Hi fellow organizers!
In Ottawa (mid-sized urban contra scene), we've just finished the
development of a code of conduct. Following up, we have been brainstorming
some ideas on how to convey etiquette norms in a fun and effective way.
We're thinking of modifying this poster and I'm wondering what you
think??? And,
if you like the idea - what would you change/add/remove?
POSTER HERE: http://www.holylindyland.com/lindy-hoppers-etiquette/
Initial thoughts I've had are:
- something about switching partners throughout the evening
- better never than late (not so much etiquette thought)
- not too serious/just a dance -- here to have fun... so share the joy!
I JUUUUST learned that the Friends of the Greenfield Grange have already
done this and are passing it along. Thought I would still send this to the
group though!
Emily
Hi fellow organizers!
In Ottawa (mid-sized urban contra scene), we've just finished the
development of a code of conduct. Following up, we have been brainstorming
some ideas on how to convey etiquette norms in a fun and effective way.
We're thinking of modifying this poster and I'm wondering what you
think??? And,
if you like the idea - what would you change/add/remove?
Initial thoughts I've had are:
- something about switching partners throughout the evening
- better never than late (not so much etiquette thought)
- not too serious/just a dance -- here to have fun... so share the joy!
I JUUUUST learned that the Friends of the Greenfield Grange have already
done this and are passing it along. Thought I would still send this to the
group though!
Emily
[image: Inline image 1]
Hi fellow dance organizers --- this is for those of you who are CANADIAN,
Have your say in impacting Canadian dance policy....YES! The Canadian
Council of the Arts has a survey on the SOCIAL/COMMUNITY/PERSONAL HEALTH
BENEFITS of dance... something is what many of us are all about!
****Survey closes Dec 10th****
Let's make a splash and tell them contra, ECD, family, square, etc etc etc.
Note: I found questions dry but others were really informative to reflect
upon... so useful too for our own communities???
Survey here: ekos.com/dance
<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fekos.com%2Fdance&h=ZAQEz17XSAQFt…>
More info below.
Emily Addison
Ottawa Contra President - Puttin' On The Dance Advisory Board member
======================
[image: Canada Council for the Arts - Conseil des Arts du Canada]
<http://www.canadacouncil.ca/>[image: Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des
arts de l'Ontario] <http://www.arts.on.ca/site4.aspx>
(La version française du message suit)
Five years ago Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council
undertook the ambitious project to launch a multi-phase national study on
Dance in Canada.
This component features a survey to investigate the social impact of dance.
It attempts to answer:
- How does dance benefit a society, a community or a particular group
within a community?
- How can dance be an instrument for positive change (mental, physical,
spiritual) for individuals within our society?
- Where is our biggest impact on the well-being of Canadians?
The survey will be closing on *December 10th*. We urge you to please take *10
minutes* to respond to advance our collective knowledge of dance and its
contribution to the lives of Canadians. We also ask you to share the open
survey link with your networks, and encourage participation.
Some people reported difficulty accessing the survey via the link in our
most recent invitation. Please follow this updated link if you have not
already participated in the survey: * CLICK HERE * <http://ekos.com/dance>.
If you are unable to open the link above, copy the full URL below into your
browser:
ekos.com/dance
The results will only be shared in summary and never in connection with the
identity of individual organizations. If you have any questions about the
survey, please email us at dancesurvey(a)ekos.com or call us at 1-800-388-2873
.
Thank you,
EKOS Research Associates, Inc.
Here is the vision statement for our family dance series. Our contra series
does not have such a statement (but IMHO it should).
Tapestry Family Dance
Vision
1. Fun. Dances will be fun!
2. Inclusiveness. Dances are open to all, regardless of age or dancing
ability. The smallest children will be welcomed, and dances will be
designed to enable them to participate in some fashion.
3. Community. A key purpose of the dance is build community among parents
and children and to create interconnections between younger dancers and the
contra dance community. Dances and activities will be designed to foster
shared experiences and interactions.
4. Familiarity. The dances presented will be similar each month, with a
number of core dances being repeated frequently. Children should be able to
request favorites and callers should (most of the time) be familiar with
the dances requested because they will be working from a common repertoire.
5. Safety. Dancers must be safe. Grown-ups are required to remain with the
children they are supervising. Children should not be swung off their feet
by grown-ups; grownups should not attempt to dance with others while
carrying children on their shoulders. All snack food provided should be
clearly labeled with ingredients for those with allergies.
6. Development. Over time, young dancers who come regularly should
gradually learn key dance skills:
a. Distinguishing between different sections of music
b. Dancing in harmony with those around them
c. Anticipating upcoming dance moves without dancing them prematurely
d. Calmly and good-naturedly resolving mistakes or confusion
e. Comfortably dancing with a variety of partners
f. Young dancers interested in calling or playing music will be
mentored to the extent possible
Callers will not expect young dancers to come with these skills or to
master them instantly. Any dance may involve young dancers at many
different levels of development.
