Contra Callers

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12 participants
4406 discussions

by James Saxe via Callers

As a couple of you have kindly pointed out, I unintentionally sent my last message to the entire list. Ooops. I hop I didn't say anything that will get me too much flak. As most of you know, in order to avoid bad interactions with anti-spoofing policies of so service providers, including AOL and Yahoo http://www.pcworld.com/article/2141120/yahoo-email-antispoofing-policy-brea… this list is set up to change senders' addresses from something like John Smith <jsmith@...> to John Smith via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> I remembered to make sure I used Seth's actual address in my "To" line, but slipped up and left Neal as Neal Schlein via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sorry if I've added noise to the discussion. --Jim

9 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] That g word

by Read Weaver via Callers

I expect at the time you made the change from "ladies" to "women," very few men would have considered dancing with another man, and those who did would have faced confusion at best, and hostility from some--I speak from my own experience. As that has changed, so has the language. Sorry if you think that's something to sigh about. Read Weaver Jamaica Plain, MA http://lcfd.org > On Jan 21, 2016, at 2:19 AM, Martha Wild via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > Actually, one of the reasons I started using men and women instead of ladies and gents for the different roles years ago is because I’m from the hippie generation - and we fought so hard not to be considered “ladies” any more. “”Lady' is a four letter word” was the expression at the time. I did have women on the floor come up to me and complain about my using the term when I first started calling, and I myself was uncomfortable with the nomenclature. So at that point I switched to calling the roles “men” and “women”. So it came as a surprise to me that now some people object to that as well. Sigh. > Martha > >> On Jan 20, 2016, at 5:40 PM, Lindsay Morris via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: >> >> As somebody said: this is political correctness run amuck. >> >> <irony> >> I myself am deeply offended by the term "gentleman". I find it controlling and violent in its supposition that I must behave in certain ways. >> I hereby request - no, demand! - that all callers remove it from their vocabulary immediately. >> </irony> >> >> -------------------- >> Lindsay Morris >> CEO, TSMworks >> Tel. 1-859-539-9900 >> lindsay(a)tsmworks.com <mailto:lindsay@tsmworks.com> >> On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 8:21 PM, Harris Lapiroff via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: >> Do you all know that we literally received a letter from the woman in question on this very mailing list a few months back requesting that we not use this word? It's in an email from Martha Wild on 11/3/15 with the subject line "[Callers] Fwd: Use of the word "gypsy" in various folk dances - Response from Voice of Roma", but I'll paste it back in here to remind you: >> >> From: Carol Silverman <csilverm(a)uoregon.edu <mailto:csilverm@uoregon.edu>> >> Subject: Re: Use of the word "gypsy" in various folk dances >> Date: November 3, 2015 7:28:00 PM PST >> To: Martha Wild <mawild(a)sbcglobal.net <mailto:mawild@sbcglobal.net>>, Voice of Roma <voiceofroma(a)gmail.com <mailto:voiceofroma@gmail.com>> >> Cc: Petra Gelbart <petragelbart(a)gmail.com <mailto:petragelbart@gmail.com>> >> >> Dear Martha, >> Sani Rifati, President of Voice of Roma forwarded you message to me. Although I am not Romani, I am on the Board of VOR and we do care deeply about the terms used for the people we represent. >> A large number of Roma (but not all) are offended by the term Gypsy, especially with a small g. To “gyp" someone means to steal and swindle; plus the word connotes a false history— it a short for Egyptian whereas Roma are from India. Roma have faced centuries of discrimination, and today are subject to deportations and racial profiling; this would be an opportunity to teach your community a little about their history. >> >> So whatever the history of the dance step, I know that names can be changed by sensitive callers like you. I would urge you to change the names and seize and educational moment! >> Sincerely, Carol Silverman >> PS Check the VOR webs page fro my information: http://www.voiceofroma.com/culture/gyp_vs_rom.html <http://www.voiceofroma.com/culture/gyp_vs_rom.html> >> >> I assume she uses it on her website and in her writings either because her views have evolved since writing them or because she is referring to categories that others have ascribed to music, arts, and people, not because she endorses its usage (since, obviously, she does not). >> >> I don't understand why this is still an issue up for debate when we've received such definitive information, nor do I understand why some of you care so much about defending a term that you have been told is offensive. >> >> On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 8:08 PM, Michael Fuerst via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: >> Here is the web page about the speaker, Carol Silverman >> http://anthropology.uoregon.edu/profile/csilverm/ <http://anthropology.uoregon.edu/profile/csilverm/> >> Note how freely "gypsy" appears throughout Professor Silverman's page. The word is obvious not at all heinous. >> One doubts the talk will deal with quixotic squawking about the evil of the word "gypsy" on this and other contra dance forums >> >> Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 5844 <tel:217%20239%205844> >> >> >> >> On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 5:19 PM, Linda Leslie via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: >> >> >> Yes, it does! If you should be there, please take some notes and share with this list. Thanks for telling us about it! >> Linda >> >> On Jan 20, 2016, at 5:12 PM, Roger Hayes via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: >> >>> A talk that will be given as part of the Madison Folk Ball next weekend: >>> >>> "Global Gypsy: Balkan Romani Music, Appropriation & Representation" >>> Carol Silverman, Prof. of Cultural Anthropology & Folklore, Univ. of Oregon >>> Friday Jan 29, Noon - 1:00pm in Room 1335 of Sterling Hall >>> 475 N. Charter Street, Madison WI 53706 >>> >>> Sounds interesting, yes? >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Callers mailing list >>> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net <http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net <http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net <http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net <http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net> >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

