The University of Maine in Orono has a Traditional Music and Dance Club dance which promotes contra as well as other kinds of dance (though essentially now I don't think it does anything but contra). In the past they hosted a few small contras on campus (in dorms, the dining hall or a large hallway somewhere where there was exposure to other students). Recently they have gotten funds from the student government which covers the entrance fee for students to the local dance each month in Orono plus free pizza! The contact person is Anthony Viselli, anthony.viselli@maine.edu, who also heads up the band that plays at that contra.
Mary Anne
Hi Marie,
A little history for our group, then a suggestion that we plan to follow this coming year:At the University of New Mexico (unmcontra.org) FolkMADS (our local folk dance org, folkmads.org) put on 8 dances in year Aug 2014 - May 2015, then we formed a student organization and put on 8 dances, the last 4 with a student band Aug 2015 - May 2016. We've had low attendance (10-30 dancers, about half students), but with returning regular dancers. We've put in a lot of energy without much growth, though the student band (http://www.clarabyom.com/rusty-tap.html) was a very positive outcome.
This coming year we plan to partner with other large student organizations and put on joint events. This will help guarantee larger dances, will help with advertising, and will get people who already know each other to dance together. I think this will increase the appeal of the dance.We can also do more if we leverage ways to use student organization funds.
Good luck!
Erik Erhardt
(505)480-4462 StatAcumen.com
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 11:34 AM, Marie-Michèle Fournier <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
ContraMontrealMarieThanks!Hello everyone!I have recruited some of our younger dancers to start a contra club at their university to help us bring in more people to our dances in an effort to be sustainable. However, none of us are quite certain what's the best way to proceed with this and what exactly to do with this club. Any of you out there have associated university or college clubs? Could you put me in contact with the people in charge so we can use their ideas and experience with this?
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