I'd love to hear better solutions for the California Twirl. In my local from-scratch, not-quite-to-the-level-of-contra-dance that I call with larks/robins terms, in particular. I have tried lots of variations of very specific language, and I still get the partners looking at each other baffled, not sure how to trade places without bumping into the other.

I'm afraid "raise your joined hand" will make that problem even worse? Although I admit I'm in a weird case where 99% of the the dancers have all learned all they know from me, so any failure to execute a move is really down to me not teaching it well enough. Add to that we only dance a california-twirl dance every 2nd month, so there is not much practice. (Roll-aways, though, we do in 1 to 3 dances per monthly dance. Roll-aways are more clear but I did initially teach them in a 'lark rolls robin' fashion) All that considered, I am very keen to hear better ways to describe some of these action-word figures!

On Tue, Sep 2, 2025 at 12:40 PM David Harding via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I've been a bit troubled for years by the call "roll away" (with or without a half sashay). It's usually taught as though "roll" was an active verb, something that one dancer, most often the lark, does to the other dancer. Perhaps it would be more balanced if "roll" were treated as an active verb, so the roll is something that the dancer making the 360 degree turn does with the assistance of the partner who does not spin.

-David

On 9/2/2025 11:40 AM, Jerome Grisanti via Contra Callers wrote:
I was chatting with a caller mentee about language that gives one dancer more agency than another, and how to make such choices more neutral (i.e., all dancers should have agency).

For example, "larks/gents, raise your partners hand" to initiate a California twirl. Rather, use "partners, raise your joined hands..."

What other examples have y'all heard in the wild of best (and worst) practices?

Thanks!

— Jerome Grisanti

Jerome Grisanti
660-528-0858
http://www.jeromegrisanti.com

"Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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