[Organizers] All Hands In

Hello! I'm reaching out to contra dance organizers, on behalf of the crew here in Toronto. Trusting you are all keeping well. Toronto has been holding a vibrant online virtual contra dance since May. It has been a lovely way for dancers to connect and keep contra dance, and music, in their lives. While it isn't for everyone, it has certainly brought much joy to many homes over the past several months. And it has been a wonderful way for us to provide financial support to musicians during a challenging time. We know other communities have considered launching online dances of their own, but don't have the resources to do so: paid Zoom accounts, tech know-how, etc. Others have done so but found it to be a lot of work on a few shoulders. And so, we are transforming our Toronto Virtual dance into a new project we are calling "All Hands In" - and we'd like to invite your community to join us. Any community that becomes part of the "All Hands In" initiative will be able to welcome their dancers in a private room before the dance, so your community gets an opportunity to socialize and reconnect; and then all the communities will come together for one big dance, featuring fabulous bands and callers. We'll end the dance with a socializing opportunity in small groups, mixing across communities, so people have a chance to make new friends across the continent. We will ask each community to provide one volunteer on a rotating basis once every 1-2 months, along with a moderator for their community room each dance. If you'd like to participate, please send an email to drew(a)delaware.ca, let me know what community you represent, and we'll be happy to share further details. While we'd all love to be on a dance floor taking real hands four, we hope that All Hands In helps to fill the gap in the meantime, and be something that many will enjoy until we can dance in person again. Let me know if you have any interest in joining us, or any questions. ;) Cheers! Drew