Re: [Callers] Thoughts on "Gents' chain"

I've noticed that Gents' chains are rather infrequent in contras, and i started asking "why?". Chaining the gents(/men/bands/leads) opens up new flow opportunities with star R, more intuitive circle R, et cetera. Why do we use them so little? After a year or so of mulling on this, i think it's due first and foremost to confusion! While ladies' chains are ONLY ever done by the right hand, some dances call for a gents' chain by the right, while others call for a gents' chain by the left. If the gents give left hands, then a REVERSE courtesy turn (reversed promenade hold) is required. Last night i danced Gene Hubert's "Triskadekaphilia". The caller made no effort to explain the reverse courtesy turn. Looking up the dance online, i noticed that in his choreography, Hubert makes a distinction between "gents chain" (by the left, which necessitates the reverse courtesy turn) and "gents do a ladies chain" (by the right). EITHER WAY, most dancers need to be oriented to the unfamiliar mechanics of the role reversal when ladies(women/bares/follows) give their partner or neighbor a courtesy turn or reverse courtesy turn, especially in the latter case. I think if we callers are a bit more attentive to the difference between the two, and take the time to clarify it in walk-throughs, gents chains of either stripe could be much more familiar and user-friendly to the dancers and, becoming more common, open more choreographic and programming opportunities for us. Thoughts? "Tavi" Merrill _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers