strathspey@strathspey.org:1324

Paul Hemenway

Re: Briefings at Balls - a geographical perspective

March 16, 1995, 7:05 p.m. (Message 1324, in reply to message 1304)

At our "St.Andrews Ball" in Austin, we usually have the dance program
marked with designations for a few specific types.  Unmarked dances
are briefed.  
The types that are marked are:
beginners' choice, where the beginner/intermediate dancers are supposed
to "ask the best dancer in the house", and not to be refused unless
they have already been asked (NOT pre-booked!) by another beginner.

not-briefed, which are usually more difficult dances, for people who
have come prepared to dance them without a brief.  Only one or two
of those dances appear on the program.

several beginners' choice dances appear on the program.

The dances are marked on the programs that are sent out, so that
everyone should be aware of the unbriefed dances ahead of time and
have prepared for them if they want to dance them.

on the discussion of briefing vs nonbriefing, I prefer only slightly
the nonbriefing, because you CAN get more dances in in an evening when
the hall or the musicians are booked until a specific "witching hour"
when you are required/forced to stop.  This DOES happen in Scotland,
at least, and, if you spend an extra 1 minute/dance briefing, and you
have an 18 dance program, it can literally mean the difference between
a 16 dance program and a 20 dance program.  However, it means you need
to have the program in advance and do your homework.  There is a special
skill (one which I thought I'd never acquire) in being able to look
at a crib in a minute while lines are forming and be able to dance a
fairly complicated dance (remember, you studied it well before), but
I did learn it, and having it, I like to use it!  

However, what I like most, is going ANYWHERE, and dancing AS THEY DO IT 
THERE!!  Briefed or unbriefed, more socializing or more dancing.  I've
had wonderful fun in all of the discussed situations (and a few really
BAD experiences because of some personality clashes in both situations)
so I'm not a vociferous advocate for either.  It's the dancers in a 
particular locality that have to put up with their own style of dancing
(briefed or unbriefed) and who have the right and responsibility to 
make their own decisions about what they like or don't like.  There should
not be any "what WE do is better than what THEY do"...you should just go
and enjoy the opportunity to dance in a different environment with different
people.  Unfortunately, it's not always like that, but I try to bleep over
the politics and enjoy the local preferences as best I can.

paul