Re: [Callers] Petronella spins

Here's my (.02)x2: Re: getting into the diamond position/describing it verbally: Comparing it to a clock or a baseball diamond seems to get most people on board. Re: the claps: As a dancer, I mourn the passing of yet one more instance of "conversational" eye contact -- a lot of newer dancers now look down and away, sort of over their own shoulder, as they clap, and the group persona is lost. Again, as a dancer, I mourn the passing of the well-connected circle: the brief, tenuous rings that get created in between the claps these days are really just windowdressing, they aren't usually connected enough to USE to pull into the balance, or push off of into the turn. As a player, I put up with them. Barely. And in a hall with a nice long delay, where I hear those claps on bounceback, half a second after the beat that I just PLAYED? Argh.