HI all, I wasn't going to respond to this because in my group we do use
colour-coded tags for Larks and Ravens and I am aware that most groups
prefer not to do that- but then I did have a thought about our process
that might be relevant to everyone.
(Incidentally, I love our colour-coded tags for beginner-friendly/
beginner-oriented dances, so I'll put a plug in for them. We put a
call-out in our community for clear name tag holders of the sort that
delegates receive at conferences. We expressly collected two types, the
ones that pin onto your shirt, and the ones that go around your neck
with a string - to allow for people preferring one type of the other.
A lovely volunteer made the tags for us.
The lark tags are printed on yellow paper. They have a lark-shaped
bird's side-profile, whose beak points towards the right. Below the
image it says LARK in all-caps. The raven tags are printed on green
paper with the same set-up, except the raven profile points towards the
left.
So when couples stand beside each other, it is so visually easy for them
and for the caller and for helpers to see if they are properly matched
up with someone of the other bird role.... and then we teach them about
the "beak rule" - if the couple is standing in the correct orientation
relative to each other, the beaks of each bird point inwards towards
the other).
Anyhow, we love this system but I recognize it isn't for everyone.
What I wanted to share is about the way we assign bird roles.
We have a basket with all the "bird tags" at the entrance table, and as
people enter, our door volunteers explain that in the dance, there are
two nearly equivalent roles, and new dancers should choose one role to
stick with for the night. Since people often come to the dance in small
groups of 2 or more, we explain that if you want to be able to dance
with a certain friend you came with, it will make sense for each of you
to choose the opposite role so you can be paired up together.
The volunteers also keep rough track in their head of odd-numbered
guests who come in and choose a tag, so that they can encourage the next
person who comes in to choose the opposite tag.
This way by the time everyone comes together in a big teaching circle,
we are pretty sure we have even numbers of larks and ravens.
One of the first things I do, after the general introduction, is ask
everyone to temporarily pair up with someone of the opposite bird role
holding inside hands, to check if there is an excess number of one bird
or the other, in which case our volunteers quickly come around with more
tags, to fix the situation.
(I'll also point out that we have many experienced dancers in our group
who enjoy being able to switch roles to fill a void, so these folks
dance with a special tag, with the other bird role hidden behind the
first one, in their plastic sleeve, for quick switches!)
Anyhow, I was thinking - even without physical tags or other markers,
would it still be worth considering an approach of assigning people
their bird roles as they enter the hall?
And that way you can advise people as we do, that if you are with a
friend who you hope to dance with at some point in the evening, you
should not choose the same role?
Kat K in Hfx
Maia McCormick via Contra Callers
<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sunday, March 10, 2024 11:47 AM
Hey there, hive mind,
When you're calling larks and robins, during the lesson, how do you
a. explain the roles to the new folks, and
b. put the beginners into roles for the duration of the lesson?
I've seen "try swinging in both roles and see which feels better",
I've seen "unless you have a preference, whoever is standing on the
right of your partnership is the robin for now", I've seen "pick
whichever bird you like better", I've seen "the robin's role is a
little easier so do that if you feel less confident"...
I'm curious what folks here do and in what kind of distribution, and
how you find it works for you in practice.
(Please please please let's not relitigate gender-free contra or the
bird terms in this thread. If you really must, please make a separate
thread.)
Swingingly,
Maia
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net