How to include newer dancers as a dancer/caller?
- Ask one to dance
- But how many
people actually do this, though they know it’s a good thing (for
somebody else) to do?
- Exactly my point
- Have a
guest-caller program – one dance a night
- Dance in other
sets (other than “experienced” set)
- NAME TAGS ALL
the time every time!
- Caller should
remind dancers to dance with people they don’t know
- Caller should
encourage dancers to switch line every dance (to not create a
separate center set)
- Callers can
personally ask experienced dancers to seek out new people.
- Newer dancers
are less intimidated by doing a “circle” or non-partner dance to
get their feet wet
- Experienced
dancers aren’t necessarily going to be willing to dance with new
folks ALL the time – for many of us, we come to the dance for
another kind of experience. But creating a culture of expectation
where experienced dancers dance with two beginners per night would
make a big difference.
- Caller could
designate one dance per night where everyone is asked to dance with
someone they don’t know?
- would people DO this?
- Yes, ask new
dancers, then introduce them to your friends or point them out and
ask your friends to dance with them
- Chris Ricciotti
gives AMAZING workshops on how advanced dancers can be “dance
angels” to beginning dancers. This includes the line dancing
blindfolded to get the experience of being a new dancer all over, as
well as leading blindfolded dancers GENTLY.
- Try to not go
overboard with booking ahead
- I think this
question, and other similar ones, is actually two. 1. How do you
make it a great experience for the newer dancers and 2.How do you
make it a great experience for experienced dancers? These may be
irreconcilable, especially if the experienced dancers are only
dancing for that “amazing dance high” that we get. They are only
reconcilable if experienced dancers see, and ACT ON the value of a
real dance community, for its own sake. And not just for the sake of
high-energy, amazing dancing.
- [written on the perpetual beginners sheet and then transfered here] In Atlanta there once was a dance “mama” – a volunteer job where one person who meets the beginners at the lesson before – and then throughout the dance would supervise and help move the beginners in the right direction and give tips.