20 Dec
2017
20 Dec
'17
9:44 a.m.
Hi Mary,
A few thoughts about ways we seek to engage young people in trad participatory social
dance:
- Belfast Flying Shoes--our local dance organization, and a 501(c)(3) through affiliation
with CDSS--helps fund contra dance residencies in schools. In recent years, that's
really expanded via generous foundation grants. Since our dance series inception (2005),
we've been part of residencies in over 20 K-5 or K-8 schools, 3-5 Middle or High
schools, and a few small K-12 schools. Most residencies are multiple visits, with a
culminating school/family dance. We give out passes to our local dance via those
residencies. And lately we've also been distributing teaching resources for
interested educators who might want to continue dancing w the students after the musicians
and I are gone.
- We had two teens on our board for 2-3 years (there were pros and cons, but it was a good
step to take, and overall a big plus.)
- This past fall, by request, we sponsored a weekly 'contra class' for teens.
Small numbers but high level of engagement.
And we just have a lot of young people at our dances. Our 12-21yo cohort is huge. But
that's all word of mouth. Locally there is a sizeable 'alt schooling'
population (Waldorf, Montessori, homeschool, other) and that may be part of it, although
there are teens from the local public schools too.
- The last four years, we also have collaborated with a local youth organization
(non-electronic games, such as role-playing), adding a contra dancing component to their
role-playing history programs.
But... Who knows why young people attend our dances in such numbers. Clearly they're
having fun. Beyond that, hard to tell.
We're building on this though, and have three new outreach programs for 2018, all
incorporating young people to some degree. The one I'm most excited about is a panel
discussion, which we'll record for posterity, of young people in their teens and 20s
explaining more about why they choose to make contra dancing part of their social lives.
I'm super-curious to hear what they have to say!
Cheers,
Chrissy
________________________________
From: Mary Collins <nativedae(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 4:48 PM
To: Chrissy Fowler
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?
Chrissy,
How exactly are you reaching those young people?
Mary -Buffalo NY
On Dec 6, 2016 10:47 AM, "Chrissy Fowler via Organizers"
<organizers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>>
wrote:
Interesting data so far! Are there dances out there that have seen an INCREASE in average
attendance in the last year?
Besides asking for help from the "converted", perhaps we need to increase our
reach to the non-dancer community to boost the pool of potential attendees for a given
dance. (Meaning, somehow become more visible to the majority of people in our geographic
area - the non-dancers - so that we get our message out to those non-dancers who would
want to come to our dance if they only knew about it.)
In Belfast, we've got a major component for outreach to youth (schools, youth
programming) but we could do more to raise the visibility of both our series and our
organization.
Any brainstorms for potential efforts to support sustainability?
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
20 Dec
20 Dec
4:27 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
Thanks for this Chrissy.
This sounds like the start of a commercial or at least something to post on FB and other
social media to encourage young people to seek out Contra Dancing in their neighborhoods.
The one I'm most excited about is a panel discussion, which we'll record for
posterity, of young people in their teens and 20s explaining more about why they choose to
make contra dancing part of their social lives. I'm super-curious to hear what they
have to say!
Donna
Web Site: donnahuntcaller.com
Email: dhuntdancer(a)aol.com
Cell: 215-565-6050
-----Original Message-----
From: Chrissy Fowler via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
To: Mary Collins <nativedae(a)gmail.com>om>; organizers
<organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
Sent: Wed, Dec 20, 2017 3:31 pm
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?
Hi Mary,
A few thoughts about ways we seek to engage young people in trad participatory social
dance:
- Belfast Flying Shoes--our local dance organization, and a 501(c)(3) through affiliation
with CDSS--helps fund contra dance residencies in schools. In recent years, that's
really expanded via generous foundation grants. Since our dance series inception (2005),
we've been part of residencies in over 20 K-5 or K-8 schools, 3-5 Middle or High
schools, and a few small K-12 schools. Most residencies are multiple visits, with a
culminating school/family dance. We give out passes to our local dance via those
residencies. And lately we've also been distributing teaching resources for
interested educators who might want to continue dancing w the students after the musicians
and I are gone.
- We had two teens on our board for 2-3 years (there were pros and cons, but it was a good
step to take, and overall a big plus.)
- This past fall, by request, we sponsored a weekly 'contra class' for teens.
