Sure, there are lots of good teaching reasons to demonstrate a move--and we all use them during a lesson. But there are also reasons not to, and that is one of the ways a workshop is different from a walk-through.
Demos are perfect for workshops and OK for beginner lessons. Workshops are usually smaller than a regular dance, with people who came explicitly to learn or practice a skill. The size makes it easier for them all to see what you want them to, you are trying to teach specific things, and they don't mind being pulled out of formation for a teaching point.
At a regular dance demos are usually not ideal on those fronts, along with a few others. You can't control who or what people decide to watch and learn, and there is the potential for embarrassment of or errors among your demonstrating set. If one of them doesn't know the figure, you will have to talk it through to the demonstrators in order to help them not teach the wrong thing; if they do know it, they may decide to show off and cause confusion.
Still, saying it is "failure as a caller" to have used a demo is absurd; sometimes that is the best way to communicate complex info, or if people just aren't "getting it". They just need to be used sparingly.
Neal
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
-------- Original message --------
From: Tom Hinds via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Date:06/19/2015 6:04 AM (GMT-06:00)
To: Michael Fuerst <mjerryfuerst@yahoo.com>
Cc: callers@lists.sharedweight.net, John Sweeney <info@contrafusion.co.uk>, callers-request@lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] How to Describe a Ricochet Hey
I'm asking myself why not demo a ricochet? In my mind there are some
advantages to demonstrating a move instead of describing it (or doing
both with a wireless mic).
My experience is most contra callers are highly educated and have
exceptional verbal skills. Maybe some callers don't value a good
demonstration. Or is a demonstration too beneath some of us? One of
my calling students told me that I failed as a caller because I
demonstrated a move.
My own view is that watching and learning is an integral part of
being human. We could make a long list of older skills (like
hunting) or newer ones like learning to play a musical instrument
where watching and imitating is the key to learning.
I recently took an informal workshop on dance history. The teachers
pointed out that when people watch something, appropriate synapses
fire in preparation for performing a task. This physiological
response helps the person actually learn a task better.
T
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