Organizers January 2023

organizers@lists.sharedweight.net

28 participants
7 discussions

by Scott Higgs

As organizers, we invest lots of energy to build healthy communities. It's very painful to watch controversy disrupt long-standing relationships, and threaten to fracture our groups. That's the motivation behind a new website: http://genderanddance.org (You may have seen it described in December's CDSS News) This site simply encourages people to listen respectfully to each other's stories. It's not about advocacy or argument. Posts are anonymous, and there's no place for comments or "likes." Our communities are more diverse than you might guess, and we can all learn from this wide range of perspectives. (Many posts have nothing to do with language controversy - gender is a deeply personal subject). My belief: As understanding grows, former adversaries discover shared values, that overshadow differences. We can embrace the challenges of diversity, and work together to build communities where all can flourish. Thanks for taking a look, encouraging others to do the same, and sharing your own stories. (FYI, there are currently almost no stories about the experiences of organizers faced with gender issues ... many dancers are oblivious to the challenges we face) http://genderanddance.org Scott Higgs

2 months

Strategic plan?

by Chrissy Fowler

Do any of your organizations have a strategic plan? If so, is that plan something you'd be willing to share offlist? Thanks, Chrissy Fowler Belfast Flying Shoes <><><><><><> chrissyfowler.com<http://www.chrissyfowler.com> dance leadership westbranchwords.com<http://www.westbranchwords.com> academic transcription belfastflyingshoes.org<http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org> participatory dance & music

2 months, 1 week

Is it time to end COVID restrictions at most contra dances?

by Joe Harrington

While I'm happy to comply with any COVID policy in order to dance, and I choose to wear a mask at bigger events, I question whether the contra communities' strict policies are doing us much good, either in protecting us medically or in getting dances going again. Consider: 1. Even in the most restricted states (New England, etc.), nearly everyone is maskless nearly all the time in normal life, including most dancers. People eat in very crowded restaurants, ride public transportation, fly on airplanes, sit in airports, go shopping, work, attend school, do sports, go to the gym, sing, interact with friends and family members who have been out in the community maskless, etc., mostly without masks. 2. As a result of #1, covid is spreading quite effectively in our communities, even if a few groups are still masking. 3. As a result of #2, protocols at a dance cannot much alter community spread rates, even if the dance spread rate were zero. But, this isn't concerning most people because: 4. Vaccines do keep nearly every infected person out of the hospital and reduce long covid. 5. For those going to the hospital or suspected to be at risk, monoclonal and other treatments are quite effective. 6. As a result, the mortality of covid-19 is now down to three times that of a bad flu season, which is way down from the mass carnage of 2020. It is questionable what anything but masking is doing for us: 7. Unmasked contra dancing, even with a vaccine and negative test, does lead to rapid covid spread. Several camps in summer 2022 had 50+ infected dancers, even though they were all vaccinated and all had tested negative on arrival. The incubation period and false-negative rate are enough to allow one or two cases through, and the vaccine no longer keeps you from getting it, it just dramatically reduces severity. Since: 8. Even in the most conservative, vaccine-averse Southern communities, 90+% of contra dancers at big events say they are vaccinated (per survey at Summer Contradancers Delight Holiday in Tennessee). 9. Choosing to wear a mask remains an option for everyone, and is quite effective at keeping the wearer healthy, though it is not foolproof (but neither is life). And: 10. People have options for recreational and social activities, and many are choosing those with fewer or no restrictions, especially young people who don't have much personal risk from covid. 11. Essentially all other organized dance communities besides contra/English/etc. are dancing without restrictions on a national level, and have been since early 2022: Square, swing, blues, ballroom, salsa, tango, etc. It may therefore be time for communities to reconsider absolute restrictions, and instead encourage vaccination and mask-wearing as effective ways to stop the spread of diseases like covid, but also the flu, RSV, and other pathogens. People can still (and I do) choose to wear masks if they are concerned about getting covid. The idea of reducing spread at dances would be a good one if the rest of society were playing along. But, it isn't. When I was a teen, I boycotted China. China didn't change. Communities with a large component of at-risk dancers who mask in general life and who are vaccinated may wish to continue requiring vax+mask. In areas with many dancers, two dances, one requiring masks and one mask-optional, may make the most sense. I am especially concerned at the reduced percentage of younger dancers I have seen at recent events. While it seemed, prepandemic, that there was a nascent resurgence in the popularity of contra among the current twentysomethings, few of the young dancers I used to see are showing up to dances post-covid. When I go to swing and blues, there are lots of younger dancers. I am certain that if we required masks at my college contra dance, students would just go to ballroom, salsa, or swing. If we want to get contra going again, and especially if we want to attract many new younger dancers, who are not worried that getting covid represents a big risk to them and who have plenty of unrestricted options in recreational activities, perhaps it's time not to ask, "does this policy stop covid from transmitting at our dance," but rather, "does this policy significantly lower the total covid risk our dancers face?" I argue that strict policies no longer do that, given our behavior in society. Nonetheless, those of us who are concerned can still choose to reduce our own risk substantially by being vaccinated and wearing a well-fitting KN95 or better mask whenever we are in a crowd, including at dances, without requiring it of others. I do. Thanks, --jh-- Joe Harrington Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance Faculty Advisor, Contra Knights, the UCF contra dancing club contraknights.org FB, Ig: Contra Knights contradancerjoe(a)gmail.com

