Re: [Callers] Grand Square in a contra?

Hi Luke, thanks for a great weekend. I'm piping up as a dancer who had hoped that you would call a grand square in a contra formation after the discussion here. Tonight I find myself in an analytical frame of mind, thinking about where we stumbled, in the hope that you (and others) will keep calling this dance and have great success with it. I'm from Illinois, but a regular at the two Wisconsin weekends (IndepenDance and Squirrel Moon). The programs tend to be dominated by contras, but with enough squares so most dancers are familiar with the basic concepts. I haven't been keeping count, but it feels as though most weekends include one dance with a grand square, and I felt that there were sufficient dancers on Sunday who knew the grand square figure that we should have been fine. Personally, I struggled to remember which direction to start as we flip-flopped from side to side. I think a lot of us were disoriented that way. Even in a square dance with rotating partners, one role usually stays home and can anchor the orientation. Part of my problem was not (yet) having internalized my identity as part of a right or left couple in a four-facing-four. I don't need to think any more when I'm addressed as a gent (or lady), as a middle or inside or outside. I know when I'm a head or a side. I know where to find my corner wherever I am at the moment. But I don't recall dancing a four-facing-four where the right couples did something different from the left couples. My two cents in the interest of continuous improvement. -Dave Harding On 7/5/2016 12:15 PM, Luke Donforth via Callers wrote: