I just received notice that the son of a couple I know -- just died of Covid. He had been in the hospital for about 10 days, and while in the ICU developed complications of a bacterial infection. He was not vaccinated because his parents had not been vaccinated -- so he had no choice in that decision. He died today. He was in his mid-teens.

IMO, this is not the time to have in-person dances -- for weddings or any other reason. The contortions we can apply for reducing risk -- of masks / specified swings / limited partners / no long lines F&B / etc -- are not worth it. The variations of immune function and vaccination efficacy, combined with the Delta variant's exceptionally high level of transmission, make any gathering a risk, especially dancing that involves close contact with multiple people.

The people organizing the wedding may be tone deaf to the pandemic, but as callers, we can choose not to participate in that poor judgement.

Woody
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Woody Lane
Caller, Percussive Dancer
Roseburg, Oregon

On 8/26/2021 8:16 AM, Susan English via Contra Callers wrote:

I am scheduled to provide an outdoor dance at a wedding in Ohio on Sept. 4. The musicians have bowed out, so it would be just me with recorded music, on formica sheets (!) over a large brick patio. Here are modifications I am considering:

mask optional
dance only with chosen partner, i.e. no mixers
can swing chosen partner but otherwise hand contact only (e.g. circle, star, dosidos, AL R&L, sashay)
no long lines F&B

With these rules I can modify and call:

big circle dances
squares
Sicilian circles
simple ECD
longways Ceilidgh or barn dances
couple dances (e.g. waltz)
Chicken dance (requested)

What do you think? or should I cancel the dance?

Susan

330-347-8155

woosterdance.com