Very well put, Richie.  Those tight halls in Massachusetts in the 70's
made learning and loving contra a piece of cake!  Dorcas Hand

-----Original Message-----
From: callers-bounces at sharedweight.net
[mailto:callers-bounces at sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Richie K.
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 7:09 PM
To: callers at sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] dance space

Re: Dance space and that "bottom" couple drifting down the hall:
I've seen gaps in the line of 10 or 12 feet.... that makes it hard to do
a forward and back at all, much less with "W" shaped arms.  It's real
hard to give weight and feel any connection with anything but "W" shaped
arms  :)
Dances with moves outside the set (such as next neighbor do-si-do) are
brutal to execute in 8 steps, when the next neighbor  is 10 feet away.
Some dancers I know are aware of the set and do compress it upwards when
the couples get to far apart.  
Expanding sets can even occur on level floors, just due to the random
motion of the dance,  You can often see a set line up close enough for
the walk through but 2 times into the dance, the minor sets are way to
far apart.
As a caller set management becomes an issue... in a small hall the
difference between 2 or 3 lines is a big factor.  Trying to talk the
dancers into forming two lines when they almost always want 3 can cause
a "mutiny" real fast  :)  :)   so..... tricks, ploys, and careful
observation are needed.   
I've found I can only mold the dancers into a set formation where the
hall limits the "spreading out" about 4 or 5 times a evening.  The rest
of the time I have to save my "connected" dances for times when they
just happen to be in the right formation and use "stay in the minor
sets" dances for the times when they are spread out. 
Perhaps the best plan would be to find those dancers that understand how
great contra dancing is when the dancers can feel each other and get
them to nudge the sets into the correct spacing?  
I remember dancing in the 1980's in halls in California where the
spacing was so tight you had to turn sideways to do a right and left
thru. Everyone was on time because you had to be, because the space you
just vacated was immediately occupied by some one else.  :)  Beginners
picked up on the dance real fast because the was no place to wander off
to, and we all had a blast :) 
Keep the contra fires burning...   :)
Richie Katz
 
 

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