7 Feb
2008
7 Feb
'08
5:54 p.m.
In the past, a common way of organizing dances in Maine was around a "house
band", who really were the committee, the hosts, the go-fers, what-have-you. In
short, you were throuwing a public dance party. Our monthly dance in Blue Hill (ME) still
functions this way (after 32 years - the longest-running dance in the state).
We are a band of 4 members, and with some help from various volunteers (mostly spouses
and friends), we book the hall, collect the gate, do the publicity, open, set up, pick up,
what-have-you. We book a rotating collection of callers, and an occasional visiting band
when we have other commitments, but essentially we are the house band doubling as
committee.
The model is perhaps less common now than in years past, but still occurs with several
venues in this state. On the plus side: continuity from month to month, regular sharing
of ideas (usually at rehearsals), long experience working with each other, comfort in the
routine. A few drawbacks: more work for some members if others are absent, a certain
staid comfort with the status quo that could become (but hasn't so far) a bit of
stagnation, a certain amount of exhaustion from time to time. But ...... "if it
ain't broke; don't fix it"
Best to all,
George Fowler
8 Feb
8 Feb
7:22 p.m.
We have three 5 dances in our area (about 1.5 hour radius):
Two are "one man shows" -- dances run mostly by one person, both of
which also play with the band. They are both once a month dances,
one of which (http://www.csda-dance.org/) has been going for 15-20
years, and the other one which started about 2 years ago
(http://daviddg.com/pages/contra.html). Our other dances are both
run by "organized" groups with non profit status, boards and all the
other bells and whistles that go with that (tax reporting, etc). One
group (www.tcdancers.org) runs 2-3 dances a month (2nd, 4th and 5th
Fridays) in the Durham/Chapel Hill area of NC at two different halls,
the other runs a weekly tuesday dance, and a 2x/month Saturday dance
(www.feetretreat.com). More recently David D's dance and TCD are
getting together later this month to put together a joint event --
TCD has a 5th Friday dance and David does a 1st Saturday dance, and
those are coming on the same weekend this month. We're having Becky
Hill come down and will have three dances plus a callers
workshop. If it comes off without killing anyone, it'll probably
happen again. ;-) -- more info at www.winterwhirlwind.com.
So, that's the quick and dirty summary of dance organizations in our
area. If folks want more detail, I can give it.
Jack Mitchell
(not actually doing any official organizational stuff) in Durham, NC
At 12:54 PM 2/7/2008, you wrote:
In the past, a common way of organizing dances in
Maine was
around a "house band", who really were the committee, the hosts,
the go-fers, what-have-you. In short, you were throuwing a public
dance party. Our monthly dance in Blue Hill (ME) still functions
this way (after 32 years - the longest-running dance in the state).
We are a band of 4 members, and with some help from various
volunteers (mostly spouses and friends), we book the hall, collect
the gate, do the publicity, open, set up, pick up,
what-have-you. We book a rotating collection of callers, and an
occasional visiting band when we have other commitments, but
essentially we are the house band doubling as committee.
The model is perhaps less common now than in years past, but
still occurs with several venues in this state. On the plus side:
continuity from month to month, regular sharing of ideas (usually
at rehearsals), long experience working with each other, comfort in
the routine. A few drawbacks: more work for some members if others
are absent, a certain staid comfort with the status quo that could
become (but hasn't so far) a bit of stagnation, a certain amount of
exhaustion from time to time. But ...... "if it ain't broke; don't fix
it"
Best to all,
George Fowler
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
8:36 p.m.
jack, the tcd and feetretreat groups: how do the boards get to be the
board? self appointed? elected? if elected, who votes and how is it
determined who gets to vote?
Jeffrey
Chicago, not currently an organizer
-----Original Message-----
From: organizers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net
[mailto:organizers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of
Jack Mitchell
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 1:22 PM
To: A list for dance organizers
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Dance Group Structure
We have three 5 dances in our area (about 1.5 hour radius):
Two are "one man shows" -- dances run mostly by one person,
both of which also play with the band. They are both once a
month dances, one of which (http://www.csda-dance.org/) has
been going for 15-20 years, and the other one which started
about 2 years ago (http://daviddg.com/pages/contra.html).
Our other dances are both run by "organized" groups with non
profit status, boards and all the other bells and whistles
that go with that (tax reporting, etc). One group
(www.tcdancers.org) runs 2-3 dances a month (2nd, 4th and 5th
Fridays) in the Durham/Chapel Hill area of NC at two
different halls, the other runs a weekly tuesday dance, and a
2x/month Saturday dance (www.feetretreat.com). More recently
David D's dance and TCD are getting together later this month
to put together a joint event -- TCD has a 5th Friday dance
and David does a 1st Saturday dance, and those are coming on
the same weekend this month. We're having Becky Hill come
down and will have three dances plus a callers workshop. If
it comes off without killing anyone, it'll probably happen
again. ;-) -- more info at www.winterwhirlwind.com.
