New subject: Heys for new dancers

15 Feb 2012

Glad to hear the dance went well! And also glad the input was helpful.

Your report brings up a few things i think are really valuable to remember
(which i sometimes forget!) so i figured i'd toss them out to the list for
further thought:

- if a dance is likely to be challenging for the crowd, i've heard it said
it's worth asking the band to play something very clearly phrased.
Inversely, if the dance is clearly phrased, the band might be able to go a
little farther afield without affecting the dancers' ability to follow the
music. Obviously not an invariable rule, because some "chunky" dances
wouldn't work so well with long-phrased tunes...

-* spaghetti arms* are one of those things that, as a newb, are so easy to
forget in the overwhelmingness of it all. I think it bears "training"
experienced dancers to gently remind newbies how to share weight. For those
of us who've been dancing for a while it's second nature,but for beginners
i think it really goes beyond introducing the concept of "shared weight" to
really giving them the HOW of it. A dancer recently relayed to me the idea
of having folks do an allemande once around in 8 counts; then have them do
an allemande 1.5 in 8 counts and stress how pulling in and giving weight
helps them get around in time. So, as you put it, a reminder during the
evening is a good thing - especially if you can point out other places -
like circles - where sharing weight is equally satisfying.

-* heys *can be a surprisingly easy move. I recently had a conversation
with another caller who shares the opinion that heys are actually easier
for newbs to properly execute than are ladies chains. The biggest problem
i've noticed with heys is that many experienced dancers seem to think of
them as somehow challenging, and when a caller says they'll be teaching a
hey, experienced dancers will often give some body language or comment that
raises the newbies' affective filter. Our trick as callers is figuring out
how to keep that affective filter down, and deliver the instructions for a
hey as simply as possible.

- sometimes two walk throughs is just nice, because the 2nd walk through
really solidifies things in dancers' minds, and then you don't have to back
up to start! Teaching a dance in one walk-through can be appropriate but it
really depends on the dance and the crowd; it's not really a measure of a
caller's skill.

Of course, the above is personal opinion. I'm interested to hear others'
takes on those subjects....

Congratulations on your first full night, Emily, and here's hoping you have
many more such experiences!

...
  Message: 1
 Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:56:57 -0500
 From: "Emily Addison" &lt;eaddison(a)trentu.ca&gt;
 To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
 Cc: eaddison(a)trentu.ca
 Subject: [Callers] reporting in from Maberly
 Message-ID: &lt;1329271017.7e5d3d5ceaddison(a)trentu.ca&gt;
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

 Hi Folks,
 Made it through Maberly? Wooohoooo! Thanks so much for all the advice.
  All of it was helpful from the ideas on programming (David, Tavi,
 Chrissy), to names of dances (Richard), to the corrections on a dance
 (Linda).  A few others provided advice too? thank you as it made a big
 difference. :)

 Here's a wee bit of a recap:
 -Welcome lesson went really well.  I had modelled much of my lesson off of
 Bev Bernbaum & George Marshall as well as a few other notes I had made here
 and there.  Yeaaa Bev and George ? it set up the rest of the evening in a
 great way.
 -I made a number of changes to the program prior to the dance based upon
 the feedback I received.  I ended up doing 10 of the 12 programmed dances
 and while I had other backup dances I didn't go to them.  The careful
 planning of building each dance on what had previously been covered paid
 off.
 Program as it played out: Family Contra, Swallowtail's First, The Baby
 Rose, Mad Scatter, Contraindicated, BREAK, Heart Beat Contra, New Fall
 Reel, Rock the Cradle Joe, Who's in the Middle, and Monday Night in Ballard.
 -All dances went really well except two.  The bumpy dances were Rock the
 Cradle Joe (wavy lines threw the beginners) and Who's in the Middle (music
 was really challenging for dancers to follow + beginners were uncertain
 about the changing middles).  I had to totally bail on Who's in the Middle
 after we tried it twice.  That's ok though. :)
 -Teaching points went really well and I took a fair bit of a community
 tone. After the dance I heard from a few of the experienced dancers that
 there were a lot of spaghetti arms in the crowd.  I had talked a fair bit
 about giving weight/connection during the welcome lesson but I might try a
 reminder or two in the evening in the future.
 -I felt that two walk throughs were needed for every dance except the last
 one.  I would like to get down to one in the future but it was a chatty
 crowd with lots of beginners so that was ok. :)
 -After the end of the dance, I quizzed a lot of the experienced dancers.
  They didn't miss the down the hall nor the heys and felt that there was
 lots of variety in the program.  They also didn't notice that all of the
 progressions were at the end of B2 which was good?  that seemed to help the
 large beginner population.
 -In the New Fall Reel, Bal before swing in B2 was too much for the crowd
 so dropped the balance after the first few times through the dance. Seemed
 to help with the flow a lot.
 -Dealt with a few interesting bumps. :)
 -----A woman came into the hall in a wheelchair prior to the beginning
 lesson. It was the first time I had seen someone at a contra in a
 wheelchair and while I know there are strategies to incorporate, I knew it
 was over my capabilities my first night.  I went over and checked in with
 her?  she was wanting to just watch.  (Helpful for me as I was a wee
 stressed out with things about to start.)
 -----A woman fell the third time through the first dance in the middle of
 a balance the ring.  We stopped the dance.  I was worried but kept really
 calm.  Turns out she hurt her wrist but was otherwise fine.  (Makes me want
 to find out even quicker how to get callers insurance in Canada)
 -----Soundsystem had lots of challenges including, my mic having clicking
 notes, the band dropping out here and there.

 Anyway, I had better sign off.   What a great learning opportunity though?
 my brain is blown.  :)

 Emily

Re: [Callers] reporting in from Maberly