Small numbers but high level of engagement.
And we just have a lot of young people at our dances. Our 12-21yo cohort is huge. But
that's all word of mouth. Locally there is a sizeable 'alt schooling'
population (Waldorf, Montessori, homeschool, other) and that may be part of it, although
there are teens from the local public schools too.
- The last four years, we also have collaborated with a local youth organization
(non-electronic games, such as role-playing), adding a contra dancing component to their
role-playing history programs.
But... Who knows why young people attend our dances in such numbers. Clearly they're
having fun. Beyond that, hard to tell.
We're building on this though, and have three new outreach programs for 2018, all
incorporating young people to some degree. The one I'm most excited about is a panel
discussion, which we'll record for posterity, of young people in their teens and 20s
explaining more about why they choose to make contra dancing part of their social lives.
I'm super-curious to hear what they have to say!
Cheers,
Chrissy
From: Mary Collins <nativedae(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 4:48 PM
To: Chrissy Fowler
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?
Chrissy,
How exactly are you reaching those young people?
Mary -Buffalo NY
On Dec 6, 2016 10:47 AM, "Chrissy Fowler via Organizers"
<organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Interesting data so far! Are there dances out there that have seen an INCREASE in average
attendance in the last year?
Besides asking for help from the "converted", perhaps we need to increase our
reach to the non-dancer community to boost the pool of potential attendees for a given
dance. (Meaning, somehow become more visible to the majority of people in our geographic
area - the non-dancers - so that we get our message out to those non-dancers who wouldwant
to come to our dance if they only knew about it.)
In Belfast, we've got a major component for outreach to youth (schools, youth
programming) but we could do more to raise the visibility of both our series and our
organization.
Any brainstorms for potential efforts to support sustainability?
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
7:57 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
thanks Chrissy,
There are several things here to pursue, thanks. We have struggled for
years on how to tap into our younger set. We will be looking into some of
these ideas and how we can implement them in our own dance. I too am
looking forward to hearing/reading the outcome of your panel.
Cute story: Since we've been struggling with this for YEARS...this
happened in the 90's in Ithaca.It was more than likely a Geo. Marshall
dance and there were many young people in attendance. So, I suggested to
the 4 or 5 people who had travelled from our home dance for this event,
that when we could engage any of the young people in conversation, we
should ask them how they came to contra and why they continued to come. we
would report back and have a conversation amongst ourselves about it. As
luck would have it, Aaron Marcus and I were paired to dance. Being the
instigator of this exercise and taking it seriously, I introduced myself to
Aaron and asked him "How long have you been dancing and what brought you to
it?" After a brief eye contact exchange...Aaron promptly put feet to use
in a lovely clogging riff, when finished stated "I grew up in it." with his
very lovely smile. Hahaha, leave it to me to find the one kid there that
GREW up Contra dancing. Geeze. Still love seeing Aaron on the floor and
twirling with him when I can.
Thanks again,
Mary
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning
to dance in the rain!” ~ Unknown
On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:44 AM, Chrissy Fowler <ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com>
wrote:
Hi Mary,
A few thoughts about ways we seek to engage young people in trad
participatory social dance:
- Belfast Flying Shoes--our local dance organization, and a 501(c)(3)
through affiliation with CDSS--helps fund contra dance residencies in
schools. In recent years, that's really expanded via generous foundation
grants. Since our dance series inception (2005), we've been part of
residencies in over 20 K-5 or K-8 schools, 3-5 Middle or High schools, and
a few small K-12 schools. Most residencies are multiple visits, with a
culminating school/family dance. We give out passes to our local dance via
those residencies. And lately we've also been distributing teaching
resources for interested educators who might want to continue dancing w the
students after the musicians and I are gone.
- We had two teens on our board for 2-3 years (there were pros and cons,
but it was a good step to take, and overall a big plus.)
- This past fall, by request, we sponsored a weekly 'contra class' for
teens. Small numbers but high level of engagement.
And we just have a lot of young people at our dances. Our 12-21yo cohort
is huge. But that's all word of mouth. Locally there is a sizeable 'alt
schooling' population (Waldorf, Montessori, homeschool, other) and that may
be part of it, although there are teens from the local public schools too.
- The last four years, we also have collaborated with a local youth
organization (non-electronic games, such as role-playing), adding a contra
dancing component to their role-playing history programs.
