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TEACHING HINTS
Tim Fromm writes:
12. HALF SASHAY FAMILY:
(a) HALF SASHAY: Starting formation -couple. Partners exchange places
without
changing facing directions. Dancer on the right sidesteps to the left,
while the other dancer
on the left steps back, sidesteps to the right, then steps forward to
rejoin partner.
(b) ROLLAWAY. Starting formation -couple. The directed dancer, or if not
specified the
dancer on the right, rolls across a full turn (360°) in front of the
dancer on the left, as he
sidesteps to the right -to exchange places. From a circle, unless
otherwise directed, the
ladies roll left across in front of the men.
(c) LADIES IN, MEN SASHAY: Starting formation -circle or line with
alternating men
and ladies. With all dancers facing in, the ladies step forward and
pause, while the men
move to the left behind and past one lady. Ladies step back and rejoin
hands with the men.
If the circle is moving to the right, the men sashay to the right.
STYLING: Hands held in normal couple handhold. Man and lady each use a
slight pulling
motion toward each other as they initiate the sashay movement. Rollaway:
Handhold same
as joined couples. Man should slightly pull lady as both man and lady
reach to join hands
and continue pulling motion with outside hand. Man steps back with left
foot, to the side
and across. Ladies In, Men Sashay: Men's hands in slightly up position
ready to rejoin the
ladies in the circle. Ladies should have both hands on skirt when moving
to the center and
momentarily bunch skirts before returning to the circle.
TIMING: Half sashay, 4 steps; Rollaway, 4; Ladies in, men sashay, 4.
I teach the three moves in this family separately. I first teach
Rollaway. I teach it from a
SS, giving each a couple tries. I demonstrate the way we exchange hands,
and tell them
that a sashay is a side-step.I want to be sure that I tell the men not to
hold the ladies hand
to tight. (Remember that we can have the girls roll the boys.) I will
point out, that we
don't change facing directions when we do this move. It is important to
circle the ladies to
another man, to make sure each of the dancers get the feel for the move.
Then I will tell
them that it will be easier if we have some movement first. I will have
them circle, and tell
them to be careful, and for the boy, with the girl on his right side,
roll her away a 1/2
sashay. I will "play" with this a lot, and a few lessons down the
pike, have same sexes
roll each other away. I might try it the same lesson, if the dancers are
up to it. A quick
(Boys roll the girls, Girls roll the boys, LA) is easy, and a surprise to
the dancers. I will
probable skip a week between, and teach "Ladies In, Men Sashay" next. I
will teach it
while circling left first. I once again tell them that a sashay is a
side-step. I will again
remind them, that we don't change facing directions when we do this move.
I will also
have the Men go in and the Ladies sashay. I'm not certain if that is
exactly "legal", but the
dancers have no problem with it, it makes them listen (as well as get
some smiles), and
adds variety. I will vary back and forth, as to whom should go in. The
following lesson,I
spend a little time teaching it from lines. I will want to show then that
it can be done from
there. I will tell them that the same thing applies, and that when
someone goes in, the
other side-steps behind them before the dancer that stepped in steps back
out. I will have
them sashay both ways, telling them to see which other dancer is dancing
"only" with them
at the time. By doing this both ways, they will be doing a normal 1/2
sashay at times, but
don't even know it exists.
I will allow maybe two more lessons before I teach 1/2 sashay. I will
be using it as stated
above, but don't want to muddy the waters too much. I will teach from a
SS. and tell them
that they already know how to do this. I will tell them the definition,
and remind them, that
we don't change facing directions when we do this move. I will stress
that the right hand
dancer steps forward, and to the left. I will then take a minute to
explain the difference
between this, and ladies in from lines. I will show them when and why it
is the same, as
well as why it is different at times. I will try to use these somewhat
close together, but not
really back to back. I will cue what I want for them to do for awhile.
I have to disagree with the way you handle the Sashay family. First
of all, if you look at
the family as a whole, the predominant part of the "family" is "Half
Sashay". The
secondary part of the family is "Rollaway", and the third part of the
family is "Ladies
Center, Men Sashay". All parts of the family do the same thing in the
end--they exchange
places for two people--it's how the two people exchange places that makes
the various
parts of the family different.
