Role Terms for Contra Dances

Published Nov 2022

RATIONALE

We made this decision with the goal of bringing greater equity and inclusion to our dances. The change to a consistent use of the terms Larks and Robins will create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive experience for people of all gender identities and orientations. We also wish to recognize more explicitly what has already been a long-established practice in our community, which is that anyone may dance any role with any partner, regardless of gender.

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

Many parts of the broader Contra Dance community have adopted gender-neutral calling – but the folk process has generally preferred Larks and Robins rather than Larks and Ravens. Using Larks and Robins has the additional mnemonic benefit that Larks stand to the Left of their partner when lining up or ending a swing, and Robins end on the Right – something that may help orient newcomers.

OUR PROCESS

In 2019, we distributed a survey to gain an understanding of the community’s preferences for role terms within Contra Dance. It was determined at the time that our community was divided among those who had a strong preference for Larks and Ravens, those who preferred Ladies and Gents, and those who just wanted to dance. At the time, it was determined by the board that no immediate changes would be made other than using alternating terms from weekend to weekend. Following that change, we noticed that gender-neutral calls didn’t create excessive problems on the dance floor, since only the terminology – not the dances – had changed. And younger dancers, who will help carry forward our dance tradition, seemed to respond especially well to non-gendered calling. During the spring of 2022, the board decided to move forward with the change to using Larks and Robins as role terms within Contra Dance, based on the rationale above.

COMMUNITY FEEDBACK

We held our first Contra with masking and vaccine mandates in place on March 26, 2022, a whole 749 days since our last pre-Covid Contra. This dance was called with Larks and Robins. Some attendees noted to volunteers that they felt welcomed and recognized with gender-neutral calling, and other dancers had less favorable responses to the less-familiar terms. But overall, the dancing was well received.

We want to continue the conversation about how people are feeling about the role-term change and how we can help each other with the transition.

We had an initial Zoom meeting in June 2022, which explored dancers’ different perspectives on the role-term change and surfaced practical ideas for smoothing the transition. More opportunities for respectful, generative discussion will take place as the need arises. Your thoughts, feelings, questions, and opinions matter to us and will help us continue to build the inclusive community that brings joy to dancing.