Musicians August 2013

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6 participants
4 discussions

[Organizers] Northeast Dance Organizers Conference

by Lisa Sieverts

I'm just home from the awesome dance organizer's conference that just took place in White River Junction, VT. My mind is buzzing and I want to share some of my thoughts. First, I feel so validated in my choice to invest lots of time and energy into our local dances. Giving people the opportunity to experience community in the context of social dance is a worthwhile and valuable thing to do. I knew that already, but spending time with 80 other organizers helped me to see this again, with new eyes. Second, I'm energized about our dances, and about broadening the team that manages the events. I see clearly that being able to help with the dance is a privilege and an honor. I can feel good about tapping a regular on the shoulder and saying, "would you like to be part of the team that puts this dance on"? I'm so happy that we already have this venue of Shared Weight - Organizers. Let's keep the energy and support that we had this weekend flowing. Thanks to CDSS, NEFFA, DEFFA, New England Dancing Masters, MFS, and the hard work of Chrissy Fowler, Delia Clark, Linda Henry and Mary Wesley. -- <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103582272438&s=522&e=001yMXrq9ir0gBX7ESCD5f3q…> lisa(a)lisasieverts.com 603-762-0235

11 years

Re: [Organizers] Building a multi-generational dance community

by Chrissy Fowler

The Deerfield dance was my local series when I first started dancing in my early 20s in the early 1990s, and it was multi-generational and vibrant then, with a lot of participation from Deerfield/Northwood/Raymond locals & the school community, as well as regular "dancers" from throughout the region. I still remember Marianne Taylor's erect and energetic posture and her broad smile as she led us through La Bastringue. Glad to hear that Rickey et al are working to regain that multi-generational spirit. At a certain level, how your dance series ends up is luck/chance (meaning there are circumstances you have no/little control of). However, I believe there are things one can do to actively lure serendipity to your doorstep. First and foremost -- I agree that clarifying the organizational vision is crucial. Get together with your co-organizers and decide what you want the series to be and why. What aspects are essential to you? What are the 'icing' items (nice but not necessary). And why do you want them that way? And what does your series need in order to function? (In terms of attendance/income, expenses, bottom line, etc) How can you structure things such that your series can function in the practical sense (e.g. running in black) and still achieve your vision? (There are soooo many resources out there for this stuff, including work of Larry Jennings and CDSS starter kits.) Also, think like an entrepreneur, and be sure that your vision is feasible, viable, and desirable. (See marketing handout in POTD archive) You have your vision, and you have to sell it (to your existing dancers as well as the ones you want to attract.) Then start thinking about specific steps that you think will get you closer to that goal than you are now. This endeavor may take months, if not years, as you refine your practice to continue trying to achieve your vision. There is no quick fix. Which is to say, in this specific case, I don't think that producing a techno contra in Deerfield as a means to introduce youth participation in the series is an effective strategy. In my experience/understanding, the most successful techno contra evenings have seemed to be those which sprang from an already thriving youth component for a series (or dance region) - such as BIDA's Spark in the Dark, etc. - or were catalyzed by youth themselves - such as those at Bates College, etc. In these cases, the Techno was an outgrowth of an existing level of youth participation. I have not seen it work effectively in the reverse, and agree with all other list respondents on that front. But a multi-generational dance community is definitely achievable. There are many things you can do to increase youth participation. Helpmeets include these: - Digest the aforementioned CDSS starter kit on Recruiting Young People (link on POTD archive, as referenced below) - Digest the Puttin' On the Dance Archive http://www.puttinonthedance.org/post-conference/archive/ (Start with resources for sessions in the "Attracting People to Our Vision" section, especially "Promoting Youth Participation" and "To Market, To Market...".) - Heed the advice of individuals or Groups who are "experts" on youth participation, having this as a central concern over time: (a) All 3 CDSS Youth Interns (Ethan H-W, Max Newman, Mary Wesley) (b) Founders and current board of BIDA (Boston Intergenerational Dance Advocates) series (c) Organizer peers such as Peter on this list, whose series has apparently achieved what Deerfield is striving for (revitalizing intergenerational element in an existing series.) Good luck Rickey & team! Rooting for you here in Belfast. Chrissy "Dance, when you're broken open... dance, when you're perfectly free" ~ Rumi chrissyfowler.com belfastflyingshoes.org westbranchwords.com

