{"items": [{"author": "Bronwyn", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244791772218846", "anchor": "fb-244791772218846", "service": "fb", "text": "I agree with what you're saying. One nit-picky point though: I think there are a number of reasons why one might do 2 walkthroughs (the crowd wants it as a general rule, a bunch of dancers joined the set late, it's a non-symmetrical dance and you want everyone to walk both roles, you want to separate a clump of beginners...) so I think that's not the best metric of whether a dance is too hard for the crowd. Though it might be in the Boston dances.", "timestamp": "1313248418"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244821722215851", "anchor": "fb-244821722215851", "service": "fb", "text": "I think that's a great point about having a defined metric of what constitutes \"too hard\" and a go-to backup in place, one which i am definitely going to incorporate into my calling from here out. I also agree with Bronwyn - two walkthroughs is not necessarily too much. Depending on the difficulty of the dance, i sometimes prefer a second walkthrough to \"go back to place\" - imho, if the dance is moderately challenging, using walkthrough #2 will help the dancers internalize it and allow you to drop out sooner - and if the band is up for it (and there's no particularly tricky B-part choreography), a rolling start halfway through #2 can be very cool.", "timestamp": "1313252742"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244863038878386", "anchor": "fb-244863038878386", "service": "fb", "text": "I don't read Jeff as saying that two walk-throughs is a bad idea, but rather that if two walk-throughs isn't enough, then you should do something else.
I've been at dances where the caller dropped a call and the dancers were able to fix it, but (1) you have to have mostly very experienced dancers, (2) it has to be late enough in the dance that most of the dancers know how it goes, and (3) the caller has to realize what they've done, and get it right the next time through. None of those things was the case in this instance.", "timestamp": "1313259299"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244909108873779", "anchor": "fb-244909108873779", "service": "fb", "text": "Right; I was saying that if you think you need a third walkthrough, you probably need a different dance instead.", "timestamp": "1313266377"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244911028873587", "anchor": "fb-244911028873587", "service": "fb", "text": "Agreed.", "timestamp": "1313266710"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244930992204924", "anchor": "fb-244930992204924", "service": "fb", "text": "I remember one Thurdsday night when Lisa Greenleaf was calling, and at about 7:55 a bus pulled up & disgorged about 40 teen-agers, none of whom had ever seen a contra dance before. Lisa looked at them enter the hall (she had no idea they were coming) and threw out her program. She did straightforward (but energetic) dances all evening, encouraged the kids to mix with the crowd (this was long before the current generation of younger dancers arrived on the scene), and everyone had a good time.", "timestamp": "1313270015"}, {"author": "Paul", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244951238869566", "anchor": "fb-244951238869566", "service": "fb", "text": "The caller that had trouble is a friend of mine, and we were talking afterward. I said that sometimes you have to look at how the crowd is doing and just call \"Lady of the Lake.\" It's tempting to call an intricate dance that people don't know, but in the end you have to call within the hall's comfort level and your own. Lisa is the best in the business for knowing the right dance for every situation.", "timestamp": "1313273388"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=244994452198578", "anchor": "fb-244994452198578", "service": "fb", "text": "So was this a 1st Fridays level dance? If it was harder than that, I just don't know where you would call it (pretty much all of the non-New England dances I have been to are equal or less capable than the Thursday night crowd).", "timestamp": "1313281026"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245052508859439", "anchor": "fb-245052508859439", "service": "fb", "text": "Actually IMHO both dances were appropriate for the Challenging Friday, with no newbies. Don't misunderstand. I LOVE newbies. But this event, perhaps because of its proximity to the urban core, had a higher percentage of newbies than the regular Thursday night dance. So the sets were peppered with newbies. And then the caller miscalled a couple of steps. Train wreck. How thorough a train wreck? My choice for the two best women dancers in the hall got lost. :) It was an experience. I knew there would be trouble when me and my partner progressed in opposite directions.", "timestamp": "1313291039"}, {"author": "Dan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245079478856742", "anchor": "fb-245079478856742", "service": "fb", "text": "There is a strong temptation for a caller in a multi-caller evening to whip out the complex material in order to make an impression. This is a recipe for failure. The Thursday dance attracts more newer dancers during the summer, and when I call, I pick fun dances with distinctive features, but not hard sequences. I aim for one walk-through; if I need another, that tells me that my dance choice and/or teaching quality needed improvement.", "timestamp": "1313296296"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245196868845003", "anchor": "fb-245196868845003", "service": "fb", "text": "Mac I am with you on liking and encouraging new dancers. My read is that Dan is correct that we get a higher proportion of new dancers in the summer, and more so in Cambridge. The summer should be the time to advertise how much fun contra is, and summer callers should get some guidance in this direction. Separately, I believe the dance should move back to Cambridge. The one time poll should be ignored because it excludes all of the dancers who don't come because it is in Concord and haven't developed the habit of coming to a contra in Cambridge. This four week experiment is showing how true this is.", "timestamp": "1313325870"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245217605509596", "anchor": "fb-245217605509596", "service": "fb", "text": "Neil McMullen had a long comment thread re: Cambridge vs. Concord. I agree there are a lot of dancers who'd turn out for more dances in Cambridge who for one reason or another don't make the trek to Concord. One solution could be alternating weeks...", "timestamp": "1313329706"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245235672174456", "anchor": "fb-245235672174456", "service": "fb", "text": "I think alternating weeks is a less desirable answer because the dance is not \"reliably\" in one place for people who may hear about it and go. I also suspect now that Monday is better run, it would be in a position to grow by being the west dance while Cambridge would be the urban north dance (and I still hold out hope for something to replace the old Longwood Tuesday night dance for the urban south dance).", "timestamp": "1313332629"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245252565506100", "anchor": "fb-245252565506100", "service": "fb", "text": "@Peter: Well, Lisa is pretty amazing. (I've seen Chris Ricciotti do the same thing at JP.)", "timestamp": "1313335317"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245254648839225", "anchor": "fb-245254648839225", "service": "fb", "text": "The first of those two dances was tricky, but at least in my set everybody got it eventually. The second one, with the double-progression/reverse progression, was probably above the level of the room. and once he screwed it up even the dancers who knew exactly what had happened couldn't fix it.
I think it's all right to throw in a few (relatively) challenging dances later in the evening -- you want to keep the experienced dancers entertained too, after all -- but yeah, that one should probably have been reserved for a first Friday. (I'd like to do it again some time, it was actually a very cool dance.)", "timestamp": "1313335629"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245298952168128", "anchor": "fb-245298952168128", "service": "fb", "text": "@Tavi: found the post of neil's: https://www.facebook.com/nmcmullen/posts/10150277109469250", "timestamp": "1313342629"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/244766925554664?comment_id=245519945479362", "anchor": "fb-245519945479362", "service": "fb", "text": "(not that anyone asked, but I've all but stopped coming to Concord: half because of the collection of culture problems most easily abbreviated as \"fireplace set\", half because it was easier to get to Concord in time when I was leaving from Amherst than now when I'm leaving from Seaport. The Cambridge dance I made it to recently had neither of those problems.)", "timestamp": "1313375598"}]}