9 years, 9 months

Re: [Callers] That g word

by James Saxe via Callers

Alan Winston asked (replying to Janet Bertog): > Where did you find a dance description for Flowers of Edinburgh in the 1500s? I, too, am curious. I suspect that Alan is asking this question, as I am, more from an interest in the history of dancing and dance terminology than for the purpose of deciding what terminology to use in the future. (To be clear, I believe that both topics--the history and what to do now--are entirely appropriate for this list.) Please supply a reference if you have one. Speaking as someone who claims no formal training or other qualification as a dance historian, but who is nonetheless an interested dabbler in dance history, I think that a genuine 16th-century source using "gip" (or "gyp"/"gipsy"/"gypsy"/ "jib"/,,,) as the name of a dance figure would be quite an interesting find, especially if the source also included some clue about what the term actually meant at that time. On the other hand, a 20th-century description of a dance with a "gip" (or "half gip/gyp/gipsy/..." or "whole gip/...") together with a vague allusion to a dance of the same title having existed in the 16th century wouldn't be so exciting. With a little searching, I turned up various descriptions of Bampton morris dancing that list half gip[/gyp/...] and whole gip as common figures and "Flowers of Edinburgh" as one of the specific dances. Here's just one example: http://www.tvmm.org.uk/Notes/Bampton.htm And here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC2QtfnKrB8 Note the whole gips starting about 1:37. My searching also turned up many references to an RSCDS-style Scottish dance titled "Flowers of Edinburgh." This site http://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/flowers-of-edinbur… has half a dozen videos of the dance being done by different groups, plus an animation and a link to dance instructions. As you can see, this "Flowers of Edinburgh" includes no "gypsy" figure and bears practically no resemblance to the morris dance of the same name except that both are done in some kind of longways set. I also turned English Country Dance versions, including these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48y_4FU9EFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWMID3ExAas The first one lightly resembles the RSCDS version in that it has a sort of "swing and change" in B2 where the RSCDS version has a poussette. The one version in the second video is yet different. In the absence of further evidence, a 16th-century dance called "Flowers of Edinburgh", if such existed, might, for all I knew, have been wildly different from all the versions I've cited above. On Jan 21, 2016, at 10:53 AM, Janet Bertog via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > The equivalent of the Welsh word gip is glance or gaze. That does suggest a tempting etymology for the dance figure. But, as we know, tempting etymologies sometimes turn out to lack support (as, for example, in the case of "a la main" for "allemande"). So, again, if you know of sources from even as late as the 19th century connecting the Welsh "gip", meaning glance/gaze with the similarly named morris dance figure or with "gypsy" as used in ECD and (more recently) contra dancing, please share the details. Again, I'm asking out of historical interest, not making any claim about how the history should or shouldn't affect callers' choices about terminology today. Thanks. --Jim > On Jan 21, 2016, at 11:30 AM, Alan Winston via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > > On 1/21/16 10:48 AM, Janet Bertog via Callers wrote: >> This was my original suggestion (see discussion in November). Then I found gip in Welsh, which seems to fit better except foe one thing. The earliest dance I can find with a gip/gypsy is Flowers of Edinburg from Scotland in the 1500s (note the date precedes the use of the word Gypsy by the English). It doesn't matter though. To many, the word is a slur in one context to some people and so should not be used, no matter what the origin. >> > Where did you find a dance description for Flowers of Edinburgh in the 1500s? > > -- Alan > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

9 years, 9 months

East Coast tour 2016

by Colin Hume via Callers

I've been booked to teach/call at the New London Assembly in Connecticut, Sunday July 17 to Sunday July 24, 2016. I'd love some other bookings before or after this - I usually do 4 weeks when I travel to the States. I call English, Squares and Contras - if you don't like Squares you probably won't want me calling your contra dance! I would of course prefer several gigs in the same area rather than spending all my time and money flying around. As bookings are finalized they will appear on my Bookings page, http://www.colinhume.com/bookings.htm Colin Hume

9 years, 10 months

New Years Eve favorites

by via Callers

Hi - No need to remind you that 2016 is fast approaching. What are your favorite dances to program before/after the midnight hour at your New Year's Eve events? Sue Gola

