Hi Maia,

The part of my post referencing role names was meant to be ironic ("when men were men ...") and was triggered by Robert's post about some future nostalgia. I'm sorry if I offended you or anyone else. I have no problem with any of the gender free names. Nor do I have a problem with "right shoulder round" apart from it being a mouthful and that callers no longer emphasize eye contact. But that's fine. I get that not everyone is comfortable with making eye contact with everyone else. Those who want to, do. Neither of these changes has in any way detracted from my dance experience.

But the Covid part was not ironic. I definitely miss not being able to simply go to a dance without restrictions. And I miss seeing people's faces. But at least requirements like pre-registration, testing and mask wearing impose reasonable requirements on all dancers, even though I personally have chosen not to go to a dance that requires masking. But I believe that vaccination requirements are out and out exclusionary and that the data is at best mixed as to whether asymptomatic unvaccinated or partially vaccinated dancers pose any greater risk of transmitting Covid than asymptomatic fully vaccinated and boosted dancers, especially as the virus continues to mutate. Requiring that a person puts a synthesized chemical into their body is not equivalent to requiring that they wear a mask. And that's why virtually all vaccination mandates have been dropped, even by organizations like the Metropolitan Opera that caters to older, more vulnerable populations. It's ironic that this thread is all about making dances as inclusive as possible while some of the largest dances in New England exclude over 80% of the population (those who have not gotten the bivalent booster). It doesn't much matter what the role names are when you're not allowed to go to a dance in the first place.

   - Jon

On Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 9:47 PM Maia McCormick via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Happier days for some, but a lot of us, those "haylcon days" were really not all that. Transgender people and gays and lesbians having to hide who they were, or not able to dance with (let alone marry) their partners for fear of retaliation, or having to go to their own separate dances to feel safe and accepted; women with no recourse if they were touched inappropriately or made to feel unsafe; and more that I don't have a gut sense for, not being part of those groups. For myself, I much prefer the current time.

I'm sure it must feel jarring to experience this sort of contention and discomfort, but I promise this is only a fraction of what minorities and vulnerable groups have experienced in the dance scene over the years. I hope that folks who have mostly coasted through a dance world built for them are willing to endure a little proximal discomfort and change for the sake of the people only just finding safety and community here.

I know email and especially large group discussions are a pretty lousy way to have discussions and convey nuance; if Jon or anyone else yearning for these "simpler times" is interested in having a one-on-one conversation about this, drop me a line off-list.

Take care,
Maia
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194


On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 5:37 PM Jon Greene via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Oh those halcyon days when gents were men, ladies were women, birds were birds, gypsies melted down, nobody cared how many jabs you had and you never had to guess whether someone was smiling or frowning at you.

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 10, 2023, at 9:23 PM, ROBERT FABINSKI via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I look forward to a day in the future when the "quaintness" of the gendered terms will be used as a quirky theme for a dance evening, and people will think it's so old fashioned that no one will take offense; gendered terms will just be "the way it was a long time ago" and not the contentious topic it has been for the last few years. 

If that ever happens, the "Push Pa, Pull Ma" type dances with original will be pure gold!

bobfab@aol.com

On Fri, Feb 10, 2023 at 3:03 PM, Rich Sbardella via Contra Callers
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