[Callers] Variation or Original Composition - A Question of Semantics

[Isaac Banner]

Hey all,

A question I've been mulling over for several months now is where the line
blurs from "a variation of" to "a dance based on" to "a dance of my own"
when writing contras.

*For example:*
Last Hey (First Hey var.) - Paul Balliet and *maybe* Isaac Banner in a way?
Becket, CW
A1:  (8) Circle left 3/4
       (4) Rings balance
       (4) Pass through u/d
A2:  (8) Ladies alle. left 1.5x
       (4) Short waves balance
       (4) Partner alle. right 3/4
B1: (16) Ladies pass left, hey for 4
B2: (16) Partner balance/swing

In this case, I took First Hey, shifted it off by a phrase, and changed
what had then become the A2. I've called it at four or five dances out in
the northwest now, and I've waffled back and forth between calling it "a
variation of..." or "a dance of mine, based on..." and I'm still not sure
on which I want to use.

I'll admit I'm still fairly new to this list, but at least in the several
months I've been following conversations here it seems fairly regular that
I see someone put out a dance, asking if it exists, only to get several
responses of "Oh, yes, I wrote that but with 8/16/32 counts different." I
always feel like it must be exciting, in a way, to know that you and
another caller both put together the same ideas, but I also would guess
that it must be a little disheartening, in a way, to know that your
newfound baby isn't quite yours and yours alone...heck, Newton and Leibniz
both developed Calculus and 300 years later even that can't seem to be
settled.

Over the last few years I've heard callers talk about when they consider a
dance to be a unique sequence and the majority opinion seems to be if a
full phrase is unique between the two, but I'm not sure that's always a
hard and fast rule...

Anyways, I've been *very* curious what other people have to say on the
topic. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Isaac Banner
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