It never occurred to me that the idea of "invasion" had anything to do with race or us vs. them. I guess I'm naive. Thank you for making me think about terminology. I just saw it as a large group who all show up at once with no idea of what they're getting themselves into. The challenge is always to make them feel welcome and wanted while handling a unique situation and striking a balance with regulars. But my point was that the regular dancers can be great assets to do one-in-one PR and help with the newcomers.
Get TypeApp for Android On Jan 21, 2023, 12:50 PM, at 12:50 PM, Harris Lapiroff via Contra Callers <[email protected]> wrote: >To reiterate Meg’s point a little more strongly, even reading the full >story, I think the word “invasion” is a loaded one to use about an >ethnic minority attending an event that’s typically attended by mostly >white people (I’m assuming this is the case of your contra dance, as >it’s been the case of every contra dance I’ve been to). It evokes, even >unintentionally, some pretty nasty political narratives and >stereotypes. Personally, as a person of color, it made me a touch >uncomfortable to read this story under that subject line. Just >something to think about. > > >That having been said, this sounds like a pretty tricky situation all >around! I’m not sure what I would have done in the moment, but I’m >going to be giving it some thought! > > >One thing that does occurs to me to do after would be to connect with >someone from the Lebanese Student Society (it sounds like this was an >official group outing of their club?) before the next time they attend >a dance, explain a little about contra dancing and how it typically >works, and see if you can come up with any collaborative solutions to >how to make the dance work for them without disrupting the evening. I >could imagine a lot of creative solutions or opportunities for >collaboration if prepared in advance. > > >Harris > > >On Jan 21, 2023, at 12:05 PM, Joe Harrington via Contra Callers ><[email protected]> wrote: > > > >I have no clue what happened with the white on white, which also killed >the last half of the message. Read all the way through the second half >and then see if it's an invasion! :-) > > >I had just done about a 25-minute gentle intro with circle keepers and >mixers, when the ladies walked in. I was balancing losing my regulars >and the newbies who had come on time with keeping the new dancers. > > >--jh-- > > > >On Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 11:08 AM Meg Dedolph <[email protected]> >wrote: > >well, maybe I wouldn't use the word "invasion." :) > > >Did some of the regular women dancers join the line of newcomers? Might >have been a great opportunity for some folks to practice the role they >don't usually dance, which is a terrific way to become a stronger >dancer in general, and also make new folks feel welcome. A line made up >of only new dancers (for whatever reason) is usually something callers >like to avoid. > >What about throwing in some circle mixers to learn terminology, only >remove the progression and dance it as a keeper? Or throw in some >whole-set dances like you get at community dances, which often don't >progress the way contras do. > > >Meg > > >On Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 9:25 AM Joe Harrington via Contra Callers ><[email protected]> wrote: > >We had an interesting and challenging situation come up at Contra >Knights, the UCF student contra club, last night. I’m interested in >your thoughts and advice, in case it has come up before, which it must >have. I’m going to relate it as I perceived it, though someone more >perceptive might have made some observations early on that would have >alerted them to the nature of the situation. > > >Last night was the second dance of the semester and officer elections >were scheduled during the break. Just at the end of my newbie lesson, a >group of nine women dribbled in as a group. They were really >enthusiastic to learn, and they were about 30% of the people in the >room at that point, so I rewound the lesson a bit to at least teach >them the swing. > > >They had joined the teaching circle with their purses and backpacks. I >invited them to put their stuff on the chairs at the sides, including >their jackets, as we dance to up-tempo pop music and it can get sweaty. >That’s where it got interesting. Some put their stuff down, but they >couldn’t take off their jackets. That’s when I noticed some of them >wearing headscarves. Ok, no worries, wear jackets, that’s fine. We love >diversity here. > > >I tried matching them with experienced dancers, which some accepted and >some did not. Some said they just wanted to dance together and not with >anybody else. O-kay. I explained that in this dance we all dance with >each other in a sequence and we don’t control whom we’re dancing with. >Well, that’s ok, as long as we don’t touch men. > > >This, of course, explained the refused partners; they were all men. >How are we going to manage that in a gender-neutral dance? It’s not >like I could put them in the men’s role. Someone suggested they turn >all moves into do-si-dos. I was at a momentary loss, when our club >president-to-be (elected later in the night) suggested putting them in >a line of their own. That made them happy, though it was a very short >line. > > >Then the rest of what turned out to be the Lebanese Student Society >came into the room. Their meeting in a neighboring room had just ended. >There were more women, enough to make the small line danceable. There >were a lot of men, and they had a really difficult time taking >partners. I had minor sets with five or six dancers (yes, experienced >dancers can do it). I told them it would not work that way, but they >said they’d make it work, and nothing I could say got anywhere. I was >conscious of the original dancers who had been there 30 minutes now, >had done the workshop, and were eager to dance. > > >So, the men also got their own line, but things in that line got a bit >crazy during the first walk-through. Possibly because of the discomfort >some may have felt dancing with other men, many there were more >interested in goofing off or boasting to one another than in paying any >attention to me, even after I cranked the mic volume way up and >admonished them to be quiet and listen. There was some genuine >interest in that line, and one of the louder argument points I heard >was someone shouting to quiet the line, as they were here to learn. > > >At this point there were around 30 Lebanese students in two lines of >3-4 minor sets each and 20 originals, who had joined through the newbie >session, which was evenly split between newbies and experienced >dancers. Their line was quiet, but getting quite impatient at this >point. I was afraid to lose them. I was really afraid of what would >happen in the election later on if the Lebanese club stayed, as they >outnumbered the originals. > > >It became clear that the Lebanese men were not going to get far, but >they didn’t realize it yet. I really didn’t want to throw them out, >since some really did want to learn and we are an inclusive club with >too few members. I did say I would kick them out if they didn’t quiet >down, which worked momentarily. > > >I decided to forge ahead and call to the group of 20. Either the guys >were going to get it or they’d maybe leave. If their noise disrupted >the line of originals, then I would ask them to leave. I put on a tune >and called an easy dance, cranking the volume above the din. The >originals danced it fine and seemed to have a good time. The guy line >dispersed and said they’d come in time for the workshop next time. The >ladies left with them. > > >The originals nearly all stayed. We had a fun rest of our night and >held our officer election. While last night was a unique event, 50% >newbies is common and we think it’s why we get so few dancers to stay >in the club more than three nights. So, one of the changes is a new, >occasional, no-newbies night, so the experienced dancers can dance >something more complex than Airpants. > > >Are there ways to calm an unruly crowd? I have a fairly decent >one-night stand routine, but I worried I’d lose my originals if we went >over to that. I felt I could have taught them something if only I could >just have gotten their attention. Throwing them out would have been >uncomfortable, at best. > > >So, could I have done this any better? Has your dance ever been >invaded, and how did you handle it? > > >Thanks, > > >—jh— > >Joe Harrington > >Faculty advisor and caller to Contra Knights, the UCF contra club > >Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance > >Contraknights.org > >FB, Ig: Contra Knights > >[email protected] > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >To unsubscribe send an email to >[email protected] > >_______________________________________________ >Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >To unsubscribe send an email to >[email protected] > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >To unsubscribe send an email to >[email protected]
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