Hi Mary. We're in Central Arkansas. Rob
- - - - - - - - - - - - Robert Matson Cell: (917) 626-2675 On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 10:41 AM Mary Collins <native...@gmail.com> wrote: > this is wonderful to hear! keep on keeping on! > BTW where are you located? > > Mary Collins > Franklinville NY (near Olean & PA border, south of Buffalo and East of > Erie PA) > > "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who > couldn't hear the music." - Nietzsche > > “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning > to dance in the rain!” ~ unknown > > > On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 12:40 AM Robert Matson via Contra Callers < > contracall...@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > >> Hi All, >> >> Please join us in celebrating a significant milestone for our college >> dance: more than 50 dancers this past Friday! Last school year we averaged >> around 20/dance. Last year's core dancers were seniors. This school year >> we have been averaging around 10/dance, but our core dancers are mostly >> freshman. (Yay!) >> >> Video clip from the dance: >> Dance: 'The Flircle." Ellen Hostetter calling. Band: Bobby Fjsh and the >> Magic River >> https://youtu.be/TGWzuIk2LTE >> (For videos, we've promised to obscure dancers' features in order to >> maintain privacy.) >> >> As some of you know, who have met us on-line or in-person, we started our >> dance from scratch, with all first-time dancers and a novice caller who >> hadn't done much contra. (That said, our novice caller is a professional >> educator and researcher whose formative art was ballet and tap). At last >> Friday's dance, about 80% were first-timers. The other 20% were >> beginner-level. >> >> To share, with the hope that some of you can benefit, we've identified >> several possible explanations for the high turnout. The primary new effort >> was that we hosted a pop-up art exhibit in the space, lasting for the >> 120-minutes for which we had the studio. Long story short, pursuant to our >> floating the idea in our regular announcement and inviting artists to >> pin-up, one of our core dancers volunteered to curate a show and spoke with >> her art professor who, in turn, liked the idea and gave the students credit >> if they participated. From that, a good 25-30 student artists came with >> work to pin-up -- or put down -- we had one sculpture -- who had never >> heard of contra, who may have never put a foot down on a beat, and had no >> intent of dancing. With encouragement, all but one (due to health issues) >> joined in for the whole dance. >> >> The student who curated has offered to continue creating exhibits and we >> plan to do this every time. (We dance 2x/month.) >> >> We think it was a rogue wave of sorts. Another student, it so happened, >> on the same eve, got a group of his friends to come, and several students >> from the outdoors club showed up. And then several of our usual dancers, >> who we hadn't seen for a while, showed up. >> >> And then one of our usual dancers was freaked out by the size of the >> crowd, she told us, and left. :-) >> >> Luckily, a reporter and photographer from the school newspaper also >> visited on the same eve! >> >> So, a wonderful tsunami of first timers. >> >> We look forward to seeing how many keep returning. >> >> Program: >> Circassian Circle >> The Flircle >> - Intermission, art show, hob-nobbing >> - Swing workshop >> Lucky 7 Mixer >> >> We did three walkthroughs of each dance and started 10 min. late due to >> distractions caused by hanging the art show. We dance Larks/Robins. >> >> All best, >> Rob >> - - - - - - - - - - - >> >> Robert Matson >> Cell: (917) 626-2675 >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- contracall...@lists.sharedweight.net >> To unsubscribe send an email to >> contracallers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net >> >
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