New subject line because Dale’s comment reminded me of a question that’s been
on my mind: what are some favorite dances, sequences, or figures that are
slightly challenging for experienced dancers but don’t register as
preferentially more challenging for beginners?
In other words, these are
Jeff says:
I'll bite that bullet: callers generally shouldn't be calling a dolphin hey
at a regular evening dance.
And Amy says:
It always helps to read the room first. Got a bunch of beginners? Call
simpler dances, at least the first half. Explain them well. Don't call a
complicated move that
A lot of good points covered by everyone, but I'll just add:
When I first suggested "facing star" as a replacement back 11 or 12 years
ago, I chose it because the idea was the prompt should go hand in hand as
being instructive, alongside the teaching of it - as Michael pointed out.
(And because
It always helps to read the room first. Got a bunch of beginners? Call
simpler dances, at least the first half. Explain them well. Don't call a
complicated move that will discourage them. You want them to return, right?
Baby steps, then walking, then jogging, then dolphin heys.
Unless you have
Bravo, Michael! (I’ve bolded, below, the point on which I want to agree
wholeheartedly.) I’ve believed this for years, and had no way of knowing what
percentage of active contra callers agreed. I dare to hope that, as Michael is
known for writing and advocating difficult sequences, his opinion
On Thu, 14 Sep 2023 10:20:44 -0400, Jeff Kaufman via Contra Callers wrote:
> I'll bite that bullet: callers generally shouldn't be calling a dolphin hey
> at a regular evening dance.
We certainly would in England. I would explain it as a hey for three with the
ones (usually) acting as a unit,
I'll bite that bullet: callers generally shouldn't be calling a dolphin hey
at a regular evening dance.
Jeff
On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 10:14 AM Dale Wilson via Contra Callers <
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 3:11 AM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <
>
On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 3:11 AM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers <
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>
dancers should need to understand the names of a dozen or so basic figures
> (such as F, allemande, promenade, star, chain, right and left, circle,
> shoulders round, hey, and
Jeff's suggestion of "facing star" works perfectly, and merits becoming the
standard term used for discussions about and written descriptions of
dances. However, such occasionally used figures must always be explained
during walk-throughs, so the caller can designate, for the duration of the
