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?