Oct. 15, 2001, 1:25 p.m. (Message 27889)
This happens often in our class, as the women pair off to get practice dancing as men. Some of the men forced to dance as women give the paired women good-natured dirty looks. I generally respond with a good-natured raspberry (I'm a fairly new dancer and really do need the practice), and we all go on to have a good time. Denise in Milwaukee
Oct. 15, 2001, 3:41 p.m. (Message 27890, in reply to message 27889)
There is one couple in our Branch who occasionally when dancing together will dance on opposite sides - in a class, when in an experienced set. It gives them both practice and a challenge. I must say, the first time I encountered this was in candidate class. Both then, and in the regular class, the dancers didn't ask permission - they just did it. As a teacher, it's an interesting experience to discover when you first notice it and have to figure out whether it is deliberate or a mistake. (Candidates aren't above playing tricks to mimic a mistake for their classmate, although it is usually confined to step practice. And classes aren't above playing tricks on their teachers!) cheers, Norah (Montreal, QC)
Oct. 15, 2001, 4 p.m. (Message 27891, in reply to message 27889)
Denice speaks of women dancing together for practice- with the frequent situation of more women than men women are often compelled to dance men's side- 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 ;-) Kirk Bachler Twin Cities Branch,Minnesota,USA,RSCDS
Oct. 15, 2001, 9:31 p.m. (Message 27892, in reply to message 27889)
I'm with a teen class in Lubbock, Texas and there are occasions when we wind up having a two-man couple. Our teacher, Darla Granberry, doesn't like the shyness exhibit that most of the guys demonstrate and so she said that if the guys don't ask the girls to dance with them very soon after a dance is called then the girls should ask eachother to dance. The guys who were slow soon learned to ask as quickly as possible. This tool prooved very effective and we don't see two male partners very often anymore. I put this practice to good use two days ago at the Houston, TX ball. This may be helpful in other corners of the SCD world too, which is why I share it. We also have the unusual circumstance where there are usually more guys than girls if there is an imbalance at all. So, I HAVE had my turn on the ladies side and I found it to be quite fun to think backwards and very challenging as well. Jonathan Elder 18yrs.
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
Oct. 17, 2001, 5:12 p.m. (Message 27920, in reply to message 27895)
Ken wrote: > 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). At St Andrews this year the one of the Teacher's classes worked at the dance Loch Leven Castle. We struggled with it for a fair while before we could all dance it reasonably well from either first or second place. Having struggled myself when teaching the dance, (we did it first as a strathspey, which enabled a few alternative versions - we did an allemande at the end to give some sort of progression), I then suggested that we all changed sides. What a shambles!!! I'm not quite sure what the lesson was, other than the "teachers" aren't any cleverer than the "taught", --- and it is still a dance where all 4 people need to know what they are doing. Malcolm
Oct. 18, 2001, 5:04 p.m. (Message 27926, in reply to message 27889)
If they wish to do and do not cause confusion with respect to less experienced dancers, let them go ahead with it. Oliver Thinius xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xx
Oct. 18, 2001, 6:59 p.m. (Message 27933, in reply to message 27889)
Malcolm wrote in reply to my suggestion of a possible exercise: >At St Andrews this year the one of the Teacher's classes worked at the > >dance Loch Leven Castle... >What a shambles!!! I'm not quite sure what the lesson was, other than the >"teachers" aren't any cleverer than the "taught", and it is still a >dance where all 4 people need to know what they are doing. I'd like to clarify that my exercise works best for a dance with RSCDS standard formations, at least the first time. I'm not sure that the teacher you refer to above even had the same intention as my exercise, and it does seem like a poor choice for this type of exercise. And yes, you will find fallible teachers on all continents, but I'm glad someone broke out of their pattern and tried something different. :o) Ken McFarland