I can't say specifically where that concept comes from. Mary Dart's book, quoted by Colin Hume, was published in 1995. I was certainly saying things like that back in the 1980s and several of my lectures from then hint strongly at that. However, Mary Dart was talking about the USA and I was talking about the UK.
-----Original Message----- From: Colin Hume colin@colinhume.com [trad-dance-callers] <trad-dance-callers@yahoogroups.com>
Reply-to: trad-dance-callers@yahoogroups.com To: trad-dance-callers@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [trad-dance-callers] looking for info on a quote Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 20:18:09 +0100
On Wed, 6 Apr 2016 12:54:31 -0500, Jonathan Sivier jsivier@illinois.edu [trad-dance-callers] wrote:
> For many years I have heard various versions of the phrase, "In the past communities came together to dance, today
> dancers come together to form a community." I understand the meaning, but wonder where it came from. Does anyone know
> the origin of this expression? Is it a quote from someone, or from a book, or is it just something that has developed
> via the folk process?
Jonathan -
Mary Dart in her book Contra Dance Choreography says:
Prior to the current revival, social dancing was a leisure time activity within local communities of people whose relationship
with one another went far beyond the dance. The group of people who danced together also worked together, worshipped together,
educated their children together, and shared the celebrations and turning points of their lives with one another.
Although there still exist small community dances of this sort, in many urban areas the social dance event has been transformed
from a community dance to a dance community, in which the dance provides the major focus for the participants' relationship with
one another. The dance has become the strong thread in the binding of these people's lives For many urban participants, contra
dance is not a supplement to their social life, but rather the hub of it.
I'll be quoting this in my presentation / web page on the differences between English as danced in the States and in England.