Our community, like many others, has fewer young dancers than we would
like. I am wondering how different factors influence that and what we can
do.
Does the night of the week matter? We dance on a Saturday night. Would
Friday be better?
Does frequency matter? We dance once a month?
Does location matter? We have a college (University of Kansas KU) Would a
dance location closer to or on campus matter?
Are outreach strategies effective and what has your community found
successful?
Thanks,
Sandy Seiler
Lawrence, Kansas
I started dancing square dances in upstate New York as a kid. Every Saturday evening in the summer local musicians and callers would run the dance. It was an easy way to have contact with the girls for a shy guy. In college in the 50s was the beginning of the club dance movement. I went to a local square dance one Saturday a month. They were still with a live band. I thought I was a good dancer, but here were all sorts of figures I had never heard of. I asked the best women dancers I saw and quickly picked up the various figures which were mostly new combinations of what I had already done. I danced a few contras off and on at various places, but really got into it when my wife and I moved to the Boston area in the mid 60s. There we could dance 3-5 nights a week with both contras and English. It was our recreation and exercise. I loved the contra community. There were family dances, pot lucks before some of the dances, adult dances. I didn’t like English to begin with because it wasn’t called, just talked through and one was expected to know it. One Monday after NEFFA few years later George Fogg ran an English dance where he called the dances for a while just like in contras. That was when I fell in love with English with its lovely music. Since then I have loved both as well as Scandi and Balkan dancing. To me, dancing of most any kind is great and I do it as much as I can. Most everywhere in the country I have danced the community has been so welcoming and friendly.
Bob
Michigan
Hello dear dance organizers,
I appreciate and value this list when it is focused on dance organizing topics, especially when members speak from their own experience. Occasionally, I enjoy posts that meander into related topics, or are an analysis or description of others' experiences...but less so. I don't find it at all useful when the conversation diverges into social and political commentary, even that commentary is well-intentioned.
I didn't notice specific language about this, at least not directly, but here are the list guidelines:
https://www.sharedweight.net/about/list-standards/https://www.sharedweight.net/lists/dance-organizers/
Please, can we keep focused on sharing our own dance organizing experiences in order to mutually support each other to succeed in the important and valuable work that we all do in our wonderfully varied ways? Thanks, all!
Cheers from Maine,
Chrissy
<><><><><><>
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
I'm running a survey to understand how people dance in different areas --
things like what hand position people tend to use on promenades. If anyone
wanted to fill it out I'd find it very helpful!
https://forms.gle/U3r94w3fRHfYNp8c9
Jeff
Hey all,
I have a bit of a quandary. I just found out two incredible contra
musicians will be in my area. They will be here the day after our local
dance. I have a small quasi local band booked already.
Here is the question - is it ethical to ask booked band to change their
date (they play a lot in our dance) IF visiting musicians are available &
willing?
Thanks in advance,
Mary (Buffalo)
I am in Lawrence Kansas. Since Covid we have consistently had a larger
number of new dancers than experienced dancers at each dance. This evening
we had a very well attended dance with approx 70 people. I would estimate
that at least 60-70% were inexperienced dancers. We are also in the
process of grooming new callers and had a callers workshop in March so we
are trying to integrate those folks in and get them more experience. I've
seen on other posts that a dance can easily absorb about 25% beginners, but
we have that formula pretty much flipped. We dance monthly which is a
hindrance. Experienced dancers are fatigued of not getting to do more
complicated dances. This has been happening for a long time and we need to
make some changes so that we have a larger percentage of experienced
dancers. Suggestions?
I am hoping some of you will have suggestions and recommendations for me. (including where else to send this query) Note that I'm also trying to figure out how to sign up for the Trad Sound SharedWeight list.
My question:
Where would you buy decent quality fire resistant window curtains to dampen sound and improve acoustics? (What vendors do you recommend?)
Back story:
Our first Friday dance series moved to a new venue when we started up again in November 2022. The hall is visually appealing, with a high ceiling made of tin, large windows on three sides of the hall, gorgeous hardwood floor, and incredibly welcoming venue owners. But it has VERY "live" acoustics, which are really challenging.
