At regular public contra dances I don't switch genders.  If I see a 
swapped couple approaching I will often begin calling (if the caller 
has stopped calling) to help my partner, and others, avoid confusion.

Greg McKenzie

*********

At 06:57 AM 9/11/2009, Jack Mitchell wrote:
>    One other thing I had thought about doing in a workshop is to have a
>    few people in each line with a red ball cap or a particular shirt or
>    some other identifying mark, and challenge folks in the workshop to
>    make sure that they're not swapping when they get to those particular
>    people in the line.  At regular dances, I have particular local dancers
>    that I know don't react well to switching parts -- mostly because it
>    confuses them -- and I try to switch back when I see them coming.  I
>    also attempt (mostly successfully) to make sure that I don't switch
>    parts when one of the folks in the next couple is a new dancer.  The
>    partner swing is a nice time to look ahead to see who the next couple
>    is and quickly switch back if needed.
>    Jack
>    At 09:36 AM 9/11/2009, you wrote:
>
>      Following up on Mark Galipeau's note:
>      In a workshop, it may be good to offer a little context on when
>      gender-role-swapping is appropriate (or inappropriate). For example,
>      at most
>      dance weekends your neighbors will welcome or at least understand.
>      At many
>      monthly dances, there are neighbors who may become confused either
>      because
>      they are new, rigidly devoted to traditional gender roles, or any
>      number of
>      other reasons. Some may even try to correct us (if they don't know
>      us).
>      Before swapping, I look ahead in the line to be sure that our next
>      neighbors
>      will be part of the "game" and not put off by it.
>      (Mark indicates the idea of there being a time and a place for this,
>      I
>      merely offer an additional tip).
>      --Jerome
>      >
>      > Message: 3
>      > Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 15:27:15 -0700 (PDT)
>      > From: Mark Galipeau <red72impala at yahoo.com>
>      > To: Caller's discussion list <callers at sharedweight.net>
>      > Subject: Re: [Callers] Gender Swapping
>      > Message-ID: <964380.63567.qm at web83604.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
>      > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>      >
>      > If the group is alert, what my dance partners and I occasionally
>      enjoy, is
>      > memorizing both roles in the dance, then each iteration when there
>      is a
>      > swing your partner, we swap gender roles.
>      > ie: first swing I lead, then the next time we come back to swing
>      my partner
>      > immediately takes the lead role and swings me.? Some dances are
>      challenging
>      > and if the grey matter is slow, or it is late in the evening this
>      can really
>      > snafu the line.
>      > ?
>      > Chris Ricciotti has a great web resouce on Gender Free Contra on
>      this web
>      > site.
>      > [1]http://www.lcfd.org/Articles/GFManual/index.html
>      > ?
>      > Mark Galipeau
>      > Queer Contra Dancer
>      > We swing both ways, and then some.
>      >
>      >
>      >
>      --
>      Jerome Grisanti
>      660-528-0858
>      [2]http://www.jeromegrisanti.com
>      For the good are always the merry,
>      Save by an evil chance,
>      And the merry love the fiddle
>      And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats
>      _______________________________________________
>      Callers mailing list
>      Callers at sharedweight.net
>      [3]http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
>
>References
>
>    1. http://www.lcfd.org/Articles/GFManual/index.html
>    2. http://www.jeromegrisanti.com/
>    3. http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
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