2 months, 1 week

Re: Is it time to end COVID restrictions at most contra dances?

by John and/or Jan Bloom

As Alan said, whatever you do you will alienate someone. What I did with the Brunswick ECD was to ask all of the dancers - would you dance if masks were required - would you dance if masks were optional and so on. Then I picked the rules that maximized the number of dancers. I realize that this is harder for Contra, where you have a lot of dancers that you can't ask, including potential future dancers. But in my case it seemed like the right way to do it. John Bloom

2 months, 2 weeks

Monthly ECD Organizers zoom meet-up 2nd Mondays

by Darlene Hamilton

Hello everyone, We've been meeting for the past few years on zoom once a month. Sharing information, comparing community notes, tossing questions out to other organizers, etc. Mostly ECD however all organizers of community dances are welcome. Darlene *Next meet-up: January 9th! (TODAY)* LINK: https://tinyurl.com/ECD-Organizers <https://tinyurl.com/ECD-Organizers?fbclid=IwAR1x57G6cIL9cwMNz3MgljNYFHTd-Y2…> *Organizers Meet-up* A space to chat with other organizers about current topics. Every month 2nd Mondays 1:30pm pacific / 4:30pm eastern ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darlene Hamilton *Caller, Dancer, Founder of* *The Historical Tea & Dance Society* *Historical Balls, Tea Dances, and Historical Dance classes* *For more information about events and classes go to**www.historicalteaanddance.org <http://www.historicalteaanddance.org/>* *Like us on facebook!*

2 months, 2 weeks

List Archives

by Sarah Gowan

In case someone else is having the same issue… For some reason I’m not getting all the list emails, but I have discovered the list archives where I can get caught up: https://lists.sharedweight.net/hyperkitty/list/organizers@lists.sharedweigh… Thanks for making those available! Sarah

2 months, 2 weeks

Acquired Immunity Policy Examples

by Don Veino

We're considering a topic which has been raised to us a few times from prospective participants. To this date, we have maintained a straight vax + boost requirement for our series. I'm interested in examples of group COVID policies providing for participation of individuals who do not otherwise meet published vaccination requirements but have acquired potential immunity due to recent infection. Effectively, having acquired immunity through infection substituting as a form of vaccination. In particular: what are the qualifications and/or proof requirements and the duration of the allowance for vaccination substitution you use, if any? Substitution for any/all vax requirements or simply as a booster equivalent in some form? Thanks in advance for your help and links to any written policies. I'd greatly prefer if we can keep this thread focused on this particular topic and appreciate all civility. Should you wish to raise a tangential issue, please revise the subject line to fork the thread.

2 months, 3 weeks

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Organizers January 2023