Dear me, I could write a novel with all this information! Thank you all for the wonderful feedback, insights, and suggestions. Hopefully some beginners show up so I DO get to use it. =)
Davey On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 12:44 AM, Keith Tuxhorn <[email protected]> wrote: > I'd disagree with Richard re: dropping teaching the swing. For most modern > contra dancers, that's one of the 2-3 most important things about why > people > do these dances, at least in the Midwest. With every dance having at least > one swing, the instructor should get them prepared. > > And I'd rather that a teacher show them how to swing than the "experienced" > dancers within the dance. First, "experienced" does not equal "good" in > contra dancing, as you many know. here in my town there's a large > percentage > of experienced dancers that I would never want to have teach newbies, > because they have yet to learn how to swing properly. A teacher can show > proper position and motions, as well as warn people about etiquette > regarding swings. > > Also, teaching swings is a chance to teach about giving weight, > positioning, > and "where you go from here". > > Out community has, coincidentally, debated issues re" beginner sessions > recently. One issue is length of the lesson. One dancer likes to emphasize > that George Marshall's beginner session runs about 10 minutes, tops. and > George teaches weight, swings, how a musical line sounds, and that's it. > Other thought longer lengths would be better... After calling 5 years, I've > found that 15 minutes gives me enough to get people ready. I teach in a > circle, and steal most of my session approach from Seth Tepfer. Walk to the > 8-count; allemandes, dosodo, swings; show how to give weight; string the > moves together and call a "dance", and congratulate them for doing a dance > already. > > Think about what's going through a newbie's mind when they walk into a > hall. > Think how much new stuff they're processing from that first moment through > the night. You don't want to try to teach twelve things in a half-hour, > because no newbie will retain it all, it's time and energy wasted. Get them > to the dancing, because getting them out of their head sooner rather than > later will serve them and you better. > > Good luck, Davey, and have a great time (and THAT'S the most important > thing)! > > Keith Tuxhorn > Austin, TX > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
