[Organizers] Re: Attracting young dancers

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Just finished Atlanta Dance Weekend. As an old fart I didn't dance much, but 
enjoyed the dances I did dance.
A couple of them I swapped roles every swing. I've also done that at RFL, SNCA, 
and OFB.
15 years ago I'd get the hairy eyeball from time to time when approaching a man 
to swing (I'm male).
That doesn't happen any more. That's nice. While RFL videos show trad gender 
role dancing,
they'd be comfortable being approached male-male to swing. I ack that's not a 
full gender fluid
dance space, but it is a big improvement.
>From a quick, non-systematic look, I'd say River Falls tends to follow the 
>traditional gender roles:
* April 15, 2023 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLVvH-yzBP8)
* February 7, 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC1THbxnGUQ)
* August 2, 2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjEmrKoOTkk)
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[Organizers] Re: Attracting young dancers

[Heitzso via Organizers]

That drop in contra dancing after the Civil War is nicely documented in

"A Short History of Contra" on YouTube here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG6vVoiFT9c

If you haven't watched that video I strongly (!!!) recommend watching it.
Yes, contra has survived, but it went through several rough patches.
I had lived on a commune (hippy) and, coming back to Atlanta, 
found contra dancing something I could make sense of.
(That sentence will make sense after watching the video.)

:)
Heitzso




> Purely for amusement, I offer this article from 1895 titled "Decline in 
> Dancing"
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40820357/an_1895_analysis_of_the_decline_in
> 
> Dave
> 
>
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[Organizers] Re: Attracting young dancers

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Julian, Thank you for that graph. Years ago I had read that 1 in 5 
experiment and 1 in 20 end identifying LGBTQ+.  Your graph spells it out 
in generational detail. Thanks again.





While any generation has variety, the trends, long-term, are compelling:


https://www.statista.com/statistics/719685/american-adults-who-identify-as-homosexual-bisexual-transgender-by-generation/

Realize that in states that have passed laws making being trans 
illegal in one or more ways, people are fleeing to the closet for 
safety, as well.


In dance,
Julian Blechner

On Thu, Nov 9, 2023, 9:26 PM Joe Harrington via Organizers 
 wrote:


You confirmed my suspicions. "Youth" isn't a monoculture that
follows a single set of values. There are certainly youth
communities that do strongly value gender-blind dancing, and they
are probably the norm in the US Northeast, up into Canada, and
perhaps many other regions.  But, in some of the places where
youth-plus dancing is strongest, the culture is quite different. I
don't know if Hayley Smith is on this list, but there's some
quite-bold, religious-traditionalist, young people dancing in
large numbers, down South. I'm pretty sure I'd be having an easier
time building our dance above 20 weekly participants if I were
using traditional terms, including attracting and retaining more
young dancers.

--jh--


On Thu, Nov 9, 2023 at 12:58 PM Heitzso via Organizers
 wrote:

Joe,

The young (under 30) Sautee Nacoochee contra dancers tend to
dance as gendered (not sure of my terminology)
Switching roles doesn't happen much there so it's something
that would tend to throw them.
I enjoy switching on every swing with partner and, at Sautee,
I tend to avoid that because
    - my partner is likely not used to it (I ask first)
    - high percentage of beginners come and I don't want to
confuse them (w/ vast majority dancing trad roles).
So, while I've done that at Sautee, it would be after the
break and
with a partner who was comfortable with switching up.

Probably more switching at Riverfalls Lodge (SC), but I
haven't danced there in awhile.
RFL used to be where all the hot college aged Asheville
dancers went to dance
and they would have been comfortable crossing up dance roles,
though not
anywhere near the extent of, say, the Contracopia dancers in
Philly.
Comfortable means not a big deal to switch up roles.
But, contrast w/ Philly Contracopia where maybe 20% cross role
dancing at any time.

I haven't danced at OFB (near Asheville, NC, so not rural
Georgia) since before covid.
College where OFB dances is liberal.
I don't know what the current pattern is. I assume a little
more comfortable/likely
to cross dance than RFL.

Joe, you know my wife, Jennifer Horrocks. Welcome to ask her or
have me reach out to SNCA or RFL organizers or friends we know who
regularly dance at OFB.  This weekend is the Atlanta dance
weekend.
I could ask around if you'd like for a more nuanced reply.

-Heitzso


Marie-Michèle, Hietzo,

Marie-Michèle wrote:
> I haven't yet found a dance with a strong younger core
where male-presenting people almost all dance one role and
female-presenting people almost all dance the other, no
matter what role names they use.

Hietzo, do the rural Georgia dances with strong younger
participation fit this description?

Thanks,

--jh--



On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 11:15 AM Marie-Michèle Fournier via
Organizers  wrote:

I took over as main organiser in Montreal when I was in
my late 30s and the people who decided to join the
organizing committee after that were all my age or
younger except one. Gradually after that, our age average
became younger and younger, however part of that is
unfortunately because we lost several older dancers. I
don't know exactly what it is we did that made older
dancers less likely to come back and younger dancers more
likely to, except for being very strongly non-gendered,
even before we switched to Larks and Robins after the
pandemic. But I can tell you that I haven't yet found a
dance with a strong younger core where male-presenting
people almost all dance one role and female-presenting
people almost all dance the other, no matter what role
names they use.
Marie-Michèle, Montréal, Québec, Canada

On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 9:58 AM Joe Harrington via
Organizers  wrote:

Is Will Loving

[Organizers] Re: Attracting young dancers

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Joe,

The young (under 30) Sautee Nacoochee contra dancers tend to dance as 
gendered (not sure of my terminology)
Switching roles doesn't happen much there so it's something that would 
tend to throw them.
I enjoy switching on every swing with partner and, at Sautee, I tend to 
avoid that because

    - my partner is likely not used to it (I ask first)
    - high percentage of beginners come and I don't want to confuse 
them (w/ vast majority dancing trad roles).

So, while I've done that at Sautee, it would be after the break and
with a partner who was comfortable with switching up.

