5 Dec
2010
5 Dec
'10
6:30 p.m.
I was hired to call a dance and noticed, when I arrived, that there
were only two other men in the room besides myself. When I commented
on this I was informed that the group who hired me was a local
lesbian club. They specifically asked that I not make any
accommodations, even though many of them were new to contras. I
believe that they made a point of NOT informing me of their makeup
specifically so that I would not try to dance around the gender specific terms.
It worked out very well. All had a great time, and this in spite of
the fact that there were also two deaf dancers in the room as well.
Attitude is a key factor. I understand a lot of dances were called
here in California at mining towns during the gold rush. The men
danced with each other and half of them played the part of ladies. I
don't think they ever asked for "gender neutral" terms. A few shots
of whisky probably helped as well.
- Greg
*******
At 10:02 AM 12/2/2010, Susie wrote:
I have been asked to call for a new dance group
forming in a small town
near our regular dance. Experienced dancers were asked to come help
these absolute newbies, and some local musicians have volunteered their
services. It became obvious that about half the dancers were lesbians
who asked me to use non gender specific terms when calling. I tried
'lead' and 'follow' because the syllable numbers worked, but I'm
not
happy with that. I also had some regular dancers comment on not wanting
to deal with 'some' peoples' political agendas as related to contra
calling. I have never dealt with gender free calling and would
appreciate ANY help from those of you who may have been doing it for
years. What terms seem to work best? Any other hints to make things go
more smoothly? These people are very enthusiastic and I want to see
the dance succeed.
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