On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 10:42 AM, Richard Hopkins <hopkin...@comcast.net>wrote:
> In older contra dances, danced duple or triple proper, same-sex > right-and-left-through moves are common -- that is, a R and L through > started from a position where two men are facing two women. Through the > folk process, we have largely abandoned that practice, and either don't > call those dances or call them much modified. There may be a number of > reasons for this, but I think likely part of it has been discomfort with > the same-sex interaction in that move. The folk process can take us in any > number of directions…. > > Maybe. If you've been through an evening where half or more of the dances end with "down the hall and back, cast off, R/L through and back" (the whole B part) you might come up with some more reasons. I think the trend to improper formation owes more to flexibility and it becoming more OK to mix the genders than people being uncomfortable lined up with same gender.