But... Who knows why young people attend our dances in such numbers.
Clearly they're having fun. Beyond that, hard to tell.
We're building on this though, and have three new outreach programs for
2018, all incorporating young people to some degree. The one I'm most
excited about is a panel discussion, which we'll record for posterity, of
young people in their teens and 20s explaining more about why they choose
to make contra dancing part of their social lives. I'm super-curious to
hear what they have to say!
Cheers,
Chrissy
------------------------------
*From:* Mary Collins <nativedae(a)gmail.com>
*Sent:* Tuesday, December 19, 2017 4:48 PM
*To:* Chrissy Fowler
*Subject:* Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?
Chrissy,
How exactly are you reaching those young people?
Mary -Buffalo NY
On Dec 6, 2016 10:47 AM, "Chrissy Fowler via Organizers" <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Interesting data so far! Are there dances out there that have seen an
INCREASE in average attendance in the last year?
Besides asking for help from the "converted", perhaps we need to increase
our reach to the non-dancer community to boost the pool of potential
attendees for a given dance. (Meaning, somehow become more visible to the
majority of people in our geographic area - the non-dancers - so that we
get our message out to those non-dancers who *would *want to come to our
dance if they only *knew *about it.)
In Belfast, we've got a major component for outreach to youth (schools,
youth programming) but we could do more to raise the visibility of both our
series and our organization.
Any brainstorms for potential efforts to support sustainability?
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
9:51 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
CDSS should maybe take on a coordinating effort to be a resource and clearing house for
ideas to engage others, older and especially young, even proactively promote these
efforts.
Related I wonder if there are any efforts to actively engage college students. I am
considering approaching our local college to see if we can’t increase participation.
Related, at least for summers, we have a couple of summer camps that bring kids to our
weekly dance, dramatically increasing our numbers to the point that some regulars stay
away for the summer.
Sent from miHand,
Peter K Martel
On Dec 20, 2017, at 8:57 PM, Mary Collins via
Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
thanks Chrissy,
There are several things here to pursue, thanks. We have struggled for years on how to
tap into our younger set. We will be looking into some of these ideas and how we can
implement them in our own dance. I too am looking forward to hearing/reading the outcome
of your panel.
Cute story: Since we've been struggling with this for YEARS...this happened in the
90's in Ithaca.It was more than likely a Geo. Marshall dance and there were many young
people in attendance. So, I suggested to the 4 or 5 people who had travelled from our
home dance for this event, that when we could engage any of the young people in
conversation, we should ask them how they came to contra and why they continued to come.
we would report back and have a conversation amongst ourselves about it. As luck would
have it, Aaron Marcus and I were paired to dance. Being the instigator of this exercise
and taking it seriously, I introduced myself to Aaron and asked him "How long have
you been dancing and what brought you to it?" After a brief eye contact
exchange...Aaron promptly put feet to use in a lovely clogging riff, when finished stated
"I grew up in it." with his very lovely smile. Hahaha, leave it to me to find
the one kid there that GREW up Contra dancing. Geeze. Still love seeing Aaron on the
floor and twirling with him when I can.
Thanks again,
Mary
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning to dance in
the rain!” ~ Unknown
On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:44 AM, Chrissy Fowler
<ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Mary,
A few thoughts about ways we seek to engage young people in trad participatory social
dance:
- Belfast Flying Shoes--our local dance organization, and a 501(c)(3) through affiliation
with CDSS--helps fund contra dance residencies in schools. In recent years, that's
really expanded via generous foundation grants. Since our dance series inception (2005),
we've been part of residencies in over 20 K-5 or K-8 schools, 3-5 Middle or High
schools, and a few small K-12 schools. Most residencies are multiple visits, with a
culminating school/family dance. We give out passes to our local dance via those
residencies. And lately we've also been distributing teaching resources for
interested educators who might want to continue dancing w the students after the musicians
and I are gone.
- We had two teens on our board for 2-3 years (there were pros and cons, but it was a
good step to take, and overall a big plus.)
- This past fall, by request, we sponsored a weekly 'contra class' for teens.
Small numbers but high level of engagement.
And we just have a lot of young people at our dances. Our 12-21yo cohort is huge. But
that's all word of mouth. Locally there is a sizeable 'alt schooling'
population (Waldorf, Montessori, homeschool, other) and that may be part of it, although
there are teens from the local public schools too.
