17 Oct
2025
17 Oct
'25
1:44 p.m.
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.
17 Oct
17 Oct
5:32 p.m.
Hi Emily,
Yes, demonstrate!
You’ve had lots of good advice, but no-one has mentioned one item that I find
useful. People can get confused between the two moves as to whether they should move to
the left or the right to pass the other person. I always tell the men to move their hand
away from them.
My full teach would be a demo, then get everyone lined up in the same
orientation.
You raise you joined hands and change places with each other. This is called
multi-taking; as well as raising your hand you have to move your feet!
You start facing each other and you finish facing each other; it is just half a turn.
Men: raise your joined hands and move your hand away from you; walk around the lady while
keeping looking at her.
Ladies: raise your joined hands and turn backwards under the arch, turning away from the
man.
Make sure you don’t grip, just roll your fingers around each other’s.
Relax! It is a basic rule of dancing that when your hand is above your nose your should
relax your arm completely.
Don’t worry if your hands are now in the wrong orientation – let that sort itself out on
the next figure.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England <mailto:john@modernjive.com> john(a)modernjive.com
01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574
<http://www.contrafusion.co.uk> http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
3:57 p.m.
Come to think of it, in a room full of nondancers, is there any benefit to calling it
"box the gnat" or "swat the flea", vs "turn under right
hand" or "turn under left hand" or even "right-hand twirl, left hand
twirl"? They're similar weird names which don't include clues about what the
move actually is, and people who are unsure of how to do it anyway are going to have extra
processing time if they have to parse the call.
-- Alan
________________________________________
From: Emily Addison via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 12:11 PM
To: Sivier, Jonathan E
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers
Subject: [Callers] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
BEWARE: This email originated outside of our organization. DO NOT CLICK links or
attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Totally agreed. I love demos and I think that BtheG is a perfect place for it.
I'm just wondering if I could get away without doing a demo in a large room of all
beginners with the right verbal instructions. Orrrrr.... is BtheG just too weird??? ;)
I'm also generally wondering if folks feel they have better language to help dancers
move their bodies through BtheG :)
Emily
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM Sivier, Jonathan E via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
wrote:
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.
Jonathan
________________________________
From: Emily Addison via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 1:44 PM
To: Shared Weight Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
Subject: [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
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.
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list --
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To unsubscribe send an email to
contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>
3:54 p.m.
I tend to say "raise the joined hands in an arch; you'll trade places with the
robin going under and the lark going around." I don't need a demo in a room with
a lot of experienced dancers - the new folks will either see the demos or neighbors will
sort them out - but a demo is extremely helpful for people who haven't seen it at
all.
A thing I picked up from another caller, sometimes usefully, is to tell robins explicitly
that in the process of changing places they will be turning their backs on their partner,
very briefly, and that it's only polite but necessary. Sometimes the idea that
it's rude to turn your back makes them fight against doing it successfully.
(If it's just not working you could substitute a right-hand or left-hand turn halfway.
[I've tried that more in English-ish environments; allemande right halfway might be
crunched up tight enough to be awkward. It's not as zesty in something like
box-the-gnat, pull-by, but it gets you there facing more or less the right way.)
-- Alan
________________________________________
From: Emily Addison via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 11:44 AM
To: Shared Weight Contra Callers
Subject: [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
BEWARE: This email originated outside of our organization. DO NOT CLICK links or
attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
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.
2:53 p.m.
New subject: [External] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
All the word suggestions here are good. Demos are positive as well.
I have occasionally found it helpful to emphasize that EVERYBODY has to
move. Sometimes people (typically in the lark role) want to remain
stationary.
— Jerome
Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power
and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 3:44 PM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I usually teach it from the mic as: "at the end
of this move, you will
have swapped places with your [neighbor, partner etc.]; point to where
you're going to end up. Cool. Now, shake right hands with your [neighbor,
partner etc.]. Lift your joined arms; robins go under the arch, larks walk
forward to their left, and you end up in each other's place!"
Pointing out the no-gripping rule is excellent, and I find it often helps
cement things to do/teach the move twice; once for positions and who ends
up where, and once for the finer points of stuff like that. So if I were to
do this without a demo, I might say:
"Okay, now reset yourselves, because I want to show you one more thing
about this move. Can everyone curl their fingers, with your thumb attached
at the side (show on stage), sort of like a lego figurine's hand? This is
the hand position we want during a move like this, so no one's hand gets
pinched and everyone has free movement. Try that box the gnat to swap
again, and think about having Lego hands; you can hook hands with your
[neighbor, partner etc.] to make that arch and send the robin under it
without gripping or restricting movement."
I don't tend to specify grip stuff when teaching from the mic with a
sufficient volume of experienced dancers in the room, but that's how I
might do it--and of course, zero shame in a demo, that might get your point
across better!
Cheers,
Maia
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 3:31 PM Tepfer, Seth via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Here are the words from the fabulous Becky Hill
from the late 1990s.
Box the Gnat (4)
A couple takes right hands, making an arch. The woman walks underneath
the arch, while the man walks around the woman, exchanging places to face
the opposite direction from where they started.
