New subject: Shadow swings and Irrational Hypocrisy

28 Jan 2008

Well, since one of the other threads on here recently has been "Labor 
of Love", I'll share one of my favorite alternating contra corners dances:

Labor of Love
Kathy Anderson
Improper

A1      N B&S
A2      LL F&B
         1's (2's) RH Bal & Box the Gnat
B1      1's (2's) turn Contra Corners
B2      1's (2's) B&S

This is a great dance to teach contra corners because the only thing 
at all hard about it is the contra corners itself.  Better still, it 
doesn't have a half figure 8, which folks frequently have more 
trouble with than the contra corners itself.  In any event, it's a fun dance!

Jack

At 01:29 PM 1/28/2008, you wrote:
...
 I've got to say that while I respect the
traditional dances and don't mind
the occasional actives-preferential dance (as long as the contra lines
aren't too long to begin with!), I really like the newer dances that I've
seen recently where ones and twos alternate being active.  I don't know the
names of these dances (maybe someone can help me out?), but I know there's
at least one where the ones and twos trade off being the couple who does
contra corners and then swings in the middle, and I'm a big fan of that.
Contra corners into a swing in the middle is one of my favorite moves if the
set is working together well.

I definitely agree with Barbara, though, that it's really disappointing to
not have a partner swing at all.  And I think there's a responsibility as a
caller to make sure that if you do call a dance where only the ones swing,
the lines are short enough and the dance runs long enough that everyone gets
to be a one for a decent amount of time!

- Koren

On 1/28/08, Barbara Groh &lt;barbaragroh(a)bellsouth.net&gt; wrote:

 I occasionally call dances with a shadow swing, but I would NEVER call a
 dance with no partner swing.  Many times in my 35 years of dancing, I have
 had an evening where I FINALLY got to dance with some special partner,
 only
 to have the disappointment of doing a dance with no partner swing.  What a
 letdown!

 Any caller in my area who calls dances without partner swings is either
 going to hear about it from one or more dancers, or at least be grumbled
 about behind their backs.  It's probably not a big deal in a roomful of
 beginners, but I think that most experienced dancers feel cheated if they
 don't get to swing their partner.

 In fact, there has been much discussion in our dance community (really,
 all
 over the Southeast) as to whether "unequal" dances (where only the 1's
 swing) are "acceptable," given that there are so many great "equal"
dances
 available.  Of course, this would knock out a whole bunch of the old,
 traditional contras...

 Have I opened a huge can of worms here?
 ~Barbara

 ----- Original Message -----
 From: "Greg McKenzie" &lt;gregmck(a)earthlink.net&gt;
 To: "Caller's discussion list" &lt;callers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 2:09 AM
 Subject: Re: [Callers] Shadow swings and Irrational Hypocrisy

 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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