I believe that the term "Arky" entered the square dance vocabulary circa 1950
from a variant of the "Texas Star" routine called "Arkansas Star". Here's a
version of the calls (minus explanatory comments) as given in the June 1959
issue of _Sets In Order_:
> Heads to the center and back to the bar
> Side couples center with a right hand star
> Now back with the left and you're going to town
> Pick up your corner as you come 'round
> Now the inside out and the outside in
> You turn that Arky Star again
> Now the outside in and the inside out
> You turn that Arky Star about
> Break that star and everybody swing
> Allemande left with your corner maid
> Come back one and promenade.
[A version, also appeared in _Square Dancing for Beginners_ by Bob Osgood and
Jack Hoheisal (1949), but I can't lay hands on my copy right now.]
Note that in the star promenade, two of the pairs are in the "normal" ("gents"
on the left; "ladies" on the right) arrangement, and two are in a
"(half-)sashayed" arrangement ("ladies" on the left; "gents" on the right). I
believe it is from this usage that the term "Arky" was generalized to encompass
all sorts of arrangements that involved a mix of "normal" and "sashayed" pairs,
and also arrangements that included pairs with two nominal gents (or as we
might now say, larks) together and/or two nominal ladies/robins together.
I'm not deeply familiar with current MWSD terminology (so I'll accept
correction from anyone who is), but I believe they would not technically
consider the term "Arky" to include arrangement where _all_ the couples are
"(half-) sashayed". Of course, contra and trad square dancers and callers don't
necessarily feel obligated to use terminolgy borrowed from MWSD in the precise
way that MWSD folk would use it. (And conversely, MWSDers might use some
"traditional" terms in ways that "traditional" dancers would find surprising.)
--Jim
> On Mar 24, 2025, at 8:57 AM, John Sweeney via Contra Callers
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> 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.”
<snip>
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