5 Feb
2016
5 Feb
'16
1:30 p.m.
I just had a thought for another possible substitute if we need to
replace the term "gypsy". This would be "vis-a-vis" (face to face).
I
like this since it is in some sense similar to dos-a-dos (back to back)
and makes them complimentary figures. I think it suggests the
importance of facing the person you are dancing with, making eye
contact, though not necessarily staring, during the figure. Since many
of the figure names in country dance come from French words, sometimes
corrupted by time and the folk process, it seems reasonable to borrow
another French term. I'm not aware of this term already being used for
some other dance figure, let me know if it is. Even though it has 3
syllables instead of 2 I kind of like the sound of "vis-a-vis and swing!"
Just putting it out there for your consideration.
Jonathan
-----
Jonathan Sivier
Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances
jsivier AT illinois DOT edu
Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html
-----
Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
A: It depends on what dance you call!
5 Feb
5 Feb
3:06 p.m.
On Fri, Feb 05, 2016, Jonathan Sivier via Callers wrote:
I just had a thought for another possible substitute if we need to
replace the term "gypsy". This would be "vis-a-vis" (face to face).
I like
this since it is in some sense similar to dos-a-dos (back to back) and makes
them complimentary figures. I think it suggests the importance of facing
the person you are dancing with, making eye contact, though not necessarily
staring, during the figure. Since many of the figure names in country dance
come from French words, sometimes corrupted by time and the folk process, it
seems reasonable to borrow another French term. I'm not aware of this term
already being used for some other dance figure, let me know if it is. Even
though it has 3 syllables instead of 2 I kind of like the sound of
"vis-a-vis and swing!"
IMO it sounds too similar to dosado. Which isn't a big problem given the
similarity of the move, but it's going to cause confusion.
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
Help a hearing-impaired person: http://rule6.info/hearing.html
4:41 p.m.
I like it!
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 5, 2016, at 10:30 AM, Jonathan Sivier via
Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I just had a thought for another possible substitute if we need to replace the term
"gypsy". This would be "vis-a-vis" (face to face). I like this since
it is in some sense similar to dos-a-dos (back to back) and makes them complimentary
figures. I think it suggests the importance of facing the person you are dancing with,
making eye contact, though not necessarily staring, during the figure. Since many of the
figure names in country dance come from French words, sometimes corrupted by time and the
folk process, it seems reasonable to borrow another French term. I'm not aware of
this term already being used for some other dance figure, let me know if it is. Even
though it has 3 syllables instead of 2 I kind of like the sound of "vis-a-vis and
swing!"
Just putting it out there for your consideration.
Jonathan
-----
Jonathan Sivier
Caller of Contra, Square, English and Early American Dances
jsivier AT illinois DOT edu
Dance Page: http://www.sivier.me/dance_leader.html
-----
Q: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
A: It depends on what dance you call!
_______________________________________________
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Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
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5:03 p.m.
In ECD, someone (I believe it was Fried de Metz Herman) came up with a
figure called face en face, with a French pronunciation. Not sure why it
wasn't face à face. I describe it as the last two-thirds of a 1-1/2 dos à
dos.
On Fri, Feb 5, 2016 at 10:30 AM, Jonathan Sivier via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I just had a thought for another possible
substitute if we need to
replace the term "gypsy". This would be "vis-a-vis" (face to face).
I
like this since it is in some sense similar to dos-a-dos (back to back) and
makes them complimentary figures. I think it suggests the importance of
facing the person you are dancing with, making eye contact, though not
necessarily staring, during the figure. Since many of the figure names in
country dance come from French words, sometimes corrupted by time and the
folk process, it seems reasonable to borrow another French term. I'm not
aware of this term already being used for some other dance figure, let me
know if it is. Even though it has 3 syllables instead of 2 I kind of like
the sound of "vis-a-vis and swing!"
Just putting it out there for your consideration.
11:07 p.m.
On 2016-02-05 1030, Jonathan Sivier via Callers wrote:
I just had a thought for another possible
substitute if we need to
replace the term "gypsy". This would be "vis-a-vis" (face to face).
I
like this since it is in some sense similar to dos-a-dos (back to back)
and makes them complimentary figures. I think it suggests the
importance of facing the person you are dancing with, making eye
contact, though not necessarily staring, during the figure. Since many
of the figure names in country dance come from French words, sometimes
corrupted by time and the folk process, it seems reasonable to borrow
another French term. I'm not aware of this term already being used for
some other dance figure, let me know if it is. Even though it has 3
syllables instead of 2 I kind of like the sound of "vis-a-vis and swing!"
Just putting it out there for your consideration.
Jonathan
Interesting thought.
I wonder what the chance of confusion with Fried de Metz Herman's
figure, Face en Face, is.*
In one dance of hers some dancers move in a Back to Back while those
alongside them in the longways set are doing a Face en Face. These
figures are essentially the reverse of each other. It might be argued
that they are linear-ish ("forward" "back") like the track of a
"Do si
do" or Mad Robin.
I had a fun time looking at what might already use the name vis-a-vis.
A smattering of search returns on https://duckduckgo.com/ :
http://grammarist.com/usage/vis-a-vis/
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/vice-versa-and-vis-a-vis/
--
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/vis-a-vis
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vis-a-vis
--
and
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/vis-a-vis.html
While it would appear to have several applications in language (adverb,
adjective, preposition, noun) a lot of the use seems "positional" to me
(similar to Neighbour, Corner.) I was already thinking it would be close
to a translation of a term we often use already, Opposite. One of those
entries would seem to support that.
The last entry is interesting as it includes however it reverses the
dance meaning(s) of Dos A Dos somewhat. That which they haven't
interpreted differently from current dance use is interesting as well.
I wonder if in France, or Quebec, vis-a-vis is used to mean Opposite, or
if it would be seen to possibly mean that if used as a replacement for
Gyps(e)y.
Cheers, John
--
J.D. Erskine
Victoria, BC
----------------
* from the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award 2006—Fried de Metz Herman
"Not only has Fried written numerous dances, she has created unusual
and distinctive figures that have moved the modern English country dance
style in a new direction. Among these figures are the
face en face, chevron, open star, crossed hands poussette, double dance,
closed star, meander, zig-zag hey, island setting,
Russian gypsy and many more."
https://www.cdss.org/images/documents/awards/award_2006_fried_herman.pdf
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4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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Aahz Maruch via Callers -
Gary Shapiro via Callers
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JD Erskine via Callers
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John Rogers via Callers
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Jonathan Sivier via Callers