Should we sack them?

Being an enthusiastic but untalented dancer myself, I should not throw stones from within my glass house. Having a problem with tone and rhythm, I count my way through every Morris dance.

Most teams have at least one bad dancer. I am not talking about one who does not dance as well as the rest of the team. It is the person who walks simultaneously swinging the same arm and leg; clashes out of time, hitting fingers and other dancers; says "Is this a stick or hanky dance?", having danced it a hundred times; fights against the flow of the dance, always doing something quite different to the rest of team; stops dead if they ever realise their error, etc.

Ah yes, you now know who I'm talking about!

They are normally protected by their other habit of being the most dependable people to turn up. What should we do with them?

To a team claiming to be formed only for the ambiance, this should be no problem; these dancers perhaps make a greater contribution in a different way. But what of the teams that claim to be interested in their dance quality? How can they have a policy of quality control without weeding out unsuitable material. I believe many teams would like to give a bad dancer the elbow, except that they do not have the balls or imagination to resolve it effectively.

Most dancers get a significant buzz from a good performance in front of a good crowd. "We really DID dance well! We danced as ONE! Our experience and practice is really taking effect!" This will not occur if you let that bad dancer loose, who prevents the team reaching that high, and makes the team always look like a bunch of amateurs. If you know your way through that hey, why should you crash into someone? As an experienced dancer, why should you have your fingers cracked? In order to save the feelings of one person, far more people may be hurt. That one person turning up, may deter many others. It may also deter potential members to join the team, or good dancers to stay with the team.

Some years ago, I joined a team to learn some traditions that I was interested in. Although I was slow to learn, I eventually started to move into an acceptable standard. The team had some talented dancers. Unfortunately, every time they danced out, they included two popular, but bad, dancers. These venues were embarrassing. I left for a less talented team, that lacked these impediments.

Another team that I know, has one remarkable member, that the word "untalented" suffers a gross inadequacy. The audience are transfixed on the android jerky movements of this member, who seems to be travelling in a parallel dimension, oblivious to any aspect of the team. It must surely be noted by the Foreman that no-one has joined the team since this dancer joined!

Is there, or should there, be any remedy? If quality is not a significant aspect of your team, then this does not matter. If you genuinely wish to retain these members, there may be appropriate actions. There may be a particular facet of the dance that this person has problems. Intense individual one-to-one tuition may resolve the matter. I believe many bad-dancers cannot come to grips with the stepping, and their crashing about reflects their concentration on their feet, rather than movement through the set. They should not be unleashed until their stepping is performed as an unconscious action. Personally, I am unconscious throughout entire weekend of dances.

Limit the number of dances they perform, to those dances that they can get away with. Then, on dance outs, ensure that they always do those dances, so will not have the itch to perform more, depriving others of their satisfaction.