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Call of the Month: December, 1992

The Anything Concept

by Barry Leiba

Last month we talked a bit about concepts—in particular, we discussed the ALL EIGHT and the ALL FOUR COUPLES concepts. This month we'll take a look at another concept. It relates to the idea of finishing a call by leaving off the first part, and it's called the ANYTHING concept (which sounds like a pretty vague name, doesn't it?).

The ANYTHING concept can be applied to any call that starts with an ALL EIGHT CIRCULATE. There are really few of those; here's an exhaustive list up through C2:

  • COORDINATE (Plus)
  • MOTIVATE (Advanced)
  • PERCOLATE (C1)
  • PERK UP (C2).

The way it works is that the caller prefixes the desired call with the anything call, and you do the anything call instead of the first ALL EIGHT CIRCULATE. You then finish the call normally. For instance, let's have the heads LEAD RIGHT and CIRCLE TO A LINE. Now do a TOUCH ¼ , COORDINATE. Remember the definition of COORDINATE:

  • ALL EIGHT CIRCULATE 1½
  • Center six TRADE.
  • Ends and very centers move up.

So for TOUCH ¼ COORDINATE we'll replace the first CIRCULATE with TOUCH ¼, and we'll get

  • TOUCH ¼.
  • ALL EIGHT CIRCULATE ½ only.
  • Center six TRADE.
  • Ends and very centers move up.

Remember that the ½ CIRCULATE comes very quickly, so don't go too far.

If the anything call is a kind of CIRCULATE or ROTATE, then the word circulate or rotate is left off. For instance, we can do SPLIT COORDINATE from columns (we'll replace the first CIRCULATE with a SPLIT CIRCULATE -- be careful not to cross the center of the column), an INROLL MOTIVATE from waves (using an INROLL CIRCULATE to start), or a SPLIT COUNTER PERCOLATE from waves (start with a SPLIT COUNTER ROTATE).

Usually, the anything call is something short, as in the examples above, but it needn't be. Let's look at a complicated one with Advanced calls. From a squared set, sides PASS THE OCEAN. Now do a CHAIN REACTION MOTIVATE: First, the CHAIN REACTION ...

  • Those facing PASS THRU while the ends of the wave PROMENADE ¼.
  • Original centers HINGE with the dancers who haven't moved yet.
  • Outsides TRADE, centers STAR ¼.
  • Those meeting, CAST ¾ while the others move up.That replaced the first circulate of the MOTIVATE. Now finish...
  • Centers CAST ¾ while the ends ½ CIRCULATE.
  • Outsides TRADE, centers STAR ½.
  • Those meeting CAST ¾, others move up
....and we've done the call!

Note that a call like CHAIN REACTION MOTIVATEor RECYCLE PERK UP is a little ambiguous: for the latter, does the caller want us to do a RECYCLE and then a PERK UP, or are we meant to apply the ANYTHING concept? Callers resolve that problem in a number of ways. Some just call it and make the dancers guess (if you've been reading this column for more than a few months, you'll know what the author thinks of that approach). Some put in verbal parentheses by saying delay or this is one call before the pair. My favorite method is one that Ben Rubright (and others) use: modify the name of the first call by suffixing it with "-er's", as RECYCLER'S PERK UP or CHAIN REACTER'S MOTIVATE. That seems an elegant solution that avoids excessive verbiage. Apart from that, it allows a distinction between a TRADE PERCOLATE (start with a TRADE CIRCULATE) and a TRADER 'S PERCOLATE (start with a TRADE).

Theoretically, ANYTHING calls could be cascaded to any level, provided that the ending position for one is suitable to start the next. In practice, the only call up through C2 that this works for is MOTIVATE, and doing a MIXER'S MOTIVATER'S MOTIVATER'S MOTIVATE just wouldn't be very interesting.

So let's have a look at a few ANYTHING calls. From two-faced lines, CROSSFIRE COORDINATE:

  • Ends CROSS FOLD, centers TRADE and EXTEND. Now finish...
  • CIRCULATE ½.
  • Center six TRADE.
  • Ends and very centers move up.

From eight chain, RECYCLER'S MOTIVATE:

  • Do a FACING RECYCLE to end in waves.
  • Finish the MOTIVATE, as described above.

From a tidal wave, SPLIT COUNTER PERCOLATE (watch out for this one!):

  • SPLIT COUNTER ROTATE—from a tidal wave it's like a LOCKIT. Now in the waves, finish the PERCOLATE, by...
  • CIRCULATE ½.
  • Centers HINGE and CROSS, ends TURN THRU.

And here's a sequence without explanation for anyone who wants to try a C2 example:

  • Heads SQUARE CHAIN THRU while...
  • Sides CONCENTRIC RIGHT-AND-LEFT THRU.
  • Put CENTERS OUT.
  • SPLIT TRADE PERK UP.
  • Centers TRADE AND ROLL while the ends BOX THE GNAT...
  • ...to a RIGHT-AND-LEFT GRAND!

(Printable Version)

The columns are copyright ©1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 by Barry Leiba; for permission to reprint them, please contact the author. No request has been refused yet. Of course, you may print a copy for personal use without specific permission. You may contact the author by e-mail at "leiba@watson.ibm.com".

These columns were originally sponsored on the web by the IAGSDC on space provided by Glyphic Technology. In 2006, Tech Squares took over hosting. Some information in the articles might be out-of-date: remember that Callerlab continues to tweak the program lists and definitions.