Probably more switching at Riverfalls Lodge (SC), but I haven't danced 
there in awhile.
RFL used to be where all the hot college aged Asheville dancers went to 
dance

and they would have been comfortable crossing up dance roles, though not
anywhere near the extent of, say, the Contracopia dancers in Philly.
Comfortable means not a big deal to switch up roles.
But, contrast w/ Philly Contracopia where maybe 20% cross role dancing 
at any time.


I haven't danced at OFB (near Asheville, NC, so not rural Georgia) since 
before covid.

College where OFB dances is liberal.
I don't know what the current pattern is. I assume a little more 
comfortable/likely

to cross dance than RFL.

Joe, you know my wife, Jennifer Horrocks. Welcome to ask her or
have me reach out to SNCA or RFL organizers or friends we know who
regularly dance at OFB.  This weekend is the Atlanta dance weekend.
I could ask around if you'd like for a more nuanced reply.

-Heitzso


Marie-Michèle, Hietzo,

Marie-Michèle wrote:
> I haven't yet found a dance with a strong younger core where 
male-presenting people almost all dance one role and female-presenting 
people almost all dance the other, no matter what role names they use.


Hietzo, do the rural Georgia dances with strong younger participation 
fit this description?


Thanks,

--jh--



On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 11:15 AM Marie-Michèle Fournier via Organizers 
 wrote:


I took over as main organiser in Montreal when I was in my late
30s and the people who decided to join the organizing committee
after that were all my age or younger except one. Gradually after
that, our age average became younger and younger, however part of
that is unfortunately because we lost several older dancers. I
don't know exactly what it is we did that made older dancers less
likely to come back and younger dancers more likely to, except for
being very strongly non-gendered, even before we switched to Larks
and Robins after the pandemic. But I can tell you that I haven't
yet found a dance with a strong younger core where male-presenting
people almost all dance one role and female-presenting people
almost all dance the other, no matter what role names they use.
Marie-Michèle, Montréal, Québec, Canada

On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 9:58 AM Joe Harrington via Organizers
 wrote:

Is Will Loving in the house?  Or anyone from the Amherst, MA,
Wednesday night contra?  He was the ONLY person on the board
over 30 in the years after he founded it, and it was largely a
college/post-college crowd, the few times I was privileged to
attend.  He told me that was his formula.  Maybe he can give
details. This was in the mid-2010s, I think.

To me, there is a big difference between events run by and for
younger dancers and broad community events with a
predominantly older crowd trying to make up for our lame
recruiting/retention efforts a few decades back, so we can
keep our dances from dying as we age out, or to bring some
energy into them, or out of some principle of inclusion. Or
whatever our real reasons are for focusing so heavily on
recruiting younger dancers (which, guilty, I do for their energy).

--jh--




On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 9:27 AM Chrissy Fowler via Organizers
 wrote:

Thanks Dana, for this reframing of the conversation!
Shakes things up a bit in my mind. Love it.

In Belfast ME, where our demographics have skewed toward a
majority of dancers in teens-early 30s, we recruited board
members in that age range because they already were the
majority. (See
https://www.belfastflyingshoes.org/board-of-directors)

I’m curious what other organizers have experienced when
they recruited people in teens/20s in order to increase
that demographic among their dancers.

Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast ME


<><><><><><>
chrissyfowler.com  dance
leadership
westbranchwords.com
 academic transcription
belfastflyingshoes.org
 participatory 

[Organizers] Re: Attracting young dancers

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Coming in late but with some regional information re GA, NC, SC dances.

There are three dances in our area that are very popular with younger 
dancers.

    Sautee Nacoochee, SNCA
    Riverfalls Lodge, RFL
    Old Farmers Ball, OFB

Of those three, SNCA has a full complement of ages with a possible dip in
the 30s and 40s. Ages range from 4 or 5 years old up into the 80s.
They have 100 to 220 dancers once a month with the beginner's lesson
often filling a ring around the large gym dance hall.

RFL has a strong younger demographic, with teens to mid 20s dominating
and then our usual older dancers mid 50s and up.

OFB is on a college campus near Asheville with college age students
dominating, then, again, our usual older dancers.

This is my caricature sense of these dances. If someone else has
more precise numbers I'd appreciate knowing them.  (Thanks.)

I'm a proponent of gender free calling, but that's not common or
dominant in the SE. My sense is it's not the make or break that it
might be elsewhere. My understanding is gendered calling is the norm
at the above 3 dances.

All of the 3 dances have unique environments and history that
have positioned them to be where they are now with demographics.

With SNCA it's out in the middle of nowhere and provides a family safe
social environment that's not easily found elsewhere. There are also
a few Christian colleges nearby and contra dancing is a safe drug and
alcohol free social space. But, and I can't stress this enough, they
built that family environment up over a couple of decades with, for most
of that time, a pot luck before every dance (till they got exhausted
from most of the work being done by just a few folks). My point is
it's not a one-fix-and-all-is-well. It took a LONG TIME to build up
that dance.

OFB is on a college campus. I believe the students get in free or
very cheap.  (correct me please ...)  180 to 220 dancers every week?
Thursday.

RFL is a quirky outlier. Out in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
Loads of character. Somehow discovered by teens and college students
awhile back. Usually packed. (150+ dancers every week?)
I've seen high school girls tumble out after a dance and fall to
the ground giggling they'd had so much fun.
__

On another note, and in support of another comment, Marie Graham's
been promoting contra dances at UNG where she's a professor.
They had dances on campus that were open to the community.
One feedback she got was the women students were not comfortable
dancing with men their grandfather's age.


A study was done by a square dance organization. If I remember
correctly that study said you're not going to pull in dancers younger
than 15 years less than your median age. The Atlanta dance, I'm
guessing, has a median age of 65. That means it's not going to
easily pull in (*retain?*) dancers younger than 50 years old.  My 
takeaway

is that once you lose the younger dancers (or demographic diversity)
it's hard to get it back.

-Heitzso___
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[Organizers] Re: Speakers

[Heitzso via Organizers]

I was at a wedding last Tuesday (Sept. 5th) where the DJ used QSC k8.2 
10" speakers.
The DJ cranked out lots of dB through them ... easily heard music across 
a small lake (100 yards?).

