Re: [Callers] Contra / MWSD parallels?

Greg, could we please cut the name-calling on “both sides”? Thanks. I do both contra and MWSD (as well as several other similar forms). I'll state bluntly that MWSD is highly inaccessible to most social dancers. This is a lost cause, and MWSD will never recover from it. The forms, while passingly similar, are actually quite different, and appeal to different desires—and so are necessarily separate events. I just wish y'all would quit sniping at each other, and quit holding your festivals (NEFFA and NESRDC) at times that intentionally conflict. What I do not understand is: Why are so many contra dancers allergic to doing “New England” squares at contra dances? This used to be commonplace. They know almost all of the figures—and the ones they don't, they'd pick up just as easily as they picked up the contra figures. (Certainly right-and-left grand and weave the ring are no more complex than contra corners! And we effectively do both in longways sets anyway.) Contra dance itself used to have more to it—including alternate footwork, alternate formations, etc. When was the last time anyone in the Boston area danced a triplet or triple minor? I can't even remember—and yet, these used to be called regularly at the VFW. It seems that there has been an effort to simplify the choreography to the point where, in some opinions (including mine), it's just plain boring. Can we please just use the same terminology where relevant? As an example, at the Dance Flurry, one of the contra callers clearly used what in MWSD is an “eight chain thru”. He had to explain the figure regardless, but if he had used that name in the first place, I personally know at least 8 people on the floor who would have immediately known what he was talking about and been better able to assist other dancers. Similar things occur with circulate and star thru (which some callers refer to as “twirl to swap” instead, but leave ambiguous by not clearly stating what direction to face after the move). Using obscure and/or ambiguous terminology for established patterns does not help anyone.