9 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] As in Petronella

by John Sweeney via Callers

Michael Fuerst wrote, "'Balance and spin' has the same number of syllables as 'Petronella' and avoids unnecessary jargon" Hmmm... well if someone says "Petronella" I know that I am balancing forward and back and then spinning clockwise while moving one place to my right to the place of the person who was holding my right hand. If the caller just says "Balance & Spin" then I don't know which direction to balance, which way to turn or which way to move (if indeed I move at all). Set & Turn Single has basically the same meaning as Balance & Spin but means something completely different. I never say "as in Petronella". The move is well enough established in contra dance that all I have to do is say, "Petronella" and it happens. If there are new dancers I teach them the move, call it a Petronella, and everything works fine from then on. And we have been clapping for fun in dances for over 400 years now so don't expect people not to do it! :-) Our dancing couldn't survive without jargon. Star. Ladies' Chain, Allemande, Dosido are all jargon. Would you try calling a contra dance without using any of those words? But none of those words are well defined. Star can mean wrist-lock or hands-across depending on the next move. Ladies' Chain can mean across, or across and back depending on which century you are in. Allemande means completely different things in other dance styles. And Dosido could be a Mountain Dosido, a Do Paso, an Alabama Rang Tang or a Docey Ding if you are in a different part of America a century ago. I was dancing with another Morris side recently and #1 (the "caller") called "Allemande". I had never heard that term used in Morris before so I started to offer my right hand, but the guy opposite me started doing a Back to Back around me. That is what #1 meant by "Allemande". I thought this very strange until I was researching "Captain Macintosh" and found Thomas Wilson's 1820 book "The Complete System of English Country Dancing" which defined "Allemande" as "Back to Back"! Every dancing master in every community in every style in every period in every country uses the words to mean what they want them to mean. But they teach their dancers what they mean and then it works. Some calls get standardised and are easy to use across communities. Others take time to settle down and may never be universally used. But if jargon allows a group of dancers to have fun at any particular dance then I am all for it! Whether complete standardisation is a good thing or a bad thing is another matter entirely; we all have our own opinions about MWSD :-) Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

9 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] As in Petronella

by Ron Blechner via Callers

Many callers forget that Petronella is spin-then-balance, and most modern "Petronella dances" are balance-then-spin". So saying, "as in Petronella, balance and spin/move one place to the right" is not accurate either. More accurate: "Balance the ring, and as in Petronella, spin/move one place to the right." (And the difference also can explain why people clap. The chestnut Petronella has the stomping on the last beats, whereas there's a stompy-sized hole at the end of modern balance-then-spin Petronella dances.) On Dec 15, 2015 2:09 PM, "Bill Olson via Callers" < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > Hi Erik and all, heh heh, I often chuckle at MYSELF when I find myself saying that same thing: "as in Petronella", when I realize very few of the dancers have ever danced Petronella.. BUT, after trying to teach the move with out saying the "P word", I realized that some of the dancers at least know what the move is and having a percentage of the dancers "doing the right thing" helps the others., especially those who learn by seeing as opposed to having something "explained"... (with rights and lefts in it ugh).. I've found saying: "balance the ring and move one place to the right while pivoting over your right shoulder" doesn't always get everyone doing the same thing (hah!), if it doesn't actually freeze some dancers in their tracks!! > > Now I hear newer callers saying stuff like "balance the ring and Petronella to the right" or "balance left and Rory to the left". Making new verbs out of these proper names.. well, whatever works!!! > > bill

9 years, 10 months

Petronella spin, no chain or allemande?

by Ron Blechner via Callers

Any suggestions for your favorite easy or intermediate Petronella spin dance with no chain, no allemandes? Thanks, Ron Blechner

9 years, 10 months

Proactive Management of “Problem Dancers” — Creating a Dance Environment Safe for All

by William Loving via Callers

Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) has just published my article: "Proactive Management of “Problem Dancers”—Creating a Dance Environment Safe for All" in the Winter "CDSS News" If you are involved in community dance organizing in any form, I encourage you to take a look. http://www.cdss.org/images/newsletter_archives/articles/CDSS_News_winter_20… Will Loving • Downtown Amherst Contra Dance (most Wednesdays) http://amherstcontra.org https://www.facebook.com/pages/Downtown-Amherst-Contradance/196206887090444 • Greenfield Challenging Contras (4th Fridays) https://www.facebook.com/groups/greenfieldchallenge/

9 years, 10 months

Re: [Callers] Proactive Management of “Problem Dancers” — Creating a Dance En...

by via Callers

Great article Will. Very informative. Thanks for writing and posting it. Joe De Paolo In a message dated 12/14/2015 1:01:31 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net writes: Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) has just published my article: "Proactive Management of “Problem Dancers”—Creating a Dance Environment Safe for All" in the Winter "CDSS News" If you are involved in community dance organizing in any form, I encourage you to take a look. http://www.cdss.org/images/newsletter_archives/articles/CDSS_News_winter_201 5-2016_proactive_management_loving.pdf Will Loving • Downtown Amherst Contra Dance (most Wednesdays) http://amherstcontra.org https://www.facebook.com/pages/Downtown-Amherst-Contradance/196206887090444 • Greenfield Challenging Contras (4th Fridays) https://www.facebook.com/groups/greenfieldchallenge/= _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

9 years, 10 months

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Contra Callers