: "Watch out for excessive trail buddy interaction.  
 People don't
 choose their trail buddy and they are stuck with them for the  
 entire dance.
 . . . Trail buddy swings are not allowed."

 However, Cary also emphasizes that those are his personal  
 preferences, and
 others' preferences may vary. So I'd appreciate others' thoughts  
 on this --
 are shadow swings as strongly negative an issue for you as they  
 are for
 Cary? Clearly they were not an issue for Nils when writing "Head  
 of the Bed"
 or Seth T. when writing "Meg's a Dancing Fool," for instance.

 Thanks,
 Jeremy

 -- 
 Jerome Grisanti
 660-528-0858
 660-528-0714
 http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

 ------------------------------

 Message: 2
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:52:55 -0500
 From: Linda Leslie &lt;laleslierjg(a)comcast.net&gt;
 Subject: [Callers] A Shadow Swing and New moves for contras...
 To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
 Message-ID: &lt;3086A7F3-AA3C-447E-8947-3359C7426309(a)comcast.net&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

 Greetings!
 I very much agree with Greg's list of "thoughts about contra dance
 moves".  This is an area that begs for lots of wonderful
 conversations among callers...we have a responsibility to keep a
 healthy balance between the traditions, and the evolution of dancing.
 I encourage one of you to apply for NEFFA 2009 (the schedule for 2008
 is all done!), with this as a topic for discussion!

 And as for shadow swings, three cheers to Chris Weiler for his
 thoughts! One of the most satisfying venues for me to call is the
 community dance, where dancers are happy to dance with each other,
 regardless of skill. There is a recognition of the need to "take
 care" of one another in order for the joy of the dance to be shared
 by all, and an understanding that the dancing will continue only if
 we make sure that new dancers feel welcome. The dance in Rehoboth,
 MA  is probably one of the best community dances that demonstrates
 this commitment. I, like Chris, when dancing, tend to wait until the
 last minute, and ask someone I don't know, or who seems shy, to
 dance. If is works out to be fun, then it is great for both of us; if
 is was not so pleasurable, thus is life....and after all, a dance is
 *only* 12 minutes or so!  The same can be said for having a shadow
 that you do not choose: there is the potential serendipity of making
 a new friend, or the possibility of a less than thrilling experience.
 I am willing to take the risk! Certainly only one dance in an evening
 with a shadow swing would be advisable, but not calling any at all
 also seems to me to be a mistake.

 I am also reminded of an experience at a very small dance on Cape
 Cod. A not so skilled dancer (gent) who had trouble hearing the
 calls, was a fervent attendee at the dance in Sandwich. Because the
 number of dancers is small (though high in energy!), it was obvious
 that this gent was left out until the end or entirely, and often
 would be paired with new dancers. The experienced women got together
 and decided that they would each take a turn asking him to dance one
 dance on any given evening. What a marvelous plan! He was as happy as
 could be, smiling the whole evening, and the dance in general was
 more enjoyable for all as a consequence. He may not have been on
 time, or skilled, but the joy from him made everybody feel great!

 So Jeremy, I would say don't be shy about calling a dance with a
 shadow swing!
 warmly, Linda Leslie

 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 -

 Message: 1
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:48:49 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
 From: Greg McKenzie &lt;gregmck(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] What did he say !??? MWSD
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	<20647868.1201114129207.JavaMail.root@elwamui-
 polski.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

 Jerome wrote:
  One other thing I might mention about bringing
Modern Western
 Square moves
 into Contra crowds: ... 
 Then there is also the other, more basic, discussion about both the
 advisability of this course and the responsibilities it entails.

 The contra dance tradition, as it currently stands, is still one of
 the most effective means of bringing a roomfull of people with
 widely varying skill levels together in a joyful evening of social
 dance to live music, without the requirement of separate lessons.

 For some of us this is the most attracive quality of contras.  An
 effort to increase the number of calls and the skills necessary to
 participate at any evening of contra dance is a bold course that
 could do violence to the traditional role of contras.  An effort to
 do so should be pursued with caution.  Each step in this direction
 should be precluded with a series of questions:

 - How will this addition affect the confidence level of first-time
 dancers in the hall?

 - How will it affect their ability to participate and the
 likelihood that they will return?

 - How should I characterize this addition to make it clear that it
 varies from the basic tradition of contras?

 - What is the appropriate venue to introduce this kind of
 variation?  (Dance camps, special events, festivals, or regular
 contra dance series?)

 - Are my variations significant enough over the course of the
 evening that I have a responsibility to distinguish this event, in
 the publicity, from a regular evening of contras?

 - Would I like to see this variation become a part of the contra
 dance tradition?

 Just a thought,
 Greg McKenzie

 . . . and Chris did an excellent job calling a fun dance he co-
 wrote. Will you consider posting it on SharedWeight, Chris?

 During the same open mike session, I enjoyed dancing Nils
 Fredland's "Head of the Bed" to Dave Eisenstatter's calling, and it
 got me thinking. I've called dances with shadow swings
 infrequently, because in the back of my head I think about the
 following excerpt from Cary Ravitz's notes on contra choreography:
 "Watch out for excessive trail buddy interaction. People don't
 choose their trail buddy and they are stuck with them for the
 entire dance. . . . Trail buddy swings are not allowed."

 However, Cary also emphasizes that those are his personal
 preferences, and others' preferences may vary. So I'd appreciate
 others' thoughts on this -- are shadow swings as strongly negative
 an issue for you as they are for Cary? Clearly they were not an
 issue for Nils when writing "Head of the Bed" or Seth T. when
 writing "Meg's a Dancing Fool," for instance.

 Thanks,
 Jeremy

 Jeremy Korr
 East of Los Angeles

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 ------------------------------

 Message: 3
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:37:56 -0500
 From: "Koren A. Wake" &lt;koren.a.wake(a)gmail.com&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: "Caller's discussion list" &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	&lt;99d834190801231337t76308643w47506638aed005a0(a)mail.gmail.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

 This is my opinion mainly as a dancer, not so much as a caller, but
 I'm
 inclined to agree with Cary - especially when you consider that the
 more
 shadow interaction there is, the less partner interaction!  A nice
 shadow
 move that bounces me back to my partner can be very cool, and when
 my shadow
 is a good dancer or good friend of mine, I'm happy to have more  
 shadow
 interaction, but it's a gamble.  I might be stuck with a shadow
 who's a
 terrible dancer, or smells bad, or is generally just not someone
 I'd want to
 dance with, and not only are you (the choreographer and caller)
 forcing me
 to swing him every time through the dance, you're also taking me
 away from
 the person who I *did* choose to dance with.

 On the other hand, there are really cool dances with lots of shadow
 interaction, too.  If the dance itself is cool enough, I'm willing
 to let
 myself get pulled away from my partner more.

 - Koren

 On 1/23/08, J L Korr &lt;jeremykorr(a)hotmail.com&gt; wrote:

  Message: 4
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:35:16 -0500 (EST)
 From: Greg McKenzie &lt;gregmck(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	<11856886.1201127716708.JavaMail.root@elwamui-
 karabash.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

 Jeremy,

 I enjoy shadow swings.

 Greg

 ********
> Chris Weiler wrote:

 Message: 5
 Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:47:16 -0800 (PST)
 From: Mark Galipeau &lt;red72impala(a)yahoo.com&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;897118.62150.qm(a)web83611.mail.sp1.yahoo.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

 I love it when I have a shadow, without a swing, and
 the caller throws in in the last iteration of the
 dance, swing your shadow, just as a final good bye
 gesture!  Makes for a nice finish to a dance.

 Message: 7
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:23:38 -0500
 From: Chris Weiler &lt;chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Subject: [Callers] Give the Scout a Hand
 To: Shared Weight &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;4798915A.2030804(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

 Jeremy,

 Here is the dance that you asked for:

 Give the Scout a Hand          Becket-L
 Bob Isaacs and Chris Weiler

 A1.  Circle L 3/4, neighbor swing
 A2.  Long lines, gents allemande L 1 1/2 - give R to partner
 B1.  Balance, box the gnat, 1/2 hey with hands (partner pull by R,
 gents
 pull by L, neighbor pull by R, ladies pull by L)
 B2.  Partner balance, swing, then slide L, etc.

 Written for a fundraiser auction for the Concord Scout House in
 Concord,
 MA. Written 6/17/07. I prefer the 1/2 hey with hands to a standard  
 hey
 since it gives the whole dance a connected feeling. I have used it
 with
 mixed crowds before with success.

 Best,
 Chris

 ------------------------------

 Message: 8
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:35:52 -0500
 From: Chris Weiler &lt;chris.weiler(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;47989438.5050705(a)weirdtable.org&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

 Jeremy,

 I agree with Koren that it's a crap shoot when you call a shadow
 swing.
 I definitely would never call one with a crowd that has more than a
 minimal number of beginners. I also would never call more than one
 in an
 evening.

 That said, I like the gamble. I think that I'm a little unusual in
 that
 I very often in the evening wait until the last minute to find a
 partner
 and take whoever is available. I've met some wonderful dancers and
 friends that way. Sometimes I get to dance with someone I haven't
 danced
 with in a long time. I think it's fun. The shadow swing can be the
 same
 way. Quite often when I have shadow interaction in a dance, I'll
 ask my
 shadow to be my next partner when the dance is done.

