I might add that I never use the terms petronella or Rory O’More.   I will always say “balance the ring and spin to the right” or “balance and slide right/left past this neighbor.”   More descriptive and less confusing to new dancers. I can use fewer words after teaching and calling it two of three times, like “balance, spin right” or “balance, slide”.

Regarding Petronella, it sort of bugs me that it’s sometimes called as the the name of a move instead of “as in the dance Petronella.”   Same with Rory O’More.    Since those dances are rarely called and generally unknown, it makes more sense to me to just call and teach it like the previous paragraph.    I do occasionally call the actual dance Petronella so folks know where the move came from.   I’m pretty sure those dances get called more frequently in New England.

I’ll continue using California Twirl.   Seems to be universally understood and easy to teach. Kudos to the “facing star” term.   I love it.

Rich

On Sep 17, 2023, at 5:41 AM, Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

What interesting timing for Michael to write "Some terms, such as Rory O'More, petronella and California twirl should be banished for more descriptive phrases--in this case "balance and slide/shift". "