David
St Paul, MN
David –
Sounds like the “direct approach” of escorting him out has not been effective. Perhaps a good next step is to find out who this person is connected to – if he has some mental illness issues, is he under someone else’s care or guardianship?
If so, does that person (or group) know he is coming to the dances, and that he can be disruptive? Is it possible he is being “dropped off at the dance” for what seems like an opportunity for community and connection, without an awareness of the difficulty that has caused?
If not, is there any way to find a relative or someone who cares about this person, and discuss it with them? Possibly local social work agency? There must be someone who knows and cares about this fellow, who might want to be aware of this?
Good luck!
Ben
N News, VA
From: Organizers [mailto:organizers-bounces+benzall=cox.net@lists.sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of David Kirchner via Organizers
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:00 PM
To: Shared Weight Organizers
Subject: [Organizers] Problem with nondancing attender
Hi all,
We are struggling with the best approach to deal with a community member who attends many of our dance events but does not dance (or pay). This person appears to have some mental illness challenges. He frequently has a small child with him. He has occasionally been disruptive in a minor way (or the child has been), and he has been escorted out a couple of times for that reason. He often simply hangs out in the building while the dance is going on, often in nondancing space. He is not easy to talk with. Reactions on how to deal with this person have varied across the different dance communities that use our space and different volunteers within those communities. We are trying to put together a common approach. Thoughts?
David
St. Paul, MN
I had posted the notice below previously here in the Organizers' list.
Could I ask anyone here who's also a resident of a callers' list to
repost this info on the callers' list? We're still short one caller for
the New Zealand trip. Thanks, Rob Lindauer
................................................................
I'm one of the dancers / musicians on the Allemande Joy 2016 contra
dance tour of the south island of New Zealand. Julie Anspach
(2016nzcontra(a)gmail.com) is organizing the tour. The last such tour was
in 2012.
The group will spend the entire month of Feb 2016 in New Zealand, taking
a tour bus from the north to the south end of the south island, dancing
about every other night in community centers, visiting local sites
during the days, and staying in hostels. It's not a paid gig - we're
all paying our own way - cost including air transport from LA is about
$4200 per person.
We're still short one person who can call.
If you are a caller and are interested in joining the trip, please
contact Julie asap for more info. Or, if you know someone who might be
interested, please pass this note along to him/her.
Trip info is also posted on Facebook, at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AllemandeJoy/ .
Thanks, Rob L
--
Rob Lindauer
One of the difficulties is that people have different definitions of
"friendly and innocuous" and "behavior that bothers dancers." He makes many
people uncomfortable. Others are OK. And he's in our space as much as 3-4
nights a week across multiple dance forms (contra, English, ballroom,
international, Bollywood) that have different volunteers dealing with him.
So we need to come up with a clearly stated policy that can be applied
across those multiple forms.
David
On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 11:54 AM, Dan Pearl <daniel_pearl(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> If the gentleman were friendly and innocuous, I would just let him be. It
> is important to know the nature of the disruptions that this gentleman
> causes. If he accosts people or makes outbursts, I would attempt to make
> it clear to him that he is only welcome if he remains quiet and does not
> <do behaviors that bothers dancers>. Also make it clear that the child may
> observe, and move around the periphery of the hall, but <whatever she does
> that's disruptive> is not allowed, and if it happens, that they will be
> asked to -- and they will need to -- leave and NOT RETURN.
>
>
>
My first reaction is that he's there because of the good energy and
community feeling that your dance has created. There's so little of this
out in the world and many are hungry for it.
Is there a way to involve him? Give him some sort of small job? I'm sure
that seems counterintuitive.
Does he seem actually dangerous, or just different? If you perceive that he
is a threat to himself or others, then you do need to get authorities
involved. Our local police officer has been great about occasionally
meeting with an individual and helping that person to sort out his/her
priorities.
Good luck, keep us posted.
Lisa
On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 11:59 AM, David Kirchner via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> We are struggling with the best approach to deal with a community member
> who attends many of our dance events but does not dance (or pay). This
> person appears to have some mental illness challenges. He frequently has a
> small child with him. He has occasionally been disruptive in a minor way
> (or the child has been), and he has been escorted out a couple of times for
> that reason. He often simply hangs out in the building while the dance is
> going on, often in nondancing space. He is not easy to talk with. Reactions
> on how to deal with this person have varied across the different dance
> communities that use our space and different volunteers within those
> communities. We are trying to put together a common approach. Thoughts?
>
> David
> St. Paul, MN
>
> _______________________________________________
> Organizers mailing list
> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
>
>
--
Lisa
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
603-762-0235
--
Lisa
lisa(a)lisasieverts.com
603-762-0235