I've been skimming the Another Approach thread, as I haven't had time to really process it, though I look forward to examining the ideas, internalizing concepts, and using it.

But, on the point of having different ways to say things, YES!

When I'm dancing, I never try to teach in the walk through. I might ask the caller a question. And I hate it when a caller says something like (as happened recently), "end the hey and stand back to back with your partner.... No, back to back.... No, on the other side, and stand back to back..." and on and on, not really seeing how people were misinterpreting this, doing exactly what she said, but now how she wanted them to do it. Another unnamed caller used to say, after describing something in a very ambiguous manner -- in a way I could interpret in a variety of ways, did in fact, and I was incorrect -- and then would say, in effect, "Dancers, you're just not listening to me!"

I always look, both during the walk through and during the dance, and try to see what is confusing to dancers, and adjust my instruction to their need in a general way.

Devices I use:
    Room Geography! Does one wall have windows, the other not? Turn your back on the band, or face the band. Etc.
    Partner: Face your Partner or Neighbor
    And all the conventional ones: Right, Left, Up, Down, Middle, Outside
Even with these "standard" ones, I try to think, "if someone doesn't understand "outside," how else can I say it? It might be, "step outside the set, that is, take a step away from your partner."

Always, look for different ways to say moves, and hone in on the one that will help those in need.

~erik hoffman
    oakland, ca

On 6/3/2015 10:34 AM, Jacob Nancy Bloom via Callers wrote:
You raise a good point.  It took a long time for someone to impress upon me that, although I have no problem with positional calling, many people do.  Different people have different strengths.

When calling for a group of beginners, I've found that things go more smoothly if I know several ways to describe an action, and use them all.  "Look for the next, look away from the couple you've been dancing with, for a new person."  Some people will understand that they are dancing with one couple after another and turn the right way when I say "Look for the next", some are orienting themselves relative to the other couple and find "look away from the other couple" clearer, and some do not have a strong positional sense but will look around for a new person to dance with.  Different calls work best for different dancers.

Jacob

On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Aahz Maruch via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 03, 2015, Jim Hemphill via Callers wrote:
>
> I realize that it is much easier on callers to just substitute a label  for
> ladies and gents on their calling cards.  It shifts the burden onto the
> dancers who haven't grown up in a genderless dance environment as their
> brains translate the label into a term they are used to.   Positional
> teaching and calling is more challenging for the caller.  Not every dance
> will lend itself to this technique but I bet with a little thought most
> would.

Positional calling is also considerably more difficult for at least some
dancers.  My perception is that changing the "gender" label is pretty
easy for most dancers -- at least, I've never seen many people struggling
with it, and I do see people struggling with contra corners (which is the
most common use-case in standard contra dancing).