strathspey@strathspey.org:8385

Martin.Sheffield

Re: Mairi's Wedding

July 31, 1997, 8:40 p.m. (Message 8385, in reply to message 8323)

>
> (personal improvization) directly affects only you and your partner;
>
> That's the best thing anyone has said so far , IM(H)O, of course.
>
> Do what you like, as long as you know what your partner feels about it.
>
> And let's not get too stuffy about these things, please. >>
>
>I beg to differ... It affects the whole set.....

Right. I'll beg, too:

>eye contact,
You don't have to be in the prescribed position to look at someone. Au
contraire, eye contact helps enormously in hinting imminent variants of a
figure, and taking up the cue and acting accordingly.

>covering,
I was thinking about dancing not demonstrating.

>the shoulder passed in the middle of MW  affects the entrance into the next 1/2
>reel.
Hardly! In any case, the "wrong" shoulder gives plenty of time for second
corner to see you coming, whereas the L shoulder passing brings you up very
close to 2nd cn in the 4th bar.

>This is a 'team sport'   Not an individual one...
I should have said it was a couple sport.
The new dances do indeed require more team work and correct relative
positioning, speed, balance, compared with the older ones where you dance
mainly with your partner, or as a couple with one other couple.

 >I always remember
>the 'divine Miss M'  saying  "if any one dancer is 'noticed' as standing
>out.....thay are not exhibiting good teamwork,
I'll even disagree with Miss M: who is on exhibition? I thought we were
there to enjoy ourselves.
On the dance floor, is every dancer identical in style, manner,
personality...? some are bound to stand out.
In fact, going back in time a little, when formal dances were the one place
where polite society allowed a little mild flirting, many dancers were
there just to show off and attract a partner, so we could say that fancy
stepwork, turns, twiddles and handstands are all part of the tradtion.
Don't we want to keep tradition alive?



Yours,
Martin,
Grenoble, France.
------------      http://perso.wanadoo.fr/scots.in.france/    --------