Warning, this is a rambling e-mail that shares my thought processes, rather than a brief statement of a conclusion, because I may have missed a turn along the way:
Independent of the Babylon 5 reference, I've actually been thinking about colors as an option for role labels. There are lots of color names to chose from. While I like green and purple, I'd prefer a one syllable color over purple. Possible something that starts with L or W instead of purple, so that folks with prior phonemic tendencies have less cognitive dissonance. I've seen color work when teaching partner dances with mirror footwork like waltz. The teacher for follows wears a purple sock on her right food, and a green sock on her left; whereas the teacher for the leads wheres a green on his right foot and a purple on his left. They can then call out footwork as "purple-green-purple, green-purple-green" etc. The colors could give folks an easy way to distinguish the role that they are dancing like the arm-bands in the bands/bares distinction. You'd just need two sets of armbands or head bands or hats or whatever. Possible one syllable colors in G or M: Green, Gray, Gold, Grape, Maize, Mauve, Mint Possible one syllable colors in L or W Lime, Lust, Wheat, White, Wine I pulled the color names from wikipedia, there may be more. There are some that I would disqualify for other connotations. If you really want a two syllable replacement for the ladies/follow role, you open up: Lapis, Lava, Lemon, Lilac, Liver, Lion, Lumber Again, this is pulling from wikipedia, I'd be hard pressed to identify those last 3. The weakness of color in the original four requests is point 3, that it does not accurately describe the experience/geometry. A simple rule that's easy to say might help in that regard. "After a swing, white on the right" comes to mind. I personally would avoid a white/black distinction, and would prefer to avoid both of those. I can't find any other colors that rhyme with right or left though. If we want to avoid the L colors as too close to Left anyway; white is left as the most identifiable color of the list I've assembled. Mint and White? After a swing, Mints on the Left and Whites on the Right. Just typing that makes me uncomfortable about connotations of racial segregation. If we leave behind the idea of color, but instead go for a word that rhymes with left or right for an easy mnemonic, it opens up some more options (although not many for Left). What about Lights for the ladies/follow role? Dances could stock small button lights (the little LED pin ones last a long time and are fairly cheap). It's as easy as armbands to affix or even swap. "After a swing, lights on the right" is less problematic to me than "whites on the right". Light still starts with L, so we haven't gained an the distinguishing the ladies from the lefts, but light does open itself up to adjectives for a two syllable extension. If Lights is the replacement for Ladies, then what to replace gents with? I'd strenuously avoid darks and lights (possibly I'm over-hyping the segregation thing). Mirrors is cute, but inverts the 1/2 syllable relationship. Little mirrored pins could be given out as well though. Depending on the mirror (and the lighting in the hall) it may help distinguish the roles, or it may confuse them. Matte would be a thematic word, and it'd be easy to make small matte pins to compliment and contrast the lights. "Lights and Mattes"? "Lights and Mirrors"? I like Lights and Mirrors. Going a different direction for contrast, Grave could be taken as counterpoint to Light. "Graves and Lights, after a swing Lights on the right and Graves on Lefts." You could even have little tombstone pins to contrast the lights. I think that's a terrible idea though. I think despite my ramblings, I haven't exhausted even the color idea. I like the Lights and Mirrors, but don't think it's flawless; ditto Greens and Whites (or other color pairs from my meager list). I'll send this out to the ether, and see if it nucleates anything for anyone else. As a sub-part of this conversation; is the quest for something to supplement/replace the gents/ladies terminology in mainstream dances (which I think is highly unlikely in the foreseeable future), or replace barearms/armbands in the gender free scene? While I see a value in coming up with useable gender neutral terminology, I think it'll be an uphill battle to convince many people to leave behind a system that is working just fine for them. The only way I see gender-neutral terms being adopted near-universally is if the new terms are in some way better for the people who don't give a hoot about the gender neutral cause. It's sadly cynical, but its my prediction. Happy ruminating, Luke > > 1. Matches the one/two syllable form of gents/ladies, lead/follow, etc. > > > 2. Sound distinctly different for easy recognition (this nixes "b/b-a") > > > 3. Accurately describe the experience and/or geometry of contra dance > > > 4. Is gender and connotatively neutral without a lot of > referentialbaggage >
