[Callers] Gender role switching and 64-bar dances

Lately, as a dancer, I and a fair number of other folks at the Greenfield (MA) dance have taken to switching gender roles every other time through a dance. Not for every dance, but as an interesting challenge and a way to have more interaction with people that you might not normally interact with if you only dance one role. (I know, folks at gender-free dances are already there, but a nominally 'gendered' dance is where I'm starting from.) When you do gender role switching every other time it basically turns a 32-bar dance into a 64-bar one, at least that's what seems to be happening inside my head when I realize that I have stopped thinking about when to switch. There are some dances like Alternating Corners where you do something similar in that the dance in different every other time through, though with continued prompting from the caller. In the case of Alternating Corners, the 1s and 2s alternate doing the swing and contra corners. Will Mentor and I have been talking the possibility of making a true 64-bar dance that either uses a 64-bar tune or twice through of a standard 32-bar tune. It opens up some interesting possibilities and challenges around making a dance that's twice as long but that people remember, get into the flow of and enjoy. There are longer dances - 42, 48 and 64 bars - but not many that I'm aware of. I'm interested to know what other folks experience has been about writing and calling longer dance sequences. I think this may be something some dancers are ready for, though I would try it before the break rather than at 11pm! Will -- William M. Loving Dedication Technologies, Inc. 7 Coach Lane Amherst, MA 01002-3304 USA will(a)dedicationtechnologies.com Tel: +1 413 253-7223 (GMT ­5) Fax: +1 206 202-0476