- The last four years, we also have collaborated with a local youth organization
(non-electronic games, such as role-playing), adding a contra dancing component to their
role-playing history programs.
But... Who knows why young people attend our dances in such numbers. Clearly they're
having fun. Beyond that, hard to tell.
We're building on this though, and have three new outreach programs for 2018, all
incorporating young people to some degree. The one I'm most excited about is a panel
discussion, which we'll record for posterity, of young people in their teens and 20s
explaining more about why they choose to make contra dancing part of their social lives.
I'm super-curious to hear what they have to say!
Cheers,
Chrissy
From: Mary Collins <nativedae(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 4:48 PM
To: Chrissy Fowler
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?
Chrissy,
How exactly are you reaching those young people?
Mary -Buffalo NY
On Dec 6, 2016 10:47 AM, "Chrissy Fowler via Organizers"
<organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Interesting data so far! Are there dances out there that have seen an INCREASE in
average attendance in the last year?
Besides asking for help from the "converted", perhaps we need to increase our
reach to the non-dancer community to boost the pool of potential attendees for a given
dance. (Meaning, somehow become more visible to the majority of people in our geographic
area - the non-dancers - so that we get our message out to those non-dancers who would
want to come to our dance if they only knew about it.)
In Belfast, we've got a major component for outreach to youth (schools, youth
programming) but we could do more to raise the visibility of both our series and our
organization.
Any brainstorms for potential efforts to support sustainability?
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net 
11:43 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
Cool!
Chrissy- can you tell us more about the norms of the Belfast dance?
Do the youth dancers dance both roles and with everyone? Do the non-youth dancers do so as
well?
Thinking about ages and genders, who asks whom to dance?
Are there flourishes?
Are the young dancers playful in role swapping or in other ways? Is that mirrored among
the older dancers or vice versa?
Do the young ppl have ample opportunity to dance with and socialize with their peers?
Is there a strong overall culture of consent?
Is the default: “dance with who’s coming at you”?
Do people ask what dance role preference their partners have regardless of gender
presentation?
Other notable aspects of your dance community?
(These are all things that I value as a dancer and many if not most of my avid-dancer
peers value them as well. I am 27, though I anticipate looking for these same things in a
dance experience as I age, and I know many older dancers who also enjoy those
characteristics).
Whatever your dance’s attributes, it’s great to hear of a dance community with a thriving
youth scene.
Thanks!
Alex
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 20, 2017, at 10:51 PM, Peter K Martel via
Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
CDSS should maybe take on a coordinating effort to be a resource and clearing house for
ideas to engage others, older and especially young, even proactively promote these
efforts.
Related I wonder if there are any efforts to actively engage college students. I am
considering approaching our local college to see if we can’t increase participation.
Related, at least for summers, we have a couple of summer camps that bring kids to our
weekly dance, dramatically increasing our numbers to the point that some regulars stay
away for the summer.
Sent from miHand,
Peter K Martel
On Dec 20, 2017, at 8:57 PM, Mary Collins via
Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
thanks Chrissy,
There are several things here to pursue, thanks. We have struggled for years on how to
tap into our younger set. We will be looking into some of these ideas and how we can
implement them in our own dance. I too am looking forward to hearing/reading the outcome
of your panel.
Cute story: Since we've been struggling with this for YEARS...this happened in the
90's in Ithaca.It was more than likely a Geo. Marshall dance and there were many young
people in attendance. So, I suggested to the 4 or 5 people who had travelled from our
home dance for this event, that when we could engage any of the young people in
conversation, we should ask them how they came to contra and why they continued to come.
we would report back and have a conversation amongst ourselves about it. As luck would
have it, Aaron Marcus and I were paired to dance. Being the instigator of this exercise
and taking it seriously, I introduced myself to Aaron and asked him "How long have
you been dancing and what brought you to it?" After a brief eye contact
exchange...Aaron promptly put feet to use in a lovely clogging riff, when finished stated
"I grew up in it." with his very lovely smile. Hahaha, leave it to me to find
the one kid there that GREW up Contra dancing. Geeze. Still love seeing Aaron on the
floor and twirling with him when I can.
