Thanks Read,
I did not mean to suggest that the reactions to the first experiment mean
anything for what should or should not happen in the future. I was simply
reporting on where we're at right now.
David
On Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 9:35 PM Read Weaver via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
On whether gender-free terminology is simply code for
gender—I started
doing country dance in the early ‘80s with the Gay and Lesbian Folk Dance
in Boston, which always included a fair amount of English country dance and
often some contra, both using global terminology. At my first conventional
ECD, I remember thinking “Oh, this is about men and women!” Yes, of course,
if you’ve danced for years hearing “gents and ladies,” when you first hear
“larks and ravens” you’re going to do the translation, but for folks new to
it, there’s no translation to be made.
Reactions to a one-off GF evening will always be negative. When the Boston
Gender-Free Contra Dance first tried “larks and ravens” after 25 years of
“bands and bare-arms,” the reaction was mostly negative. Inference from
that about whether GF calling will work at a dance over time won’t be
accurate.
Read Weaver
Jamaica Plain, MA
http://lcfd.org
On Aug 10, 2019, at 1:29 AM, David Kirchner via
Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I used to call this way (role-less) at the gender-free contra that used
to be held
once a month in the Twin Cities. I was of the opinion that
simply replacing the terms "gents" and "ladies" with other terms did
not
make a dance "gender-free," it just meant that we were using code words
that everyone simply translated in their heads as "gent's role" and
"lady's
role." Most of the other callers who did this dance used "leads" and
"follows."
...
FWIW, larks and ravens have not made it to the Twin Cities, though
dancers that
travel far afield for special events are beginning to bring
back news of it from other parts of the country (and of course social media
brings news in many other ways). One caller experimented with using the
terms for one evening this past spring. The feedback they got was mostly
negative.
David
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