Hi, I'm enjoying these last threads, nice comments and useful tips. When getting folk into squares from circles of four couples, the aligning up to the walls, can be part of the fun. For a simple square like the Grapevine Twist which require the couples 1,2,3,4 in turn to lead - teach the numbering as the couple with the back to me/band is #1 - couple #1 raise your hands, couple #2 is facing the kitchen (say), etc. You can have fun with the crowd by giving a test. Who is #1, who is #2, who is #3, who is #1!. Also depending on the group, you can explain that couple #1 is the "most experienced couple" which will get a good reaction if you use the right innuendo. Cheers, Bill On 21/03/2011 8:53 a.m., Michael Barraclough wrote:

Paul Barbara G. here. I would be very interested in this list you are suggesting about compact dances. I have had the occasion, as I'm sure many of us had, to change up my program once I was in the hall and saw how crowded it was getting. I have stopped in the middle of a walkthrough, to the surprise of several seasoned callers in the room, and changed the dance. I didn't know this was a "no no" but also I feel you are doing what is best for the dancers. I did it without a lot of fuss or explanation and it worked fine. -----Original Message----- From: Paul Wilde <zenyente(a)gmail.com> To: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Sat, Mar 26, 2011 1:06 am Subject: Re: [Callers] Quadrille Formation and ONS Most esteemed colleagues, I danced at Rehoboth tonight and a most unusual and wonderful thing appened. Lisa Greenleaf walked us through a dance, saw that we were too rowded and that some of the moves were going to be especially ncomfortable, and told us to talk among ourselves while she picked out nother dance. I might add that this is a very popular dance, and 3 full ines are comfortable in the hall and 4 lines are definitely pushing the imit, especially if there are some dancers being a little over zealous or ot watching their set spacing. We've probably all been in this situation t least once as dancers. This is the first time I can ever remember someone changing a dance because t was too crowded for that particular set of moves. Occasionally we, as allers, switch dances after a walkthrough because what we first had in mind ight be looking a bit too challenging for the particular mix before us. But never can I remember a caller changing dances after a walkthrough ecause of space. Thank you Lisa. I would love to start a thread on this mostly overlooked (unless I missed omething earlier on), but very dear to my heart, topic. Far too often have been in a hall that was too tight for certain sequences, but it seems that aybe the caller came with a set program and wasn't willing to modify dance elections based on this most important criteria. Most dances are made up f a wide range of ages, and crowded halls where people are getting knocked round and bumped is uncomfortable, not all that much fun, and especially nfair to older dancers. My first suggestion would be to eliminate or highly restrict moves like a ull hey in these situations. What I would like is for people to make uggestions of fun, flowing dances that are compact, especially in their idth. think having a "list" or some other organizing format, of these "compact ances" would greatly enhance our toolboxes. What do you think? This list is truly amazing. Thank you everyone. warmest regards, aul ______________________________________________ allers mailing list allers(a)sharedweight.net ttp://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers

Hi Folks, This is a great forum, and I often search over the past posts. We have a few threads going which have subjects unrelated to their content. "Quadrille Formation and ONS" is about dance space. "Callers Digest ... " is uninformative. Please take care to change subject when appropriate. Thanks. Cheers, Bill

I also appreciate it when the subject line is changed when people say something like "Dance Space - was Quadrille Formation and ONS", so that I can find the earlier posts. I also like it when the subject line doesn't get changed when the subject hasn't changed - I have my email set so that threads stay together, and even a small change makes it start a new set. M E On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 4:06 PM, Liz and Bill <staf186(a)ext.canterbury.ac.nz>wrote;wrote: -- For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats