> This is likelier to happen if both partners are new, and likeliest to happen if all four in that set are new. But that couple that's new will have that problem repeatedly. When I see that I continue to prompt the figures, maybe with more emphasis - Ladies CHAIN and COURTESY TURN - and it doesn't seem to make any difference.
When there are a couple of new people dancing together, there's not much correct leading and learning going on within the couple. Having dancers new to contra mix it up with experienced dancers is useful here... I'd be interested if anybody has any phrasing or methods that seem to make mixing happen more often. When in line with new dancers, it's pretty clear that they are paying far more attention to the other people they are dancing with than the caller: they often don't seem to be listening to the caller at all. Which is normal and good: one of the skills-that-will-make-the-dance-more-enjoyable is to be able to follow what dancers in your quad and in your line. That does have it's downside, of course: I've seen half a line clue off each other and do the B2 figures when the music was on A2. On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 12:32 AM, Aahz Maruch <a...@pobox.com> wrote: > [chiming in late] > > On Fri, Jun 21, 2013, Alan Winston wrote: > > On 6/21/2013 3:03 PM, Kalia Kliban wrote: > >> > >>I run into this periodically as well, and haven't found a way to > >>verbally interrupt whatever's going on in their heads. It may be > >>that they're so overloaded that further verbal info just can't get > >>in. [...] > > > > What makes me extra crazy is the people who are doing something > > wrong that's obvious to an external observer, [...] > > I'll just remind you that *you*, Alan Winston, highly experienced dancer, > couldn't remember to do a California Twirl in Panix Dot Chat. ;-) I'll > admit that "pass thru, California Twirl" isn't seen much in contra > dancing (I borrowed it from square dancing), but I was (and am) confused > about why you made that mistake given that the next move is the highly > natural "men left allemande". > > My point in bringing this up is that if highly experienced dancers get > brain farts, certainly new dancers are more likely to get overloaded and > forget things. > > Panix Dot Chat (a...@pobox.com) > > Becket formation > Double-progression, better with odd number of couples > > Right-and-left thru on left diagonal (8) > (Yes, start with progression) > (Warn ends about not moving) > Right-and-left thru new couple (8) > Circle left 3/4 (8) > Swing neighbor (8) > Pass through (4) > California twirl (4) > Men left-hand turn once-and-half (8) > Balance and swing partner (16) > -- > Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 > http://rule6.info/ > <*> <*> <*> > Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > call...@sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