The venue owners removed the curtains when they got their windows replaced. For several months, they've been looking for fire resistant window curtains for the large windows on all sides of the hall. We'd love for those curtains to also be really good at dampening sound (thus improving acoustics.)
My internet searches are inconclusive so far. I'd love to have some suggestions for reputable sources that will serve our needs, offer a well-made window curtain product that's functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Thanks for any suggestions or advice!
Cheers,
Chrissy
Belfast Flying Shoes
Belfast ME
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Dance Calling | Transcription | Belfast Flying Shoes
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(207) 338-0979
Please change my email address from peghesley(a)cox.net to peghesley(a)peghesley.com
Thanks!
Peg Hesley
www.peghesley.com
Sent from my iPhone using voice recognition
A quick reminder that this resource is available for you to review and update - a listing of ECD events and Weekends: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1y6q3Ff6bp3iUYG8ZQM1kv1rK7EvIf-TykX4…
Time to add in events happening in early 2024!
Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)
Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center
I acknowledge that there are many ways to teach and value the tradition
of contra dancing.
I'm pushing the edges a touch here, but felt, given the recent
discussion re large % of beginners
and how do you pull in and keep younger dancers, that these two data
points may be helpful.
Back in 2019 I was asked to run sound, provide canned music, and call
contras at a wedding.
The bride had gone to a nearby college and was part of a cohort of
students who came to my dance for awhile.
At the wedding reception I had an hour to teach and call contra dances
to some 45-50 dancers, 85% of whom had never danced contra.
I set the rule for myself of almost no "teaching" and lots of dancing to
music.
I came up with a 16 count dance, a 24 count dance, a 32 count dance on
up to the full 64.
The dances built on one another. They all progressed. I had a small
rectangular space so
two tight lines. I don't recall if I used improper or Beckett as the
basic alignment.
I had several "contemporary/hot" contra music tunes lined up, e.g.
Perpetual eMotion's Flying Tent.
So a few minutes to explain line and progression then a simple dance
with music that progressed.
(e.g. ??? if I used improper maybe circle left 4 places, balance, pass
through for 16 count dance, add in do-si-do for a 24, ...
this probably isn't what I did but you get the idea)
It worked well. The *high energy music* was enjoyed by the wedding crowd
and
*they never stood still for more than a few minutes* before dancing to
some juicy music.
A local women's university had studied integration in the south and how
simple dances,
such as the Virginia Reel, were used to socialize the northern white
folks into
the Southern African American integration movement community leaders.
I was asked to teach and call the Virginia Reel, outdoors, to some 800
college students.
While the students were assembling, which took awhile, I played
Perpetual eMotion over the sound system.
That juiced the students. You could see it in how they walked with a
bounce in their step,
in how animated their faces were, etc. But when it came time for me to
actually teach and
call the Virginia Reel I was told to pull back to old time string band
music.
I did as I was told and the music shift from high energy to old time sucked
the energy completely out of the students. I called, and they
reluctantly danced,
the Virginia Reel and then went back to their classes.
___
This Sunday the Neverland Ramblers are playing in my town with two out
of town callers.
The Neverland Ramblers are composed of a keyboard player,
a classically trained violinist, and a been-playing-in-rock-bands-forever
lead (and follow, but easily throws out riffs based on the chord
structure) guitarist.
The violinist plays in numerous symphonies, has about 50 students that
she teaches,
and, besides the contra dance band, is in two cover bands, one easy
listening and the
other raucous. I enjoy her and the guitarist launching into Psycho Killer.
I just got permission to call a 12 bar blues contra (several are out
there and I've
adapted a few AABB contras over to 12 bar blues format). ... This will
be good.
CAUTION most contra bands can't play 12 bar blues without rocketing past
120 BPM
because they're used to playing so many notes in a bar. So this
paragraph is about
pulling in pop/blues music but also I want to flag that a 12 bar contra
is easier to
remember than a 16 bar contra so easier to dance by a beginner.
Related, I'm thinking of how top weekend bands often have fun
pop/other-genre inserts.
Perpetual eMotion's Eleanor Rigby
Playing with Fyre's Sweet Dreams
Giant Robot's Hall of the Mountain King
or everything Emily Rush plays when calling RushFest.
etc.
Heitzso
Gainesville, Georgia
