Jeff, My intention wasn't to start a big "Is Positional better or worse?" thread. Instead, my goal was to use a simple example of why lumping in Positional Calling as a generic genderfree role term choice may be another version of "leaving up the role terms to the caller" - which is the subject of this thread.
For many organizers, it may only be important to distinguish between gendered vs non-gendered calling. For other organizers, lumping positional and Larks/Robins together is still pushing that responsibility from organizer to performer. There's no "correct" answer, but I don't think we can just assume that contrasting different types of genderfree Calling doesn't belong in this topic. Best regards, Julian Blechner On Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 1:10 PM Jeff Kaufman <j...@alum.swarthmore.edu> wrote: > Meta: this thread is on whether series should avoid "callers choice" > for roles; can folks who want to get into whether positional calling is a > good idea for contra start a new thread? > > Jeff > > On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 1:01 PM Julian Blechner via Organizers < > organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > >> For what it's worth, I went to a dance where a caller chose >> role-name-light dances, and had this interaction with my partner, a >> college-age dancer who's reasonably experienced. We were just in hands four. >> >> (Small talk ensues, then unprompted:) >> Partner: "The second dance I got confused by something the caller said. I >> can't remember what exactly." >> (Dance had us in Long Lines, for a Larks allemande left.) >> Caller: "Left hand dancer with the left hand free ... allemande left" >> Partner: "That was it." >> (Next move is the same role does something else, again the caller chose >> to not just say "larks") >> >> Unless one is censoring one's repertoire severely, even dances with basic >> things like "one role allemandes after a long lines" which is in a >> bajillion dances, can get so much more wordy. And, if the dance has a few >> people need prompting mid-dance, there's no simple way to recover if you're >> avoiding saying a role name. >> >> So, I'd suggest any organizer who is considering allowing positional >> calling take the time to understand the ramifications to what that actually >> means. >> >> In dance, >> Julian Blechner >> >> On Mon, Oct 30, 2023, 9:28 AM Rich Dempsey via Organizers < >> organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >> >>> In Rochester, NY, where our policy is "gender neutral calling", which >>> includes both positional and larks/robins terminology, I haven't noticed >>> that any dancer cares about the distinction. The real point for our dancers >>> is clarity and economy in teaching the dance so we can start the music. >>> >>> On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 1:20 AM Joe Harrington via Organizers < >>> organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >>> >>>> How do you feel, in a gender-neutral series, about leaving the decision >>>> of larks/robins vs. positional to the caller, so long as it's declared and >>>> publicized in advance? At least in some areas, there are not enough >>>> positional callers to have an all-positional series. >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> --jh-- >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 12:32 AM Lisa Marie Lunt via Organizers < >>>> organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I think it's important to listen to what Don Veino just wrote. Don is >>>>> both a caller and organizer. It's not fair to put the responsibility for >>>>> choosing role names on the callers. It's the organizers' responsibility to >>>>> make decisions about our dances. >>>>> >>>>> Lisa Lunt >>>>> She/her >>>>> Jamaica Plain (Boston) Gender Free Contra Dance >>>>> >>>>> On Sun, Oct 29, 2023, 4:17 PM Don Veino via Organizers < >>>>> organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> As a caller and organizer, this is a hot button topic for me. Please, >>>>>> if you are organizing a dance, take responsibility for this decision and >>>>>> make it clearly public to your participants in advance. I understand you >>>>>> may be uncomfortable making this choice and possibly want to "please >>>>>> everybody" by leaving it to the caller but that just sets up the worst >>>>>> dynamic for all. >>>>>> >>>>>> My take is that the dance's organizers *own* the culture and >>>>>> implementation policies of their dance. If you would not leave it up to >>>>>> the >>>>>> caller to decide to do swing dance instead or declare the admission is >>>>>> half >>>>>> off for a given event, then you shouldn't leave such a topic to them >>>>>> either. >>>>>> >>>>>> "Traditional", Larks/ Robins, positional - alternating per event, >>>>>> whatever - make the determination and let the people coming know in >>>>>> advance. >>>>>> >>>>>> I personally will no longer accept bookings from a dance that doesn't >>>>>> have a stated role term policy. I will call with the terms stated (or >>>>>> decline the event). I had a booking for a longstanding dance which >>>>>> changed >>>>>> from decades of "Traditional" to "Caller's Choice" after booking me, with >>>>>> no heads up. I first heard of it when I started hearing from people >>>>>> advocating for one or the other terms, as "my choice". The organizers >>>>>> wouldn't make the call and the publicity was already out there. Bad scene >>>>>> for all, not the way to set up dance joy. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Sun, Oct 29, 2023, 1:28 PM Sandy Seiler via Organizers < >>>>>> organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: >>>>>> <snip> >>>>>> Currently terminology is the caller's decision. So it goes back and >>>>>> forth from gendered to non gendered. That is not mentioned on the >>>>>> website, >>>>>> but I do know that at least one of our callers has requested that the >>>>>> Lawrence board make a decision about it so the callers don't have that >>>>>> responsibility and possible fall out from it. >>>>>> </snip> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net >>>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>>>>> organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >>>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net >>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>>>> organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >>>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net >>> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net >> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >> >
_______________________________________________ Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net
