I've been using "walk'round" and it appears acceptable to the dancers.
"Walk around" is already in the MWS jargon so I'm not creating new jargon.
If I haven't been told not to use "gypsy" by the organizers then when I
teach I say "gypsy walk'round" and which shoulder to use and how to do it.
During the dance, I simply say "walk'round".and then never say
"gypsy" again. That seems to anchor the experienced dancers to know what I mean
and I teach to the new dancers so they understand what's expected of them.
There are so many folks on either side of this argument that unfortunately the callers are
stuck in the middle. Guilty if you do and if you don't. Some dance organizers
won't take a stand, others say you must use it, others say you may not use it. There
are still dancers who don't know what all the fuss is about. We all have heard of
people from that ethnic group who are honored to have the term used (and loved) in our
dance, just as we've heard that people are offended.
Believe it or not, I recently received an anonymous written comment that some dancers were
upset that another caller used "Men" and "Women" rather than
"Gents" and "Ladies". Seems like folks are getting more and more
intolerant if things are not just the way they want them to be.
Donna Hunt
-----Original Message-----
From: Martha Wild via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
To: John W Gintell <john(a)gintell.org>
Cc: Caller's discussion list <callers(a)sharedweight.net>
Sent: Tue, Mar 13, 2018 4:36 pm
Subject: Re: [Callers] More substitute terms for the g-word
I don’t think right shoulder round is going to make the grade. It’s descriptive,
certainly, but it is long and unwieldy and can’t be easily shortened to anything
recognizable as you eliminate calls in the dance. So, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be
using it.
Martha
On Mar 13, 2018, at 12:53 PM, John W Gintell via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I think it would be best if only one term is used by callers at all dances. I think this
quite important for beginners (not necessarily just the first time) who face enough
confusion learning the terminology. One of the reasons why beginners don’t return is that
it is too confusing.
And I too like hearing right shoulder round because it is descriptive.
On Mar 13, 2018, at 3:41 PM, Perry Shafran via Callers
<callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I happen to *like* right shoulder round and have liked it ever since three callers at a
dance event used it and it went rather flawlessly. I like the fact that it is actually
descriptive in what you're doing. I think that the more we try to invent made-up
words to try to make it sound fun and whimsey, the more we are likely to upset dancers who
don't like that we're changing terms as it is. It may *sound* like a boring
descriptor, but I feel my job as a caller is to describe the move and let the dancer
decide what the mood is going to be for that individual dancer, based on their own
feelings and their own connection to the music. So I plan to stick with "right
shoulder round".
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