Re: [Organizers] uncaring "bad" dancers

I find it interesting that there's so much focus here on "bad" dancers... there are so many ways that one can be different, and judgments aren't all that reliable. I know one person, an "excellent" dancer, who isn't fun to dance with because she's always just a little bit ahead, and guides her partner (rarely me) into the next figure just before it's necessary. Leave me alone! Let me get there at the right time! I want to wrench myself away from her guidance! And then, after passing her by, there's often someone really smiley, right on time, great swing, and the moment has passed. So... do dance organizers have a responsibility to police all of this? When this thread began I was thinking it was about people who become rowdy, or a nuisance to others... not about not particularly competent dancers. I remember a dance several years ago in Greenfield, MA where one dancer, well known to the community, crossed a behavior line. Some of the other regular dancers intervened, escorted this person out, and I didn't see that person reappear there for a long time. I doubt that the "organizers" got together quickly, made a judgment, and sent the goon squad to put this person out. It was just the right time for a couple of people to protect the community. Done. So, perhaps I can refocus this thread... what obligation, and what means or tools, do organizers have for the truly obnoxious people, the ones who really make people uncomfortable with their behaviors (and I mean beyond the dancing, though it can include some dancing behaviors such as insistently spinning every woman, winding them up in a mixer, regardless of the woman's clear messages to desist)? People who show up with what appears to be too much alcohol going on, or who become loud or aggressive, or who seems to be generally rude. Let's let the odd dancers be odd dancers, maybe supporting them as there were earlier suggestions (with some folks willing to quietly intervene as angels), and maybe they'll learn a bit, maybe they won't, but life is like that and there are bigger fish to fry. Stephen Moore Lenox (MA) Contra Dance On Jan 30, 2008, at 1:54 PM, Laur wrote: