Okay, so I just got in from a 4-hour drive from Wichita Falls, Texas, where I called a wedding rehearsal dance - wedding is at 6:46 a.m. this morning. Dance was in an open barn with ceiling fans, but a nice breeze blowing through the building - concrete floor - barbeque, beer & bourbon. Dance was supposed to be from 8:00-9:00 - we didn't start till 9:00 and danced till 10:00 since everybody has to get up so darn early in the morning. About 9:30, the mosquito attack began - looked like a German clapping dance on the floor...
The groom was bound and determined we have a "contra" dance (for only an hour). I (gently) protested, assuring him a "barn" dance would go over much better - 2 families, a bunch of strange friends might have trouble with swings - the embracing a stranger thing, you know. He assured me, "Yes, there will be at least 10 contra dancers there." There were only 4 - and there were about 30-40 dancing. So, I started with Moon & Stars Circle - didn't bother explaining how to swing because the groom assured me... Swings ended up mostly being elbows. That told me something... So, I did Newlywed Lane. That worked just fine. Lots of laughing, clapping. Fancy Free Flirting circle waltz worked, too. Contra dance? Well, I've never had a failure with the one I chose, but no one was paying attention by that dance (maybe the mosquitos had something to do with it). I used my own "La Ba Contra" (a knock-off of La Bastringue - easy, huh? - changed the chains to F&B 2x to make it even easier. Somehow, we made it though the dance - even though I told them they could rest on the ends if no one to dance with - they didn't hear me say that, so when they got to the end, they raced to the other end with their partner to dance with the couple "resting on the other end"... Ended with a free waltz and Cotton-eyed Joe - which none of them knew how to do the old version or the modern version. Got a good paycheck, though... Looking forward... Linda S. Mrosko 7302 CR 2829 Mabank, Texas 75156 (903) 451-5535 (H) (903) 288-4401 (cell) lmro...@hotmail.com www.towerwebsites.com/dancinglinda http://www.facebook.com/lmrosko "We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once." -- Friedrich Nietzsche > Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:11:45 -0700 > To: call...@sharedweight.net > From: greg...@earthlink.net > Subject: Re: [Callers] Wedding dances > > > Linda wrote: > >We take progressing and identifying actives and inactives for > >granted. However, these concepts can be a bit difficult, especially > >for a group that includes many novices. And you can bet that the > >novices WILL be dancing together! > > My recollection of this event was that there would be a good number > of experienced dancers. I find that experienced dancers are always > ready and willing to dance with new dancers, if the caller can > inspire confidence and demonstrate that they will make sure everyone > is successful. People love to introduce someone to something they > themselves are passionate about. Particularly if the newcomers are > ready, confident, and relaxed. The trick is to start off with a > high-energy introduction and show the experienced dancers that you > will take care of them when they partner with newcomers. One key > component is that you must assume the support of all of the > experienced dancers in the room and speak on their behalf when you > encourage newcomers to find someone who has danced at least one night > of contras. Assume their support. Don't ask for it. > > Don't teach figures. Let the experienced dancers show them. Don't > explain details (like progression or switching at the ends of the > set). Let the experienced dancers do what they love doing. Allow > them to take the lead in leading the newcomers. Empower the > experienced dancers to introduce people to something they have great > passion for. Both the experienced and the new dancers will love you for that. > > Good luck! > > Greg McKenzie > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > call...@sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=PID23384::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:NF_BR_sync:082009
