[Callers] Variations of 3-33 by Steve Zakon-Anderson

[James Saxe via Callers]

On Dec 16, 2016, at 11:48 AM, Bill Olson wrote, regarding the dance
"Three Thirty-Three [Thirty-Three]":

> I personally like the original
[with

    B2 Long Lines F&B, Ladies dosido 1.5 

]
> best of all and don't really think it's hard to teach if you pay attention to telling everyone where they're going to end up after B2 (basically that the Women are crossing the set to find new Neighbors). 

I agree that one of the keys to teaching the do-si-so in B2
is to let people know where they're going to end up, and in
particular to get the ladies to identify their next neighbors.
However, once they have identified their next neighbors, there
is a danger that some ladies will want to do the do-si-do with
their next neighbor lady.  So be sure to call their attention
back to the other lady in their current foursome before you
walk them through the do-si-do.  Also if you use the word
"diagonal" in describing the do-si-do, be sure to make it
clear (in words the dancers will easily understand and at a
time when you have their attention) that you're talking about
a diagonal within their current foursome.  Contra dancers are
more accustomed to hearing the word "diagonal" used for an
action involving a couple from the next foursome up or down
the set.

And now a word about *Fractions*:

The action at the end of B2 is notated as being once and a half
because it causes two ladies to exchange places (along a slight
left diagonal within their foursome).  But in contra dancing we
more commonly use "ladies do-si-do once and a half" to describe
an action that would take them (from the same starting position)
to their current neighbor gent, as in this example from "Scout
House Reel":

     A2. ...
         Ladies chain [across] to partner
     B1. Ladies do-si-so 1.5
         Neighbors swing

The usage in the description of "Scout House Reel" is based on
an unspoken convention that when dancers start from facing
couples, we often calculate the ending position of a action for
the two ladies or an action for the two gents as if the two
participants were starting out directly across the set from
each other.

While it is arguably technically more accurate to use the
words "once and a half" to describe an action like the do-si-do
in B2 of "Three Thirty-Three" than to use them for an action
the do-si-do in the B1 of "Scout House Reel", the latter usage
is certainly more common.  In practice, I think that using any
*other* fraction (such as 1 3/8 or 1 5/8) to describe either of
those actions would be more confusing for the dancers.  So the
only good way to distinguish the two actions, and particularly
to describe the less common one, is to give some additional
information besides the nominal amount (1 1/2) of do-si-do.
The obvious additional information would be who you meet next
and where you meet them.

     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Analogous remarks to the ones above apply for teaching the gents'
allemande at the end of "Thanks to the Gene" by Tom Hinds.

--Jim