Community Dance
RIFH
many of the figures of "Traditional" square dancing, I have to say --
Right On. The case was well expressed and outlined. That and many
responses to NO SQUARE DANCE previously, reminded me of the situation in
Square Dancing in the 50s. The dancers longed for more complicated figures
and so wherever you went, you never knew if FUN level dancing meant the
same thing. What was fun level at one dance was complicated at another.
Levels of dance became a reality and with them seperation of dancers and
loss of sociability. I still use easy Contra's at many of my Square Dances
and run into the same hostility from SOME of the dancers that you
encounter in the traditional Folk Contra/Square/Circle dance venue. The
answer is communication. Your leaders must maintain communication between
themselves and the dancing public and must allow the dancers to understand
why they(the leaders) do things. I think this letter is a good start. Any
imput I can give I will give gladly. Although i am a "Modern" SD Caller, I
still believe in this dance we used to just call Square Dancing. Signed
Dick Hulbert RI...@aol.com
Christopher C Stacy
Dick is right based on what I've heard, MWSD and contemporary contra dance
used to be called 'square dance'! Talk to Dudley Laufman about the name
change sometime!
People who do "modern western square dancing" normally just refer to
it as "square dancing", and many of them are unaware of the qualified term.
Cynthia Butcher
want to jump in with an experience that Paul Rosenberg and I have been
having here in Albany.
Our local dance attendance has been going down over the past two years.
Paul has put alot of energy into the Friday night dances over the years,
and it has been pretty discouraging for him to see the decline. A bright
spot hit our calender three months ago with the start up of a family dance.
This family dance was organized by Paul, a friend,Chris, and me. We were
able to round up sponsorship of the local food coop, the 8th Step Coffee-
house, some churches and the Albany Free School. Attendance has been high
from day one and it is continuing to grow.
What makes this event different is that it is geared toward children and
families, not toward "hard-core contra dancers." This is the structure of
our event which runs from 4 to 5:30 or 6 pm every third Sunday.
1) Dancing--45 minutes, maximum. Very few contra dances, neighbor swings, etcJust simple, nonthreatening dances. Virginia Reel and Zodiac are big hits.
2) Storytelling--about 15 minutes. Stories appropriate for children.
3) Children's Orchestra--about 5 minutes. We bring a basket of rhythm and
melody instruments. The young people get first pick out of the basket, and if
there are any left the older people can have an instrument too. The band of
the month plays a tune and the children get to play along. This can give them a better understanding of rhythm and participation.
4) One Special Folk Dance--about 10 minutes. This month being African-
American History Month, we taught a South African dance. Everyone loved it!
5) A bit more dancing--about 30 minutes. More of the same as mentioned above.
6) Potluck!! This is a great part of the event. People bring great food and gather together for dinner. We normally do not leave until about 8 pm. A verysatisfying evening.
What is so exciting about this event is the participation of the young people. They really have fun! The wide variety of activities within the event make it less boring for children, who tend to have a more limited attention span.
We ask different local musicians to play every month and ask for donations fromthe attendees. The band is open to sit-ins, but only the guest musicians are
miked. (Unless otherwise requested by our guests). We also ask different storytellers each month, and perhaps a guest artist.
Dave Danks is starting a similar event in Saratoga Springs. We are confident
that there will be no drain on our new and flourishing event. It seems there
are families in every community looking for an event like this--where they can bring their children, participate is activities with them, and talk with other adults too. It seems to meet everyone needs. Paul and I said tonight that it is the best event for us. (Except the Flurry, of course).
Community dances create just that--community.
Cynthia Butcher butc...@unvax.union.edu