Thanks again,
Mary
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning to dance in
the rain!” ~ Unknown
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:44 AM, Chrissy Fowler
<ktaadn_me(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Mary,
A few thoughts about ways we seek to engage young people in trad participatory social
dance:
- Belfast Flying Shoes--our local dance organization, and a 501(c)(3) through affiliation
with CDSS--helps fund contra dance residencies in schools. In recent years, that's
really expanded via generous foundation grants. Since our dance series inception (2005),
we've been part of residencies in over 20 K-5 or K-8 schools, 3-5 Middle or High
schools, and a few small K-12 schools. Most residencies are multiple visits, with a
culminating school/family dance. We give out passes to our local dance via those
residencies. And lately we've also been distributing teaching resources for
interested educators who might want to continue dancing w the students after the musicians
and I are gone.
- We had two teens on our board for 2-3 years (there were pros and cons, but it was a
good step to take, and overall a big plus.)
- This past fall, by request, we sponsored a weekly 'contra class' for teens.
Small numbers but high level of engagement.
And we just have a lot of young people at our dances. Our 12-21yo cohort is huge. But
that's all word of mouth. Locally there is a sizeable 'alt schooling'
population (Waldorf, Montessori, homeschool, other) and that may be part of it, although
there are teens from the local public schools too.
- The last four years, we also have collaborated with a local youth organization
(non-electronic games, such as role-playing), adding a contra dancing component to their
role-playing history programs.
But... Who knows why young people attend our dances in such numbers. Clearly they're
having fun. Beyond that, hard to tell.
We're building on this though, and have three new outreach programs for 2018, all
incorporating young people to some degree. The one I'm most excited about is a panel
discussion, which we'll record for posterity, of young people in their teens and 20s
explaining more about why they choose to make contra dancing part of their social lives.
I'm super-curious to hear what they have to say!
Cheers,
Chrissy
From: Mary Collins <nativedae(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 4:48 PM
To: Chrissy Fowler
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?
Chrissy,
How exactly are you reaching those young people?
Mary -Buffalo NY
On Dec 6, 2016 10:47 AM, "Chrissy Fowler via Organizers"
<organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Interesting data so far! Are there dances out there that have seen an INCREASE in
average attendance in the last year?
Besides asking for help from the "converted", perhaps we need to increase our
reach to the non-dancer community to boost the pool of potential attendees for a given
dance. (Meaning, somehow become more visible to the majority of people in our geographic
area - the non-dancers - so that we get our message out to those non-dancers who would
want to come to our dance if they only knew about it.)
In Belfast, we've got a major component for outreach to youth (schools, youth
programming) but we could do more to raise the visibility of both our series and our
organization.
Any brainstorms for potential efforts to support sustainability?
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
18 Feb
18 Feb
6:58 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
Glad Heitzo reintroduced this thread, as I'd dropped the ball on responding to Alex.
Responses below.
And about that focus group, it was lovely. We ended up with fewer respondents than we
anticipated, but what got shared was quite juicy, and it spawned a project to further
document our local dance scene. I haven't had a chance yet to write the blog post
about it, including posting the video, but will do so soon!
www.belfastflyingshoes.org/blog<http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org/blog&g…
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
++++++++++
Questions from Alex Deis-Lauby:
Chrissy- can you tell us more about the norms of the Belfast dance?
Yes.
Do the youth dancers dance both roles and with everyone?
Yes both roles, yes with everyone. But for perhaps obvious reasons, the teens do tend to
enjoy dancing 'with their friends' and historically that has meant that one set
tends to have more teens than the others. We're working on that, because we want all
of the sets in the hall to be populated by the teens and their good cheer/happy energy.
Do the non-youth dancers do so as well?
Some dance both roles, but to a much lesser degree.
Thinking about ages and genders, who asks whom to dance?
Anyone. Anecdote: I once told a potential new dancer, who was inquiring about our series
on the phone, "Anyone can dance with anyone, although I've never been invited to
dance by a teenager." The next night, a 13 yo girl invited me for the first dance.
Hah!
Are there flourishes?
Yes.
Are the young dancers playful in role swapping or in other ways? Is that mirrored among
the older dancers or vice versa?
I think there's generally a playful attitude at our series, but that's across age
levels. If, by 'role swapping', you mean switching roles back and forth
throughout a given dance sequence, we don't have much if any of that, which I think is
a good thing. Our dances always have a high percentage of new and/or easily-confused
dancers, and I don't think such a practice would be fair to the other dancers. Sets
would fall apart, people would be confused. I think that would be an example of skilled
dancers indulging their own whims at the expense of the rest of the dancers in their set,
and as I said earlier, people are generally considerate of each other at our dances.
