Re: [Organizers] starting a new dance series

Barb, Seems to me that your goals really should apply to every dancer at every dance.  But it is true that people are very well-meaning but don't necessarily know what's best for every new dancer.  The swing lesson mid walk-through I find does more harm and also confuses dancers more as they don't know what to expect next.  Many of us long-time dancers, especially callers and organizers, are dead-set on the notion that the best way to learn contra dancing is via dancing.  I think perhaps that view needs changing.  To us, contra dancing is easy and you can learn while doing, but from my experiences teaching dance for the past few years, it's evident that people not only need to learn things before they start dancing, they DESIRE it.  Without it, you get these mini-swing lessons during the walk through that are indeed well-meaning but also confuses dancers more than it helps, because now the next move is coming without warning. We ALL should serve as model dancers wherever we dance, and maybe that will become contagious.  Maybe the process of taking hands four could take a shorter time.  Barb - are your thoughts that you want to have a new dance series to exhibit this behavior so eventually the new dancers will learn good behavior and that behavior will spread to other local dances? Perry ________________________________ From: barb kirchner <barbkirchner(a)hotmail.com> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Sent: Wednesday, December 4, 2013 2:26 PM Subject: Re: [Organizers] starting a new dance series great! a few years ago, i moved to colorado.  i immediately got involved in a group called wildlands restoration volunteers (www.wlrv.org ).  over the years, i became a crew leader, then a crew leader instructor.  last year, i took the master trainer course from the outdoor stewardship institute.  i teach 6-10 classes a year. we normally teach a two-day class, one day of soft skills, one day of hard skills.  the goal is to manage people and work so that everything happens and everybody has a good time.  especially that second part. in the context of a contra dance, i can see the role of crew leaders (or perhaps dance angels, etc) in a similar way.  you want the dance to work, you want everyone to have a good time. at the dance, the angels don't need to learn any "hard skills".  they already have a pretty good idea about how to dance. what they DO need to learn is how to get new dancers to have a "good time". take the situation of a well-meaning, experienced dancer who walks into the hall and immediately asks a new dancer to ask - because they care about the community, etc, all the right reasons. so they take the new dancer, line up, explain the lines, etc.  and then the walk-through starts.  the first figure is "balance and swing."  so the well-meaning dancer decides that the newbie really needs a swing lesson, because swings are the most important thing in a dance, right? how does this translate into a good experience for a newbie?  1.  they're new, they don't know that they are supposed to care about swinging. 2.  they just want to know what direction to face, but spent the walkthrough learning how to swing. 3.  they didn't listen to the caller, because they were learning to swing. did the experienced dancer do a good thing?  well, they tried!  but they might have done it a little better. what if you started a group, and trained a cadre of half a dozen dance angels with these goals? 1.  modelling good behavior on the dance floor in terms of lining up and listening to caller (and being social once you are in the right place - because that's a big thing for us, right???). 2.  following the walk-through, paying attention to the caller and directing newbies with clear motions, not conversation. 3.  no florishing with newbies unless it's ABSOLUTELY CLEAR they want to and can handle it. 4.  no teaching of swing during walk-through.  5.  reminding other experienced dancers to exhibit good behavior on the dance floor - pay attention in line, socialize when the caller is not talking. thoughts?                         _______________________________________________ Organizers mailing list Organizers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers