peter - yes. although i find this language a little confrontational, it does pretty much say the same thing i'm saying. however, i'm also saying - let's take some people and make sure they understand this and let them be official helpers of newbies at a new dance. take the next step, make the next thing happen. and no, i'm not addressing support etc at this point. i'd be happy to talk about that on a different thread :-) cheers, barb
> Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 15:39:00 -0500 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Organizers] starting a new dance series > > Barb, > > Your list reminds me of this doc which covers some similar subject matter: > > http://www.neffa.org/docs/McKenzie_myths.html > > Do you have a plan for building support among attendees and talent? > > Peter > > > On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 2:26 PM, barb kirchner <[email protected]>wrote: > > > great! > > > > a few years ago, i moved to colorado. i immediately got involved in a > > group called wildlands restoration volunteers (www.wlrv.org ). over the > > years, i became a crew leader, then a crew leader instructor. last year, i > > took the master trainer course from the outdoor stewardship institute. i > > teach 6-10 classes a year. > > > > we normally teach a two-day class, one day of soft skills, one day of hard > > skills. the goal is to manage people and work so that everything happens > > and everybody has a good time. especially that second part. > > > > in the context of a contra dance, i can see the role of crew leaders (or > > perhaps dance angels, etc) in a similar way. you want the dance to work, > > you want everyone to have a good time. > > > > at the dance, the angels don't need to learn any "hard skills". they > > already have a pretty good idea about how to dance. > > > > what they DO need to learn is how to get new dancers to have a "good time". > > > > take the situation of a well-meaning, experienced dancer who walks into > > the hall and immediately asks a new dancer to ask - because they care about > > the community, etc, all the right reasons. > > > > so they take the new dancer, line up, explain the lines, etc. and then > > the walk-through starts. the first figure is "balance and swing." so the > > well-meaning dancer decides that the newbie really needs a swing lesson, > > because swings are the most important thing in a dance, right? > > > > how does this translate into a good experience for a newbie? > > > > 1. they're new, they don't know that they are supposed to care about > > swinging. > > 2. they just want to know what direction to face, but spent the > > walkthrough learning how to swing. > > 3. they didn't listen to the caller, because they were learning to swing. > > > > did the experienced dancer do a good thing? well, they tried! but they > > might have done it a little better. > > > > what if you started a group, and trained a cadre of half a dozen dance > > angels with these goals? > > > > 1. modelling good behavior on the dance floor in terms of lining up and > > listening to caller (and being social once you are in the right place - > > because that's a big thing for us, right???). > > 2. following the walk-through, paying attention to the caller and > > directing newbies with clear motions, not conversation. > > 3. no florishing with newbies unless it's ABSOLUTELY CLEAR they want to > > and can handle it. > > 4. no teaching of swing during walk-through. > > 5. reminding other experienced dancers to exhibit good behavior on the > > dance floor - pay attention in line, socialize when the caller is not > > talking. > > > > thoughts? > > > > > > > > > > > Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 11:03:31 -0800 > > > From: [email protected] > > > To: [email protected] > > > Subject: Re: [Organizers] starting a new dance series > > > > > > sure - let us discuss. > > > > > > -------------------------------------------- > > > On Wed, 12/4/13, barb kirchner <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Subject: [Organizers] starting a new dance series > > > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > > Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 1:54 PM > > > > > > dear organizers - > > > > > > as a chronic volunteer who has amassed quite a bit of > > > experience organizing things (and teaching organizers) over > > > the past few years, i've come up with some new and > > > diffferent ideas about starting new dances. > > > > > > anybody want to talk about this? > > > > > > cheers, > > > barb > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Organizers mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Organizers mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Organizers mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
