The first time I heard the term "gypsy" for the dance move, I happened to be living among Roma in Europe and was back in the states on a short visit.

The part that seemed particularly offensive to me was that the move was taught with the emphasis on gazing flirtatiously into the other dancer's eyes - something that would have been absolutely taboo among the people I had been travelling with. I suppose the name came from someone's mental image of a Flamenco dancer circling, and some idea that Gypsy = Flamenco? who knows. I discovered, much to my dismay, that many of my well-educated American friends thought "Gypsies" were just a fictional group or general term for folks who travel, hence the "dance gypsy" slang. They are a proud and very real ethnic group with a centuries-old language, customs, and a long history of being marginalized and persecuted.

In your mind, take any other group with a similar history, and substitute it: Would you teach dancers to do a "Xxx", and tell them that it means to behave a certain way with strangers?  (Becky gave one good example, I can think of others as well.)

Can we just DROP the term "gypsy" altogether, please?

- Masha

(dancing and calling since 1978)