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These are good points, and they bring up a larger situation.
Presumably, Tom accepted the gig months ahead of the date (like all
of us). A few days before the gig, he receives the new "rule". Does
anyone think that there might be a slight ethical problem here?<br>
<br>
When we accept a gig, it's an agreement between two consenting
parties. This is, in fact, a contract. I'm not talking about a long
legal document with pages of small print in a sans serif font.
That's not customary in our dance culture, although in other types
of performances it may be the norm. In any case, in the contra dance
world, nearly all the specifics are not in writing; they are just
accepted behaviors and conventions. The artist (here, the caller)
accepted the gig with certain expectations -- microphone, payment,
times, etc. The organizers have expectations of quality,
preparation, being on time, etc. These are all cultural norms. Every
community has its own way of approaching this. After all, this is a
community dance, and things are often pretty loose with lots of
volunteer helpers, not a hard-knuckled bargaining dispute between
unions and coal mine owners.<br>
<br>
Here's the issue: Let's assume that the new terminology rule had
been decided up by the organizing committee after Tom's gig date had
been scheduled and finalized. But Tom didn't learn about this change
until just before the gig. I think the organizers have a
responsibility here to convey their decision to the caller in a
timely manner and ask if the caller still wanted to do the gig with
this new condition. <br>
<br>
Alternatively, the organizers could set a future date when this rule
would become a rigid part of the agreement, and any scheduling for
gigs after that date would include that rule in the initial
back-and-forth communications between the caller and the organizers.
That gives both parties all the information they need to make their
decisions.<br>
<br>
The awkward period would be the transition period that Tom was
caught in -- where the rule was conveyed close to the gig date and
the caller had to accept it "fait accompli" or cancel. By laying
down a rigid rule unilaterally, the organizers actually broke the
agreement. No one wants this, but IMO that's what they did. But Tom
wanted the gig, accepted the change, and was gracious enough to
adjust and call it anyway<br>
<br>
In that case, however, I think the organizers could have conveyed
something different -- like Yoyo gently described -- that the
organizers "prefer" that the caller avoid the word "gypsy", use an
alternative word or phrase, and here is a preferred alternative, but
that the caller use judgement for the ultimate choice. This
communication would be during this awkward transitional period.
There would, of course, be some dancers who may complain, but this
would also be an opportunity for the organizers to convey to those
dancers the ethics that they followed and that it's just a
transitional period.<br>
<br>
My two cents.<br>
<br>
Woody Lane<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/28/2018 4:04 PM, Tom Hinds via
Callers wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:F7393E84-0046-4EF2-B846-AF5957021234@earthlink.net">
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<div>Thanks for the suggestion. The rule was sent to me days
befor the gig and it took my mind a good long while to process
and work through it. The organizer knows my concerns.<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPad</div>
<div><br>
On Mar 28, 2018, at 6:34 PM, Yoyo Zhou <<a
href="mailto:yozhov@gmail.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yozhov@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
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<div class="gmail_extra">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 2:29 PM,
Tom Hinds via Callers <span dir="ltr"><<a
href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto">
<div>Here was my issue, briefly : I was told to use
"walk around" when calling at glen echo. It also
happens that I'm a western square caller and have
used "walk around your corner, see saw your taw"
for decades.</div>
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</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Here is an opportunity to say to the organizers, "I
understand your intent is to avoid certain language,
but your proposed substitute doesn't work for me
because I use 'walk around' to mean something else. I
would prefer to use [such and such] or another
alternative to avoid confusion. Does that work for
your community?" This is a conversation between you
and the organizers, which will ideally result in
clearer communication at the dance itself. But if they
don't want to budge, then you've hopefully
communicated that their rigidness is hindering you
from presenting a good program. After all, we're here
to serve the dancers.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks,</div>
<div>Yoyo Zhou</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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