Hi Louise,
I heard the term “Arky” in the late 1990s in America for a couple
who had switched roles, e.g:
“Why are they on the wrong side?” “Oh, they‘ve gone Arky.”
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 01233 625 362 & 07802 940
574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
From: Louise Siddons via Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Sent: 24 March 2025 14:41
To: Jeff Kaufman <[email protected]>
Cc: Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Subject: [Callers] Re: New Names for Ladies' Chains
No date on it, but Al Olson’s Butternut Squash (with apologies for the gendered
language: https://www.ibiblio.org/contradance/thecallersbox/dance.php?id=3709)
was published in Zesty Contras. I know 1983 wasn’t 50 years ago but it was over
40 — and many of the dances in there were written long before Larry published
the book.
Larry uses the term “arky” to describe a figure done from the unexpected side,
so my impression is that at least in 1983, at least some dancers were doing
dances with figures that inverted role expectations enough to need a word for
it. I’d love to hear more from people on this list who were dancing back then.
Louise.
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