Do the young ppl have ample opportunity to dance with and socialize with their peers?
Yes. Plenty of dancing and plenty of sitting on the sides chatting.
Is there a strong overall culture of consent?
Is the default: “dance with who’s coming at you”?
Yes, to both. People are nice aka considerate to each other, in general. Some people are
insensitive, which makes me crazy as a caller/organizer. (For example, some individuals
seem to think they are being awesome dancers when they twirl themselves and other dancers
indiscriminately and relentlessly. Ugh. If I were Angela Merkel, you know what my eyes
would be doing.) But that is not the norm.
Do people ask what dance role preference their partners have regardless of gender
presentation?
I don't know. I know that's what I tell people to do, as a caller ("Invite
someone to dance, decide who's going to be lady and who's going to be gent, form a
___set.") I also know that's always a conversation whenever I, myself, get a
partner, whether I'm inviting or accepting an invitation. But I don't honestly
know what the norm is across the dance floor at our series, so I can't say.
Other notable aspects of your dance community?
I don't know. Um... we holler a lot?
We do tend to have a lot of families who dance with their kids, parents, siblings,
cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents (maybe like Aaron Marcus, who was mentioned in another
response.)
And just a subtle point, I'd say it's less of a dance community and more of a
community that goes to dances. Meaning that dancing is not the only reason that these
people get together. They might see the same people at school, church, a talk/lecture,
restaurant, art opening, concert, movie, rowing, volunteering, hiking, sledding, potlucks,
etc. Perhaps a characteristic of small town, rural county life? But our monthly dances
do seem to be treasured, which we on the board count as a great thing.
26 Feb
26 Feb
10:37 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
A belated follow-up to Chrissy's "subtle point": I don't agree that it
is
subtle - I think the culture of a contra dance in a rural area is
fundamentally different than a "zesty modern urban" contra dance. We were
discussing this on the way home after the Flurry, and I truly value both.
I used to live in an area where I could get to both types of dances
(roughly halfway between Philly and Baltimore). I could get to one of the
weekly urban dances on a weeknight and then a community oriented dance on
the weekend. Now that I live halfway up the coast of Maine I don't get the
joy of the zesty urban dances I used to enjoy. I do still get the joy of
the community dances, and I am glad that the Belfast contra dance has
become such an important social setting for our many young attenders. The
strong sense of community is wonderful, but the fun dance experiences for
me are now the occasional festivals I can get to.
<bill(a)frysinger.com>
William T. Frysinger
339 Beech Hill Road
Northport, ME 04849
Office: 207-338-1850
Home: 207-338-2797
Cellphone: 207-930-5933
On Sun, Feb 18, 2018 at 7:58 PM, Chrissy Fowler via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Glad Heitzo reintroduced this thread, as I'd
dropped the ball on
responding to Alex. Responses below.
And about that focus group, it was lovely. We ended up with fewer
respondents than we anticipated, but what got shared was quite juicy, and
it spawned a project to further document our local dance scene. I haven't
had a chance yet to write the blog post about it, including posting the
video, but will do so soon!
www.belfastflyingshoes.org/blog
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
++++++++++
*Questions from Alex Deis-Lauby: Chrissy- can you tell us more about the
norms of the Belfast dance? *
Yes.
*Do the youth dancers dance both roles and with everyone? *Yes both
roles, yes with everyone. But for perhaps obvious reasons, the teens do
tend to enjoy dancing 'with their friends' and historically that has meant
that one set tends to have more teens than the others. We're working on
that, because we want all of the sets in the hall to be populated by the
teens and their good cheer/happy energy.
*Do the non-youth dancers do so as well?*
Some dance both roles, but to a much lesser degree.
*Thinking about ages and genders, who asks whom to dance?*
Anyone. Anecdote: I once told a potential new dancer, who was inquiring
about our series on the phone, "Anyone can dance with anyone, although I've
never been invited to dance by a teenager." The next night, a 13 yo girl
invited me for the first dance. Hah!
*Are there flourishes? *
Yes.