I contend that it is not correct to "rollaway" when the man's left
hand and the ladies left
hand are joined, such as in any call which ends in a "courtesy turn". In
this case, if I wish
to exchange the two dancers, I ALWAYS use the helper words "turn the girl
WITH a Half
Sashay". I ONLY use "rollaway" when the inside hands of a couple are
joined, it is much
smoother for the dancers to dance, especially the ladies.
Here in Europe, we use "Half Sashay" much more than we do "rollaway".
We also can
"reverse" a "Half Sashay" (after a "Flutterwheel", for example) much
easier than we can
reverse rollaway, and the ending formation after a "Half Sashay once and
a half" is 180
degrees different than a "Rollaway once and a half". The younger women
really think that
Half Sashay is much smoother than Rollaway, imagine what the elderly
ladies would
think?
Dardenne Phillippe writes:
yes I use 'half sashay'from lines...and even,I sometimes should
moderate my tendency to
overuse it !! I like this call a lot and still think it is mostly
underused :
- from normal lines : right & left thru , flutterwheel ,
boys in,girls sashay(sashay couples)
reverse the flutter(girls go with the left
hand)
- from double pass thru formation ( should be called in time to be
succesfull):
ZB swing thru boys run ferris wheel all boys in,all girls
sashay....
Cark Baker writes:
Gimmick: Join hands, circle left, ladies in men sashay, circle left,
ladies in men say hay, ...
Kim S. Andersen writes:
Yes it's a good one. But unless your dancers are used to it, prepare
yourself for a mess.
At least that's what I find, but it may be because of the language
barrier, which in some
cases may make it a bit troublesome to step aside from the main road. You
may loosen up
a bit by prefixing it with "Listen carefully!". And like any gimmick, use
sparingly.
Another one used by some callers over here is to say, in a singing
call opener:
Circle Left
Now instead of saying "Walk Around Your Corner" say "Walk around in a
great big ring" or so.
Sometimes half the floor does the Walk Around Your Corner. I had a
class teacher who
I think overused this one, so I've never liked it or used it myself.
Dave Hass Writes:
I believe the reason for this is that most callers don't use the
figure other than to have
the ladies center and the men sashay. I use both ways regulary, and get
pretty good
reponse no matter who goes in. I also use often from a circle right.
Guy Adams Writes:
Funny but everytime we talk about a call not being danced correctly, we
come back to the
fact that it is not thoroughly taught, or it is taught incorrectly. Which
brings us back full
circle to "Caller Education."
A caller who does not have the proper knowledge of the calls, their
formations and when
and where they can be used, fails to educate correctly.
Johnny Preston Writes:
Because it is called 95% of the time after Circle Left (or Right) and
the blankety-blank
Men do NOT go straight in and out but rather go in while continuing to
Circle.
In all fairness to the men, the women don't do this call well from the
mans position. I try to
call men to the center and the ladies sashay every dance. The success
rate is very poor and
there is enough blame for both genders.
d2z writes:
I hope all callers are "studying" the Basic TTT and not thinking they
only need to
improve in Plus and higher.
In all fairness Basic SHOULD be able to handle "Men In, Ladies
Sashay". But they
can't. Anytime a caller calls "Men In, Ladies Sashay" it doesn't work.
Do you know why?
Because it is called 95% of the time after Circle Left (or Right) and the
blankety-blank
Men do NOT go straight in and out but rather go in while continuing to
Circle. This
makes it impossible for the Ladies to get past them as they Sashay.
Perhaps if callers,
when teaching (and then use for ninety weeks thereafter until they-the
callers felt
comfortable with it) Sashay would direct more of the time on Sashay from
a stationary
position, Men would learn to go straight in and out and then when dancing
it following a
Circle Left the men would dance it correctly.
Don't answer this on the message board, just answer to yourself: How
many times in the
last dance did you call "Ladies In, Men Sashay" from a Line? How many
times in the past
year? Have you ever called it from a Line?
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