On 6/14/2015 9:48 AM, Richard Hart via Callers wrote:
I've considered writing an entirely hands free dance, as an example, along with a very similar dance that used hands for the corresponding moves. The hands free dance would certainly need to used only at an expert-only dance.
I'm a caller married to a dance musician. As a result I almost never get to dance with my husband. A few years back, he was the high bidder in a camp auction where Alan Winston was offering to write a dance to the winner's specs. Jon asked him for a dance with no hand contact so that he and I could dance together while he played the tune. It's an English dance in waltz time, and it's quite lovely. At a recent Pasadena ECD ball Jon and I took advantage of wireless mic technology to call and play it from the floor as we danced together. It's called The Fiddler's Wife. I wouldn't spring it on brand-new dancers, but it's fine for an intermediate crowd.
And at the other end of the spectrum, I wrote another 3/4 ECD for some longtime members of our local Sebastopol dance, one of whom was starting to need a little more help on the floor (she had some balance and mobility issues). For them, I wrote a dance where you only let go of your partner for 2 bars during the whole sequence. It's a great one for new dancers.
Kalia
