Not disagreeing with anything but explaining that when I tell dancers "squares are just like contras only you have to listen" I am not so much characterizing one or the other, but asking, even begging, the dancers to pay attention to what the caller is calling. Many contra dancers are notoriously bad listeners, especially experienced ones and they tend to set an example for inexperienced dancers, good and bad.  Noit listening in a contra can lead to problems. Not listening in a square is often an outright disaster.  That's all.


On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 11:00 PM, Ron Blechner via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I didn't read Cary's comments about squares as an "objection", just
that Cary was rebutting the comment by George: "squares are just like
contras, only you have to listen."

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 10:40 PM, Jacob Nancy Bloom via Callers
<callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Cary, some of your objections to squares seem a bit contradictory.  Let me
> re-state them, and see if I've understood you correctly.
>
> Some squares are unphrased, and those squares have less opportunity to
> connect your movement to the music.
> Many squares are danced for a shorter time than contradances are usually
> danced, and therefore take relatively longer to teach compared to the
> dancing time.
> Many squares are mixers, and therefore have less time dancing with your
> original partner than in a contra.
> Some squares have visiting couple dances, in which the dancers can only make
> movements in place during some of the music.
> In all square dances, the need to listen for the calls interferes with the
> relationship you would like to have with the music.
>
> Have I understood your points correctly?  Or  have I not quite understood
> your meaning?
>
> Jacob Bloom
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 10:34 PM, Cary Ravitz via Callers
> <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Some things that people to not like about squares -
>>
>>   less movement/music connection due to lack of strict phrasing
>>   having to listen to the caller breaks the movement/music connection
>>   teaching time
>>   mixer squares breaks the partner connection
>>   visiting squares leave people "out of the dance" for long periods.
>>
>> I find squares and contras completely different.
>>
>
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