Despite my youth, i may be a codger already... IMO, courtesy is(/should be!) basic to the dance; style and flourish have their place, and i enjoy them as well, but not at the expense of courtesy. I think it's possible (/our responsibility?) as callers to emphasize this point without making flourish unwelcome - particularly because lack of courtesy is the surest way for flourish to become unwelcome among dancers, leading to those problematic set dynamics. Recently i had an experience in a particularly venerable venue where i took the time to teach the mechanics of a gents chain, and the militantly flourishistic dancers paid little heed, thus i watched their line struggle the whole way through.
When it comes to petronella claps, i'm intrigued by that particular flourish's ability to enhance or detract from courtesy and community depending on how it's interpreted by the dancers. I personally find it useful to suggest that dancers clap "to" their foursome (/new neighbor/partner) as a means of both orienting them and focusing even the flourish on the idea of dancing "together". > Message: 5 > Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 15:41:32 -0500 > From: George Mercer <geopmer...@gmail.com> > To: "Caller's discussion list" <call...@sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Star Promenade - communicate the feeling of a > good one? > Message-ID: > <cacri76u8msf6tg2dx+0sq2einjewn8fkg4g_nn8dkp+kbaw...@mail.gmail.com > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > Charles: I tend to agree and I may be becoming too much of a codger. I > don't want to discourage flourishes. When I was younger I was quite up to > putting on the style--it was almost a calling card. But I learned almost > from the beginning that I could do just about anything as long as I ended > up where I was supposed to be--on time. I agree that fun is central to the > dance, but I also insist that courtesy is also essential. I have the same > issue with the nearly ubiquitous "Petronella clap." I don't usually do it > but don't care if others do. It does, however, remain a flourish. > Inevitably it is the first thing about a petronella twirl that newcomers > pick up and almost as inevitably it contributes to unnecessary confusion > for them. Clap away, twirl away, jump and shout, get down and get funky, > but help the newcomers/inexperienced dancers learn to become experienced > dancers. > > On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 3:18 PM, Charles Hannum <r...@ihack.net> wrote: > > > There are different reasons that people contra dance. I'm pretty sure > > that for some, it really is about the flourishes, and the flirtiness > > thereof, and therefore it's more important to them than being on time. > > Unless they are actually causing the set to fall apart, I'm not sure > > this is per se a problem, nor if so what the solution would be without > > discouraging some people from coming to the dance. > > > > It seems to me that being too strict about the dancing leads to > > situations like we had several years ago locally, where a bunch of > > dancers who had been dancing at a particular location for many years > > were offended by all the wacky stuff the ?young people? were doing. > > This is part of why, to this day, there is still a strong separation > > of who dances in which lines. > > > > The challenge for organizers and callers is really to make the dance > > welcoming to a variety of people, even though those people may want > > somewhat different things from the dance. > > > > > > On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 15:08, George Mercer <geopmer...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > I love a good star promenade and butterfly whirl, but there are > inherent > > > issues that crop up at almost every dance. First and foremost is the > > > experienced dancers who are too busy doing their "flourishes" to > actually > > > do the appropriate move (and are thereby teaching inexperienced dancers > > > that the flourish is more important and more fun than the actual move) > or > > > to do it at the appropriate time and who just flat out don't understand > > how > > > important it is to help the other dancers. Callers are also part of > the > > > problem. They almost never teach dancers that there is very little > > > waiting/standing in a contra or square dance, even if someone else is > > doing > > > the move [Think of baseball fielders beginning to move as the pitcher > is > > > making the release...even though they have no diea wher the ball is > going > > > to be hit]. As to the star promenade/butterfly whirl, the > non-allemander > > > (now there's a word) should be moving before the person he/she is going > > to > > > promenade with gets there. This happens on other moves as well--think > of > > > all the 20 beat heys you've encountered. We should also consider > > > counseling new/inexperienced dancers that the music will help them to > > know > > > when to terminate a move and begin the next, and that stopping early is > > > almost always better than stopping late. I mentioned this at a dance > > > recently where I was calling and some of the dancers applauded. Callers > > can > > > also help by making the call before the move, which we all know we > should > > > be doing anyway (though we all sometimes fail to do). It also very > rare > > > that I hear a caller/instructor remind dancers that if they are late > for > > or > > > actually miss a move not to worry, but if at all possible to get on to > > the > > > next move in time. > > >
