And here lies the minefield, a caller is never sure who in the audience will object, or what they will object to. And organizers rarely give a clear indication of what their vision is...so the callers take the heat.
As callers we're d@mned if we do and d@mned if we don't Call a square (or other dance formation) or don't say gypsy or don't say men, women, he or she... or don't Social media is a very powerful tool and can be used for good and evil depending on which side you are on. It can be used to impact elections of major countries and impact our views of contra dancing terms. When I started dancing in the 80's it was the height of the Nicaraguan war and the Contras were the right wing rebels (supported and funded by the USA) fighting against the left wing socialist government. When I told people I contra danced I often got unusual looks and had to explain what it was. I wonder if there had been FB at the time would there have been a movement to change the name? The pendulum sways... In the 80's when I started dancing, Contra dancers used to Norwegian polka to the sound check, then dance DI contras, squares (2), circle mixers, , hambo/schottische, waltz and occasionally DI proper/triplet/triple minor dances, and a few callers were starting to use "Men and Women" rather than "Gents and Ladies" reflective of the feminist movement. (And yes, I personally enjoyed the DI contras the best) Fast forward to 2018 and most callers are using "Gents and Ladies" again (many dancers cringe at "Men and Women" and some are advocating for gender-free terms), most dance communities stopped doing a circle mixer and many stopped doing squares. AND most dancers can't dance a hambo or schottische and have no idea what a triplet or triple minor dance is unless they go to NEFFA or other large inclusive festival or dance ECD. Singing and patter squares are caught in this as the lyrics/patter are reflective of the words/lyrics used in the 40's, 50's (and sometimes you just use a word that rhymes). As Rich found out the 70-80 year olds love the lyrics (from their youth) and the millennials do not. I find that folks these days are very intolerant if things don't go their way...whichever way that is. And our dance traditions (and callers) are caught in the middle. BTW: I MWS in an LGBTQ group and we use "boys and girls" and no one cares and almost everyone switches...such a delight! Donna Hunt -----Original Message----- From: Rich Sbardella via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> To: Bob Hofkin <bhof...@middlej.com> Cc: Caller's discussion list <call...@sharedweight.net> Sent: Sun, Mar 25, 2018 11:15 am Subject: Re: [Callers] Politically Correct? Yes Bob, You are correct, but the tag line for each verse remains the same. I would have to find a word to replace -young "thing". I think perhaps it is a generational thing. I have been calling this song to my seniors who are about 75% women in their 70's and 80s and they sing along. No objections. In fact many remember it as a child. There are certainly some contra venues where I would expect a similar response, but others that would cringe. "Such a sweet young thing" used to be a term of endearment for Ladies and Gents, but times change. In MWSD, boys and girls are the default role terms, and I called MWSD for 25 years. However, I remember accidentally using the term girls in a square for a contra community a few years back, and immediately after the square, I had a dancer approach me and voice her concerns. This is one of the reasons I posed the original question. Peace, Rich
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