this all sounds good, except i always teach the swing first. it's the one thing that is in every single dance, and many people think it's the most enjoyable thing in the dance. might as well get it right from the beginning. i never tell people it will "take awhile to get it" - i'd rather have them BELIEVE that they can do it right away, which most of them can. if the teacher is good and the pupil is good (i.e. don't blame your teaching if they don't get it immediately - most do, but some don't), it should take about four minutes to teach good swing. here's my favorite technique: have them take hands as if for a two-hand turn, and give weight (say something like "bend your elbows, don't lean back"). everyone turn to your own individual left (right feel closer together). walk forward using a smooth walking step (don't teach a buzz step), emphasize that you always walk forward. say "this is what a swing should feel like." then teach ballroom position, emphasizing that ladies put their left hand BEHIND the gents' shoulder so they can carry their own weight. turn left so right feet are together, give weight ("pull back with your whole body, don't lean backwards"), walk forward. point out that the caller will always tell which direction to face at the end of a swing, and that means the "pointy hands". that will always put the lady on the right. in a class, i never start them out in ballroom position - half of them are too nervous/embarrassed about holding someone in their arms (especially someone they don't know) that they can't really focus on learning the swing. so i start with two hands and work into ballroom position - if i'm smooth enough, they hardly notice. ----Original Message Follows---- From: melissa weisshaus <twirlygirly1(a)yahoo.com> Reply-To: twirlygirly1(a)yahoo.com To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 15, Issue 10 Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:35:44 -0800 (PST) re: chris's question: speaking as a not-really-a-caller, but a very experienced dancer: 1) i always give friends who i'm bringing to their first dance a basic tutorial before we go to the dance. i usually try to include playing a dance tune so they have an idea of what to expect. if they have any sort of musical inclination, i also explain how dance tunes are arranged (4 parts of 16 beats) and how dances are made up of figures that are in multiples of 4. i explain giving weight *very carefully* since i'm convinced that this is the key to most dance figures, and then i go through the list of figures, trying to arrange things by similarities of number of beats, eye contact, etc. i do swing last, and explain that it takes a while to "get it". i tell them that the most important things they can do (especially at the beginning) are to smile, have fun, and remember that every single person they see was a bumbling beginner at some point. (i also sometimes tell my own sad beginner story: at NEFFA 1992, i did my first two dances on saturday with friends; on sunday, i did one dance with a stranger (who was very friendly) and got -completely- confused by a ladies' chain on a diagonal, every single time. i became convinced that people on the other side of the hall had been screwed up by my continual screwing up, and was so mortified that i refused to go back to a dance until i was dragged back in october of 1994, whereupon i become hooked.) 2) once at the hall, i explain facing "up" or "down"; the organization of the sets; the way that a #1 couple moves down the set or a #2 couple moves up the set; etc. 3) i introduce them to a couple of good dancers, by which i mean people who are competent, friendly, forgiving, and will give appropriate feedback and *lots* of encouragement. i ask them for the first, and usually also the second dance, and give recommendations for who they might ask for the next dance. 4) and i check in with them throughout the night as much as possible, and try to do another dance with them later in the evening, and give them lots of compliments on how well they're picking it up. one other more general thing that i keep trying to remind myself to do but don't always remember: if every experienced dancer asked just *one* new person to dance one dance per night, imagine how that new person's experience would be improved over the course of the evening! they would be approached by all kinds of wonderful people, given smiles and encouragement, and have a really good chance at experiencing what contra dancing can be all about, and their dancing would be improved tremendously by having had dances with a wide variety of folks. for the experienced folks, it would be one out of perhaps 10 or 12 dances in an evening, leaving plenty to be given to SOs, friends, etc. something(s) to think about... melissa __________________________________ Yahoo! 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