this is the very first time I am **weighing** in on Shared Weight and I really hope I don’t offend anyone, but here goes:

I see three problems with positional calling. 1) when dancers are new to contradance and EVERYTHING about it is confusing, Positional Calling (PC) asks these brave, but unsure-about-everything souls to constantly check their compasses to see where they are in relationship to where their partner might be standing (or is it their neighbor in this instance? oi vey!); 2) when dances get complex and the only people on the floor are really experienced, we still need cues to let us know who should be facing into or out of the set, for instance, or which dancer needs to be reaching for the next [same-role] neighbor’s R-hand, say; and finally 3) using a hybrid has its own drawbacks, e.g., for those newbie dancers (see#1) who have stuck it out thru a whole evening of contra, wouldn’t it be better to teach the role names--be they ladies/gents, ravens/larks, leads/follows--while training wheels were still on as opposed to when a complex dance might be introduced?

please note, I am not a caller. I dance. and I write dances.

here’s one (and it’s an example--in a couple of spots--where PC fails, IMHO):

Vote Blue No Matter Who (2-19-2020) by Elizabeth Bloom Albert

Becket formation; start one-quarter turn to left of Improper; this dance progresses clockwise. Progression occurs top of B2.

A1 (4) Ladies: R-hand Balance

(4) Ladies: Pull-by R to switch [places] {Drop hands}

(4) Gents: R-hand Balance

(4) Gents: Pull-by R to switch [places] {Don’t drop hands}

A2 {Ladies re-join R-hands and all...}

(4) [Hands Across] Balance the Star

(8) Star Right

[End in Wavy Lines up/down hall with Gents facing in]

(4) Balance the wave

B1 (8) Gents cross Left, for Half a Hey

(8) Swing Partner

B2 (2) Shift Left to new neighbors:

(6) Ladies Do-Si-Do 1 x

(8) Swing Partner again

NOTE: Vote Blue was workshopped in the early spring of 2020. I had hoped that someone might call it in the months before the last election. But ,of course, we all know what happened next. Vote Blue is my take on political campaigns. Take note of all the glad-handing in A1. In A2, the Star and the Wavy Lines are meant to be evocative of all the flag-waving that happens on the campaign trail. And finally, it’s subtle, but I worked in a shift to the left.

thanks for hearing me out,

Liz Albert (of Chicago-land)

On Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 8:07 AM Stein, Robert via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I wish callers would get away from birds. I understand the need to not use gender terms in calling. But using positional calling does that without people needing to translate. This works well for contras. Squares are a different story. We need to figure out how to do those. The dance below has a good flow and there is no need to specify a gender for the allemande. Only one person has a left hand free in each couple. Birds are for the birds.

On Oct 23, 2022, at 04:17, Drew Delaware via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I have been meaning to post this new dance I wrote last month, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Seems appropriate to contribute it to this discussion as we explore early evening dances and their variations.

Had a fun chat a few weeks ago with Chris Page about how there aren't a lot of easy dances being written, as those of us who enjoy writing dances naturally tend to get more excited by the innovative and elaborate choreography more typically found in the middle of the program. But it's great to have new options emerge for that easy, first dance, when you know you have new dancers on the floor - especially since those dances get a lot of use.

I wanted a first dance of the evening that sent the Larks to the Robin's home side for the partner swing, and I was set on having "balance the ring and pass through" as the progression - all so that it flowed with the rest of my program. Couldn't find a match, so I wrote my own.

‘Git Goin’ - Drew Delaware
A1 - Neighbour Balance & Swing
A2 - Larks Allemande Left 1.5x; Partner Swing
B1 - Long Lines Forward and Back; Right & Left Through
B2 - Circle Left 3 places; Balance the Ring; Pass through to new neighbours

It tested well on the dance floor, so I offer it here in case you're looking for new options for a first dance of the evening. The dance will be added to Caller's Box online in the next update.

Cheers!
Drew

From: Ron Blechner <contraron@gmail.com>
Date: October 22, 2022 at 6:20:04 AM HST
To: Tony Parkes <tony@hands4.com>
Cc: Shared Weight Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Re: dance name? - Big Easy variation

I have a couple of Tony's books, but I just checked, and not the one containing Ashoken Hello. I'd be curious the choreo for that.

I've heard a few callers call The Big Easy, and most recently it was Liz Nelson, locally, early in an evening with a gaggle of new dancers, and she prompted it with the allemande Right.

The one on The Caller's Box has it as a Left.

I guess the other issue, which, now that I'm thinking about L vs R in details, is that from Robins role, an alle R puts it at 38-40 beats of clockwise rotation, which 26-28 beats is consecutively.

Hm.

Changing the alle to a DoSiDo solves that, keeps the timing and keeps it as glossary moves, and flows well from a promade.(alts: pass thru across + twirl, or R+L Thru)

A1: N B+S
A2: N Prom, Robins DSD 1.5x
B1: P B+S
B2: Circle L 3/4, Bal, Cali Twirl

This dance searched brings up Yoyo Zhou's "Larks in the Afternoon"

A1: same
A2: Larks Alle L 1.5x, Robins DSD 1x
B1: same
B2: same

And also is similar to Linda Leslie's Berlin Contra:

A1: same
A2: LLFB, Robins DSD 1.5
B1: same
B2: Bal Ring, 2s Arch, 1s Dive

(Essentially, the Big Easy but Robins DSD. Now I'm curious which dance came first?)

And of course, Diane Silver's Easy Peasy:

A1: same
A2: LLFB, Larks Alle L 1.5
B1: same
B2: Circle, bal, cali.

Adding in a chain and/or a star and dropping the promenade and I have at least a dozen other dances in my box. (Appetizer, Push the Button, Too Hot To Trot, Simplicity Swing, Spend Some Time Together, Harmony Supper Line, Dick & Mary's Departure, Baby Rose, et al)

... but this niche of "simple dance with a courtesy turn, one role doesn't stay mostly in one spot, no star, no chain" is something I know I've looked for programming gigs and left wanting.

I'll leave this thread going as more callers see it and have dances to think of. I may temprarily dub the DSD version "The Big Hello".

-Julian

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