Some thoughts on timing, in part inspired by the recent discussion of "Young Adult Rose" (btw, I hope we get a series of dances up to and including "Revered Elder Rose" -- alternatively "That Old Rascal Rose").

As the dancers get the dance into their body, I'll shift from calling early for direction to calling on the beat for timing. Of course it would be ideal to be able to do both; I think it's possible with artful word choice, but not always, not for me.

Sometimes I get the control thing going and want to exert a strong influence over the timing -- "balance Now!".  It's often more fun to shut up and let the dancers sort out the timing - it's great to see people adjust to make a dance flow.

Sometimes I enjoy dancing a dance with imperfect timing or flow, just to see how the hall will adjust and make sense of it. A lot of the figures we dance are not so precise as we think they are; for example, many "allemande once" figures are really more like 1/2, to reverse direction. This is why I prefer to teach with "far enough so you can..." rather than "exactly N" -- I want the dancers to think about flow and connection, not about completing one figure before attending to the next.

On the other hand, I'm a total curmudgeon about lazy not-quite-far-enough circles. And being late for your neighbor? Awful. Breaks down the trust that builds up when we're all there for each other, on time and in the right place.

- Roger Hayes

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