Who're all the whos? - Contra Callers

24 Sep 2015

Back in 2008 I wrote a dance to celebrate my first year of contra dancing
and Chris Weiler was kind enough to go through it with me. In doing so I
heard my first mention of the Who-What-How Much format for dance
description.

I'm working on a personal project where I'd like to be sure I've identified
all the "Who" roles in that model. For my purposes, I'm doing this in the
context of contras, traditional squares, triplets, family dances, etc. (but
not necessarily English, Ceilidh, Scottish, etc. - though I'm not closed to
gathering any that may exist uniquely therein).

I've listed below what I've collected so far from my personal cards deck
review & research through several published works.

Are there any Whos I've missed?

Please note: I've deliberately left the primary role designation for last
as I wish to avoid rehashing that topic once more. Let's please just accept
there's a designation for the primary roles and agree they'll be determined
by circumstance and conscience, as fits a given dance community.

Thanks!
Don

ROLE DESIGNATORS - "WHO"

Partner
Neighbor
Corner
Opposite
Everyone (All)
Center/End
Shadow/Trail Buddy
Couple
Top/Middle/Bottom; Ones/Twos, etc.; Heads/Sides; First/Second, etc. (var.
of Couple or Primary Role)
Travel Buddy (4F4)
Active/Inactive (is this distinctly required, or is it always an alternate
name for another role var., e.g.: 1s?)
Neutrals/Ends (var. of Couple or Primary Role)
Ring of N (4,8, etc.)

And of course...
Primary Role (Lark/Raven, Righty/Lefty, Lady/Gent, Talls/Smalls, etc.), in
plural or specific variation (e.g.: Talls, Raven 2, End Lady)