This is a relatively common thing to do in ECD, called global terminology.  I attended an open calling event on Saturday night that was billed as gender-free, and there were two dances that used no role identifiers at all, if I recall right.  It works well for some dances-- basically any dance that does not have something that the roles do with the other person of the same role (gents allemande, ladies chain, etc).  You can even fudge it a bit by saying "chain" instead of "ladies chain" and using moves like pass through to a wave, then turn "in the middle," etc.

On Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 6:43 AM, Amy Carroll via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Jim - I don't think I am alone in wondering how you managed this without telling the dancers. I take that to mean you didn't make it gender free by the terminology you used (jets or whatever) but by the kinds of dances you chose.  I'd love to read more details about what this entailed. 

Please share more!

Amy

On Jun 1, 2015, at 5:37 AM, Jim Hemphill via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

The recent discussions on this topic inspired me to try an experiment in gender free calling.  Last night I called the contra dance in St. Louis using gender free calling without telling anyone.    The experiment was a great success.  I received lots of  positive feedback on the evenings dance.  At the break and after the dance I made a point to ask several dancers, some were callers as well, if they noticed anything different or unusual about the dances or how I taught them.   One person noticed that there were more dances that included a swing in the center for couple 2 than usual.  No one I talked to noticed that the calls and teaching were gender free.
 
It took some extra time to construct a fun, diverse 3 hour program, but it is certainly possible.  Re-labeling the dancers is not the only way to call gender free. 
 
If you are interested in the program I used or the larger collection of gender free dances I chose the program from, send me an email,  arcadian35@gmail.com.
 
Thanks,
Jim Hemphill
 
 
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