That was impressive.  He didn't have a sub with them and I was surprised by
how well they handled the lower frequencies (from across the lake when
DJ first started w/ music I assumed there was a sub).

For the reception party, lots of dB (more than you'd typically use at a
regular contra dance and DJ had the two speakers some 5' separation
pointing towards hall (from outside deck) in a way that would introduce 
phase issues.

(one behind the other by 5')

I had the distinct sense that I was listening to music *over speakers*.
i.e. they were not transparent ...
Not terrible but not great.  I do not know whether that was due to
    speakers damaged from high dB party after party
    speakers too loud introducing bad sound
    other elements in sound chain introducing bad sound
    phase issues from bad alignment of speakers w/o delay

I've been using RCF TT 08A ii speakers with a RCF TT 12" sub
(as noted by another ... 8" won't push out low end well) for
a ridiculously clean sound that doesn't scream "I AM A SPEAKER" for
small to medium sized spaces (not large gym ... bump up for that).
Mentioning because they're 8" for my mains and I'm happy.
I use the words "nuanced", "transparent" and "clean" for what I go for.
But that's over $5K worth of speakers without my TT 051A center fill.
So out of the budget for most.

Heitzso





Hi, All,

Princeton Country Dancers in Princeton, NJ, has done extensive
research re new speakers for our contra and English dances.

We've narrowed it down to 2 choices:
JBL PRX 908 and *QSC k8.2

If any of you have used either one of these, would you please let me
know whether you'd recommend them and what you like (or dislike) about 
themz/


Thanks so much.

Larry Koplik

*

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[Organizers] teaching new dancers, age and music genre

[Heitzso via Organizers]

I acknowledge that there are many ways to teach and value the tradition 
of contra dancing.
I'm pushing the edges a touch here, but felt, given the recent 
discussion re large % of beginners
and how do you pull in and keep younger dancers, that these two data 
points may be helpful.


Back in 2019 I was asked to run sound, provide canned music, and call 
contras at a wedding.
The bride had gone to a nearby college and was part of a cohort of 
students who came to my dance for awhile.

At the wedding reception I had an hour to teach and call contra dances
to some 45-50 dancers, 85% of whom had never danced contra.
I set the rule for myself of almost no "teaching" and lots of dancing to 
music.
I came up with a 16 count dance, a 24 count dance, a 32 count dance on 
up to the full 64.
The dances built on one another.  They all progressed. I had a small 
rectangular space so
two tight lines. I don't recall if I used improper or Beckett as the 
basic alignment.
I had several "contemporary/hot" contra music tunes lined up, e.g. 
Perpetual eMotion's Flying Tent.
So a few minutes to explain line and progression then a simple dance 
with music that progressed.
(e.g. ??? if I used improper maybe circle left 4 places, balance, pass 
through for 16 count dance, add in  do-si-do for a 24, ...

this probably isn't what I did but you get the idea)
It worked well. The *high energy music* was enjoyed by the wedding crowd 
and
*they never stood still for more than a few minutes* before dancing to 
some juicy music.


A local women's university had studied integration in the south and how 
simple dances,
such as the Virginia Reel, were used to socialize the northern white 
folks into

the Southern African American integration movement community leaders.
I was asked to teach and call the Virginia Reel, outdoors, to some 800 
college students.
While the students were assembling, which took awhile, I played 
Perpetual eMotion over the sound system.
That juiced the students. You could see it in how they walked with a 
bounce in their step,
in how animated their faces were, etc. But when it came time for me to 
actually teach and
call the Virginia Reel I was told to pull back to old time string band 
music.

I did as I was told and the music shift from high energy to old time sucked
the energy completely out of the students. I called, and they 
reluctantly danced,

the Virginia Reel and then went back to their classes.
___

This Sunday the Neverland Ramblers are playing in my town with two out 
of town callers.

The Neverland Ramblers are composed of a keyboard player,
a classically trained violinist, and a been-playing-in-rock-bands-forever
lead (and follow, but easily throws out riffs based on the chord 
structure) guitarist.
The violinist plays in numerous symphonies, has about 50 students that 
she teaches,
and, besides the contra dance band, is in two cover bands, one easy 
listening and the

other raucous. I enjoy her and the guitarist launching into Psycho Killer.
I just got permission to call a 12 bar blues contra (several are out 
there and I've
adapted a few AABB contras over to 12 bar blues format). ... This will 
be good.
CAUTION most contra bands can't play 12 bar blues without rocketing past 
120 BPM
because they're used to playing so many notes in a bar. So this 
paragraph is about
pulling in pop/blues music but also I want to flag that a 12 bar contra 
is easier to

remember than a 16 bar contra so easier to dance by a beginner.

Related, I'm thinking of how top weekend bands often have fun 
pop/other-genre inserts.

    Perpetual eMotion's Eleanor Rigby
    Playing with Fyre's Sweet Dreams
    Giant Robot's Hall of the Mountain King
    or everything Emily Rush plays when calling RushFest.
    etc.

Heitzso
Gainesville, Georgia___
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[Organizers] Re: Struggling to Revitalize the core post covid

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Chiming in to note a pattern in our area that differs from what some of 
these other dances report, which is that at Sautee, Atlanta, and 
Gainesville (all NE Georgia) dances it is common for most new dancers to 
arrive on time and for there to be about as many experienced dancers 
that come early and help out with the beginners' lesson as there are 
beginners. In Sautee this Saturday for ContraForce they'll probably have 
so many attending the lesson that the lesson circle (at the start of the 
lesson) will have trouble fitting around the perimeter of the large old 
gym, with some half of those being experienced dancers.


I don't know why that is (on time, roughly as many experienced coming 
early). Cultural pattern? It just tends to happen so I don't think about it.


Other notes ... re socialize before the dance ... Sautee established 
itself over decade(s) as a family friendly dance. For many years they 
hosted a pot luck before every dance until the core folks who did most 
of the work got exhausted. I don't know their current post-covid 
pattern, but pre-covid they still did pot lucks but just for the talent 
and volunteers helping setup.



