What Michael Fuerst said at a readable size (It's still coming through to me in some microscopic font):

> Are you also contemplating  to abandon the awkward to say "California
> Twirl"
> If you use your gypsy alternative for new dancers, will you advise them
> of all the synonyms being conjured ?

Aha! A whole new topic. Well, actually old. Larry Edelman, one of my favorite dance callers, and someone I feel lucky to have spent time with, and from whom I have learned so much, use to complain about "California Twirl." I don't recall his reasons, but he always called it a "Frontier Twirl," which I think he got from old square dance books.

I've been using "right shoulder turn," and "left shoulder turn," and mentioning that there's been a discussion on the use of the word Gypsy. Then again, somewhere around sixty percent of the time I tend to call a "right hand turn," instead of "allemande right," as it's more descriptive.

This, in some ways, gives another reason for using different words: the use of descriptive calls. Thus abandoning a non-descriptive call for one that is more readily interpreted by all dancers has other benefits than just abandoning a word that some--or all--find pejorative .

~erik hoffman
    oakland, ca

On 1/27/2016 7:03 AM, Michael Fuerst via Callers wrote:

Are you also contemplating  to abandon the awkward to say "California Twirl"

If you use your gypsy alternative for new dancers, will you advise them of all the synonyms being conjured ?

 

Michael Fuerst      802 N Broadway      Urbana IL 61801      217 239 5844

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