I don't have a good set of words for teaching this sort of move, but I'd like to encourage you to include a demo. You don't necessarily have to be the one doing it. Get a couple of dancers who can do the move, or teach it to them in advance, and have them do the demo. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I think the same is true of a demo. Given that different people learn in different ways some will respond to your verbal instructions just fine, others won't and will be better served by seeing the move in action.

Hi Folks!

I'm wondering if you have tricks to teach Box the Gnat and Swat the Flea to a whole room of dancers who have not done it before. (In this case, it's happening in an otherwise very simple scatter mixer but I can imagine almost no one will know the figure.)

The wording I've figured out is below.

I feel like it's wordy but it's also a hard move to pick up because it's kind of weird what's actually happening. :)

Ideally, I'd love to be able to teach this without a demo but I feel like I'm stuck with the demo. (If you have talk BtheG to a big room of non-dancers without a demo, I'd love to hear your strategies).

Anyway - open to any and all feedback.

Thanks!

Emily in Ottawa

DEMO BoxTGnat from a hands 4

With your P - join R hands in loose handshake hold – no thumbs!

Goal is to trad places with your P so you end up in the spot there are right now.

BUT Lark/Robin will be doing different things to get there!

But little tug to start & raise joined hands.

Larks: you walk past your P into your P place. (could feel like behind/outside of the circle)

Robins: you WALK under your joined hands, turning in to face ctr of circle & keep turning until face P . You have stepped into THEIR place. Have them drill StF and BtG over and over before starting the rest of the dance.