Wonderful! Beautifully written letter and a positive response.
Patricia Patricia Campbell, Dance Caller http://www.countrydancecaller.com *"Celebrating Community through Traditional Dance and Music"* "bcc:" for privacy <http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~watrous/bcc-for-privacy.html> - please observe these guidelines when including me in your group emails On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 6:31 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > > I finally composed a response to the original complainant. Here it is, > followed by an almost instant reply from him (yes, it is a male): > > Hello Mr.__________, > > Thank you for letting us know about your experience at our dance. I am > glad our community was so welcoming and friendly to you. I hope you > remember that in the future. > > As for the term "gypsy," it has been used in contra dancing for decades, > and is not my invention. I am sorry you were offended by my use and > description of it. It is my habit to let dancers know the name and author > of each dance I call, and "gypsy" is in the title of that dance. I regret > my description of the move as "flirty." I thank you for reminding me that > some people are uncomfortable with that, and I will no longer suggest it. > As for the name of the move itself, you are correct in that it has never > been meant as a pejorative. I cannot, however, change it on my own. Contra > is a folk dance and the folk process takes time. There is no governing body > in charge of naming the terms used in contra dancing. When someone invents > a new move they give it a name and it gradually works its way into the > vernacular. > > I can assure you that callers nationwide are discussing this and other > terms we use which we are learning are offensive to others. We are > endeavoring to change what we can, but you might imagine that coming to a > consensus between many hundreds of callers is neither swift nor sure. This > is especially true, given the lack of a governing body. > > For my part, I have decided to remove the term "gypsy" from my calling and > am searching for a substitute. It is not in my power to rename dances. At > Emerald City Contra Dance we book approximately 25 different callers every > year, from across the United States and beyond. I am just one. Please > understand that if you return to our dance you may hear that term used > again, until such time as awareness has spread as far and wide as the > callers themselves. > > Sincerely, > > Amy Wimmer > Caller and ECCD Organizer > > His response: > > Thank you for your very thoughtful and informative response. I feel much > better about continuing to attend, hearing that there is an awareness of > this issue and conversations happening about it. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > >
