strathspey@strathspey.org:8395

Priscilla M. Burrage

Re: Re[2]: Mairi's Wedding -Reply

July 31, 1997, 11:26 p.m. (Message 8395, in reply to message 8362)

On Wed, 30 Jul 1997 xxxxxxxx_xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xx.xxx wrote:

>      Norah wrote: >>... what about ... showing consideration for others in 
>      the set?... if, as Elaine has pointed out, the dancers aren't really 
>      capable but are putting them in anyway, or are catching other dancers 
>      by surprise and putting them off balance, was it really worth it?<<
>snip      
>      I think I may have mentioned this before, so apologies in advance for 
>      redundancy, but contra dancers have a similar problem:  What new 
>      dancers SEE are all the flourishes and extra twiddles that the 
>      experienced folks throw in.  What they really CAN'T see are body 
>      weight changes, balance, posture, giving weight with arms (partly 
>      because these things are really hard to see if you aren't a dancer, 
>      and partly because all the twiddles are distracting), etc.  So they 
>      end up thinking (incorrectly) that the twiddles ARE the dancing.  
>      There aren't classes for contra dancers, so there's nothing to 
>      counteract the misconceptions.  End result - folks who are flinging 
>      their partners and themselves (dangerously) around the floor with 
>      little control.  No wonder many folks (Peter Price - you listening?) 
>      have given up contras as too risky!  Hate to see that happen to SCD!

It's possible to find good contra dances around.  Don't give up!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Priscilla Burrage       Vermont US
(xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx)