Yes. And more than a few times.
I try to preempt it with a "bow to your partner" or the like just before the downbeat.Also I am known to say (between the walk-through and the dancing): "..and be prepared for surprises."sueOn Jan 30, 2016, at 4:52 PM, James Saxe jim.saxe@gmail.com [trad-dance-callers] wrote:I have a question for any of you who have ever called an
occasional square at a dance series where they are rare. [We
might assume, for the sake of discussion, a primarly-contra
series where the organizers are amenable to inclusion of squares
in a program, but where most of the callers booked don't include
even one square in an evening. In any case, I'd appreciate it if
responders would stick to answering the question I'm about to
ask, and would refrain from diverting this thread into yet
another rehash of "squares vs. contras"--why you personally
dislike squares, why you think "people" don't like squares, why
you think mixing squares and contras is an inherently
wrong-headed idea, etc., etc., etc. Thank you.]
My question is, have you ever seen something like this happen?
You get the dancers into squares and walk them through
the figures of a dance. Perhaps you also walk them through
a break/chorus figure. After the walk-through, you get
everyone squared up at home with their original partners
and have the band start playing. As you start calling the
first moves of the opening chorus (e.g., "Bow to your
partner. ..."), or maybe even as you let a few bars of
music go by before you start to call, you see some of the
dancers start off on their own doing something they remember
from the walk-through.
I think there's no mystery about why such a thing can happen:
If dancers have little or no experience with squares, and if they
have lots of experience with contras--where the dance almost
always follows a predictable repeating pattern that matches the
walk-through--then there's no reason to expect they'll magically
know that squares work differently. I also think there's no
mystery about finding a preventative measure: Get the dancer's
attention before the music starts, and give them a succinct but
clear explanation/reminder about waiting and listening for the
calls because squares are different from contras and don't follow
a completely predictable pattern.
Anyway, I'd be interested in knowing how many of you can recall
seeing, even once, something like the scenario I described above,
either while you were calling or while you were at a dance with
someone else calling.
Thanks.
--Jim