Dangerous Dancing - One Line or Two?

We've had a passionate conversation going on at Childgrove Discussions, our local contra dance online discussion group, on the subject of Dangerous Dancing. The initial post suggested that when callers suggested making one long line instead of two shorter ones, the dancing was more dangerous. We have had several foot stompings lately, and it does seem as if crowding could be contributory.

I myself took a fall last night, and, though I haven't seen the video yet, I'm pretty sure it was a crowding issue, since the move we were doing was not complicated (a circle left, I think). But the hall we were in, down at the wonderful Cape Girardeau Chance Dance, had a most strange effect on dancers. The right line (stage right, house left) tended to drift to the bottom of the hall, while the left line (stage left, house right) tended to drift to the top of the hall. I was in the left line, about second couple from the top when someone's right foot was to the right of my left foot, and down I went. This can only have happened because we were packed too closely together.

Earlier in the evening, we were in two lines and the caller suggested that the dance (a double-progression dance) would be better if we were in one line. Okay. What I noticed was that one of the moves, a diagonal ladies' chain, I think, happened not so much on a right diagonal as on slight, very slight, veering to the right (see the diagram). The dance, in other words, needed a lot of room, so we took it across the set since we didn't have the room up and down the set. The sets ended up about ten feet apart. It was fun, and those who felt that it was right to put two shorter lines together could feel they made the right choice (especially given that it was a double-progression dance). On the other hand, those who wanted two lines could also feel vindicated, given that it was often difficult to dance through the other line, as the movements would get slowed down as they had to plow through traffic.

I myself am on the verge of making a strange proposition, one I would not have imagined possible - that the caller NOT make one line when the dancers have made two. There may be wisdom in the unconscious choices that the dancers make.

At the same time, we callers need to find a way to suggest to the dancers that they remain aware of the dancers around them, indeed, the whole line of dancers, and know what the optimum distance between the dancers should be. It is possible for a single person to fix a line that has drifted up or down, just by insisting on being in the place where that set would be if it were spaced out correctly, forcing the dancers above and below them to chose a better spot to dance in. Imagine if each dancer did the same thing, and automatically adjusted the space so that the dance came out just right.