This is a long term project of mine: to teach and encourage what I call “the physical therapist approved” way to Allemande. I don’t seem to be making much progress so am delighted that others care about it, too.
On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 8:55 PM Martha Wild via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Hear, hear! My sentiments exactly! How on earth are you supposed to “give > weight” (in the proper way, just a tiny bit so you are both part of a unit) > and get around each other with a flat, palm to palm contact? The only way > that works is that people bend their wrists so that they have some purchase > on the other person. Which hurts my now no longer flat wrist! So wrong, > painfully wrong. Please, please, please, stop teaching a flat hand > allemande. It doesn’t work. Curved fingers, straight wrist, the thumb is > just sort of loose and not doing much. Thank you for bringing that up, Erik! > Martha > > On May 17, 2019, at 3:01 PM, Erik Hoffman via Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > John Sweeny below hoped we callers would teach more about hand turns and > the like. > > I’ve been thinking on this for quite a while. Years ago I had a discussion > with Brad Foster. We both lamented the loss of the allemande with mildly > interlocking thumbs to the modern overprotective thumb against the side of > the palm allemande. At that time I think I was still in Santa Barbara, thus > it must have been pre 1994. I wrote an article for our dance rag called, > “If Allemande Left, Where’d Allemande Go?” > > I talked about what I do when someone grips my hand—and I think all of us > should remove that word, “grip” from our caller’s vocabulary… > > But the most important thing I discussed is: > > - Our Wrist is Strongest When It’s Straight > - Our Fingers are Strongest When Curved > - Thus, however one does an allemande, it should be a hook, with > curved fingers and a straight wrist. > > > Lately I’ve seen teachers promote the straight fingers, bent wrist, and > flat palm method. The almost always makes one person’s wrist uncomfortable. > Not as bad as when someone draws the others hand into that > almost-Aikido-put-them-on-the-ground position, but usually quite > uncomfortable. > > Thus I hope most of us learn the curved fingers, straight wrist, no grip, > and, no thumb clamping allemande, ECD hand turn, two hand turn type hand > connections. > > ~Erik Hoffman, > Oakland, CA > > *From:* Callers <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *John > Sweeney via Callers > *Sent:* Friday, May 17, 2019 2:09 PM > *To:* 'Caller's discussion list' <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [Callers] Name that Dance > > Hi Rich, > I would just call it a “Big Set Mixer”. It is a slight > variation of the one in the Community Dances Manual. Callers just make up > a 32 bar sequence that works for their dancers. > > While it is a good example of all ages having fun together, > I really wish callers would teach the dancers just a tiny bit about how to > do better hand/arm turns and swings :-) > > Happy dancing, > John > > John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & 07802 > 940 574 > http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html for Live Music > Ceilidhs > http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent > > http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive DVDs > > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: [email protected] > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > _______________________________________________ > List Name: Callers mailing list > List Address: [email protected] > Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >
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