-Heitzso
Gainesville, Georgia


The idea I have been cogitating on for a while is to somehow change 
people's perception of the starting time causing a bit of a cultural 
shift.  Our dance lesson is at 7:00, dance at 7:30.  I would really 
love it if we could get the majority of folks to embrace the idea that 
everyone come at 7:00.  At our last dance we had about 2-3 experienced 
dancers participating in the beginners lesson.  That's a challenge 
with about 30 new students.  I imagine new folks could easily feel 
like "a tribe apart" with beginners at 7 and everyone else come at 
7:30.  If we could get the majority of our experienced dancers to come 
at 7:00 and help teach the lesson that would be so grand.


Have any of you been successful in making that shift? Changing the 
attitude to "dance starts at 7:00 and we spend the first 30 
minutes welcoming and teaching the beginning dancers because we all 
know the dance will be much more fun that way".  If we could make that 
leap, I think newbies would feel more welcome and likely to return.  
It's unrealistic to expect everyone to show up at 7, but I am planning 
to reach out to several experienced dancers to see if we can get more 
of them on the floor for the lesson.


Also considering "doors open at 6:30" to give folks time to socialize 
before beginning the lesson/dance at 7:00.


On Mon, Jul 17, 2023 at 4:11 PM Don Veino via Organizers 
 wrote:


A thought on the topic of dance angels...

Would it be helpful to try matching age groups of the beginners
and angels? Having a shared social reference frame (for lack of a
better phrase) could help incorporate those dancers more
comfortably? I mention this as we had a slug of incoming students
from an area private school arrive at our dance as newcomers and
our friendly and helpful older crew did the community thing -
which was great but slightly put them off. The lack of folks in
their age group came up in my later conversation with them - they
had a great time but were looking to mix more with folks of their
own age. Of course that's a chicken/egg thing (I encouraged them
to bring more of their friends next time), but...

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[Organizers] Re: Struggling to Revitalize the core post covid

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Seconding a lot of what's been said.

My wife, Jennifer Horrocks, and I hosted 2 regional organizers retreats 
back in '17 & '18 and have our next this upcoming weekend. This came up 
in the two pre-covid retreats with some form of dance angels the most 
common mechanism used to integrate the new dancers. (informal 
ambassadors or formal special name tags varied). I agree that 60% new 
dancers is difficult; that's a higher % of beginners than what most 
dances deal with.


My reason to chime in is to flag the *variation in demographics* for 
both your experienced and inexperienced dancers affects the dance.


This upcoming Saturday ContraForce will play at Sautee's dance in N 
Georgia (in the middle of nowhere) in a very old gym. Many of our 
retreat folks will take that evening off to attend. It is a dance at 
which it's not uncommon for 20+% to be new dancers. The most successful 
callers (in my opinion) have, after the lesson, started off with easy 
but not trivial contras and steadily built up from there which takes 
advantage of the experienced dancers knowledge and doesn't bore the 
experienced dancers to death.. 20% is not 60%. Mentioning because there 
are always beginners at that dance and not all callers handle them well.


I believe it's important to know the age and hence physical and mental 
capability of the new dancers. Sautee's dance tends to be family 
oriented so the new (& experienced) dancers range in age from teens to 
seniors. I went to a ContraForce dance at Clemson University several 
years ago. The % of new dancers was around your 60%, but the new dancers 
were entirely college students. The caller was a student and not a solid 
caller. The new dancers took incredibly quickly to the dance. *60% 
beginners? No problem!**


*I was at a River Falls Lodge pre-covid dance packed with so many lines 
of dancers that it was easy to get confused with what's up and down and 
sideways. Dancers were mostly students (under 25?) and, I'd guess, 40% 
beginners. Caller came late so no beginners' lesson. The caller just 
started everyone off with a simple contra and built up from there. No 
muss. No fuss. Worked quite well. I believe the caller's calmness and 
just doing it worked ... never any question that it wouldn't.

**
Another data point is Lake Eden Arts Festival which, pre-covid, had 
5,000 people attending. Their gym, "Brookside", had contra dances with 
(at peak) some 400 dancers. Many (??%) dancers are drunk/high beginners 
who drop in since they're already there enjoying the weekend. They have 
fun for awhile then leave. Don't know what to say about it. It is what 
it is.


Another data point that I've heard about is a tourist oriented Virginia 
city in which the contra dance location was, for awhile, downtown in the 
tourist district. They struggled with older non-contra tourists 
overwhelming their small dance. I believe their solution was to move the 
dance out of the tourist center.


Wishing everyone well as we keep the dance going,
-Heitzso___
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[Organizers] Re: Fwd: Community building floor

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Coming in late ... was helping out at the Meet Me in St. Louis Memorial 
Day weekend dance ...

I was a modern dancer once upon a time and encountered a lot of marley.
All of the marley I ran into targeted ballet and toe shoes which 
requires a high level of horizontal friction.
Not the end of the world for contra dance, but not ideal for buzz step 
et al as has been mentioned.


I had the privilege of rehearsing a few times at an Atlanta Ballet 
rehearsal space.
That floor was literally sprung ... with springs ... which made running 
on it almost
like running on a diving board! So fully ballet level sprung floors are 
not optimum either.


Atlanta contra dance has put down a plywood/strips semi-"sprung" floor 
that was a fine floor

(many many years ago). Plywood had a poly finish for protection.

Recently a friend laid a floor for dancing (she contra dances) in an out 
building

that had a mix of concrete and joists. In that space ...
    strips of wood w/ pool noodle slices for extra cushion
        noodle slices stapled onto wood strip
        just laid on floor
    plywood screwed into wood strips (stabilizing everything)
    modern engineered snap in floor laid in on top of plywood et al

I'm tossing out as FYI. Your community center multi-use space won't want to
mess with plywood.

Heitzso


Hi,

From my experience working for New York ballet and modern dance 
companies and from doing the folk dancing we talk about here, I'd 
offer that the key word is "sprung" and I'd suggest researching 
portable and temporary sprung dance floors.


