[Squaredancing] When in Rome.....

[M0220sr at aol.com]

The last time I looked, Callerlab's styling was that dancers should have 
Hands Up in wave-related formations. Now I know a lot of dancers today are taught  
a variety of handhold styles - forearm, hands, hands up, hands down.  Some 
dancers, for one reason or another usually don't even try to take your hand (or 
just a glancing blow tap-like touch)  when changing formations and that often 
leads to broken squares and unhappy dancers, unfortunately.

Everyone has their own style of handholds in their club. If your 
caller/teacher teaches the forearm hold then your club most  likely dances with all 
forearm holds.  Fine.  Another club in the next county, city, state, whatever, may 
be taught hands up or hands only. Fine.  

Here's the question:  Let's say you go to a special dance hosted by another 
club.  You enter the door and get the door items out of the way and enter the 
hall. You meet friends and chat for a while. The dancing starts. You, being 
from Club A, are now dancing in Club B's hall.  You dance forearm hold; Club B 
dances with "hands up" hold in wave-related formations.  Shouldn't you, the 
"visiting" dancer,  adapt to the way Club B dances when the caller calls "Swing 
Thru" or any type of movement to related to waves?  Or, just because your club 
swings thru using forearms do you insist that Club B dancers adapt to your 
style of dancing?

The club I'm in dances "hands up".  But when we go to festivals, conventions, 
etc., we always adapt to the style of dancing the host club does.  If there 
is ever a tip where four of our couples dance together then we dance hands up 
as normal. But we don't force our style of dancing on other dancers just 
because that is the way WE do it. 

So I would be interested in knowing how you dance when visiting a club that 
dances with handholds different from what you do in your home club. 

I'd actually also like to know what you think of visiting dancers who come 
into your club and "force" your arm into another position to adapt to THEIR 
style of handhold in wave-related formations.

Richard



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