8 Jan
2023
8 Jan
'23
2:22 a.m.
+1 to Harris's comment
To add something a bit minor and pedantic, however, wheelchair ramps are
*also* something where dances commonly compromise. I would love it if
every dance were accessible to everyone, but in choosing venues for dances
we need to weigh a lot of factors (floor, size, cost, location, ...) and in
parts of the country with a lot of pre-ADA buildings this often means
ending up somewhere without a ramp or elevator.
(Though I do wish dances would at least list on their websites whether
they're accessible via wheelchair)
Jeff
On Sat, Jan 7, 2023 at 4:12 PM Harris Lapiroff via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Julian:
Like, how is this "both sides have a
preference" narrative any different
from able-bodied people being like
"Oh, well, I just don't like handicapped
ramps, I prefer steps"?
I think we're on similar pages. You seem to be agreeing it's OK if some
dances are mask-optional as long as not all of them are—which I think I
agree with. I definitely wouldn't advocate that every dance should drop
their masking right now. Right now in the Boston area, where I dance, I
believe there are *no* mask-optional dances unless you count Worcester,
which is over an hour drive. So we have the opposite situation here: if you
would like to contra dance without a mask, you can't. I agree this is less
bad than people who need mask-required dances not being able to access
them, but I think it's still some amount of bad, since I have talked to
people (who, again, are not crazy or callous, but dear friends who I have
danced with for many years and who took covid precautions very seriously
for most of the pandemic) who have told me that they will stop contra
dancing if they can't find unmasked dances soon.
I think masks are not very analogous to ramps. An entryway ramp doesn't
have much effect on anyone's experience of dancing except to make the dance
more inclusive. Besides maybe construction costs, I can't think of much
downside to having an entry ramp and there's plenty of upside.
On the other hand, I think many people find that masks impair their
enjoyment of dancing. This isn't true for all of us, but it's definitely
true for some of us. A better analogy might be another covid precaution:
open windows. In the dead of winter a hall with all of its windows open
might be pretty chilly. In summer it might be sweaty and humid. But it
makes respiratory virus transmission much less likely if you make the air
inside mix as much as possible with the air outside. In the right hall, I
suspect having all the windows open would be *more* effective than a mask
requirement. But most dances I've encountered post pandemic still sometimes
close their windows if the temperature or humidity would otherwise be
unpleasant and I haven't seen a lot of hubbub about it.
Anyone who agrees that those dances can reasonably close their windows
understands that minimizing transmission does not necessarily mean taking
every possible precaution. (I'm sure you can think of other precautions we
also don't take at most dances, even if they'd make it safer.) So there's
acceptable debate on what precautions strike the right balance of safety
and enjoyment for your community. For some people masks strike that
balance, for others they don't. I think both views there are pretty
reasonable. (Personally I am not sure I would go to a dance without a mask
in the near future, but I do want people to have the option to and I'm
trying to explain why I see it as basically reasonable.)
I think an additional element here is that it's hard to see that the covid
situation is going to get much better in the future. When we were waiting
for the first vaccines, there was an obvious target time for when things
might improve. We don't have anything like that now. I think things will
continue to get less risky covid-wise over time, but I expect that it will
be slow and progress won't always be obvious except in retrospect. I think
people are reasonable for asking "If we can't dance without masks now, when
can we dance without masks?" It's possible your answer to that is "No time
in the foreseeable future," but I think a lot of people won't like that
answer very much. Again, I *don't *think every dance should immediately
unmask, but I do understand why our community is split on this and I don't
think the dancers who want mask-optional dances are crazy or callous.
Perry:
I have to question if now, this current moment,
is the time to be asking
this.
Cases are spiking now, but, if history holds—and who knows, it may or may
not—they'll be declining soon and I think it's good to have conversations
in anticipation of that. Right now is around the time when BIDA decided to
restart last year and, when our dance restarted in February, Boston
wastewater levels were at a 6-month low.
Harris
On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 11:19 PM Julian Blechner via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Question for anyone with the "you will
alienate someone" or "everyone has
a different level of risk" mindset:
In other areas of life, do you consider someone's personal preference
(like not wearing a mask) the same as someone's health needs (like having a
health condition, or a family member who does)?
I'm not asking to be mean or rude. I genuinely would love an explanation.
I think there actually _is_ a way to please most people, and not just
disregard people with medical conditions (or family with them).
That is - making sure no area's dances are all mask-optional.
There's a big difference between an area having _some_ mask-optional
dances, sure, but if they're _all_ mask-optional.
Thanks,
Julian Blechner
On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 5:56 PM John and/or Jan Bloom via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
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
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net