At our dances in St Louis, new dancers are almost always paired with experienced dancers for much of the first part of the evening (not ones who have just attended once or twice - but dancers skilled in dancing with new dancers). There are exceptions - but our dancers work hard to make this happen. Most are even careful to not start a dance where they will be out during the walk thru or the first couple times thru a dance. It is common to see someone with a new partner trade places with a more experienced couple to make this happen.
Remember - even if every new dancer has an experienced partner - they will be dancing with neighbors who are also new at various points in the dance - this is where the lesson is the biggest help - at least they know the lady is supposed to be on the right, etc. Yes - we could run the dance fairly successfully without the lesson - but we don't. I see the lesson more about making the new dancers comfortable than being necessary. I know they don't need it - but they don't understand or believe that. Most of our callers (yes - the caller for the evening usually teaches the lesson) use a format similar to the one from Glen Echo. Many experienced dancers also participate and often keep a partner from the lesson. Now we have new dancers with familiar partner and a caller they recognize. Often a new dancer ( or several ) arrive after the lesson. Many of our experienced dancers are aware when that happens and invite them to dance. They usually provide a very short intro to the skills they will need. I usually just show them a comfortable way to swing and they escort them to the dance - hopefully not near either end of a line. They are usually fine with just a good walk thru. The real trick is to get the experienced dancer to adapt this approach and feel very proud to be part of a community that is so helpful to new dancers. But we still provide the lesson. New dancers often ask about it as they enter the hall - so we do it for them. As a caller - I try to think of new dancers as I develop my program. That doesn't mean just do easy dances. Certain figures - like gypsies - are intimidating to new dancers who don't understand the culture yet - so I avoid them early in the evening. I am not recommending that for all callers - it is just something I do. But you should think about new dancers not only as you introduce them to the dances - but also to the culture of the dance community. Mac McKeever ________________________________ From: Greg McKenzie <greken...@gmail.com> To: Caller's discussion list <call...@sharedweight.net> Cc: lauraellenbrown1...@gmail.com; FND booking <fndg...@petml.com>; ydanceran...@me.com Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2013 10:25 AM Subject: Re: [Callers] Glen Echo FND beginner lesson plan Thank you Tavi, Stan, and Laura for posting this. It's been a long time since I danced in Glen Echo and I am delighted to hear that they have moved beyond the four-separate-classes format. This new approach takes several big steps in a very helpful direction. I like the emphasis on getting folks moving and keeping it visceral and simple. This approach starts with an assessment of what "skills" are needed. From an instructional design perspective it might also be helpful to take one more step backwards and start with a "problem statement" instead. What is the problem that you are trying to address? The goal of "teaching beginners how to persist under actual floor conditions" assumes a lot about those "floor conditions." Consider the situation if you had full integration of the first-timers into the dance hall. (Meaning that every single first-timer was partnered with someone who had danced for at least one night--*and *the first-timers were distributed evenly throughout the hall.) With a fully integrated hall--and clear, precise calling--your list of skills needed by first-timers is reduced by about 80%, or more. Maybe our efforts would be better directed at what we can do to achieve hall integration rather than preparing first-timers to deal with a non-integrated hall. How do we accomplish that? It may not require separate lessons of any kind. - Greg McKenzie West Coast, USA ******************* On Sat, Aug 10, 2013 at 1:57 AM, tavi merrill <melodiouswoodch...@gmail.com>wrote: > Hi all, > > It was a real treat to utilize the lesson plan Stan Fowler and Laura Brown > developed for Glen Echo's Friday night dance. As a caller who's often more > comfortable with experienced crowds than one night stands, it was magic to > watch the simple concept behind this come to life and open a new way of > looking at teaching. In response to interest some caller friends showed on > a facebook post about the lesson plan, it is with permission of Laura and > Stan and thanks to Kevin Mabon that i share what they developed. It has > been published before, but i thought in response to friends' requests for > the document that sharing it in this forum would make it available and > archived for a new generation and wider audience of callers. > > Stan (aka "Dance Ranger") writes: "As I recall we wrote this paper to solve > a particular issues we were having at the time. If I recall at the time, > the caller was sometimes to teach the work shop, and their methods were all > over the board. Our dance was often the largest dance the caller had > worked. We wished to provide the caller a guideline for our dances. They > did not have to use the paper, but we wished the newcomers to come out of > the workshop with confidence to join the dance and have a good time and > want to return." > > Whether or not you use it in a big crowd, the basic idea - keep them moving > to music *the whole time -* is, as Stan added, the key element. Applying > the "Create Chaos" technique was mad fun. Steps 2 and 3 may require for > some an ad lib about the flexibility of gender and role in your philosophy > dance community. But the document speaks for itself. > > With gratitude for all our community shares, > tavi > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > call...@sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list call...@sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
