"L for Larks on the Left, R for Robins on the Right." New dancers don't even need to know roles were gendered, and results I've seen over the years is men are much more likely to try the righthand role. Julian Blechner Western Mass On Fri, Oct 13, 2023, 10:31 PM Michael Fuerst via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

If you want some more symmetrical swings please see: http://contrafusion.co.uk/SwingWorkshop.html 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: Katherine Kitching via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Sent: 14 October 2023 13:59 To: Julian Blechner &lt;juliancallsdances(a)gmail.com&gt; Cc: Michael Fuerst &lt;sjapartments(a)gmail.com&gt;om>; Shared Weight Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; Subject: [Callers] Re: Introducing new dances to gender free dancing Like Julian, we do it matter of factly, just handing out the Lark and Robin tags at the door when people arrive. We also teach neighbour swings in our group with the non-ballroom hands holding at the elbows, (rather on the back) which gives a bit more space and comfort for any two folks to swing, even if they're not used to/super comfortable being close to someone of the same gender. We also work our way up to swings gradually - doing more balancing and allemanding at the start - no swings for the first few dances -, which gives ppl time to get accustomed to dancing with anyone, before doing something that does feel a bit more intimate.