San Diego, CA

An interesting evening. It was the debut of a new band, of which the fiddler was the only one who'd played for dances before. They did great. They also brought a lot of their friends, which meant an over 50% beginner's situation in the first half. The original caller came down with the flu and laryngitis three days before, so Martha and I split up the evening. (I did the second half as I was also managing and working the front door. Still, much easier than the time I called, ran sound, and did all the managing a few years back. That's an evening I'll be happy to not remember again.)

I'd heard a couple complaints from long-time dancers after last week's dance. They were getting no connection, even in the swings. So I tried a program where I'd focus on that, and give a quick demo of what good connection was for a couple particular moves. And gave them opportunities to do it with their neighbors. "Wind-up Your Neighbor" started with a two-hand turn, something fairly easy to do. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" focused on both the swings and roll-aways. "Chicken on a Leash" (or "Aberdeen Angus") handled the allemandes, both opposite and same-sex. (And it had petronellas in the B's, letting the band play a certain set.) Finally, "Little Girl with the Curl" let me talk about connected circles to the circle left and right.

Unfortunately I didn't talk to listening to your partner with the allemandes, and not giving too much connection, so there were some issues with people being to vigorous. Something to think about next time, though most next times I'll only bring up one or two of these issues a night, rather than making it a theme. Though I may announce it as my annual theme dance one of these times...