[Callers] Contra- roll differences?

[John Sweeney via Callers]

In general dancing there are two distinct moves:
Rollaway - where the roller stays stationary (moving backwards and forwards
is OK)
Rollaway with a Half Sashay - where the roller steps sideways (sashays) into
the place of the person who is rolling across.

  The Rollaway happens in dances like Circle Waltz, but is not very common.

  The default is usually that the man rolls the lady on his right into his
place as he moves into her place, but either gender can roll either way.
You always need to specify who is rolling whom from where to where.

  The MWSD definition is:
"From a couple, the dancer on the right (or the directed dancer) "rolls"
across in front of the other dancer, turning a full 360 degrees to end on
the other side, as the other dancer steps back and then forward, adjusting
sideways as necessary, to move smoothly into the vacated position. At the
completion of the call, the dancers have exchanged positions."

  Note it says "or the directed dancer", again showing that anyone can roll
anyone in either direction.

  MWSD goes on to say, "In the past, "Rollaway" has also been called
"Rollaway With A Half Sashay". This is improper language and should not be
used."

  That is OK if you are only doing MWSD, but is completely wrong in general
dancing where the two moves exist and are different and you need to make it
clear which one is happening.  The default would appear to be "with a half
sashay", so it is probably most important to make it clear there is no
sashay on the rare occasions that that happens.

  When walking through a contra I always state:
- who is rolling
- which hand they are rolling from
- whom they are rolling (partner or neighbour)
- the direction of the roll: along the set or across the set
- if there is no sashay

  If it is "Men, roll neighbour from right to left, along the set" then it
usually works OK.  For any other rollaway there will always be some who have
done that default roll without listening to the rest of the instruction! :-)

  Most contra dance choreography uses the Half Sashay, but not all. For
example, "Roll Away" by Stohl & Rob uses two Rollaways without Half Sashays
to make the progression.

  Hope that helps.

Happy dancing,
John

John Sweeney, Dancer, England john at modernjive.com 01233 625 362
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent