In a small dance I called recently, an enthusiastic but inexperienced 
group of young people almost always lined up in a foursome together.  There 
it worked to walk the contra dances through twice, then start the dance from 
the progressed positions where the foursome was not with each other.  Some 
communities wouldn't like this, but there I think everyone was also happy 
with the suggestion they take whoever they ended up with after a mixer for 
the next dance; also, they were happy with a few mixers in various 
formations.

  Another idea I often use when I teach the workshop is to make the last 
dance they learn in the workshop the first dance of the evening, often Becky 
Hill's Simplicity Swing or a variation of it with a hey at the end instead 
of a star and do-si-do.  (Is there a name and author for that dance?  Surely 
I didn't make that one up?)  That way, the new dancers who attended the 
workshop already know the dance and it's the experienced dancers who need 
the walkthrough.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerome Grisanti" <jerome.grisanti at gmail.com>
To: <callers at sharedweight.net>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 1:25 PM
Subject: [Callers] Spreading out the "Inexperience"


>I recently had the following exchange on a different list with Michael
> Shapiro (guitarist with U4):
>
> Michael wrote:
>
>>>> U4 just played the SwingShift weekend in Lexington/Berea. The caller 
>>>> was
> Barbara Groh. She did something that I think most callers should do, but I
> haven't seen before. After the sets were formed and people had done the 
> hand
> four, she then broke up the beginners sets that had formed at the end of 
> the
> lines. She asked then to move forward and intersperse themselves with the
> more advanced dancers (so that they were more toward the beggining of the
> line and the foursomes were not all beginners).
>
> She was also good at letting the music be heard ...
>
> I wrote:
>
>>> Regarding the caller asking sets to reform in order to spread the less
> experienced dancers throughout the hall, much tact is required. Generally,
> callers strive to avoid calling attention to particular dancers other than
> when asking people to watch a demonstration, but asking people to change
> sets can have the effect of making them feel like there is attention on
> them. In addition, newish dancers want to dance with people they know, 
> even
> if those friends may also be newish dancers.
>
>>> Speaking to the entire crowd, I do encourage experienced dancers to 
>>> share
> their experience by asking someone they've never met to dance at least 
> once
> in the evening, and praise the community for being so welcoming to 
> newcomer
> dancers. So while I might be thinking "let's break up this clump of
> confusion," it would not be good to say something that draws attention to
> "you people right here."
>
>>> I have asked, off mic, for a set of experienced dancers to offer to
> repartner with a set of inexperienced dancers down the line.
>
>
> To this list, I ask:
>
> I'd be interested in the wording that Barbara Groh used (which I'm 
> assuming
> was quite gentle). I'm also guessing other callers on this list have
> developed tactful ways to address this issue.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerome
>
>
> -- 
> Jerome Grisanti
> 660-528-0858
> http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
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