*Are the young dancers playful in role swapping or in other ways? Is that
mirrored among the older dancers or vice versa?*
I think there's generally a playful attitude at our series, but that's
across age levels. If, by 'role swapping', you mean switching roles back
and forth throughout a given dance sequence, we don't have much if any of
that, which I think is a good thing. Our dances always have a high
percentage of new and/or easily-confused dancers, and I don't think such a
practice would be fair to the other dancers. Sets would fall apart, people
would be confused. I think that would be an example of skilled dancers
indulging their own whims at the expense of the rest of the dancers in
their set, and as I said earlier, people are generally considerate of each
other at our dances.
*Do the young ppl have ample opportunity to dance with and socialize with
their peers?*
Yes. Plenty of dancing and plenty of sitting on the sides chatting.
*Is there a strong overall culture of consent? *
*Is the default: “dance with who’s coming at you”?*
Yes, to both. People are nice aka considerate to each other, in general.
Some people are insensitive, which makes me crazy as a caller/organizer.
(For example, some individuals seem to think they are being awesome dancers
when they twirl themselves and other dancers indiscriminately and
relentlessly. Ugh. If I were Angela Merkel, you know what my eyes would be
doing.) But that is not the norm.
*Do people ask what dance role preference their partners have regardless
of gender presentation? *
I don't know. I know that's what I tell people to do, as a caller
("Invite someone to dance, decide who's going to be lady and who's going to
be gent, form a ___set.") I also know that's always a conversation
whenever I, myself, get a partner, whether I'm inviting or accepting an
invitation. But I don't honestly know what the norm is across the dance
floor at our series, so I can't say.
*Other notable aspects of your dance community? *
I don't know. Um... we holler a lot?
We do tend to have a lot of families who dance with their kids, parents,
siblings, cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents (maybe like Aaron Marcus, who
was mentioned in another response.)
And just a subtle point, I'd say it's less of a dance community and more
of a community that goes to dances. Meaning that dancing is not the only
reason that these people get together. They might see the same people at
school, church, a talk/lecture, restaurant, art opening, concert, movie,
rowing, volunteering, hiking, sledding, potlucks, etc. Perhaps a
characteristic of small town, rural county life? But our monthly dances do
seem to be treasured, which we on the board count as a great thing.
_______________________________________________
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Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
27 Feb
27 Feb
2:49 p.m.
New subject: Lower attendance this year?
If I'm reading this correctly, I'd like to note that "zesty" versus
"community" is not determined by geography, i.e. rural versus urban, but
rather one of the culture that's been
available/created/nourished/stumbled-upon.
In my region you have Harvest Moon that runs both the River Falls dance
out in the absolute middle of nowhere (15 minutes up a draw once you get
off the highway, most urban areas are 35+ minutes away)
and the Landmark Hall dance smack dab in an urban area (suburb of
Greenville). The River Falls dance's dominant demographic is under 25
and their regular weekly dance is packed insane crazy fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWOcdW47bc (dozens of River
Falls contra dance videos on YouTube)
The Landmark Hall dance is a pleasant mixed age dance that's age biased
older and is closer to what I would call a "community" dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutRApUMsXc
The St. Louis contra dance in Webster Grove, Childgrove, is nestled deep
in an large city yet biases towards the comfort of a "community" dance
versus a yell-and-scream-with-Great-Bear weekend dance.
Point I'm making is it's not entirely about geography.
Heitzso
A belated follow-up to Chrissy's "subtle
point": I don't agree that it
is subtle - I think the culture of a contra dance in a rural area is
fundamentally different than a "zesty modern urban" contra dance. We
were discussing this on the way home after the Flurry, and I truly
value both.
I used to live in an area where I could get to both types of dances
(roughly halfway between Philly and Baltimore). I could get to one of
the weekly urban dances on a weeknight and then a community oriented
dance on the weekend. Now that I live halfway up the coast of Maine I
don't get the joy of the zesty urban dances I used to enjoy. I do
still get the joy of the community dances, and I am glad that the
Belfast contra dance has become such an important social setting for
our many young attenders. The strong sense of community is wonderful,
but the fun dance experiences for me are now the occasional festivals
I can get to.
2249
days inactive
2318
days old
organizers@lists.sharedweight.net
8 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
Alexandra Deis-Lauby -
Bill Frysinger -
Chrissy Fowler -
Donna Hunt -
Heitzso -
Mary Collins -
Peter K Martel