25 Aug
2009
25 Aug
'09
4:59 p.m.
Hello all,
I'm sitting at home writing a contra (they get in my head and won't
leave me alone till I write them down). I unfortunately don't have a
closet full of dancers to pull out and test things on, but I've got a
question about flow.
When the ladies are standing to the right of their neighbor on the
side of the set, facing their partner, and are going to allemande
over to their partner for a balance and swing, should it be an
allemande Right or Left? I feel like the R is more traditional for
ladies, but an allemande L would leave their R hand free for a
smoother transition to a balance and swing (I feel lead's L, follow's
R is a better 1 hand balance to go into a swing with than lead's R,
follow's L).
To put it in context, consider the following dance:
Sample dance 1, Improper
A1: N bal & swg
A2: long lines, fwd & back
Ladies Allmnd L 1+ to partner
B1: ptr bal & swg
B2: ladies 1/2 chain
star L 1x, on to next
I think the ladies should allemande L there, but I'd be curious what
other people think of the flow.
If it was something like going to a R hand R hand balance for a box
the gnat, it would seem to force the issue, but it seems more open
when it's just going into a swing. Preferences? Thoughts?
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
25 Aug
25 Aug
5:17 p.m.
I would find a left allemande awkward. For me, the issue comes before the
allemande rather than after. When the ladies are on the right, their
neighbors can assist them into a right allemande. The neighbor cannot
assist into a left allemande, so the ladies have to break the connection to
their neighbor before beginning the figure. This connection is more
important to me than which hand begins a balance.
-Bronwyn
On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 4:59 PM, Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello all,
I'm sitting at home writing a contra (they get in my head and won't
leave me alone till I write them down). I unfortunately don't have a
closet full of dancers to pull out and test things on, but I've got a
question about flow.
When the ladies are standing to the right of their neighbor on the
side of the set, facing their partner, and are going to allemande
over to their partner for a balance and swing, should it be an
allemande Right or Left? I feel like the R is more traditional for
ladies, but an allemande L would leave their R hand free for a
smoother transition to a balance and swing (I feel lead's L, follow's
R is a better 1 hand balance to go into a swing with than lead's R,
follow's L).
To put it in context, consider the following dance:
Sample dance 1, Improper
A1: N bal & swg
A2: long lines, fwd & back
Ladies Allmnd L 1+ to partner
B1: ptr bal & swg
B2: ladies 1/2 chain
star L 1x, on to next
I think the ladies should allemande L there, but I'd be curious what
other people think of the flow.
If it was something like going to a R hand R hand balance for a box
the gnat, it would seem to force the issue, but it seems more open
when it's just going into a swing. Preferences? Thoughts?
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
_______________________________________________
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Callers(a)sharedweight.net
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5:34 p.m.
Luke wrote:
I'm sitting at home writing a contra (they get in
my head and won't
leave me alone till I write them down). I unfortunately don't have a
closet full of dancers to pull out and test things on, but I've got a
question about flow.
When the ladies are standing to the right of their
neighbor on the
side of the set, facing their partner, and are going to allemande
over to their partner for a balance and swing, should it be an
allemande Right or Left? I feel like the R is more traditional for
ladies, but an allemande L would leave their R hand free for a
smoother transition to a balance and swing (I feel lead's L, follow's
R is a better 1 hand balance to go into a swing with than lead's R,
follow's L).
To put it in context, consider the following dance:
Sample dance 1, Improper
A1: N bal & swg
A2: long lines, fwd & back
Ladies Allmnd L 1+ to partner
B1: ptr bal & swg
B2: ladies 1/2 chain
star L 1x, on to next
I think the ladies should allemande L there, but
I'd be curious what
other people think of the flow.
If it was something like going to a R hand R hand
balance for a box
the gnat, it would seem to force the issue, but it seems more open
when it's just going into a swing. Preferences? Thoughts?
Ladies allemande right.
The main reason is that they're used to doing it, and they won't have to think
about it. They're *so* used to allemanding right (as men in those spots are so
used to allemanding left) t that they'll probably have to think about it every
time, which means that the thing you're doing to improve flow will turn an easy
flowing thing into a hiccup.
Secondarily:
If it's right hand, partner can help with a little tug or guidance on the left
hand, which moves the lady in the right direction to catch hand - same lead as
on a ladies' chain, so most guys know how to do that. If it's left hand, the
guy is holding her left hand and the lead would have to be pushing that hand
away from him, which won't be communicated at all unless she's giving him a
much stiffer arm than you usually get in contra.
So it's unusual, and your partner can't help you.
Also, if you're concerned about hand alternation, you're going from her left
hand held by partner into her left hand held by other lady, so you're not
accomplishing hand alternation.
Dancers are so used to balance and swing that it really doesn't matter what
hand is free - 1/3 of them will make it a two-hand balance anyway, 1/8 will
do some funky swing dance move to get into the swing, others will be able to
balance by the hand they get and change hands if needed on the way into the
swing.
-- Alan
--
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
===============================================================================
7:15 p.m.
I've already written that dance with a ws allemande r. It's called Get
Me going. Sometimes I do a ws dosido 1.5 instead.
Lisa
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 25, 2009, at 4:59 PM, Luke Donev <luke.donev(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello all,
I'm sitting at home writing a contra (they get in my head and won't
leave me alone till I write them down). I unfortunately don't have a
closet full of dancers to pull out and test things on, but I've got a
question about flow.
When the ladies are standing to the right of their neighbor on the
side of the set, facing their partner, and are going to allemande
over to their partner for a balance and swing, should it be an
allemande Right or Left? I feel like the R is more traditional for
ladies, but an allemande L would leave their R hand free for a
smoother transition to a balance and swing (I feel lead's L, follow's
R is a better 1 hand balance to go into a swing with than lead's R,
follow's L).
To put it in context, consider the following dance:
Sample dance 1, Improper
A1: N bal & swg
A2: long lines, fwd & back
Ladies Allmnd L 1+ to partner
B1: ptr bal & swg
B2: ladies 1/2 chain
star L 1x, on to next
I think the ladies should allemande L there, but I'd be curious what
other people think of the flow.
If it was something like going to a R hand R hand balance for a box
the gnat, it would seem to force the issue, but it seems more open
when it's just going into a swing. Preferences? Thoughts?
--
Luke Donev
http://www.lukedonev.com
Luke.Donev(a)gmail.com
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3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing -
Bronwyn Woods -
Lisa Greenleaf -
Luke Donev