Re: [Callers] !RE: How to Call a Petronella Turn?

Beth wrote: "And since I have never met Allen Ortep, I am quite sure that an "Allen Ortep turn" would say absolutely NOTHING to me as a dancer. (Even if I did know him, I suspect it would not tell me much. Seeing it in the dance below implies to me that he thinks quite highly of himself..." I doubt very much that Beth (or anyone else) will ever meet Allen, which is too bad, since he has such an interesting name. Should you spell Allen's name backwards, you'll get petrO nellA. Seems to me that the author of the dance was being creative with his words in addition to contra dance moves. 8-) It does look like an nice dance, however. I'll try it out next time I call to an appropriate group of dancers. Taking Beth's point, however, I fully support her premise of keeping terminology as simple and logical as possible. I'm likely to call something like "Balance the ring and twirl to the left." Mark Hillegonds cell: 734-756-8441 email: mhillegonds(a)comcast.net blog: www.defriction.com -----Original Message----- From: callers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:callers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of beth(a)hands4.com Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2012 2:25 PM To: Michael Fuerst; Caller's discussion list Subject: [Callers] !RE: How to Call a Petronella Turn? Oh, come on, folks. One of the contra dance traditions has been a small set of named moves and, for the most part, directional names for any new moves. So, for example, we say, "Pass through to an ocean wave," instead of "Pass the ocean." Please, please fight any tendency to give obscure names for moves. If it is not descriptive, it is not appropriate. And since I have never met Allen Ortep, I am quite sure that an "Allen Ortep turn" would say absolutely NOTHING to me as a dancer. (Even if I did know him, I suspect it would not tell me much. Seeing it in the dance below implies to me that he thinks quite highly of himself, but it does not tell me how to dance. And I was doing the two's variation in Petronella which uses a left turn back in the early 80s. Nothing new there.) Part of what caused a huge problem in the evolution of Modern Western Squares was the introduction of many newly named figures in the early 60s. Every caller wanted to invent the next great move. It moved the activity into a realm where you must take all those lessons and keep dancing regularly to remember all the fancy names. Keep it simple, keep it folk, keep it welcoming. Beth Parkes -----Original Message----- Subject: Re: [Callers] How to Call a Petronella Turn? Things change slightly with this dance by Allen Ortep...... Allen Ortep's First Contra Becket Counter Clockwise                        A1      Star left         Right and left through on right diagonal A2      Long lines forward, on the way back, partners roll away with a 1/2 sashe         Circle right 3/4, pass through along set by left shoulder            to meet couple passed during the right and left of A1 B1      Balance and swing this neighbor. B2      Allen Ortep turn (balance in a circle, then move as an individual            to the left one place in the circle while twirling counterclockwise)         Partners swing. _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers