[Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy

[Amy Wimmer]

I'm experimenting with teaching this move as a right shoulder 'round, but
describing it as friendly/playful. I will try subbing one of those words
for RSR. I think it gets the idea of a face-to-face move without the
flirty/slur. I know, I know, there are tons of suggestions out there. None
of them that I've heard get the attitude across, and suggest face-to-face
without actually calling it FTF, or "eyeballs" or something, or without
sounding almost exactly like the G word. I know many people are
uncomfortable with eye contact, but the interaction has been missing when I
call it RSR, and I hear folks being wistful for that. I think a "playful"
might bring the spark back, eliminate confused do-si-doing, and be rather
fun.

-Amy

On Mon, Oct 7, 2019, 12:19 PM Becky Liddle via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> We should avoid the term “gypsy” in all ways, in my opinion, not just as
> an official dance call. In some areas of the world it is a racial slur akin
> to the N word. It has been reclaimed by some Roma in the same way some
> lesbians have reclaimed “dyke” but when a term is reclaimed, it can still
> only be used by a member of the group. I can call myself a dyke but you
> cannot, and a black person can use the N word but I, as a white person,
> cannot. Since we are not all Roma we need to avoid the term gypsy in the
> same ways we would avoid other racial/ethnic/other slurs. I miss the term,
> myself. There was a flirty quality to “gypsy” that “right shoulder round”
> simply cannot connote. But if there were a traditional term that used
> “dyke” in it, I would object, and I need to show the same respect to other
> groups. So when I call this weekend, it will be “right shoulder round”, tho
> in the walk-thru I’ll also say something like, “don’t forget to make a
> little joking-pretend-flirty eye contact as you go around! That’s the fun
> of it!”
> Becky
>
> On Oct 7, 2019, at 3:07 PM, Mac Mckeever via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> only slightly related question:  Why is it offensive to call a dance
> figure a gypsy but not offensive to be a dance gypsy?
>
> Mac McKeever
>
>
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