[Organizers] Transition to ungendered dances

[Dana Dwinell-Yardley]

Hi Stan and other folks,

Montpelier, VT, organizer here. We are in the process of transitioning to
larks & ravens terms, and we'll be 100% larks & ravens by January 2020.
This was a consensus decision made by the organizing committee in alignment
with a LOT of feedback from the community.

The committee started discussing a switch to gender-neutral terms in summer
2018, prompted by a thoughtful and impassioned letter from Aaron Marcus, a
long-time Montpelier dancer and well-known musician who is also
transgender. We planned a three-dance trial period for March 2019, with all
three dances that month being larks & ravens. We started publicizing the
trial at the end of December 2018, so dancers had lots of advance notice.
We distributed surveys at those dances and asked for dancer feedback on the
terms, and we welcomed additional feedback in person or by email. We also
collected feedback at our first gents & ladies dance in April.

You can see the results of the surveys here:
https://www.facebook.com/montpeliercontradance/posts/2252984048081250. We
also printed the charts and graphs on big posters and hung them up in our
hall for all to review.

Starting in July 2019, we are having most dances be called larks & ravens,
and a few gents & ladies, tapering off (4 L&R, 3 G&L in the first three
months, 5-6 L&R, 1-2 G&L in the second three months). The idea was to try
and retain folks who might still be skeptical, and give them more
opportunities to try it out. On reflection, I would have been in favor of a
"cold-turkey" switch, but this way is OK, too, and was the compromise that
all committee members could agree on.

Attendance: We had very high attendance at the March trial dances. March is
often a peak month for us, though, so it's hard to point to cause and
effect. Anecdotally, right now, it seems like numbers are about the same as
usual. We will be able to share some statistics comparing attendance to
previous years at the end of the year. There are definitely queer dancers
who were not coming before who show up to larks & ravens dances now.

We would be happy to send you our surveys or share any other information
that might be helpful. Just let us know.

Thanks,
Dana


On Fri, Aug 9, 2019 at 10:17 AM Tampa Friends Of Old-Time Dance via
Organizers <organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> For those of you who have transitioned to ungendered dances, was the
> transition slow or was it abrupt?  Was a vote held by the membership or by
> the dance committee.  Did you experience an increase in attendance or a
> decrease.  We’re the changes due to new dancers coming, members returning
> or leaving.  Any information on the transition would be appreciated.
>
> Thank you
>
> Stan Prince
> Tampa Friends of Old~Time Dance, Inc.
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-- 
Dana Dwinell-Yardley
graphic design & layout
Montpelier, Vermont
802-505-6639
danadwya at gmail.com
pronouns: she/her/hers
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