Thought I'd see if we could move this discussion to this forum. It seems more appropriate.
The suggested lesson dance:
A1 long lines forward & back (8)circle left (8)
A2 star left (8) star right (8)
B1 partner allemade right (8) neighbor allemande left (8)
B2 neighbor do si do (8)>Partner pass through up & down the set
might make some interesting discussion:
If this were a real dance - I can see several things that would keep me from calling it. Maybe the same criteria should apply to the lesson. Actually - if you are going to t teach a dance - I'd teach the forst one on the program.
Here are a couple things that stick out for me right away:
B1 - paartner allemand right across the set - this requires a lot of space - the same as trying to put the entire set in one long wavy line. It works in the Virginia reel - but the set usually have much more space than during a contra.
B1->B2 Allemand left to a do-si-do is awkward. Alle Right works much better - try it.
B2 - Do-Si-Do and pass thru - is really do-si-dp 1 1/2
B2->A1 The dance ends with you walking directly toward your new neighbor. This works well to go to a lot of figures - long lines is not one of them - I have never tried that - but it just sounds awkward.
Comments
Mac
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I'd agree that the listed dance wasn't really a good example. In fact, I'm not even sure if it was really supposed to be a dance, since the first time through it had more moves than would fit the music (if I counted correctly . . . I think it was 8 counts over, then they dropped a circle right, I believe).
My thinking is that you can't overload beginners with too many details, so you should make sure that what you teach them is useful. If you can teach things that will keep them from getting lost, that's really good because being in the wrong place during a dance is hugely confusing and causes dances to break down, and people to get embarrassed or frustrated. For that reason, I think it would be good to emphasize the courtesy turn and the end of the swing (lady on the right). I realize that this is contrary to popular thought on what to teach beginners, but observation tells me its where they most frequently err.
Wade
Post a Comment