Seth Tepfer (he, him, his)
Software Engineering, Emory Primate Center
------------------------------
*From:* Emily Addison via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Friday, October 17, 2025 3:11 PM
*To:* Sivier, Jonathan E <jsivier(a)illinois.edu>
*Cc:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [External] [Callers] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
Totally agreed. I love demos and I think that BtheG is a perfect place
for it.
I'm just wondering if I could get away without doing a demo in a large
room of all beginners with the right verbal instructions. Orrrrr.... is
BtheG just too weird??? ;)
I'm also generally wondering if folks feel they have better language to
help dancers move their bodies through BtheG :)
Emily
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM Sivier, Jonathan E via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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.
Jonathan
------------------------------
*From:* Emily Addison via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Friday, October 17, 2025 1:44 PM
*To:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
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.
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to
contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
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To unsubscribe send an email to
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_______________________________________________
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To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
2:43 p.m.
New subject: [External] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
I usually teach it from the mic as: "at the end of this move, you will have
swapped places with your [neighbor, partner etc.]; point to where you're
going to end up. Cool. Now, shake right hands with your [neighbor, partner
etc.]. Lift your joined arms; robins go under the arch, larks walk forward
to their left, and you end up in each other's place!"
Pointing out the no-gripping rule is excellent, and I find it often helps
cement things to do/teach the move twice; once for positions and who ends
up where, and once for the finer points of stuff like that. So if I were to
do this without a demo, I might say:
"Okay, now reset yourselves, because I want to show you one more thing
about this move. Can everyone curl their fingers, with your thumb attached
at the side (show on stage), sort of like a lego figurine's hand? This is
the hand position we want during a move like this, so no one's hand gets
pinched and everyone has free movement. Try that box the gnat to swap
again, and think about having Lego hands; you can hook hands with your
[neighbor, partner etc.] to make that arch and send the robin under it
without gripping or restricting movement."
I don't tend to specify grip stuff when teaching from the mic with a
sufficient volume of experienced dancers in the room, but that's how I
might do it--and of course, zero shame in a demo, that might get your point
across better!
Cheers,
Maia
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 3:31 PM Tepfer, Seth via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Here are the words from the fabulous Becky Hill from
the late 1990s.
Box the Gnat (4)
A couple takes right hands, making an arch. The woman walks underneath the
arch, while the man walks around the woman, exchanging places to face the
opposite direction from where they started.
Seth Tepfer (he, him, his)
Software Engineering, Emory Primate Center
------------------------------
*From:* Emily Addison via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Friday, October 17, 2025 3:11 PM
*To:* Sivier, Jonathan E <jsivier(a)illinois.edu>
*Cc:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [External] [Callers] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
Totally agreed. I love demos and I think that BtheG is a perfect place for
it.
I'm just wondering if I could get away without doing a demo in a large
room of all beginners with the right verbal instructions. Orrrrr.... is
BtheG just too weird??? ;)
I'm also generally wondering if folks feel they have better language to
help dancers move their bodies through BtheG :)
Emily
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM Sivier, Jonathan E via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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.
Jonathan
------------------------------
*From:* Emily Addison via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Friday, October 17, 2025 1:44 PM
*To:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
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.
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
2:31 p.m.
New subject: [External] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
Here are the words from the fabulous Becky Hill from the late 1990s.
Box the Gnat (4)
A couple takes right hands, making an arch. The woman walks underneath the arch, while the
man walks around the woman, exchanging places to face the opposite direction from where
they started.
Seth Tepfer (he, him, his)
Software Engineering, Emory Primate Center
________________________________
From: Emily Addison via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 3:11 PM
To: Sivier, Jonathan E <jsivier(a)illinois.edu>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [External] [Callers] Re: Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
Totally agreed. I love demos and I think that BtheG is a perfect place for it.
I'm just wondering if I could get away without doing a demo in a large room of all
beginners with the right verbal instructions. Orrrrr.... is BtheG just too weird??? ;)
I'm also generally wondering if folks feel they have better language to help dancers
move their bodies through BtheG :)
Emily
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM Sivier, Jonathan E via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
wrote:
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.
Jonathan
________________________________
From: Emily Addison via Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 1:44 PM
To: Shared Weight Contra Callers
<contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
Subject: [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
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.
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list --
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
To unsubscribe send an email to
contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:contracallers-leave@lists.sharedweight.net>
2:11 p.m.
Totally agreed. I love demos and I think that BtheG is a perfect place for
it.
I'm just wondering if I could get away without doing a demo in a large room
of all beginners with the right verbal instructions. Orrrrr.... is BtheG
just too weird??? ;)
I'm also generally wondering if folks feel they have better language to
help dancers move their bodies through BtheG :)
Emily
On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM Sivier, Jonathan E via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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.
Jonathan
------------------------------
*From:* Emily Addison via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Friday, October 17, 2025 1:44 PM
*To:* Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
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.
_______________________________________________
Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
1:50 p.m.
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.
Jonathan
________________________________
From: Emily Addison via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 1:44 PM
To: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Teaching Box the Gnat / Swat the Flea
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.
9
days inactive
9
days old
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
8 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
Emily Addison -
Jerome Grisanti -
john＠modernjive.com -
Maia McCormick -
Sivier, Jonathan E -
Tepfer, Seth -
Winston, Alan P.