See:
https://www.stagestep.com/subfloor-systems/springstep-v/

Unacceptable: wood or wood-like flooring installed directly on 
concrete, without springing.  This is as hard, unforgiving, unpleasant 
and injurious as concrete.


Sometimes a search for "dance floors" turns up "marley," which is 
floor covering, only.  It is non-slip vinyl that makes an underlying 
sprung floor safe for stage dance.

https://danceequipmentintl.com/marley-dance-floor-guide/

There are soft and hard versions of marley designed for styles of 
dance and footware.  Again, marley alone doesn't make a concrete or a 
non-sprung floor ok, but it can be quickly rolled out onto an "okay" 
residential wood beam constructed floor for dancing.  An advantage to 
this route is that, for low cost, it will protect the surface of, say, 
a basketball court enabling a multi-purpose floor.


One might also research the floors for basketball courts which have 
the same requirements of being wood, but soft.


As an aside, your challenge reminds me of the floors of large event 
arenas, which might have to be changed from a basketball court to an 
ice rink to a stadium floor, etc.


Sometimes, also, a hard floor problem can be solved with footwear.  
Yours might become a sneaker dance on a concrete floor, just as 
sneakers are used for street dance (e.g., hip hop).


Sounds like an exciting project.

Best wishes,
Rob

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Robert Matson
President
Innovation Media Corp.
The Innovation Works, Inc.
Tel: (646) 233-1219
Cell: (917) 626-2675



On Fri, May 26, 2023 at 9:28 AM Jim Thaxter via Organizers 
 wrote:


Hey Organizers,

My home town, Columbia, MO, is building a welcome/community center
for multiple uses. Our contra group has asked them to consider
something other than smooth concrete for the floor.

The City parks and rec people were initially resistant, but since
a lot of the funding for the building will be coming directly from
the community, they seem to be softening their stance, but not to
the point of approving a hardwood floor. So the architect has done
some research on alternative flooring options that might be
comfortable and safe to dance on, but also have many of the
conveniences of concrete floor for multiple uses and maintenance.

Two products are listed in the attachments below. Unfortunately,
the only known installations are 300-450 miles from us in Indiana
and Kansas.

Have any of you out there in dance land run across either of these
kinds of floorings, or maybe know of other alternatives to
hardwood that would meet low maintenance requirements of the City?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Jim Thaxter
Columbia, MO

-- Forwarded message -
From: *Robbie Price*
Date: Tue, May 9, 2023 at 9:12 AM
Subject: RE: Community building floor
To: Jim Thaxter 


Dear Jim:

With a pure dance floor out of the question (too much friction for
your purposes and too expensive), I am looking for floor which
gives you the cushion you need and the durability to resist table
and chair scratches, dropped equipment, and food spills. My rep
from Tarkett, one of the largest flooring companies in the U.S.
have a sports/recreation flooring division, Zoche, which may work.
He recommends their Omnisports system “Multi-use” or the Lumaflex

[Organizers] noting some dances in SE are doing well

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Just want to flag that the following dances in GA, NC, SC are doing 
quite well:


    Sautee (hour and a half above Atlanta, not quite middle of nowhere)
https://snca.org/contra/home.php
    seem to be averaging 130-140 dancers at their monthly dances
    last dance I attended the beginners' class completely encircled the 
large gym

    lots of family energy (very wide range of ages)

    Old Farmers Ball, OFB, at Warren Wilson outside of Asheville
https://oldfarmersball.com/
    at their peak they had over 200 dancers every Thursday evening
    I don't know if they've gotten back up to that peak
    but I've heard it's a strong, solid dance

    River Falls Lodge, SC
https://www.facebook.com/groups/harvestmoonfolk/
    this really is in the middle of nowhere
    I'm _guessing _150 dancers would be packed.
    I'm hearing that it's often packed now.

    Charlotte, NC
https://www.charlottecontradance.org/
    I first encountered this dance several years ago and loved that their
    peak demographic was the 30-40 year old crowd that often
    disappears to raise a family. They've had to move a couple of
    times over the past few years and their numbers had dipped (down to 
80??).
    I was around for a few of their early post-covid dances with ok 
numbers (70??).

    I gather the dance has gathered steam and is now quite solid,
    though I don't know demographics/numbers ... just that it's doing 
great.


A lot of the above is hear say and may have changed since the last hearsay!

I apologize if I'm speaking out of turn.
Organizers are welcome to correct me.

Thought some positive numbers would be a nice thing ...

Heitzso
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[Organizers] Re: Need ideas/feedback about how to get new dancers to return

[Heitzso via Organizers]

I'll toss out some perceptions of how some dances in my area (northeast 
Georgia) are doing.
I can't absolutely say why some are growing and doing very well versus 
others that are on life support.


(I apologize if I step on any toes, please chime in and correct me if 
I'm off. Thanks.)


my dance, Gainesville, Georgia, monthly ... we were very slowly growing 
to 90 - 120 dancers and then
covid knocked us out. I will be restarting (not as the formal 
organization, just myself) in April.
I'm pulling back to a small (but loads of character) cabin in the middle 
of my city
that maxes out at 60 or so dancers. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm 
flooded with dancers or no one comes. TBD


Sautee, Georgia, monthly ... they've exploded with dancers, a few dances 
back they had to
turn dancers away because of building restrictions (believe that was 
around 240 dancers).

I went recently and they had 140 dancers for a local band.
Their overall feel is "family friendly" in that many families come 
(doesn't mean loads of elementary school

age dancers but not unknown).  That dance I went to had some 20 new
dancers that came from one local college alone (maybe another 20 new 
dancers from other sources).

That's not unusual for Sauee. A very wide range of ages attend that dance.
(very old gym, loads of character, middle of nowhere)

Atlanta, Georgia, weekly ... they're stable, 80 to 95 dancers typical. 
Several new dancers
every week, but overall number doesn't seem to tick up. At the same 
time, there's not
a lot of anxiety ... stable is okay.  Overall some new dancers stick and 
some dancers move

away and some dancers age out.

River Falls Lodge, SC, weekly ... very strong turnout, lots (and lots) 
of young dancers.

