3 Jun
2015
3 Jun
'15
6:48 p.m.
I've been skimming the Another Approach thread, as I haven't had time to
really process it, though I look forward to examining the ideas,
internalizing concepts, and using it.
But, on the point of having different ways to say things, YES!
When I'm dancing, I never try to teach in the walk through. I might ask
the caller a question. And I hate it when a caller says something like
(as happened recently), "end the hey and stand back to back with your
partner.... No, back to back.... No, on the other side, and stand back
to back..." and on and on, not really seeing how people were
misinterpreting this, doing exactly what she said, but now how she
wanted them to do it. Another unnamed caller used to say, after
describing something in a very ambiguous manner -- in a way I could
interpret in a variety of ways, did in fact, and I was incorrect -- and
then would say, in effect, "Dancers, you're just not listening to me!"
I always look, both during the walk through and during the dance, and
try to see what is confusing to dancers, and adjust my instruction to
their need in a general way.
Devices I use:
Room Geography! Does one wall have windows, the other not? Turn
your back on the band, or face the band. Etc.
Partner: Face your Partner or Neighbor
And all the conventional ones: Right, Left, Up, Down, Middle, Outside
Even with these "standard" ones, I try to think, "if someone doesn't
understand "outside," how else can I say it? It might be, "step outside
the set, that is, take a step away from your partner."
Always, look for different ways to say moves, and hone in on the one
that will help those in need.
~erik hoffman
oakland, ca
On 6/3/2015 10:34 AM, Jacob Nancy Bloom via Callers wrote:
You raise a good point. It took a long time for
someone to impress
upon me that, although I have no problem with positional calling, many
people do. Different people have different strengths.
When calling for a group of beginners, I've found that things go more
smoothly if I know several ways to describe an action, and use them
all. "Look for the next, look away from the couple you've been
dancing with, for a new person." Some people will understand that
they are dancing with one couple after another and turn the right way
when I say "Look for the next", some are orienting themselves relative
to the other couple and find "look away from the other couple"
clearer, and some do not have a strong positional sense but will look
around for a new person to dance with. Different calls work best for
different dancers.
Jacob
On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Aahz Maruch via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 03, 2015, Jim Hemphill via Callers wrote:
I realize that it is much easier on callers to just substitute a
label for
ladies and gents on their calling cards. It
shifts the burden
onto the
dancers who haven't grown up in a genderless
dance environment
as their
brains translate the label into a term they are
used to.
Positional
teaching and calling is more challenging for the
caller. Not
every dance
will lend itself to this technique but I bet with
a little
thought most
would.
Positional calling is also considerably more difficult for at
least some
dancers. My perception is that changing the "gender" label is pretty
easy for most dancers -- at least, I've never seen many people
struggling
with it, and I do see people struggling with contra corners (which
is the
most common use-case in standard contra dancing).