I was just at a calling practice last night and someone called a dance with a gents swing. There was a pretty good consensus that it was awkward and a bit stressful (sound familiar?). Those who were for it used terms like "we can watch them squirm" which I disagree with.
Half the couples had guys in the ladies role, and there was no problem with that, so take homophobia out of your quiver of arrows. AFAIK it's a non-traditional element being added to a traditional folk dance form. It's not well defined, so awkward. A caller could say that #2's take the ladies position in the swing, but a caller at the next dance could say the reverse... so still not well defined. As a caller, the job is to facilitate an enjoyable dance, not make a point of deliberately poking people's stress buttons. As a traditional folk dance form, contra dancing is not static, but evolution should come from the "folk," not self appointed social attitude police. On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 8:31 AM, Andrea Nettleton <[email protected] > wrote: > For those who complain that in a same sex swing they are unsure who will > play the (lord I hate these terms for contra) lead and who the follow, it > is dead easy for the caller to control that. Just designate say the number > one same gender role person as the "lead" and the two as follow. You can > still offer a symmetrical swing, but there can no longer be the excuse of > confusion. > Andrea >
