Hi all,
I've included John's comments below, but thought I'd start a new thread on introductory lessons, which is sort of the bigger picture of what we talk about when we talk about a caller teaching the swing.
I don't call much, but I still teach introductory lessons before weekly dances every now and then. In my community, it's pretty common for local callers (or even some local dancers who aren't callers) to teach the lesson when there's an out-of-town caller booked for the night. I think this system has advantages and disadvantages: as an organizer, I like being able to control what goes in the lesson, since, as discussed below, I have some fairly strong opinions on what makes an introductory lesson welcoming and successful, but if I were a traveling caller calling my home dance, I would feel at a disadvantage if I could not tailor the lesson the program I intended to call.
So, what do you all focus on when teaching the lesson? It seems from the previous thread that there are several approaches:
- teach the moves that are most difficult for dancers to get (right and left through, ladies' chain)
- teach the moves in proportion to how many times you call them during the night (swing, allemande, circle)
- teach the moves that will mess you up the most if you don't do them right (half promenade across, half chain, half anything, really)
- teach skills, such as sharing weight
My approach is really to do none of these. I do teach dancers how to share weight, and generally teach it in the context of a circle, then a two hand walk around with one other person, then a buzz-step swing. If I have time after that I may quickly go through a few other moves, but I don't consider that a necessity.
Instead, what I focus on is teaching newcomers to dance with a variety of partners, ask experienced dancers to dance, listen to the caller, look up for help when lost, and clap to show their appreciation for the performers at the end of each dance. I tell them explicitly what I think is most important and what I am there to help them get out of the night: I want nobody to get hurt, and I want them all to have a good time. At the end of the lesson, I will even try to point out experienced dancers who I think the newcomers should dance with at some point. I tell the newcomers that they should dance each dance with a different person, that it is totally fine to sit dances out if they need a break, and that if somebody asks them to dance but they don't want to dance with that person, simply say "no thank you." I also identify members of the dance committee who are in the room in case they have any questions at all or have any problems during the dance, and again stress to them that we are here to help them have a great time.
The way I view it, if I teach 20 moves in a 30-minute lesson, the newcomers will not remember those moves after an hour of dancing. If I teach them that the community is committed to ensuring they have a safe, fun dancing experience, and that experienced dancers will help them through the rest, I think that is 90% of what helps newcomers get the most out of their first dance.
Obviously, my view of how the lesson should be only works in communities with a lot of experienced dancers. I'd never be able to get away with teaching a lesson without telling anybody what an allemande is if the hall is full of beginners.
-Dave
Washington, DC