(high school, college, and up)
I've heard of so many dancers that it's uncomfortable recently.
This is a quirky, in the middle of nowhere, ancient of days dance hall.
I'm guessing 160 dancers would be tight but maybe doable fit.
    prior younger gen at RFL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC1THbxnGUQ
    more recent pre-covid lower turnout: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0LVxHb5WvE

    (imagine three times that number of dancers for current RFL dances)

Chattanooga, TN, not sure of frequency ... struggling.

Athens, GA, haven't restarted post covid but heard rumors that they may 
restart soon.
Pre covid they had a pleasant 60 - 85 person dance in a small community 
hall in

a park.  Mostly local talent.

Charlotte, NC, monthly ... restarted last summer, I've heard they're 
doing great
with a full hall of dancers (130? guessing!).  My pre-covid sense of 
Charlotte
was they had an unusual demographic with a peak of late 30 to early 40 
dancers
along with a reasonable set of younger and older dancers. I'm not used 
to seeing
a dance with that demographic. Their dance had slacked off some 
pre-covid but

now is full of energy. I don't know their current demographic.

Asheville's Monday night dance is struggling to find it's footing 
(recently restarted)
but Asheville's Thursday night dance, OFB, is doing well (just a few 
data points!).




My *assumptions* are:

Dances with lots of energy to start with and a wide range of ages are 
pulling in

new dancers and doing well, i.e. keeping a number of them.

Dances without a lot of social event competition, i.e. more rural areas, 
can (!)

do well.

Here, in the SE, for good or ill, dances that require masks are having more
trouble coming back or getting new dancers than dances that don't 
require masks.
I'm not making a value judgement in that. Just a note that is likely 
region specific.


There's, regionally, tension over role terminology, but I don't have
a sense that that is having a strong effect on the number of dancers 
attending

the above dances.

I realize I'm not directly addressing "getting new dancers to return".
But a *growing *dance *is* getting new dancers to return.


Wishing everyone (and every dance) well,
Heitzso
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[Organizers] Re: Performer "Testing to Unmask" Policy Timing

[Heitzso via Organizers]

My wife got covid at Roanoke Railroader last summer and I got it from her.
I researched then (so relevant to variants then, not necessarily current 
variants)
and most transmission occurs 1 to 2 days before testing to 2 to 3 days after 
testing.
I don't know if that is relevant to this discussion because ...
I assume most people test when they start to feel different from normal health 
...
which might explain the "1 to 2 days before testing" transmission
and that's different from a "test regardless of how you feel to dance" testing 
policy.
But, I do not know that. That just happens to be the data.

Turkey Quicky, a mini-weekend, fortunately escaped covid spread though
someone tested positive Saturday morning after dancing Friday night.
(most dancers were unmasked)
A KY weekend dance before TQ had a roughly 20% covid
spread with a recent negative test and a negative test on entry policy.

I'm not saying what policy should or should not be enacted to
prevent the spread of covid. I'm just noting one official statistic
and two recent weekend dances data points.

-Heitzso
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[Organizers] Re: [External] Re: Electronic admission payments

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Off topic in that I'm not bringing up an electronic payment comment.
On topic in that I'm following up on the discussion re how to make ends 
meet.


I'm aware of a number of contra dance communities that relied on a large
dance weekend's net income to cover the cost of their weekly dances.
My questions or concerns are:
- there were 4 or 5 times as many contra dance weekends just pre covid
  versus 20 years ago so the competition is very different
- the cost of the traditional dance weekend has gone up
- some independent contra dance organizers offer very low cost
  dance weekends that are not trying to make a large profit
  so are able to offer great bang for the buck
- median income relative to inflation is down, particularly for young adults
- the traditional contra dance weekends median age is up
  (at least in the SE region)

To me, the above implies:
- older population that earned higher income versus younger adults 
ability to earn

- have disposable income to attend dance weekends now
- but are aging out as dancers
- without a viable model for younger dancers to replace them
- yielding dying contra dances (akin to the decline of square dance clubs)
- and the dance weekends that are not trying to fund weekly dances have 
an advantage


Perhaps this belongs in a separate thread, but it is pertinent to
some recent comments.

Heitzso






I find that model intriguing also Jeff. That and the annual dance 
weekend to supplement the months you don’t meet performer pay needed.


I think a 1-time admission without requiring membership would help to 
encourage joining, and having a member reach out and speak to 
potential members to welcome them and answer questions.


An invested community is really important.




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[Organizers] update on yesterday's ZOOM concert

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
We had a few glitches in setting up and running, but overall it was
a success.

I had posted to the organizers list to focus on audio/video quality
for ZOOM concerts before the event.
What I've heard from a couple people I trust (musician, sound
person) is that the concert
audio and video was good.

My sense of what made ZOOM audio good, i.e. audio didn't jump or
break up or ...:

    original sound "on" 
    and followed Yale School of Music recommendations for those
settings

    Gigabit Internet to host's home
    wired connection to Internet provider's router (avoided WiFi)
    no one else running ZOOM off the host's Internet
    i.e. reduced competing bandwidth apps

    not sure of this next piece, but believe RME's driver for
Fireface UFX+
        takes over CPU to provide industry best latency    
    my running dedicated ZOOM on new-ish Lenovo T14
        with a lower CPU demands interface passing sound to/from 
        Lenovo T420s running TotalMix FX for the UFX+ 
        Note the UFX+ supports 188 channels at 24/192 which may
explain
        it's driver taking over CPU cycles from other programs
    but I cannot guarantee that that was, indeed, a necessary
precaution
        to ensure no ZOOM audio hiccups. 

