Yeah, I remember a dance where about 20 foreign exchange students with limited English from - Turkey, I think? showed up at the dance, just before the lesson thankfully. Whoa! I did as you suggested, introduced them to the whole group and asked for their help. Everyone really stepped up. One additional thing I did was NEVER during that night to vary my calling. I usually switch it up, saying “Robins allemande right” for a bit, or “Robins right” or just plain “Allemande” or “look for that robin and allemande” etc. to make it a little less repetitive, but in this case I never varied what I called a move, ever. (Though that was actually way before larks and robins - but same idea, no variance). Oh, and yeah, my program went out the window and I called my old standby “Ellen’s Green Jig” first and went from there. It all worked out surprisingly well, thanks to a lot of help from the experienced dancers. They had a great time, which was very rewarding to watch.
Martha > On Aug 6, 2025, at 9:24 PM, Joe Harrington via Contra Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > > As Randy Pausch said, if there's an elephant in the room, introduce it. That > normalizes the situation and reduces social tension and confusion. It > maximizes the help you'll get from your experienced dancers. I'd also try to > set the newbies' expectations that this might not work out so easily, but > that's ok and they're wanted. This is long because it's a script... > > "Hey, we've got some new folks who just joined us. Welcome! Try to spread > yourselves out among us so we can all help you out. You'll get this quickest > if you partner with experienced dancers for the first few dances, and dance > with the one you brought later, but it's up to you. If you came with someone > special and you're most comfortable dancing together, that's ok, too. Also, > some folks really benefit from the workshop we give before the dances, so if > you find jumping in is a little too much right now, please give us another > try at 7pm before the next dance, and enjoy the live music and company as > long as you like today. We really want you here! Would a few experienced > dancers raise their hands and dance with these fine folks?" > > In our group this leads to cheering, and sets the expectation on both sides > that people are going to be giving help. One or more experienced couples > will split up and invite a newbie into their group or dance as a couple with > a newbie couple. YMMV on this. The first 90 minutes of our dance is > designated newbie dancing and we frequently split ourselves up to get with > newbies. Conversely, the last 90 minutes is "loose the hounds". If your > dancers expect to be challenged from the start, you may need a different > script. > > Then... > > "Folks, I'm going to walk this one through a little thoroughly, which should > help anyone who is new tonight. Experienced dancers, please stay with me and > don't get ahead or give extra advice, but do work with the new dancers to > help them get it. And please, let's not chatter. Your investment of > patience will bear fruit shortly!" [Again, setting expectations, being > inviting to everyone, trying to get them to see the benefit of creating the > best learning environment.] > > Then, ditch whatever dance you were planning, and call Midwest Folklore, > Airpants, Easy Peasy, etc., something with a low piece count, connected, > simple figures, simple progression, recovery moves. And yeah, teach the > swing. Oof, that takes time. Or, have them do a two-hands-across or elbow > swing. The important thing there will be remembering to exit on the same > side as they entered. If necessary, progress twice at the start, as was > mentioned. > > Something similar just happened to us last Friday. TWENTY new dancers came > as a group, an entire social club. We knew some of them and had been > encouraging them to come for some months, but we had no idea they were coming > that day, and our dance is usually only 20-25 people. And, it was caller Sam > Sharpless's second night of calling, ever. They did come for the workshop, > and Sam did great with them, there, but still, some of them were...going to > take a few evenings of dance before walking on the beat made sense to them. > Sam and the gang really stepped up! Sam blew up the first half of his > program and called super-easy dances. All the experienced dancers danced > with newbies. We joked with our 4th timers, asking them how it felt to be > one of the most experienced in the room. Sam gave some careful and very > encouraging walkthroughs. It worked, even with often 3 newbies per minor > set. The best news is, this group said a few days later that they're coming > back next week! > > --jh-- > > > On Wed, Aug 6, 2025 at 10:43 AM Perry Shafran via Contra Callers > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> Hi, everyone, >> >> This happens more often than you'd think. My solutions are thus: >> >> First, I do not like demanding new couples split up right away. I know that >> technically that would be effective to help people out. But ostensibly, >> these people came to the dance to dance with the people they came with. >> Thus instead of making it a demand, I say I "highly suggest" that people >> dance with experienced dancers. But I really want them to have them have >> the ability to choose their own partners. Thus, I allow them to dance with >> each other if they would prefer. You *may* want to split up hands four, >> though, since a couple will not be able to dance with the other couple >> that's their friends right away. And arrange them so they are not spit out >> right away after 1 or 2 turns. >> >> A more in-depth walk through for the first dance is warranted. Have a dance >> with a neighbor swing before a partner swing, so they can get an experienced >> dancer guiding them. If you do have a chain, have people chain to their >> neighbor for that guidance as well. >> >> And quite honestly, allow them to sink or swim after that. It'll never be >> perfect no matter how hard you try, and they aren't going to "get it" right >> away. Allow them to move, bop, have swings that are not smooth. In fact, >> please advise the experienced dancers to show them how it's done, but ask >> them not to spend oodles of time trying to perfect the swing in the middle >> of a walk through. That takes forever and makes the swing look way more >> difficult as move than it ought to be, and it delays the whole dance >> unnecessarily. >> >> Above all, instill confidence in the new dancers that this is fun, you can >> do it, and as long as you're having fun you're OK. Anything to make the >> dancers feel that they need extra help has the potential for them to think >> that they don't belong there or aren't good enough to dance with the >> experienced crowd. >> >> Truthfully, I recall the days where many callers have suggested that >> "lessons make people believe the dance is hard" and believed that dancing >> should be so easy that anyone can walk in and dance and no lesson is needed. >> We as a dance community have made dancing a little more difficult than that >> (and truthfully, it's not all *that* easy for a lot of people who have never >> done this before to figure out), so allow some grace and allow for mistakes. >> Like, I think it took me a good 6 months of contra dancing before I really >> "got it" when I was starting. >> >> Perry Shafran >> >> On Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 12:08:11 PM EDT, Gregory Frock via Contra >> Callers <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> >> Dear Colleagues, >> >> Here's the scenario: You are finishing up a new dancers' lesson, and will be >> starting the dance in a few minutes. In walks a significant number (say 6+) >> of newbies, all friends who want to dance together. Besides the two most >> common solutions, lower the difficulty and insist they NOT do the first >> couple of dances together, does anyone have an additional creative/elegant >> solution, enhancement actions to make the basics more effective, or >> important issues for consideration that are commonly missed? >> >> Greg >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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