Most concepts have clear and precise meanings and do not need any further discussion here. However, for a significant number of concepts, the distinction between precisely defined, universally understood terminology, and "common sense" description of what you want the dancers to do, becomes rather blurred. When using computers to write choreography, a lot of questions of the form, "How do I get the program to do this?" arise. For that reason, a complete list of available concepts will be given here. For many of them, their meaning is clear, and nothing further will be said. For the troublesome ones, we will attempt to describe just what the program understands them to mean.
For many of the less straightforward cases, the words that the program uses are not necessarily the words that you would use to get the dancers to do the equivalent thing. You must always use your own judgement. No claim is made that the program's notion of what the words literally mean is the universally accepted definition of the concept.
Be aware that those concepts that take two calls, such as checkpoint,
<ANYONE> do your part (while the others), or
two calls in succession
must be entered by themselves. That is, you must press
ENTER
after typing any of these concepts. You can't type
checkpoint ah so by recycle ENTER
nor
boys trade (while the others) u-turn back ENTER
You must type
checkpoint ENTER ah so ENTER recycle ENTER
or
boys (while the others) ENTER trade ENTER u-turn back ENTER
The concepts to watch out for are labeled "[must be entered by itself]" in the following lists.
Just what constitutes a "concept" and what constitutes a mere "variation" of a call is not always clearly delineated. We list below only those things that the program considers to be "concepts." There are many other variations of calls, such as square chain thru to a wave that are not listed here. In general, variations of this sort can be obtained simply by clicking on them or typing them. They should be visible on the call menu, and, if you type a question mark while typing the call name, these variations should be displayed.
In the concept names, "C/L/W" has the usual meaning of "columns, lines, or waves." Extending that terminology, "B" means boxes, and "D" means diamonds.
"1T" means 1/4 tags, "3T" means 3/4 tags, "1L" means 1/4 lines, and "3L" means 3/4 lines. A 1/4 line or 3/4 line requires that the centers form a 2-faced line, and the ends be looking in or out, respectively. A 1/4 tag or 3/4 tag requires that the centers form some kind of line (not necessarily a wave), and the ends be looking in or out, respectively.
"GT" means "general 1/4 tags", in which the ends could individually be facing either in or out, and the centers form some kind of line.
"DS" means "diamond spots", that is, diamonds or general 1/4 tags in which no assumption is made about anyone's facing direction.
In all concepts that can specify either lines or waves,
the "waves" version has an implicit "assume waves" operation
in it. Under normal circumstances, this means that the live people can make use of
the assumption of waves in order to decide how to start the call. For example,
in normal columns, split phantom waves in roll circulate---which
is equivalent to split phantom lines, assume waves, in roll
circulate---is legal, because the phantom in-roller's location can be
deduced from the wave assumption. Whether the dancers will be appreciative
of your calling that is another matter.
The call split phantom lines in roll circulate is illegal from columns
because the facing direction of the phantom in-roller is unknown.
If "active phantoms" are used, either because the with active phantoms
concept is used after the phantom wave concept or because the toggle
active phantoms command was given, the phantoms will work throughout the entire
call, based on the initial facing direction in waves.
The concepts with the word diamonds have an implicit assume
general diamonds operation in them. This means that everyone must think they are individually
in some kind of diamond, with their right or left hand toward the center.
You may give an explicit assume concept to make the setup more specific if
you wish, as in split phantom diamonds followed by assume interlocked
diamonds.
The concepts with the words 1/4 tags or 3/4 tags require some kind
of line in the middle, and the ends as a couple facing in or out, respectively.
Hence, for example, the split phantom 1/4 tags concept includes 1/4 tags,
1/4 lines, or any kind of line in the center, as long as the ends are facing in.
You may give an explicit assume concept to make the setup more specific if
you wish, as in split phantom 1/4 tags followed by assume 1/4 tags
(to require a wave of either handedness in the center)
or assume right 1/4 tags (to require a right-handed wave).
The concepts with the words 1/4 lines or 3/4 lines are similar, but
require that the centers form a 2-faced line. An explicit assume concept,
such as assume left 1/4 lines, may be used.
The concepts with the words general 1/4 tags have an implicit assume
general 1/4 tags operation. This means that the centers must think that they are
in some kind of line, and the ends must be in some kind of couple or miniwave. The
word general means that the in-or-out facing direction of the outsides is
unimportant, but they must be facing in or out, not sideways as in diamonds.
There are no general 3/4 tags concepts, because the general 1/4 tags
setup does not distinguish between ends facing in or out.
The concepts with the words diamond spots make no assumptions at
all about facing direction. The people can be in any kind of general diamond
or general 1/4 tag. Use these when people's facing directions are bizarre.
Precisely what an assumption means is determined by whether the "active phantoms" mode is turned on, and is discussed in section Assume Waves.
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