I have moved away from circle mixers as a first dance for new dancers.
In approx order of importance, here's the skills I think new dancers need to learn in order:
1. It's okay to make mistakes / keep dancing / etc (quick mention on mic)
2. Getting moving to the beat of the music (just getting them dancing does this)
3. Shared weight as a concept, which, in turn, shared weight allows much easier and clearer nonverbal guidance by other dancers to pick up moves.
4. The swing, which requires which-role-is-on-which-side**, which in turn is done much more clearly in a line rather than a circle, which means that Progresssion as a topic is part of this. And this also includes teaching dancers that different people have different swings based on body size, shape, and ability (which absolutely is behind the desire to want a new dancer to dance with someone experienced).
While I like that mixers make sure dancers learn swings from different people, mixers don't teach progression, nor who winds up on which side. I see new people in mixers frequently inadvertently swap roles mid dance (sometimes multiple times), and it causes confusion.
Mixers also means you have no anchor person (a partner) to know to return to, and a dancer is having to adjust to a new partner every time through the dance. In this regard, it both adds another level of mental processing and also undermines the goal of "meeting other people on the floor". While I agree with Maia on so many things, this last bit just doesn't happen in mixers. One gets a better opportunity to meet people just by taking hands four - at least that's 3 other people in your starting hands 4.
As a second or third dance? Absolutely. But I won't do mixers as intro dances (unless it's a room entirely filled with new dancers, where I'm building skills up more slowly, but, in that case, it doesn't apply to the conditions the OP asked about).
So, short version: 2 walkthroughs, as mentioned previously, and I will take time to add a couple pointers (shared weight, hand placement on shoulderblades on swing), and, usually, picking an easy dance like Greetings (always a neighbor swing dance 1 of an evening).
** and, side-note: this continues to be my strongest reservation about Positional Calling in Contra.
Best regards,
Julian Blechner
He/Him
Western Mass
A simple circle mixer is often a good choice whenever some new beginners arrive.
Sent from my iPhone
You might consider a mixer to help get the newbies out of their cluster and meeting other people on the floor--hopefully some of those other folks will then ask the newbies to dance, and it'll be a less scary experience.
I feel like most dance communities with good beginner-welcoming practices will do this already, but if you've got some friends on the floor, you might ask them directly "hey, could you and some of your friends ask the new folks to dance for the next dance or two?"
--Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
Agree with the things you listed and just had this thought. If you do
two walk-throughs as you start the dance, some of them will naturally be
moved down the line to dance with more experienced dancers. Since the
swing is so important in getting people on the correct side of their
partner, I would re-teach the swing as I teach the dance.
Casey Carr
On 8/5/2025 12:07 PM, Gregory Frock via Contra Callers wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Here's the scenario: You are finishing up a new dancers' lesson, and
> will be starting the dance in a few minutes. In walks a significant
> number (say 6+) of newbies, all friends who want to dance together.
> Besides the two most common solutions, lower the difficulty and insist
> they NOT do the first couple of dances together, does anyone have an
> additional creative/elegant solution, enhancement actions to make the
> basics more effective, or important issues for consideration that are
> commonly missed?
>
> Greg
>
> _______________________________________________
> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net