[Callers] Another approach to Gender Free calling

[Neal Schlein via Callers]

Jim, thank you for testing this!  It is precisely what I was trying to
describe in my previous email--dances which are themselves gender-free both
in their teaching and base pattern without need for term changes.  They
don't have to be custom-created (as I kind of suggested previously), but
they do have to be carefully identified.

Perhaps ECD has been more amenable to non-gendered choreography and
instruction because many of its identifying terms are already non-gendered
(1st corners, 2nd corners, opposite, partner, 1s, 2s) and a lot of the
choreography is position-oriented rather than person-oriented.  Just a
hunch; I don't know of any generally used contra term corresponding to
ECD's "1st/2nd corners" other than Gents and Ladies.

As for comparable efforts, about a year ago I was at a barn dance where the
first third of the night was squares and big sets with 0 gender reference.
I had to leave at that point, so I don't know if the patterned continued,
but it got me to thinking I could teach things the same way,  Now I have a
bunch of simple (and even slightly more complex) contras where the dancers
can simply end facing their starting direction and everything works out.
The more advanced ones I have used at regular dances.

Neal​
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