David wrote: > Greg's negative feelings about mixers are based on them being used as a > form of social engineering, to get folks to partner up with people with whom > they wouldn't normally. >
Thank you David for stating this idea so clearly. You are, once again, treading very close to the real question: What is a dance caller and what do they do? My negative comments about mixers were directed only at their use as a ploy for integrating the hall. I am not adverse to mixers in general. The key concept is keeping the dancers informed about what is coming so that they *can *act responsibly and prepare in advance. It is the tactic of "springing" a mixer on dancers unannounced that dis-empowers them. If I were opposed to "social engineering" I would never advocate that anyone become a dance caller. I know of no other human endeavor that better qualifies as "social engineering" than dance calling--and contra dance calling in particular. Social engineering is at the heart of what a contra dance caller does. I think we should strive to improve our social engineering and I would like to see callers focus more on their role as social engineers. The tactic of "springing" a mixer on the dancers is, simply, *poor *social engineering because it discourages dancers from being proactive in partnering with newcomers. I am enjoying this discussion and I would be interested in what other callers on this list think of being called "social engineers." - Greg McKenzie 2011/10/8 David Millstone <[email protected]> > Greg wrote: "Mixers are often used to force integration of the dance hall." > > I'm glad that he included the "often" qualifier, thereby leaving open the > possibility that not every caller who chooses a mixer is condemned to the > 9th circle of hell. > > Following the lead of my mentor, Ted Sannella, I include a mixer at nearly > all of my home dances, typically the third dance of the evening. That was > Ted's custom, and Tony Parkes, another great caller, once explained that the > third dance is late enough to catch the late arrivals but early enough to > help set the stage for the evening. > > I love mixers, as a dancer. It's an opportunity to see who's in the hall. > It's a chance to dance, briefly, with folks I don't know. Oh, here's a face > I don't recognize, but based on her swing, it's clear that she's a dancer > who's been on the floor for some time... Aha, this is someone brand new, > good smile but unsteady on her feet, good person to ask for a dance... > yippee! she's here tonight! gotta make sure to get her for a partner if > there's a square caller since I remember that she loves squares... and so > on. > > And as a caller, I love calling them, to provide all of those > opportunities, and for other reasons. I don't run most mixers for very long, > perhaps 8-10 times, depending on the dance. That means that I'm adding one > more dance into the mix, inthe course of which everyone is getting that many > opportunities to dance with a different partner. Mixers also come in many > shapes: big circle, Sicilian circle, scatter promenades, three person lines, > and so on. That also allows me to vary the look and feel of the floor so > that it's not all contra contra contra, and since the dance floor is part of > life, I do believe that variety adds spice. > > David Millstone > Lebanon, NH > > P.S. An interesting cultural sidenote: Greg's negative feelings about > mixers are based on them being used as a form of social engineering, to get > folks to partner up with people with whom they wouldn't normally. I've had > the opportunity to call often in Denmark and in the Czech Republic, and > there you can end a mixer and ask people to take that partner to line up for > the next dance and that's okay, an accepted part of what people will > cheerfully do. In Prague, for example, they usually dance squares without > break figures, in part to language issues-- a steady stream of unexpected > calls in a foreign language can be daunting But they'll run a > partner-changing square five or more times, and at the end they'll take that > final partner for the next dance. It's simply not a big issue. They're there > to have fun, and it's not as important as it seems to be with hard-core > contra dancers in the US that they have The Right Partner for a swing. It's > a refreshing laid-back alternative to what sometimes is an overly-intense > partnered scene at our dances in the US. > > ______________________________**_________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/**mailman/listinfo/callers<http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers> >
