Good point! Many years ago I read that mailing lists (remember them? Not e-mail distribution lists, but actual mail mailing lists.) shrink about 15% a year. I've noticed about the same effect in dance communities. So the group I dance in has less than a half dozen of the dancers I danced with when I started dancing about 15 years ago which is almost exactly 15% loss each year!
In any case, it's a nicer thought than "The ingrates started treating us like dirt as soon as we started paying them more." M E On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 2:09 PM, Jeff Kaufman <[email protected]>wrote: > > Martha Edwards wrote: > >I just looked at our list of bands, and there's only > > one person - okay, two - listed in our local contra dance bands that > > regularly dance with us any more. Is that normal in your > > communities? > > > > The model in my head is a turnover based one. There's relatively high > turnover for dancers. If I go to the scout house now, maybe 1/3 were > dancing when I used to go there regularly in 2006. So lots of people > come for a while, then stop. Some of the people who stay around are > just people who really like dancing. Many others, though, are ones > who have broadened into other community roles: calling, playing, > organizing, running sound. > > Maybe some musicians lose interest in dancing, like other people who > lose interest in dancing, but instead of disappearing they remain > somewhat connected, playing for dances? > > Jeff > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > > -- For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance. ~ William Butler Yeats
