Dance Geek Code Block: Let's do this thing, you guys!

[sorcyress]

Warning: Dance Geekery ahead! Read (and contribute) at your own risk!

So. About a billion years ago, there was a comment thread that led me to scrawl this down in reference to myself: W(+) w wcs C+ R SCD+ ECD.

If you think that looks a bit like a geek code block, congratulations, that's exactly what it is. Except that it's not your standard one that keeps floating around the internet¹, it's my original Dance Geek Code Block and should be parsed as:

Waltz (vintage): good
waltz (modern): capable
west coast swing: capable (and I fucked up, it should be ecs)
Contra: good
Regency: capable
Scottish Country Dance: good
English Country Dance: capable

(and it should be noted that this is from 2008, and slightly before I figured out how good I actually am at dancing in comparison to much of the population. A more recent DGCB³ would have a lot more plusses in it, thankssomuch.)

At any rate, mine was based off of lonebear's, which was W+++ w T t-- ta--- B P Lh++(a+) wcs jive++ mwsd(c3b+) Cx R++s++. The extra things in there should be parsed as:

Tango vintage: capable
tango modern: ick
tango Argentinean: really ick
Blues vintage: capable
Polka vintage: capable
Lindyhop: Very good with ariels good
west coast swing: capable
modern jive: very good
modern western square dance: challenge level 3b and invited to elite dance
Contra: will never dance again
Regency good with snobbery high

Then MagusMarc² chimed in with a suggested scale for Regency, which you can see below

and...nothing else really happened with the project, except that it's kept being on my mind ever since then --every once in a while I try to write down lists of dances or scales or whatever. Because damnit, I think it would be a really fun little project to do, and I would just *love* to have a button with my block to wear at NEFFA or something.

So...here's the deal: I want to make a Dance Geek Code Block. I want help, because I am lazy, and I want advice, because otherwise I will forget things. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, . is to help me with that goal!

The way I see it, there are three main kinds of dance, which would be the three main sections of the block --single dance, couple dance, and set dance. Additionally, there are (at least!) four modifiers that would be required for any given dance form --play music, teach, call, and get paid for a dance.

You can help by pointing out Incredibly Important dance forms that I've missed, or hell, even sections (some international dances are done in circles/groups? Is that a separate thing?), and by providing ideas for ranking systems --generally I'm aiming for a scale of ----- to +++++, such as the Regency one listed above.

Here's what I've got so far:

Universal Modifiers

• $ I get paid for this


• # I call for this


• ! I teach this


• % I play music for this


• p I dance this for performance


• s snobbery


• x I will never dance this again


• X I dance the opposite gender role to my usual presenting gender, or I dance both roles

Specific Thoughts: I'm not convinced on any of these symbols except the $. I do kinda like # for calling (for no real reason), but I'm willing to entertain other symbology for other things.

I'm real shaky on the X symbol --I want something to indicate an ability to both lead and follow, or dance both roles of a dance, I'm not precisely sure what that symbology should be. Perhaps instead of a symbol applicable to any given dance, it could be a universal symbol, to be presented at the beginning or end of the code block? My only problem there is that I know people (myself included) who will happily dance both roles for some dance forms, and only one role for others.

There also needs to be a better symbology for performance, which is not always synonymous with $.

Single Dance

• B Ballet (with modifier p for en pointe)


• BD Bellydancing


• d disco


• hh hip-hop


• j jazz


• s stripping


• t tap


• TWTime Warp

Specific Thoughts: Theoretically, B should be blues (vintage). This is a problem I decided not to worry about much in this initial version, what with the letters overlapping, but I would love suggestions of better letter choices, for anywhere there is overlap.

Couples Dance

• B/b Blues vintage / blues modern


• C Charleston


• FT/ft Foxtrot vintage / foxtrot modern


• Lh(a) Lindyhop (ariels)


• jive modern jive


• OS/os One Step vintage / one step modern


• P/p Polka vintage / polka modern


• msrd Modern Social Round Dancing (Rounds)


• S Schottische


• Ssa(Ru)Salsa(Salsa-Rueda)


• wcs swing: west-coast


• ecs swing: east-coast


• T/t/ta Tango vintage / tango modern / tango Argentinean


• W/w Waltz vintage / waltz modern


• wxs waltz cross-step


• z zwiefacher

Specific Thoughts: I'm not actually sure all of these have both a vintage and modern version, but there you go. In general, and with all the forms, I tried to indicate vintage-type dancing with capital letters, and more modern-type dancing with lowercase.

Also, I don't know if jive is a couples, or sets, or group dance, being as I don't dance it, same with Charleston. For any of these forms, please feel free to call me out if I made an egregious categorization mistake.

As stated above, I'd really love a way to indicate whether one typically leads, follows or both on these dances (though is that getting to be too much information? I don't know. Arg!) --perhaps as simple as including a l/f/b at the end of a rank.

Set Dance

• c contra


• CW Civil War


• ECD English Country Dance


• M Medieval
⁵

• mwsd Modern Western Squares Dance


• R Regency
  

  R+++++ I am Susan de Guardiola.
  R++++  I can dance an 8-bar solo sequence.
  R+++   I can dance the star figure of the Royal Scotch Quadrille.
  R++    I can do figures and steps at the same time.
  R+     I can do figures without getting lost.
  R      I've heard of Regency dancing.
  R-     I get lost dancing a hey.
  R--    I get lost dancing rights & lefts.
  R---   I get lost dancing four hands round and back.
  R----  I turn single.
  R----- I am [name redacted].



• SCD Scottish Country Dance


• V Victorian

Specific Thoughts: mwsd, unlike everything else, shouldn't have a +/- scale, it should have your level, since mwsd, unlike everything else, actually has officially/universally recognized levels. (ie, I should be able to go to any mainstream club in the world, and know all the figures they use)

There's a lot of international dance that I'm not at all familiar with beyond knowing that it exists, hence I haven't done a very good job of including it. Please help me fill in the most major groups.

Group Dance

• Ru Rueda

...whew. I think that's everything I've got right now --I will try to keep an editlog if I get a lot of people offering useful input.

And this is why I consider myself to be a Big Damn Geek about dancing. Hey, I had to earn my demigoddess⁶ status *some*how.

~Sor
MOOP!

1: GM/ED/O(dance) dx-- s--:- a21 C++ W+++ w++ M++ PS++ PE Y+ PGP- t? 5? X? R+ tv- b+++ e++ h+ r+++ z+++**

2: I have been doing this with his name since I met him practically. His handle, everywhere, is marcmagus, but because I refer to him as both Magus and Marc with near even frequency, I tend to reverse it.

3: Written before I wrote down the lists of dance forms, so I could do an even *more* accurate one W++ w wxs++ b P+ OS+ FT+ S+ ecs+ msrd(x) mwsd(m+)⁴ SCD+++ R+++ ECD++ c+++ CW+ V+

4: Okay, technically I don't know any plus level calls, and technically I haven't finished mainstream. Give me to the end of the semester, and this should officially be my ranking.

5: Allegations that this is on here just to annoy SdG (and make my mother smile!) are completely unfounded.

6: Yeeeeears ago, mek declared me to be the Demigoddess of Dance, and if I ever make calling cards in the style of Magus's, that title will most certainly go on there. Some days I think it's a more true thought than others.

EDITS:
20101029 2144: Added TW, Ssa (ru), group dance, Ru

Comments

[netpositive.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I see this... and it makes me afraid to dance with anyone.