[Squaredancing] Subject: When in Rome

[ljknews]

At 9:13 AM -0400 8/16/05, M0220sr at aol.com wrote:
> My training with the "Tug and Twirl" is that there is a little tug
> between dancers on the right hand (partner and opposite) for that
> flourish.  I have never seen an "arm up" position on a Right and
> Left Grand.
> --
> Larry Kilgallen
>
>
>
> hehe...er...clarification:
>
> What I meant is that the lady has her hand extended to you (palm facing
>away from her) about shoulder height.  If she normally twirls on a RLG
>then she is giving you the signal that she expects you to twirl her.  If I
>don't see that I normally just do an easy pull-by motion.

Ok, I have never seen that.  In this area Tech Squares does a "Tug and
Twirl" the way I described.  That included on a Non-Banner Raid to the
Hayloft Steppers this past Friday.  Those Hayloft Steppers who chose to
play that game could signal their interest with the Tug.

> You would normally think square dancing is a fun activity and it is for
>the most part.  It's just unfortunate that some people get their jollies
>in a square by making it known to the opposite sex that *they* are in
>control and you WILL abide by what they want to do. At that point other
>people get that "Oh yeah?" attitude and then the tip is nothing but a
>wrestling match or a match of wills set to music.

I have not seen that in any guise.

> As far as the hands-up on Swing Thru's, our club adapted the
>CALLERLAB-approved style of handholds long ago. It works for us.  We just
>feel that when we have visitors, it is the visitors who should not mind
>using what the dancers in our area use for a handhold in a wave instead of
>trying to make us dance like they do when they are home. 

But it is hard to do something with which you have absolutely no experience.
The average dancer does not read Callerlab definitions to figure out what
people do differently in other areas.
-- 
Larry Kilgallen