Hi folks
Apologies for how I am addressing the response. Most lists default to the entire group, but it seems like this goes only to the individuals in the response field? OK, now I see that Marie-Micele seems to be the moderator and generic address
Just a few thoughts:
COULD YOU PLEASE LIST WHERE YOU ARE FROM AND YOUR DANCE SERIES?
This is an issue I notice in all of these lists, but specifically in the Organizers' list, knowing your location is useful, unless you want to remain anonymous
But while I'm at it, I might as well make a couple of comments. I've always wondered myself (since my first dance in 1981!) about the contradiction of having a lesson preceding the dance, while publicity also indicates that no experience needed, all dances taught, dances are easy etc. etc.
Yes, the dances are easy compared to international folk, which is mostly Balkan these days, and ballroom. But I have witnessed way too many people struggling, especially in recent years, with the fast pace of these always-in-motion cardio -- and -- mental workout dances.
As a caller, I got to the point that I no longer enjoyed ramping up the dances for the experienced dancers while leaving the less physically and mentally fit dancers behind. I had already been calling a lot of community dances and family dances and getting much more satisfaction from them. And people smiling a heck of a lot more! So I stopped organizing -- as well as calling -- contra series.
My organizing community and family dances, as fun as they were for people (we would get rousing ovations at the end of each event), our turnouts were still too small to have a viable event. But I was still organizing them until Covid.
I am lucky that we have a couple of local bands who are willing to play for whatever comes in the door, so we could continue and each of us get gas money, and sometimes enough to pay for a meal at a local cafe.
But I'm not sure what my future is going to be because of all the complications right now with checking vaccinations and masking, etc. etc.
Another important issue is the gender neutral calling. I rarely use gendered terms because they're not necessary in the community and family dances. But larks and robins is such a weird descriptor! Do you think that there could be another way of distinguishing roles? I think the best way to do gender-neutral calling is to use positional terminology. But I realize that is very challenging for us callers
A colleague of mine uses "drivers and passengers" and I tried that recently, but wouldn't you know it? Some people from the United Kingdom were there and they said they got thrown off by the terminology of course!
But some thing that a lot of the Contra world folks do not think of is that we are going to become quite a monoculture because many rural people as well as many conservative people are not only unhappy with this terminology, but some are actually boycotting the dances because of it. I do know a few people in that category.
I do my best to explain to them about the pain that some members of our community go through at the dances with the gent/lady terms, but they have a couple of arguments themselves. For one thing, they say that they are uncomfortable with these new terms.
But there's also the argument that many of us progressives are going overboard to make sure that members of oppressed groups do not feel any pain in their lives. I realize this is a huge huge conversation, but in the wide world there is more and more talk about how damaging it is to insulate oppressed groups from feeling any pain. And I am one of those people who went through terrible oppression growing up and was lucky to have enough of a support system to allow me to get past the pain. And yes, there are people who do not have that support system
Now I'm realizing I've gone on way too long, but I do hope we have more of a dialogue about this
Paul Rosenberg
Albany, NY
Founder of the Flurry Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY
Joy Through Traditional Dance & Live Fiddle Music
518-482-9255