[Callers] What to do with a really bad new dancer?

[Mary Collins via Callers]

We have a dancer here in Buffalo that has a hard time hearing and ear-mind
process-motor response time is very very slow. (I worry about him
driving).  We have a loose house rule that the regular good lady dancers
pair with this gentleman.  Otherwise he will ask newbies to dance, and
often is at the end of the line, after the walk through.  When you dance
with him you have to call to him through the dance and guide him to where
he needs to be.  This is how we have dealt with our own issue.

In your case, you might want to invite him to your beginner's workshop
where you can address some of the issues you have seen him experience (i.e.
the 1/2 alemande instead of the 1 1/2 of the call, or a shorter swing.
Play up the better never than late thing and talk about flourishes and how
they are not really a necessary part of the dance experience.

the others have mentioned other ideas that are really good.

Good luck Marie!

Mary in Buffalo

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning
to dance in the rain!” ~ Unknown

On Mon, Mar 6, 2017 at 3:13 PM, Marie-Michèle Fournier via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>    Lately a new dancer has started coming to our dance and he is bad
> enough that he will often make the set break if the dance is moderately
> challenging. He seems to have some kind of impairment and walks very
> stiffly which means he will often not be on time for a figure and also
> often does not remember what is coming next.
>   We want to be inclusive but at the same time his presence negatively
> impacts other dancers in his set and while some of the experienced dancers
> will take one for the team and dance with him, it is an unpleasant
> experience to be his partner. Unfortunately, we always have many new
> dancers and having one couple not be where they should be can really throw
> them off in some dances so I feel like I have to push and pull him around
> to be on time, despite the fact that it's a little rude.
>    A recent caller to our dance called him a "speed bump" which was quite
> accurate. I'm sure other dances have had experience with similar troubles,
> does anyone have advice on how to deal with this so that other dancers
> still have a good time yet we are nice to this problematic dancer?
> Thank you
> Marie
> ContraMontreal
>
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