I've been calling less than a year, so I'm still learning. One problem I have is that, when looking at a written-out dance, I'm consistently underestimating the difficulty for newbies. My group is about 50% newbies every week, and it isn't large, usually about 20 dancers at peak. Last week, I thought Al's Safeway Produce would be accessible, as it has just allemande, swing, circle, long lines, and star. But, the star-to-star progression was more than they could do, because the stars were poorly synchronized and we're gender-neutral, so people didn't realize whether the people coming at them were the right ones to dance with or not, and stars quickly started having the wrong members and the wrong number of members. (I should have given up after six walkthroughs, I didn't, and that's another lesson learned.)
So, I'm looking for a better set of rules to identify an easy dance than the set I'm currently using, which is basically: glossary moves only, mostly connected moves, and enough recovery moves (long swings, etc.). A recent thread generated a list of such dances, which has been useful. But, I'm going through lists of dances people like (like the ones posted on this list, the CDNY list that Bob Isaacs compiled, and others posted online) and looking for ones I can call to my group, especially early in the night. What would you add to this list of rules that, if satisfied, indicate a dance is likely easy-peasy? Easy-Peasy Dances Suitable for New Dancers Right Out of the Lesson... Have only very basic moves found in most dances, or at most one more that is simple to teach. Have mostly connected moves. Have at least two moves where dancers can recover from recent mistakes (e.g., balance and swing). Don't spin too much (at most one 16-count swing, better none). Are improper or possibly Beckett (if the dance is quite simple). Keep the dancers within their minor set until the progression. Have a simple progression. Have a progression where the neighbors are likely to be there. Have a progression that recovers easily if messed up (e.g., followed by recovery move). Progress at the end of the dance. What else to add? Thanks, --jh-- Joe Harrington Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance Faculty Advisor, Contra Knights, the UCF contra dancing club contraknights.org FB, Ig: Contra Knights contradancer...@gmail.com
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