Re: [Callers] Folk Festival - Easy Contra dances to teach Beginners - Import1

24 Jul 2018

WITH BEGINNERS, AVOID RIGHTS AND LEFTS!  Half of them will turn right when
they should have turned left, and the other half will turn all the way
around and look back at the person they just walked past.  To experienced
dancers they seem similar to a ladies chain, but people who have never done
either before find rights and lefts vastly more confusing.

Jacob

On Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 11:17 AM, Jen Morgan via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

...
  Not necessarily.  I called a contra dance in the
ceilidh tent at a UK folk
 festival with few if any experienced contra dancers.  I made a list of very
 basic figures and chose only dances with those figures in.  I think I used
 either only right and left throughs, or only ladies chains, but not both
 (can't remember which sorry!)  No work outside minor set, I preferred eight
 bar figures to four bar figures (over and back etc).  Lots of line of four
 lead down sort of dances.  Lots of the easier chestnuts.

 And I delivered the explanation of how to line up, how to know if you're a
 one or two, how the progression works etc, before *every* *single*
 *dance*.  It worked and the dancers had a great time.

 Hope it goes well!
 Jen

 On 24 July 2018 at 15:53, Mac Mckeever via Callers <
 callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

  I stay away from contras unless you have a good
number of experienced
 dancers to hold things together.  There are lots of dances that are more
 self correcting and don't have the complexity that progression creates.
 Virginia Reel works good with beginners

 Mac McKeever

 On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, 9:48:59 AM CDT, Lorraine Sutton via Callers <
 callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

 Hello All,

 I am calling a 2 hour Intro to Contra dance ....at an Ontario Canada
 Festival. ( more a music focus than a dance focus, at this festival)

 I would appreciate hearing from you as to contra dances ( lws proper
 & Improper) that you have found successful with very novice dancers and why
 you think those dances work for beginners.(I love Larry Jennings definition
 of easy vs complicated )

 I do plan on doing some non progressive lws as well as a both a circle
 and a Sicilian  circle in the program mix , to get the concept of
 progression.

 Thanks so much.

 Lorraine Sutton  ( lorrainesutton7(a)gmail.com )

 ...

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