 Head of the Bed is unusual with it's 3 swings (Neighbor, Partner and
 Shadow). When I first danced it at the Flurry, I knew I had to  
 collect
 it. But I haven't had more than one opportunity to call it. 8^)  
 It's a
 fun dance!

 Happy Dancing!
 Chris

 ------------------------------

 Message: 3
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:35:38 -0800
 From: "Chris Page" &lt;chriscpage(a)gmail.com&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: "Caller's discussion list" &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID:
 	&lt;9469896c0801241435i424b5073w64fcba5b0d1815de(a)mail.gmail.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

 I currently don't have any dances with shadow swings in my
 repertoire, by choice.

 Part of that is to avoid the situation where you're forcing two
 people to swing together who Really Don't Want To Swing
 Over and Over. And they'll let you know it, whether it's a
 breakup, or one person's someone that they don't want to
 dance with. (In my first community I went to, there was
 one person like this. It would drive which lines people went
 into, people would refuse sometimes to neighbor swing
 with said person, and it really corrupted the whole partner-
 asking dynamic of the dance. So I'm shaped by an extreme.)

 There's the secondary reason that it's not as interesting as
 it's the same person over and over and over. And you've
 already got your partner over and over and over, with the
 partner swing I need to pander to.  So that cuts out still more
 neighbor interaction. It's why I strongly prefer neighbor grand
 right and lefts to shadow grand right and lefts, for instance.

 A shadow can be a convenient marker to create the effect
 of a lose-and-find partner sequence, so they do have their
 uses.

 Yet I call a dance with a shadow swing about one night
 of every three. They're the four-face-fours where you swing
 your corner. So I fully admit to irrational hypocrisy.

 -Chris Page
 San Diego

 ------------------------------

 Message: 4
 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:09:36 -0800
 From: Greg McKenzie &lt;gregmck(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings and Irrational Hypocrisy
 To: Caller's discussion list &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Message-ID: &lt;7.0.0.16.1.20080124225159.01ce0440(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

 Friends,

 It seems that having folks who really dislike swinging together at a
 community dance is bad news...with, or without shadow swings.  I know
 it happens, but callers can work to create a more gracious and
 generous atmosphere.  It would feel odd to plan an evening program
 while considering the needs of people who wish to avoid contact at a
 social dance.

 Chris, I wonder; how would you feel about a dance with a shadow
 swing, and a neighbor swing, but with NO partner swing?   I suspect
 that many of us call a dance or two each night with no partner
 swing.  Would you protest more if there were one partner-swing-free
 dance with a shadow swing?  (And would that be "rational hypocrisy?)

 Also, how many dances a night do you call that have no partner swing?

 Just wondering,

 Greg

 *********

 At 02:35 PM 1/24/2008, Chris wrote:
  I currently don't have any dances with shadow
swings in my
 repertoire, by choice.

 Part of that is to avoid the situation where you're forcing two
 people to swing together who Really Don't Want To Swing
 Over and Over. And they'll let you know it, whether it's a
 breakup, or one person's someone that they don't want to
 dance with. (In my first community I went to, there was
 one person like this. It would drive which lines people went
 into, people would refuse sometimes to neighbor swing
 with said person, and it really corrupted the whole partner-
 asking dynamic of the dance. So I'm shaped by an extreme.)

 There's the secondary reason that it's not as interesting as
 it's the same person over and over and over. And you've
 already got your partner over and over and over, with the
 partner swing I need to pander to.  So that cuts out still more
 neighbor interaction. It's why I strongly prefer neighbor grand
 right and lefts to shadow grand right and lefts, for instance.

 A shadow can be a convenient marker to create the effect
 of a lose-and-find partner sequence, so they do have their
 uses.

 Yet I call a dance with a shadow swing about one night
 of every three. They're the four-face-fours where you swing
 your corner. So I fully admit to irrational hypocrisy.

 -Chris Page
 San Diego
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 ------------------------------

 Message: 5
 Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:06:20 -0500
 From: &quot;gtwood(a)worldpath.net&quot; &lt;gtwood(a)worldpath.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings
 To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
 Message-ID: &lt;380-22008152514620414(a)M2W041.mail2web.com&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

 Give the dancers credit. They will adjust to the
 dance as needed.
 I recall, years ago, there was a couple who really
 did not care for each other and they were caught
 in the dreaded shadow swing. Instead of making a fuss
 thay turned the swing into a 'Lady Walpole' and did
 a DSD in it's place. The dance goes on!
 Gale

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 End of Callers Digest, Vol 41, Issue 15
 *************************************** 

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 41, Issue 15