11 years, 3 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 44, Issue 1

by Rickey Holt

Building a multi-generational dance community 2. Dave wrote: " I'm wondering why you think techno contra dances, put on by people who don't know anything about them, would attract a young crowd". The people who I have been talking to about putting this on are among the most expereinced in organizing, playing for, using the equipment and calling for techno contras on the east coast if not in the country. This will not be put on by people who do not know anything about them. I understand your point about location but we cannot move. There are many dancers in the area that might enjoy a techno, and who do show up at area dances already. How am I going to find them and what they want and include them in our efforts at building a multi-generational dance community, if we do not try. Jeff wrote, since he knows the series I am talking about, that it would not fit with what the dance has been. I agree. But that is what we are talking about changing. The larger question remains: how does any series that wants to, build a tolerannt, multi-generational community. Your thoughts. Rickey -----Original Message----- From: organizers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net [mailto:organizers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of organizers-request(a)sharedweight.net Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 12:00 PM To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Organizers Digest, Vol 44, Issue 1 Send Organizers mailing list submissions to organizers(a)sharedweight.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to organizers-request(a)sharedweight.net You can reach the person managing the list at organizers-owner(a)sharedweight.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Organizers digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Building a multi-generational dance community (Rickey Holt) 2. Re: Building a multi-generational dance community (Jeff Kaufman) 3. Re: Building a multi-generational dance community (Dave Casserly) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:39:24 -0400 From: "Rickey Holt" <holt.e(a)comcast.net> To: <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: [Organizers] Building a multi-generational dance community Message-ID: <001401cea261$adc59e60$0950db20$(a)comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi fellow organizes, I have a question for you about developing a multi-generational dance series. I book for a series that the late Marianne Taylor ran for 22 years. It is not a predominately 'hot-shot' dance or a regional dance gypsy magnet, but we would like to attract more young dancers (read 12 - 42). I am proposing that we run a techno-dance for one of our monthly dances. I need to describe it to our current dancers and convince them to give it a try if it is going to be a success, although I have yet to attend one myself. Many organizers have the hope of building a multi-generational dance community and we have that same hope at the dance I am describing, but I wonder if that is reasonable. If organizing events that will appeal to younger dancers is going to drive away older dancers we will not be creating a tolerant, multi-generational, community. Your thoughts on describing techno to dancers who have never seen it (in a way that might intrigue them) and on the problem of developing a multi-generational dance community. Thanks, Rickey Holt, Fremont, NH ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:52:03 -0400 From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Building a multi-generational dance community Message-ID: <CAK36jCO2C93Pz5h=x1L5vHsJ2yFjbC5s0YodzWXJeJFex_QFyA(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 I'm not sure a techno dance would be a good fit for building attendance at your monthly series. The music and atmosphere are so different from what you usually feature that I don't think the enthusiasm would transfer well. If you do want to explain it to people, videos are pretty helpful. Here's one I took Saturday night at BIDA's Spark in the Dark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOf52FQRQoQ On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 9:39 AM, Rickey Holt <holt.e(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Hi fellow organizes, > > > > I have a question for you about developing a multi-generational dance > series. I book for a series that the late Marianne Taylor ran for 22 years. > It is not a predominately 'hot-shot' dance or a regional dance gypsy > magnet, but we would like to attract more young dancers (read 12 - > 42). I am proposing that we run a techno-dance for one of our monthly > dances. I need to describe it to our current dancers and convince them > to give it a try if it is going to be a success, although I have yet > to attend one myself. Many organizers have the hope of building a > multi-generational dance community and we have that same hope at the > dance I am describing, but I wonder if that is reasonable. If > organizing events that will appeal to younger dancers is going to > drive away older dancers we will not be creating a