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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Luke Donforth wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">>
</span></b>Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing a bump in requests for community/family dances? I feel like the last month or so, there's been an uptick in schools and community centers requesting them. Could be a local fluctuation, or something bigger.
Anyone else getting that impression?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">I suspect it varies from one region to the next, but who knows? You may be onto something. Beth and I are getting more calls this year, both from dance series around central
New England and from schools, houses of worship, and other community groups.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">A few years ago we noticed a similar uptick in private parties; we thought that might be because at least some of the more affluent families had weathered the financial crisis
of 2008 and were starting to spend money on nonessentials again. I don’t know what’s causing the current bump, unless it’s people wanting to foster a feeling of community in the face of the current divisive political – and in some cases social – climate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Tony Parkes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Billerica, Mass.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.hands4.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">www.hands4.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">New book! Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">(to be published Spring 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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