[Callers] Teaching Larks & Ravens

[Ben Werner]

Mary,

This doesn't really answer your question, but I think it is important to bring up.

Please try to avoid gendered pronouns. As a male person who often dances The Raven role, one thing I really appreciate is a caller who doesn't use gendered pronouns regardless of the terms being used. 

So for instance, don't say "Larks allemande left to your partner and swing her" instead just say "... And swing your partner" or "swing them". Usingg endered pronouns defeats the entire point of using larks and Ravens. While still using gents and ladies (community preference) I have been trying really hard to remove any use of she, he, her, him, etc. 

Regards,
Ben


Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 15, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Angela DeCarlis via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi Mary, 
> 
> The important thing, I think, is that you communicate something along the following lines: "Contra dance is divided into two roles, so that sometimes half the people dancing do one thing while the other half do something different. Otherwise, the two dance roles are nearly identical, with most moves happening for dancers in both roles. The two roles have been named to correspond to positions, so that the Lark begins the dance and ends the swing on the Left, and the Raven does those things on the Right. If you abide by these positional rules, you'll always find yourself in a good place to move on to the next piece of choreography." 
> 
> As is the case with technically simple but uncommon figures like 'Circle Right,' beginners will generally have an easier time with new terms than will experienced dancers. Their brains are already in learning mode, whereas some of the old hands may be flying on autopilot. The tricky part is that you can't necessarily rely on the experienced folks to be as helpful to the newbs as they may be ordinarily, so programming just a tick easier than you are used to could be a safe bet, especially if you're in the process of getting comfortable using the new terms yourself!
> 
> If you're on Facebook, I highly recommend joining the group Larks and Ravens Contra Dancers. There have been a lot of really great conversations in that group, including several about how calling with genderfree terminology benefits the whole community, including those of us who are straight and cisgendered. 
> 
> For what it's worth, I've officially gotten to a point where calling Larks and Ravens is easier for me. It's lovely that the common Allemandes alliterate with the new terms (Larks typically allemande left, while Ravens often allemande right), and it now feels so strange to say "Ladies allemande right"; it feels like I've messed up!
> 
> Good luck and please feel free to reach out to me if you have further questions on this!
> 
> Angela
> 
>> On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 6:27 PM, Mary Collins via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> I call in primarily a traditional dance community but am investigating starting to call using larks and ravens. I am curious about what words you use and how you teach larks and ravens positioning. Thanks.
>> 
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