tolerant, multi-generational, community. > > Your thoughts on describing techno to dancers who have never seen it > (in a way that might intrigue them) and on the problem of developing a > multi-generational dance community. > > Thanks, > > Rickey Holt, > > Fremont, NH > > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 10:02:38 -0400 From: Dave Casserly <david.j.casserly(a)gmail.com> To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Building a multi-generational dance community Message-ID: <CAJkiw7w=GE32bAtqg7QLB=QCLB-nbOS+de6Qz_SPEcSzbw-gDQ(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Rickey, I'm wondering why you think techno contra dances, put on by people who don't know anything about them, would attract a young crowd? It's true that techno contra dances tend to have a younger crowd, but in my view, that's largely because it's the younger crowd that puts them on and wants them in the first place. Having a techno contra simply to attract younger folks might, at most, attract some out-of-towners, but I'm not sure it's a good way to appeal to a younger crowd that will keep coming to your regular dances. As a younger dancer, the things that attract me most to a dance, other than the crowd that already attends and the band, are location and affordability. I've had leadership positions in several dances over the past decade, and the easiest way to attract young people to your dance is to locate your dance near where a bunch of young people live. Often that's in city neighborhoods that are easily accessible by transit, or at or within walking distance of college campuses. People often say that ridesharing and other ideas like that can be helpful; in my experience, they aren't very effective. Unless a lot of people I know and like are going to a dance, I'm just not going to go to it if it requires driving to get there. I agree in full with what Jeff says. I'm wondering where the idea for a techno contra comes from. Is it something the few younger dancers in your community have been clamoring for? If so, it might be worthwhile to do it, if they think they'd be able to convince their friends to come to one. Otherwise, while a techno contra might be fun, I don't think expecting it to lead to more younger dancers at your monthly dance is entirely realistic. -Dave On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 9:39 AM, Rickey Holt <holt.e(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Hi fellow organizes, > > > > I have a question for you about developing a multi-generational dance > series. I book for a series that the late Marianne Taylor ran for 22 years. > It is not a predominately 'hot-shot' dance or a regional dance gypsy > magnet, but we would like to attract more young dancers (read 12 - > 42). I am proposing that we run a techno-dance for one of our monthly > dances. I need to describe it to our current dancers and convince them > to give it a try if it is going to be a success, although I have yet > to attend one myself. > Many > organizers have the hope of building a multi-generational dance > community and we have that same hope at the dance I am describing, but > I wonder if that is reasonable. If organizing events that will appeal > to younger dancers is going to drive away older dancers we will not be > creating a tolerant, multi-generational, community. > > Your thoughts on describing techno to dancers who have never seen it > (in a way that might intrigue them) and on the problem of developing a > multi-generational dance community. > > Thanks, > > Rickey Holt, > > Fremont, NH > > > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)sharedweight.net > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers > -- David Casserly (cell) 781 258-2761 ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Organizers mailing list Organizers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers End of Organizers Digest, Vol 44, Issue 1 *****************************************

11 years, 3 months

[Organizers] Building a multi-generational dance community

by Rickey Holt

Hi fellow organizes, I have a question for you about developing a multi-generational dance series. I book for a series that the late Marianne Taylor ran for 22 years. It is not a predominately 'hot-shot' dance or a regional dance gypsy magnet, but we would like to attract more young dancers (read 12 - 42). I am proposing that we run a techno-dance for one of our monthly dances. I need to describe it to our current dancers and convince them to give it a try if it is going to be a success, although I have yet to attend one myself. Many organizers have the hope of building a multi-generational dance community and we have that same hope at the dance I am describing, but I wonder if that is reasonable. If organizing events that will appeal to younger dancers is going to drive away older dancers we will not be creating a tolerant, multi-generational, community. Your thoughts on describing techno to dancers who have never seen it (in a way that might intrigue them) and on the problem of developing a multi-generational dance community. Thanks, Rickey Holt, Fremont, NH

11 years, 3 months

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Musicians August 2013