11 Sep
2009
11 Sep
'09
4:27 p.m.
Bob Golder quoted Jack:
On Sep 11, 2009, at 9:57 AM, Jack Mitchell wrote:
> One other thing I had thought about doing in a
workshop is to have a
> few people in each line with a red ball cap or a particular shirt or
> some other identifying mark,
and then explained the bands-and-bares thing.
But that' s not what Jack was talking about. Jack was talking about
identifying people around whom it would be a bad idea to swap, because they're
confused, beginners, or fixed-gender-role beginner types.
In any case, it seems to me that the issue of swapping at will (say, changing
roles every time you swing) and the issue of dancing gender-role-free are
different and shouldn't be combined. If you convince people that everybody
wearing an armband should be dancing a particular role (and that they'll take
the armband off to dance the other pat), then those people will confuse matters
if they swap with their partner all the time.
Everything Bob actually says about gender-role-free dancing is great, and I
agree with it. (I helped organize and attended the first gender-role-free
caller's workshop with Chris R in the Bay Area, have called globally-based
English in three states and called a couple of spots in the early years of
SF Queer Contra, just so it's clear where I'm coming from.)
In any case, I think everybody (gender-role-free dancers, gender-style dancers,
whatever) ought to get used to the idea of allemanding or swinging whoever
comes at them to get allemanded or swung. I don't think even rigid
gender-role-type dancers who would preferentially pair up in male/female
couples really think that if there are two more women present than men, both
women should sit out rather than dance together - but then you have to deal
with a woman dancing the man's role, so you ought to be able to deal with it.
(And the same for two more men than women, except that (in my experience)
more of those guys will sit out rather than dance with another guy.)
-- Alan
-- Alan
--
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Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
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