[Callers] Re: New Names for Ladies' Chains

Hi Louise, I heard the term “Arky” in the late 1990s in America for a couple who had switched roles, e.g: “Why are they on the wrong side?” “Oh, they‘ve gone Arky.” Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent From: Louise Siddons via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: 24 March 2025 14:41 To: Jeff Kaufman <jeff.t.kaufman(a)gmail.com> Cc: Contra Callers <contracallers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: [Callers] Re: New Names for Ladies' Chains No date on it, but Al Olson’s Butternut Squash (with apologies for the gendered language: https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=3709) was published in Zesty Contras. I know 1983 wasn’t 50 years ago but it was over 40 — and many of the dances in there were written long before Larry published the book. Larry uses the term “arky” to describe a figure done from the unexpected side, so my impression is that at least in 1983, at least some dancers were doing dances with figures that inverted role expectations enough to need a word for it. I’d love to hear more from people on this list who were dancing back then. Louise.