It's Back!

[bjarvis]

Square dance cultists aficionados note: "spin chain thru" has been moved from the Plus list to the Mainstream list. This after being moved from Mainstream to Plus in 2001.

Figures. Now I have to figure out where to insert it into both Mainstream classes in which I'm involved.

Comments

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Cool! I love spin chain thru! It gets completely over shadowed by the abysmal, stupid and over used "spin chain and exchange the gears" and from what I remember from caller school, "spin chain thru is pretty handy for moving people in the square when you need to move only a couple people but keep the same formation.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Yup, effectively so. I kinda like "spin chain & exchange the gears," especially if I need to kill a few seconds to sort out who is with their partner, or if I set up the waves so that the boys have to lead the train for a little variety.

By contrast, "spin chain the gears" (no exchange) can die a quiet death without me noticing. :-)

I'm definitely going to quickly workshop "spin chain thru" the next time I'm calling, then keep using it more frequently at MS and Plus. It's an old favourite.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Where did it fit into the teach order prior to 2001?

If you don't want to put it into the middle (which was what I vaguely recall the pre-2001 CALLERB teaching order saying), you can justify placing it at either end of the teach order as follows:

(1) You can teach it fairly early on because it's a more complex call, and will take more time to learn/practice/get right.

(2) You can teach it fairly late because you want them to get used to other concepts first, such as cast 3/4 and circulating around the outside.

Hm. What was the standard app again? Oh yes - parallel ocean waves, girls in the center, boys on the ends, "...called almost exclusively from this arrangement" according to my CALLERLAB PLUS Standard Apps book. (Yes, I'm still standardizing choreo...)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where it lived in the prior teaching order... I'll have to dig to see if I have anything in my files.

Looking at my notes for the current MS classes, I'm inclined to leave "spin chain thru" to near the end; as you say, it's easier to teach if they already have cast 3/4, circulate patterns and such. But I need to keep it away from "spin the top" so that they don't confuse the two.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Actually, it could be a VERY good exercise in learning to listen to the entire call.

That's why Sandie's Right & Left Thru, Right & Left Thru, Right & Left GRAND trick keeps working so well ...

Maybe you DO want to do it near spin the top, and warn the students that they'll need to learn to listen carefully.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I might try that in a club night, level dance or workshop but not in a class... the poor dears have enough to worry about. :-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Think of it as teaching a square dance survival skill.

"SURVIVOR: The Square Dance Class"

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

It does point to the dysfunction of our (shrinking) organization. Both 8 Chain Thru and Spin Chain Thru were moved to Plus several years ago in an attempt to shorten a too-long list.

So many old guard screamed about losing these bits for their singing calls that the pendulum quickly swung the other way, in spite of strong arguments for the moves.

Now they are both back, Basic is back (which is fine by me). I'll just teach off of whatever list is valid at the moment. It really hasn't changed much since I started in 1983.

There's a local caller who continued to call 3CT and SCT after they were dropped, so his dancers won't notice the difference at all.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It does point to the dysfunction of our (shrinking) organization. Both 8 Chain Thru and Spin Chain Thru were moved to Plus several years ago in an attempt to shorten a too-long list.

Every time I read that Callerlab is redrafting the lists or some old-timer talks about how the lists are too long, I start to tune out. It simply strikes me that establishment deadwood is spending too much time rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic rather than addressing what I think are more serious issues (dated & poor quality music, archaic dress codes, couples-only mandates, and a general unwillingness to move beyond one's immediate comfort zone).

One of my vice-presidents likes to repeat ad nauseum that change is good. The flaw in this argument however is that while improvement comes from change, not all change is improvement.

"3CT" and "SCT"?

[stormecho.livejournal.com]

Since I don't call below A, I guess I don't have to worry about this much, but I do HATE it that they keep shifting calls to different levels. When I learned MS, SCT was one of the last calls learned (probably due to its multiple parts).

I mostly use SCEG to a RLG, therefore the guy is usually leading, as opposed to "standard" lady. I don't follow the standard rules. Probably why I'm deemed as a 'hard' caller.

I think Bill meant to put 8CT instead of 3.