Re: Dance space and that "bottom" couple drifting down the hall: I've seen gaps in the line of 10 or 12 feet.... that makes it hard to do a forward and back at all, much less with "W" shaped arms. It's real hard to give weight and feel any connection with anything but "W" shaped arms :) Dances with moves outside the set (such as next neighbor do-si-do) are brutal to execute in 8 steps, when the next neighbor is 10 feet away. Some dancers I know are aware of the set and do compress it upwards when the couples get to far apart. Expanding sets can even occur on level floors, just due to the random motion of the dance, You can often see a set line up close enough for the walk through but 2 times into the dance, the minor sets are way to far apart. As a caller set management becomes an issue... in a small hall the difference between 2 or 3 lines is a big factor. Trying to talk the dancers into forming two lines when they almost always want 3 can cause a "mutiny" real fast :) :) so..... tricks, ploys, and careful observation are needed. I've found I can only mold the dancers into a set formation where the hall limits the "spreading out" about 4 or 5 times a evening. The rest of the time I have to save my "connected" dances for times when they just happen to be in the right formation and use "stay in the minor sets" dances for the times when they are spread out. Perhaps the best plan would be to find those dancers that understand how great contra dancing is when the dancers can feel each other and get them to nudge the sets into the correct spacing? I remember dancing in the 1980's in halls in California where the spacing was so tight you had to turn sideways to do a right and left thru. Everyone was on time because you had to be, because the space you just vacated was immediately occupied by some one else. :) Beginners picked up on the dance real fast because the was no place to wander off to, and we all had a blast :) Keep the contra fires burning... :) Richie Katz
_____________________________________________________________ Get educated. Click here for Adult Education programs. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2121/fc/Ioyw6i3nNbXGKagfim7iXkNnQgez765UM3jMBVG5BoKksdGossneQD/?count=1234567890
