[Callers] What can you do.....?

[jim saxe]

> On Sep 30, 2019, at 5:09 PM, Bill Baritompa via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi Becky, John and all, 
> 
>      I think it is slightly more complex. 
> Have a look at the young dancer here
> https://youtu.be/sFVToeQdCPY?t=385
> She does not look awkward and the flow is good. 
> 
> ...

I still think that turning over the right shoulder would be easier.

I've sometimes tried teaching the direction of a Petronella spin by having dancers start out facing the center of their circle, then having them turn their heads to look at the person on their right (or the spot they'll be moving into), and finally telling them to keep turning their heads further the same way and let their bodies follow along as they spin into the new spot.  Some people still spin over their left shoulder.

It seems to me that people can get into a mental state where they've discovered one way to do the figure and aren't able--or aren't willing or aren't ready--even to imagine the idea of traveling the _same_ direction along the floor as they just did but spinning around their own body axis in the _opposite_ direction from what they just did.  It's just outside the universe of possibilities under consideration.

People sometimes dance a Rory-O'More-type slide/spin by spinning in what I consider the "hard" direction.   But I think it's pretty darned rare for someone to spin ccw on the "slide right" and cw on the slide left and a good bit more common for someone to spin the same direction for the"slide left" as for the "slide right."  To me that supports the idea that it's more common for people simply not to consider one possible direction of spin than for people to make a deliberate choice of spinning opposite to the usual (easier, IMO) direction.

--Jim