[Callers] Contra- roll differences?

James Saxe via Callers callers at lists.sharedweight.net
Tue Aug 25 15:11:46 PDT 2015


Claire Takemori asked:

> In Contra dancing, what is the difference between "Roll your ___ Across/along"  and "Roll away with a half sashay"?  

To a first approximation, I agree with with those who have said
that there is no difference.  In particular, in my experience,
both wordings refer, almost always, to a move in which dancers
exchange places and not to a move in which one dancer travels
while the other holds his/her ground.  There are indeed--as others
have pointed out--a few dances with actions where one dancer stays
(essentially) stationary while another dancer rolls past, but such
dances are rare.  I'll save further comments about that for a
future message and use the rest of this message to address a point
I consider more important.

Something nobody has mentioned so far is that the word "roll" can
be used either as a transitive verb or as an intransitive verb.

    Transitive:
        Men/Women roll your
            partner / neighbor / new neighbor / shadow
            from right to left / from left to right
            along/across the set

    Intransitive:
        Women/Men roll [yourselves]
            from right to left / from left to right
            along/across the set
            past your partner/neighbor/...

I'm not particularly recommending one kind of wording over the
other.  I'm sure that people could offer plausible reasons to
prefer either and that sufficiently opinionated people could
explain why whichever kind of wording they don't don't prefer
is just horrible.

My point is that both kinds of wording are currently in common
use.  So be aware that you might encounter either while reading
a dance description in a book or online.  Also, be aware that
dancers are likely to have encountered both kinds of wordings,
including whichever one is opposite to the one you choose to
use.  If someone asks for clarification about who does what, be
sure you answer in a way that really clarifies it.  An answer
like "The women are the rollers" can mean different things
to different listeners:

    The women are the rollers [and the men are the "rollees"]

    The women are the rollers [and the men are the "sashayers"]

Think of the opportunities for confusion and for awkwardness on
the dance floor when the caller has one of these in mind and a
dancer assumes the other, or when different dancers assume
differing interpretations, and when neither person has even
imagined that an interpretation other than their own is
possible.
  
While I don't strongly advocate one usage of "roll" (transitive
or intransitive) over the other, I do strongly recommend that
you be careful not to switch back and forth between the two
kinds of wording while teaching and calling the same dance.
This applies especially for dances like Cis Hinkle's "Rollin'
and Tumblin'"

     http://dancevideos.childgrove.org/contra/contra-modern/434

and Mike Richardson's "Roll Down"

     http://www.cambridgefolk.org.uk/contra/dances/mike_richardson/roll_down.html

where there's more than one rollaway and where each dancer
experiences both parts of the actions at different times.

--Jim



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