Chiming in from up in Ottawa way as both a caller and a long-time dance organizer.

I feel pretty strongly that the organizers should take ownership and leadership in their community over the role terms that are used.  Leaving it to a caller, especially if visiting, is opening that caller up to lots of dancers who may have strong opinions in that community.  I don't feel that it's the caller's role to carry the weight of the role terminology discussion in a community.  It's the organizers that are doing all the other work and leaving it to the caller feels like a bit of a cop out to me.

I do appreciate callers who engage with organizers to discuss the use of various role terms and increase the dialogue around this topic.  But just as messages about safe communities/dancing should be led by the organizers and not left just to the caller, so should be this piece about the role terms.

Despite my strongish stated message, I am totally open to other ideas/perspectives on this. Just my two cents given my current perspective.

Emily in Ottawa ON

On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 6:00 PM Jerome Grisanti via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
In Louisville, the group advertises which terminology the caller will use per each dance. There may be dancers with strong preferences who choose to attend or not based on that information, but I suspect most are flexible in that metric. The choice is the caller's, the organizers just want to know how to advertise it.

Jerome Grisanti 
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