So, that's the quick and dirty summary of dance organizations
in our area. If folks want more detail, I can give it.
Jack Mitchell
(not actually doing any official organizational stuff) in Durham, NC
At 12:54 PM 2/7/2008, you wrote:
In the past, a common way of organizing
dances in Maine
was around
a "house band", who really were the
committee, the hosts,
the go-fers,
what-have-you. In short, you were throuwing a
public dance
party. Our
monthly dance in Blue Hill (ME) still functions
this way (after 32
years - the longest-running dance in the state).
We are a band of 4 members, and with some help from various
volunteers (mostly spouses and friends), we book the hall,
collect the
gate, do the publicity, open, set up, pick up,
what-have-you. We book
a rotating collection of callers, and an
occasional
visiting band when
we have other commitments, but essentially we are
the house band
doubling as committee.
The model is perhaps less common now than in years
past, but still
occurs with several venues in this state. On the
plus side:
continuity from month to month, regular sharing of ideas
(usually at
rehearsals), long experience working with each
other,
comfort in the
routine. A few drawbacks: more work for some
members if others are
absent, a certain staid comfort with the status quo that
could become
(but hasn't so far) a bit of stagnation, a
certain amount of
exhaustion from time to time. But ...... "if it ain't
broke; don't
fix it"
Best to all,
George Fowler
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
9 Feb
9 Feb
5:55 p.m.
I'm not sure about Fiddle and Bow (feet retreat), but for TCD, board
members are appointed (both by the current board and by volunteering)
and are approved by acclimation at our annual member appreciation
dance, at which we also have a meeting of TCD members to discuss the
upcoming year.
Jack
At 03:36 PM 2/8/2008, you wrote:
jack, the tcd and feetretreat groups: how do the
boards get to be the
board? self appointed? elected? if elected, who votes and how is it
determined who gets to vote?
Jeffrey
Chicago, not currently an organizer
-----Original Message-----
From: organizers-bounces(a)sharedweight.net
[mailto:organizers-bounces@sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of
Jack Mitchell
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 1:22 PM
To: A list for dance organizers
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Dance Group Structure
We have three 5 dances in our area (about 1.5 hour radius):
Two are "one man shows" -- dances run mostly by one person,
both of which also play with the band. They are both once a
month dances, one of which (http://www.csda-dance.org/) has
been going for 15-20 years, and the other one which started
about 2 years ago (http://daviddg.com/pages/contra.html).
Our other dances are both run by "organized" groups with non
profit status, boards and all the other bells and whistles
that go with that (tax reporting, etc). One group
(www.tcdancers.org) runs 2-3 dances a month (2nd, 4th and 5th
Fridays) in the Durham/Chapel Hill area of NC at two
different halls, the other runs a weekly tuesday dance, and a
2x/month Saturday dance (www.feetretreat.com). More recently
David D's dance and TCD are getting together later this month
to put together a joint event -- TCD has a 5th Friday dance
and David does a 1st Saturday dance, and those are coming on
the same weekend this month. We're having Becky Hill come
down and will have three dances plus a callers workshop. If
it comes off without killing anyone, it'll probably happen
again. ;-) -- more info at www.winterwhirlwind.com.
So, that's the quick and dirty summary of dance organizations
in our area. If folks want more detail, I can give it.
Jack Mitchell
(not actually doing any official organizational stuff) in Durham, NC
At 12:54 PM 2/7/2008, you wrote:
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers In the past, a common way of organizing
dances in Maine
was around
a "house band", who really were the
committee, the hosts,
the go-fers,
what-have-you. In short, you were throuwing a
public dance
party. Our
monthly dance in Blue Hill (ME) still functions
this way (after 32
years - the longest-running dance in the state).
We are a band of 4 members, and with some help from various
volunteers (mostly spouses and friends), we book the hall,
collect the
gate, do the publicity, open, set up, pick up,
what-have-you. We book
a rotating collection of callers, and an
occasional
visiting band when
we have other commitments, but essentially we are
the house band
doubling as committee.
The model is perhaps less common now than in years
past, but still
occurs with several venues in this state. On the
plus side:
continuity from month to month, regular sharing of ideas
(usually at
rehearsals), long experience working with each
other,
comfort in the
routine. A few drawbacks: more work for some
members if others are
absent, a certain staid comfort with the status quo that
could become
(but hasn't so far) a bit of stagnation, a
certain amount of
exhaustion from time to time. But ...... "if it ain't
broke; don't
fix it"
Best to all,
George Fowler
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
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George Fowler -
Jack Mitchell