[SCA-Dance] Encouraging partner interaction

[Bruce Padget]

On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 12:30 PM, Greg Lindahl<lindahl at pbm.com> wrote:

> Another twist on that theme is to use Guglielmo's exercise of dancing
> the same dance several times with different music. Reacting to the
> music, your partner, other couples, and the space you're dancing in
> are all related skills.

Leaving aside the outright creeps, I think this is a key.  Everyone
wants to shine when they dance.  Sometimes to impress the world,
sometimes for their own joy, and sometimes to impress...well, a
smaller audience.

There is no substitute for practice.  My experience is that some of
the messier splashes in dancing arise because someone wants to take a
shortcut to dancing impressively.

This is much of the reason I love Old Measures.  Beginners can master
the steps, figures, and music quickly, which frees attention for
natural and graceful interaction with one's partner.  If a student
goes no further, at least he'll have a handful of dances he can do
really well.  For those students who want to go further, they learn
through their own experience the value of truly mastering a dance.

Regards,
Niccolo
bapadget at gmail.com