25 Oct
2015
25 Oct
'15
1:52 p.m.
I don't like the idea that a term we use might be offensive to someone. I think part
of its tenacity is that it can be used for a whole family of similar eye locking moves.
The term walk around will not serve in what is now called a gypsy star, or in a traveling
gypsy, gypsy chase, or gypsy hey, which all have eye contact as a common element.
In discussing with dancers, I heard objection to the terms catching eyes, grabbing by the
eyes etc. made them think of hands in eyes. Not that they didn't understand, but it
was distasteful to them.
Perhaps we could agree to a term like 'facing' to link the diverse moves together.
It is used in squares in cases where instead of the usual facing someone's back, you
are face to face (as in a facing diamond). This un-knots all the alternative moves
(facing star, facing hey, travel facing).
I don't actually think of a plain gypsy as involving a shoulder, but rather a side of
my face. Go R face round your N, ladies L face round each other? Facing indicates where
we should look more or less without demanding eye contact. I like eye contact, but some
are profoundly uncomfortable with it. I dislike when they choose to twirl their bodies
rather than at least look in my general direction. Facing helps with that. I'm sure
we will come up with something better, but I'd like a solution that acknowledges this
family of moves.
I'm not fond of eddy, for its aural similarity to the name Eddie. Spiral, vortex etc,
while all sort of indicative of rotation, also indicate to me the funnel effect, which is
not the only way we use the move. Many gypsies merely move us smoothly on to another
dancer.
One final thought, offered mostly for grins. I have occasionally thought of a gypsy as
two people walking round a maypole. We could say R maypole round your N, Ladies L maypole
in the center, go one and a half to your P, R maypole and swing your partner. :D
Andrea
Sent from my iOnlypretendtomultitask
On Oct 25, 2015, at 12:56 PM, Joy Greenwolfe via
Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I once had someone explain the gypsy as not trusting someone enough to take their eyes
off of them (!), so I agree that the underlying meaning can be problematic, to say the
least. Other moves have historical meanings too, but Gypsy as a term is more pejorative
than, say, Allemande, which references traditional German folk dance hand holds.
I like Michael's suggestion for "eyes." When teaching, it could be
described as "walk around holding eyes," which is similar to how I already
describe it (holding eyes instead of hands). Then during the dance, the call could be
shortened to "eyes" or "hold eyes." Something like "Ladies hold
eyes" seems to roll off the tongue with a good rhythm. Or maybe "Ladies by the
eyes?"
Melting could still be melting. Not sure how I'd fix my gypsy chase move, though.
There is also the issue of avoiding similar directions that would confuse the dancers,
such as in a Mad Robin where you are encouraged to hold eyes with the person across from
you, but not actually rotate around them. Maybe we need an alternate descriptive/evocative
term, like the way a Mad Robin is sometimes called Sliding Doors.
A single orbit? Eyes single? Star single? Hands off?
I'm also curious about thoughts about to what degree we might explain the change to
dancers. From most of the dancers' perspective, it may be "if it ain't broke,
don't change it." We might get push-back from dancers exasperated with what seems
to them like an arbitrary term change. Maybe if the term is more descriptive, they
won't notice as much. "Holding Eyes" works for me.
Just some thoughts.
Joy Greenwolfe
Durham, NC