Good ZOOM video came from:

    high quality Internet noted above

    high quality digital camera in auto mode
        rigged to run off AC for any length of time
        (pro grade zoom lens, constant f2.8, pan and tilt fluid
head)

    digital camera to HDMI to HDMI capture card 
        DIGITNOW USB Video Capture Card
  4k/60Hz HDR10 
          which provided HDMI pass through (not used, insufficient
  setup time)
          and has aluminum case to help dissipate heat --crucial w/
  sun and afternoon temps
  
      I had asked pro videographer and pro photographer friends to
  run camera but they were busy
          this would have helped, e.g. when audience had their cell
  phone flashlights on
          and were waving them back and forth our MC panned the
  camera to them, but that was awkward
  
  Odd gotcha:
  
      setup outdoors, sun on laptops while rigging sound/video
      when turned on, laptops immediately shut down from overheat
  (sun)
      taped umbrellas to mic stands and position fan on sound table
  
      pointed at laptops ... got temp down
      hosts setup 3 shade 'sails' for my table and for the musicians
  
  
  Not wanting to bore or off-topic this list.
  But getting a good ZOOM concert is *not* trivial.
  I'll be glad to answer questions off line or via phone.
      770-654-5098
  
  
  Related, the silent auction was setup on Facebook and that worked
  out ok.
  I believe 150 or so folks signed up for the silent auction and a
  couple thousand
  was raised off it.
  
  Whether we get to it or not, the intent is to write up what we
  learned
  and make it available within our community. 
  _
  
  Sincerely,
  Heitzso

  
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[Organizers] Zoom concert, trying to get good sound, Sun 29th

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Hi organizers,

The "on topic" aspect of this email to the list is I'm trying hard
to get good sound out to a ZOOM concert
and how well that works (or doesn't work) may be of interest to
  dance organizers.
I gave up attending ZOOM and Facebook concerts a long time ago
because of bad audio.

This event is a concert fundraiser for Mama Bear, Kim Yerton,

that's being held tomorrow, SUNDAY, August 29th, from 5 to 7:30
  PM EST.
The band is Toss the Possum and Friends who are in the
Atlanta area for a wedding in Asheville today, Saturday.
Kim will take part via ZOOM for a half hour break from 6 to 6:30.
The ZOOM meeting opens half an hour early and ends half an hour late
to allow for some social time.
Yes, you'll be asked to donate and, yes, you'll be told about a
silent auction being hosted on Facebook.
But you can join in and not donate or buy a silent auction item if
you don't want to. 
If you are tied for time, you can pop online for 10 or 15 minutes
during one of the two concert hours:
    5 to 6 and 6:30 to 7:30 (PM, EST)
and get a good sense of whether or not we hit the mark with good
sound (listen w/ good speakers or headphones!).

The ZOOM meeting information for this Sunday, Aug. 29th, 5 to 7:30
PM EST event is:
https://zoom.us/j/98662728527?pwd=aGE4eVlkR1o2QWR2clVRSjQySDladz09
  
 Meeting ID:
  986 6272 8527
   Passcode: 112813
   One tap mobile: +14703812552,,98662728527# US
  (Atlanta)
  Limit = 500
  participants

Audio ZOOM:

    input channels -> 2 RME Octamic XTC -> Fireface UFX+
interface 
    controlled by a dedicated T420s laptop and remotely via tablets
    (to offload the ZOOM computer)

    Fireface UFX+ -> Fireface UCX (over analog for simplicity of
wiring)
    controlled by recent model Lenovo T14 AMD which is running ZOOM
    the UCX has a much lower CPU demand, hence it's feeding ZOOM 

    Gigabit Internet to hosting house
    all wired, no WiFi, to ZOOM

    ZOOM settings: As per Yale School of Music recommendations
    for quality audio.

Video ZOOM:

    Olympus OM-D EM-1 mk 3 with extra battery handle and AC
    to provide continuous HDMI out for the entire event; 12-40 f2.8
m43 lens
    fluid pan and tilt head
    aluminum case (heat dissipation) HDMI capture unit that
    presents the HDMI as USB WebCam input

Live audio speaker setup (note outdoors, very small group of
people):

    The above UFX+ interface feeding RCF TT 08A ii mains
    and an older RCF TT 12 subwoofer.
_

Re CoViD: Event is hybrid live/ZOOM with vax only and spacing
outdoors.
We expect maybe 15 "attendees" and another 10 "workers".
We believe the low number of live attendees is due to our requiring
proof of vax
and folks who are vaccinated are more likely to be cautious, etc.
(our limit is 25
in person attendees and we're not close to that number).

Sincerely,
Heitzso

 
  
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[Organizers] Re: Your input in the focus for Dance Flurry organizer discussion?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

A UGA business school presentation about a month ago forecast being able to 
resume full social activities by mid-summer 2021 and a concurrent economic 
recovery for GA. They predicated a good bit of their forecast on a 1.5T COVID 
relief bill which didn’t happen. In that same time frame of a few weeks ago I 
heard an epidemiologist predict late 2021 to early 2022 based on vaccinations. 
I don’t know where rose tinted glasses end and immunity from a large percentage 
of our population getting immunity from having had it begins (with concurrent 
deaths).

I appreciated doctors and scientists on prior presentations.

My bias is it is too early to start talking about when we can have dances 
again. On the other hand, my wife, Jennifer, is eager to start these 
discussions.

B’ham announced their weekend dance ... 3rd weekend August.

-Heitzso 
January 12, 2021 11:21 AM, "Emily Addison via Organizers" 
mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net?to=%22Emily%20Addison%20via%20Organizers%22%20)>
 wrote:
Hi fellow organizers,I hope folks are doing fairly well. These are certainly 
interesting times.
Given that some of you attend the annual organizer discussion at the Dance 
Flurry, I wanted to check in about the focus of this year's session.

I've drafted a description for the session (see below). Do you have any 
thoughts? I feel as though February might be good time to start talking about 
how to restart our dance events, even if we don't know when. (The vaccine 
rollout is giving me a tentative hopeful feeling that gatherings might start in 
within the next year.)

Any advice/thoughts are welcome including alternative topics. The only topic 
I'm wary of tackling are those that relate to when dances should open as I'm 
not a health expert and we won't be bringing in health experts to be part of 
the discussion.

