Angela reminded me of a point I've been thinking about for a while. Why not right palm up, left palm down? This would be symmetrical and role neutral. Bob On Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 4:40 PM, Angela DeCarlis via Callers < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

On Jan 18, 2017, at 11:49 AM, Bob Morgan via Callers &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: Angela reminded me of a point I've been thinking about for a while. Why not right palm up, left palm down? This would be symmetrical and role neutral. Bob On Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 4:40 PM, Angela DeCarlis via Callers &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: When I called at PICD (the Portland ME dance), I really enjoyed using Jets and Rubies. One silly thing I enjoyed any the terms during the beginners' lesson was coaching palm direction based on the terms: "Jets' palms face up, towards the sky; Rubies' palms face down, towards the ground." And yes, I realize that *both* are gemstones and that some feel strongly that we should steer away from the "airplane" association, but it did make for easy teaching. Jets and Rubies is also more forgiving for callers new to gender-neutral language, since the terms are so linguistically comparable to Gents and Ladies. That all said, I also like Larks and Ravens fine. Happy calling, everyone! Angela

Hello all, I am quite new to the list and am only now embarking on learning to call, but I have to ask a question I have had for awhile as a dancer that I now need to understand as a caller: is there something wrong with Lead and Follow? When I first encountered the creative alternatives in contra, I wasn't sure what to think. I came to contra from a swing background and that is what is used in workshops (and sort or in general now), since many people switch in that dance style as well. Besides being an obvious description for the dancer role, it had the same 1/2 syllables rhythm as Gent/Lady. And it seems to me to have the advantage of being intuitively linked to how the dancer is thinking about his/her/their role. Just curious if there is a history, I'm sure I am not the first person to think of this. Thanks! Cara Sent to you using thumbs. On Jan 18, 2017, at 10:40, Angela DeCarlis via Callers < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: When I called at PICD (the Portland ME dance), I really enjoyed using Jets and Rubies. One silly thing I enjoyed any the terms during the beginners' lesson was coaching palm direction based on the terms: "Jets' palms face up, towards the sky; Rubies' palms face down, towards the ground." And yes, I realize that *both* are gemstones and that some feel strongly that we should steer away from the "airplane" association, but it did make for easy teaching. Jets and Rubies is also more forgiving for callers new to gender-neutral language, since the terms are so linguistically comparable to Gents and Ladies. That all said, I also like Larks and Ravens fine. Happy calling, everyone! Angela On Jan 18, 2017 11:30 AM, "Aahz via Callers" &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweightght. net> wrote: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

On Jan 18, 2017, at 18:59, Jeff Kaufman &lt;jeff.t.kaufman(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: Hi Cara! There is definitely a history! Many dancers don't like lead/follow as terms because they either don't think contra has a lead/follow dynamic or they don't want to encourage lead/follow dancing. Some dance series, primarily ones with younger dancers, do use those terms, but there are enough dancers opposed to them that I don't see them as a potential community-wide replacement the way rubies/jets could be. Jeff > On Jan 18, 2017 7:53 PM, "Cara Sawyer via Callers" &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: > Hello all, > I am quite new to the list and am only now embarking on learning to call, but I have to ask a question I have had for awhile as a dancer that I now need to understand as a caller: is there something wrong with Lead and Follow? > > When I first encountered the creative alternatives in contra, I wasn't sure what to think. I came to contra from a swing background and that is what is used in workshops (and sort or in general now), since many people switch in that dance style as well. > > Besides being an obvious description for the dancer role, it had the same 1/2 syllables rhythm as Gent/Lady. And it seems to me to have the advantage of being intuitively linked to how the dancer is thinking about his/her/their role. > > Just curious if there is a history, I'm sure I am not the first person to think of this. > > Thanks! > Cara > > Sent to you using thumbs. > >> On Jan 18, 2017, at 10:40, Angela DeCarlis via Callers &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: >> >> When I called at PICD (the Portland ME dance), I really enjoyed using Jets and Rubies. One silly thing I enjoyed any the terms during the beginners' lesson was coaching palm direction based on the terms: "Jets' palms face up, towards the sky; Rubies' palms face down, towards the ground." >> >> And yes, I realize that *both* are gemstones and that some feel strongly that we should steer away from the "airplane" association, but it did make for easy teaching. >> >> Jets and Rubies is also more forgiving for callers new to gender-neutral language, since the terms are so linguistically comparable to Gents and Ladies. >> >> That all said, I also like Larks and Ravens fine. >> >> Happy calling, everyone! >> >> Angela >> >>> On Jan 18, 2017 11:30 AM, "Aahz via Callers" &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: >>> Not that Portland, the other Portland. ;-) >>> >>> http://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/09/news/portland/contra-dancing-takes-a-… >>> >>> I personally would prefer to settle on "larks" and "ravens" because that >>> seems to have more traction -- but it doesn't matter as long as we get >>> away from "bands" and "bares". >>> -- >>> Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/ >>> <*> <*> <*> >>> Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Callers mailing list >>> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net >