Last week when I posted this flow chart, I got a response from a reader that I thought was interesting and so got permission to share with the group for comment:
"Maybe another branch of the flow chart should incorporate the concept of: do the people you lead in the flourishes LIKE it when you do it? i.e., not just about safety or whether it works -- referring to the young men with more energy than finesse who horse around a lot, and it works out ok, but it's still too wild and uncontrolled, and gets really old after a while.... Same young men when dancing in pairs (i.e., one is lead and one is follow) are really wild and uncontrolled and while it works out fine for them to do their thing together, the rest of us feel like we need to give them a wide berth -- so it works, but the rest of us don't really like it. Maybe that's an artifact of the fact that they are part of a younger demographic and it would be totally acceptable in a group with a different (i.e., younger) demographic. Is that the same as or different that any of your branches? Seems different to me but maybe it's just a subcategory."
I'm not sure either whether that counts as its own thing or not. I tend to subscribe to the "don't be a jerk" school, which says that you shouldn't go dampening the fun of others. However, this goes both ways. In the example, the dancers who are horsing around need to be conscious of the space they're taking and where they are in relation to the rest of their set/line/whatever. At the same time, other dancers who are unaffected directly by it really need to consider whether their concern is warranted.
I know a dancer who gets jittery whenever any other dancer -- even if they're in another line -- gets dipped or lifted. I am more than willing to curtail things in my repertoire in the interest of safety or in the interest of staying in my own allotted dance space; I am not, however, going to take a move out of my repertoire -- when I'm all the way across the hall, have enough room, and can perform the move safely for me and my partner -- just because someone, somewhere might have an issue with it.
(It reminds me a bit, tangentially, of my philosophy on improv lines -- horsing around is a choice, and that's fine, but you do not get to make that choice for others without their consent. I should be able to dance a dance in a well-done improv line as written and keep my partner and role while the dancers and roles change around us if I choose.)
That's my thought in response to the comment; I welcome others.
"Maybe another branch of the flow chart should incorporate the concept of: do the people you lead in the flourishes LIKE it when you do it? i.e., not just about safety or whether it works -- referring to the young men with more energy than finesse who horse around a lot, and it works out ok, but it's still too wild and uncontrolled, and gets really old after a while.... Same young men when dancing in pairs (i.e., one is lead and one is follow) are really wild and uncontrolled and while it works out fine for them to do their thing together, the rest of us feel like we need to give them a wide berth -- so it works, but the rest of us don't really like it. Maybe that's an artifact of the fact that they are part of a younger demographic and it would be totally acceptable in a group with a different (i.e., younger) demographic. Is that the same as or different that any of your branches? Seems different to me but maybe it's just a subcategory."
I'm not sure either whether that counts as its own thing or not. I tend to subscribe to the "don't be a jerk" school, which says that you shouldn't go dampening the fun of others. However, this goes both ways. In the example, the dancers who are horsing around need to be conscious of the space they're taking and where they are in relation to the rest of their set/line/whatever. At the same time, other dancers who are unaffected directly by it really need to consider whether their concern is warranted.
I know a dancer who gets jittery whenever any other dancer -- even if they're in another line -- gets dipped or lifted. I am more than willing to curtail things in my repertoire in the interest of safety or in the interest of staying in my own allotted dance space; I am not, however, going to take a move out of my repertoire -- when I'm all the way across the hall, have enough room, and can perform the move safely for me and my partner -- just because someone, somewhere might have an issue with it.
(It reminds me a bit, tangentially, of my philosophy on improv lines -- horsing around is a choice, and that's fine, but you do not get to make that choice for others without their consent. I should be able to dance a dance in a well-done improv line as written and keep my partner and role while the dancers and roles change around us if I choose.)
That's my thought in response to the comment; I welcome others.
