Re: [Callers] Variations of 3-33 by Steve Zakon-Anderson

On Dec 16, 2016, at 11:48 AM, Bill Olson wrote, regarding the dance "Three Thirty-Three [Thirty-Three]": [with B2 Long Lines F&B, Ladies dosido 1.5 ] I agree that one of the keys to teaching the do-si-so in B2 is to let people know where they're going to end up, and in particular to get the ladies to identify their next neighbors. However, once they have identified their next neighbors, there is a danger that some ladies will want to do the do-si-do with their next neighbor lady. So be sure to call their attention back to the other lady in their current foursome before you walk them through the do-si-do. Also if you use the word "diagonal" in describing the do-si-do, be sure to make it clear (in words the dancers will easily understand and at a time when you have their attention) that you're talking about a diagonal within their current foursome. Contra dancers are more accustomed to hearing the word "diagonal" used for an action involving a couple from the next foursome up or down the set. And now a word about *Fractions*: The action at the end of B2 is notated as being once and a half because it causes two ladies to exchange places (along a slight left diagonal within their foursome). But in contra dancing we more commonly use "ladies do-si-do once and a half" to describe an action that would take them (from the same starting position) to their current neighbor gent, as in this example from "Scout House Reel": A2. ... Ladies chain [across] to partner B1. Ladies do-si-so 1.5 Neighbors swing The usage in the description of "Scout House Reel" is based on an unspoken convention that when dancers start from facing couples, we often calculate the ending position of a action for the two ladies or an action for the two gents as if the two participants were starting out directly across the set from each other. While it is arguably technically more accurate to use the words "once and a half" to describe an action like the do-si-do in B2 of "Three Thirty-Three" than to use them for an action the do-si-do in the B1 of "Scout House Reel", the latter usage is certainly more common. In practice, I think that using any *other* fraction (such as 1 3/8 or 1 5/8) to describe either of those actions would be more confusing for the dancers. So the only good way to distinguish the two actions, and particularly to describe the less common one, is to give some additional information besides the nominal amount (1 1/2) of do-si-do. The obvious additional information would be who you meet next and where you meet them. * * * * * * * * * * Analogous remarks to the ones above apply for teaching the gents' allemande at the end of "Thanks to the Gene" by Tom Hinds. --Jim