Re: [Callers] Circle Mixers for newbies - Contra Callers

5 Nov 2012

On Mon, 5 Nov 2012 10:34:59 -0500, Luke Donforth wrote:
...
  First Turn in May has 3 allemandes in the A2, with the
B1 being a
 balance and swing. North Shore Mixer does something similar, but
 goes to a DSD.

 Do you not worry about the timing? I've been at several new dancer
 orientations where the caller stressed the 8 count phrasing as a
 way to keep track and demarcate the moves; I've even used it myself. 
That's generally true, but in this case the writer knows that an allemande
doesn't take the full 8 steps so he's able to fit three moves into the
normal time for two.  If you did just two allemandes in the 16 beats you'd
find it very slow.

...
  Is it just not an issue? Do new dancers get through 3
full
 allemandes in 16 
It's an issue but it's not a problem!  The issue is teaching people to give
weight, and you can encourage them to do this by saying, "If you bend your
elbow and give some weight in the turns, you'll be there right on the beat
for the balance".  Of course this presupposes that you're doing some
teaching!

Colin Hume

Email colin(a)colinhume.com      Web site http://www.colinhume.com

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