Sure, generally. But you might want to keep the following in mind:
- Is the dance hard but interesting? Or is it just hard? Why not pick one that's just interesting?
- Keep in mind the temperature, time of night, night of the weekend, etc. At a certain point, even the most hotshot dancer gets brain dead and can use a break.
- Did the caller before you struggle at all? Maybe you want to look good in contrast--go w/ a dance you know cold.
- If the band is particularly hot, why not let folks just enjoy moving to the music instead of racking their brains?
- A good general rule for most things in life is "Just because you can doesn't mean you have to."
That said, pick whatever you like. You'll be sure to learn something from the experience either way.
3 comments:
So, Dancing Sailors and Where's Alex are still out for me at Kimmswick. Okay.
My question is "How do you tell if a dance is 'interesting'?" I mean, you'd think you could just tell, but I can't. Just as colors change completely depending on their context, I think dances are good (or bad) only in context.
If you've had NO "down the hall" dances all night, a "down the hall and come back up in a cozy line" could seem pretty spicy, but if you've had more than one or one right before it, it could be a snoozer.
Mac suggested that a good dance has "flow", which I take to mean smooth transitions.
What makes a dance "interesting"?
M
E
For me – the flow is the most important followed by strong and interesting interaction with other dancers and unusual things that the dancers do not do very often.
Examples –
Flow – I don’t like dances that end in ladies chain and then you have to turn and face a new neighbor. Compare that to circle left ¾ - pass thru – so that you run right into the next neighbor – they take the same time and accomplish the same thing – but I like the second one much better. Newer dancers also have less trouble finding their next neighbor with the pass thru version. I have been known to change the end of a dance when I like the rest but not this ending (however if the dance already has a lot of circles – I won’t do that).
Unusual and strong interaction:
The dance I tried out at one of the calling parties (don’t remember the name) started with long lines – on the way back the ladies roll their neighbor to the other side and then start a ladies chain. This is very different and the momentum is really nice – unless you do a wimpy roll-away and miss the point entirely. The rest of the dance was good, but nothing special – but that opening sequence is what caught my attention.
It can be hard to evaluate a dance from the written version – the best way is to make note of the ones you danced that really impress you (of course your choice of partner can also be an influence). Don’t go collecting everything you can – limit your collecting to dances you really like.
Mac
I guess we'll know we're real callers when we finish a dance, not with a hug, but with a dash to the sidelines to quickly write down a dance we just did and loved.
But I see a bit of a problem. Many of us like dances with a bit of challenge to them, yet we're learning, both by advice and by experience, that we're going to give people a better time with simpler dances until we get to be better callers.
For a while, therefore, we're going to need some advice on which dances people find both interesting and simple. Seth Tepfer has a great list of such dances in his caller workshop handouts, and a lot of us have used those dances. I wish I had another such list from other callers. Does anyone know of one?
M
E
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