Oct. 15, 2001, 8:16 p.m. (Message 27895, in reply to message 27889)
>From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx. Kirk wrote: >...have pity for the males who seldom get the practice and therefore >provide comic relief when the imbalance shifts and they >dance women's >side One of the best reasons for men to at least consider dancing with each other once in a while, is to avoid these episodes of comic relief, unless someone has a great desire to look like a fool. When teaching an intermediate or advanced class in the past, at some point in the course, I would have the entire set change sides, so that everyone was doing the dance from the other side. The learning at those times is quicker and of different issues. I saw how the men had increased awareness of the need to give a good leading hand or arm hold, and how the women learned how important it was for them to offer a strong leading hold when they were leading. Infact, all movements that involved 'leading' improved after that class lesson was taught. (For example, allemande has an option for leading, whereas rights and lefts do not, so there was less improvement). After this lesson I noticed an improvement in the responsiveness (or connectedness) between the two dancers. As a class they all knew the geography of the set better. In some cases I even saw an improvement in covering in reels. And after I had introduced all of them to the idea that they could benefit as a group and as individuals from learning the other side of the dance, they would occasionally choose to do so on their own. Our episodes of comic relief diminished though... Ken McFarland