This is a relatively common thing to do in ECD, called global terminology <http://heatherandrose.org/terms.shtml>. I attended an open calling event on Saturday night that was billed as gender-free, and there were two dances that used no role identifiers at all, if I recall right. It works well for some dances-- basically any dance that does not have something that the roles do with the other person of the same role (gents allemande, ladies chain, etc). You can even fudge it a bit by saying "chain" instead of "ladies chain" and using moves like pass through to a wave, then turn "in the middle," etc.
On Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 6:43 AM, Amy Carroll via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Jim - I don't think I am alone in wondering how you managed this without > telling the dancers. I take that to mean you didn't make it gender free by > the terminology you used (jets or whatever) but by the kinds of dances you > chose. I'd love to read more details about what this entailed. > > Please share more! > > Amy > 206 330 7408 > [email protected] > > On Jun 1, 2015, at 5:37 AM, Jim Hemphill via Callers < > [email protected]> wrote: > > The recent discussions on this topic inspired me to try an experiment in > gender free calling. Last night I called the contra dance in St. Louis > using gender free calling without telling anyone. The experiment was a > great success. I received lots of positive feedback on the evenings > dance. At the break and after the dance I made a point to ask several > dancers, some were callers as well, if they noticed anything different or > unusual about the dances or how I taught them. One person noticed that > there were more dances that included a swing in the center for couple 2 > than usual. No one I talked to noticed that the calls and teaching were > gender free. > > It took some extra time to construct a fun, diverse 3 hour program, but it > is certainly possible. Re-labeling the dancers is not the only way to call > gender free. > > If you are interested in the program I used or the larger collection of > gender free dances I chose the program from, send me an email, > [email protected]. > > Thanks, > Jim Hemphill > > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > > -- David Casserly (cell) 781 258-2761
