As bad as your dress rehearsal is as good as your performance. Well, anyone at the calling party last Wednesday had serious doubts as to whether or not we/I would pull of Colin Hume's Double Swing Through but it worked! After Wednesday's disaster, I kept practicing--I've put on every CD my roommate has and just went through one track at a time, and anything with 4 potatoes I practiced to. On Sunday afternoon, I had a mini panic attack when I couldn't find my teaching notes...oops...left those at Martha and Bob's house. Thanks Martha for bringing them!
It all hinged on whether I could teach the "swing-through" successfully. A few people during the evening asked what I would be calling and anytime I said "swing-through" they either said, "oh-you're going to have to teach a swing through" or "what's a swing-through?" :-D
I really tried to watch the whole room. From what I observed it seemed that the majority of the room seemed to be getting along OK. Once in a while I did see a few people wandering around lost but nothing seemed to completely collapse. Did anyone time it? I have no idea how long I let the dance go. I had some people heckling me from the floor--I weathered it tolerably well--wink, wink. I actually managed to keep track of the music while making a face back.
I would love some feedback on how things felt from the floor. Did my teaching make sense? Were my calls on time/early/late? What areas can I work on so I can improve?
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6 comments:
Well, I liked how clear and LOUD you were - and enthusiastic!
And I can certainly personally corroborate how well you stood up to heckling...most impressive. :-)
I would only add that I think you might suggest a forward-and-back balance in that dance. Our default balance is a side-to-side one, but I don't think that was working all that well. I wonder if balance the wave is automatically done forward and back in England...
I thought it went quite well. Your calling was clear and on time. The teaching was down to business and accurate. And I second Martha's observation about your enthusiasm: its a real benefit, and it carries onto the dance floor.
I did not record the dance this week, so I don't know how long things took (Mac recorded it, so he could tell you perhaps, but I think he's busy with our grant application for another day or two).
The only criticism I have (and it comes indirectly from some one else, but I agree with the point) has to do with the term "swing through" . . . while it is the name of the move, when you hear it on the dance floor, for a brief moment the reflex is to think "swing . . . someone", and it can cause you to hesitate just slightly for a moment. We certainly discussed this at the last party and didn't really come up with a better term. I'd say that if were calling it to a more experienced crowd, drop out from calling that move ASAP, but that was hardly an option at Sunday's dance. Having registered that criticism, I would implore you to not obsess on changing how you called it to improve on that tiny problem, because it really went very well.
Nado vas pozdrovit!
Well, hmmm... It's a right-and-left balance. Colin says so: http://www.colinhume.com/instl.htm. He also says he wrote "Double Swing Through" as a preparatory dance for his most difficult square dance, "Triple Swing Through."
Now there's a challenge...
M
E
Chrystal – very nice job – you nailed the teaching and the calling and probably worried about it more than you needed to.
You taught for 3 min 7 sec and we danced for 7 min 54 sec (David – you taught for 2 min 21 sec and danced for 8 min 48 sec – the longest dance of the evening).
Now to be a little picky:
You could have baked off on the calling or even stopped depending on how well the dancers were catching on.
You did handle the heckler (at the top of the set during the dance) very well
You taught the dance to start with a do-si-do once and a little more to a wavy line. You don’t want to put the dancers in a wavy line here – the swing thru needs to start right from the do-si-do – most of the dancers figured that out. Putting dancers in a wavy line makes them want to balance.
A couple things I didn’t care for in this dance:
The wavy line balance to a partner gypsy did not feel right – I wanted to swing after the balance.
Colin did specify a bal to the right first – which is correct – you always balance first in the direction you will be going after the balance. In this case the next figure is a partner gypsy – so you go sort of to the right and sort of forward – so bal for & back works just as well and is easier for the dancers to remember.
The dance ended with a wavy line balance and left 4 beats to walk forward to do-si-do the next neighbor. This is more time than is needed. Dancers trying to stay with the music found themselves just standing there for 4 beats.
Small stuff – overall great job!
Mac
Ok, so I have to respond to Mac's very true comment..."You could have baked off on the calling or even stopped depending on how well the dancers were catching on."
So the back of my brain was yelling at me to back off. And I did back off just a little tiny bit, but not nearly as much as I could have. I honestly was afraid I would get distracted and lose track of the music and if something would have broken down(too many good dancers for that to have happened--but I was paranoid none the less) I would have had no idea what to do/where I was. In all honesty, it was self-preservation.
Chrystal,
One thing htat woull be helpful - is to cut back on the calling - or stop - but don't stop in our head - watch the dancers and think 'here comes a ladie's chain' etc. Also watch and see if everyone is getting it comfortably or if you need to throw in a call once in a while. At this time it might also be helpful to stop using the card - and see if you know the dance well enough to call without it. If the dance runs into a problem - you might have backed out too fast - and can jump right in again. It is kind of fun to know what is about to happen and then see it happen.
Mac
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