Thanks,
Emily

Organizers Unite - Talking about the HOW of restarting our events!
Join our annual Flurry organizers discussion for a unique focus this year... 
talking about the HOW of restarting our events. Share your thoughts and ideas 
about how your community plans to restart dancing, re-engage long standing 
dancers, and attract new participants.
(We won't focus much on the WHEN of reopening as those decisions depend 
highlighly on the pandemic and professional health advice.)
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[Organizers] Re: It might be a long time until we dance again

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
(Gainesville, GA, here) 

My focus is trying to understand the math.
We'll be able to dance again when our country's herd immunity for CV
is high enough to suppress CV,
i.e. when average number of transmissions, R0, < 1.0.
Wikipedia's article explains it well
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity
Because CV is new, we don't really know it's herd immunity.
Referenced article has it pegged between 29% and 74% of the
population for CV.
Our U.S. population is approximately 330M.
Hence we need somewhere in the range of [96 to 244M] people
  who are immune to CV 
  either via a vaccine or from natural anti-bodies to stop the
  pandemic.
Social distancing and related measures are an artificial way 
to alter R0 by giving the virus fewer pathways to other infections.

The forecast website that's watched the most is 
    https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america
They give a most likely total deaths number in the U.S. of 60K 
(warning, large variation on graph and they don't specify their
confidence interval on the graph) 
which implies 2M total # of infections by mid summer at 3% fatality
rate (our country's current).
100% population antigen studies suggest for half of all cases they
were not aware they had had CV.
There are other under count issues for both numerators and
denominators, 
but it's still easy to see that even with an under count multiplier
of 3 (3 x 2M = 6M)
we have not reached herd immunity (at least 96M must be immune if
the lower HI% is correct!) 
without the social engineering we're doing to decrease R0.
Pushing the numbers: worst case deaths is approximately twice the
expected so 120K deaths (that projection web site)
and assuming 1% fatality rate we have 12M confirmed cases and, using
an under count adjustment factor of 4
we have 48M who are immune to CV by late summer w/o a vaccine. 
That's still half (48/96) of the (SWAG) minimum needed to achieve
herd immunity
or (48/244) 20% of what's needed to achieve herd immunity if using
the higher guessed herd immunity percentage of 74%.
Do read the wikipedia article to compare those HI percentages for CV
against other known diseases.

Hence we will need to practice some form of social distancing until
a vaccine is available.

Why this isn't discussed more is noted, indirectly, 
in a recent article on other countries planning on coming out of our
extreme social distancing.
Most do not want to announce their plans on coming out.
-- do not distract everyone with the long term
economic/psychological distress 
-- focus on taking care of the problem NOW
though, with those caveats, most countries plan an extended form of
social distancing
after this first wave blows through (read no contra dancing).

As has been mentioned, extensive testing, surveillance, and
quarantine when combined does work.
The Lawfare Podcast for March 28 "Coronavirus Around the World" has
an interesting report from S. Korea
(Yale student who returned home when Yale shut down.) at 24:50. 
At a national level all cell phone location, surveillance cameras,
and purchase data is tracked.
When someone is flagged as having CV all of their possible infection
contacts are tracked via that
data (back tracked) immediately and all possible contacts have to
get tested ASAP 
which takes about half a day over there for everything, result
included(!).
(The speaker said that because someone on his flight ended up
testing positive he had to be tested
and it took less than half an hour to drive to a test site and get
sampled for the test 
with the result available a couple hours later.)
Because of this, they, S. Korea, are able to keep shops open, etc.!
But given both our cultural bias against that level of personal
monitoring
and our seeming inability to accomplish easy and quick testing (for
virus active shedding, not antigen)  
I'm not betting on that happening.

I may be pushing into la-la land here, but I don't know how
dependable the website
      https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america
  is. Their 'most-likely/dashed-line' projection has daily
deaths peaked now.
However, another data source that's collecting data shows, as of
4/10, daily deaths
increasing by 13% day over day.  While that's better than the recent
maximum over 30%,
that's still a long way from zero. Admittedly, deaths lag new cases
and new cases lag
new infections. It is hard for me to reconcile an increasing death
rate over 10% day over day
with the pronouncements that we've likely hit a peak, i.e. that the
day over day CV death rate
is at or below 0%.

    

Re: [Organizers] Advertising for dance weekends

[Heitzso via Organizers]

We (Jennifer Horrocks and myself as @gaga) hosted 2 weekends of 
discussions ('17 & '18)
for dance organizers in the SE (Baltimore to Memphis to Charleston 
attending).

We then assisted Berea in hosting a similar weekend of discussions for dance
organizers in their region this past summer.

The answers to your question as I recall the discussions were all over 
the map.
I personally agree with Jonathon that you're better off with social 
media, e.g.
a Facebook event that gets passed along, liked, etc., but we've had 
organizers

who (quite successfully) do just paper handed out at local dances,
others who use email lists of dancers who are known
to travel (collected from friends who have run weekend dances and had 
collected
email addresses of dancers who attended), etc.  I also remember one 
organizer

who refused to come to our weekend discussion because we still used email to
communicate when we should be Facebooking (why should he bother attending
a discussion hosted by Luddites?).  As I said, all over the map.

Who is your target demographic?  Younger dancers communicate differently
than older dancers (paper ... web pages ... email ... social media). 
Last I heard,

the youngest now live on Snapchat and disdain Facebook, Instagram, et al.
Yikes. Moving target and all.  How much is your dance weekend? Younger
dancers don't have the same discretionary income that us old farts had at
their age. Noting that because targeting younger dancers with an expensive
dance weekend doesn't go anywhere.  Who do you have for talent?
Great Bear's last outing packed the dance weekend (Winter Warmup).
Ditto Perpetual e-Motion's last outing at Mentone (Birmingham's weekend).
So top talent will draw on their own.  But if you have top talent booked
and the same headliner band is leveraging a tour of weekends in your area
then the draw goes flat.

The ecosystem of weekend dances is rather full in many parts of the country,
so a lot depends on how well known your weekend dance is, e.g. how many 
years

has it been going on, how well attended in the past, etc.

Wishing you well.

Heitzso
http://atgaga.com



I've just become the co-organizer of a dance weekend. Can anyone give
me tips on publicizing the weekend? We'll obviously bring flyers to
nearby dances and dance weekends, but what else should we do?

Thanks!

Larry
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Re: [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel consumption

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Whoops. My bad. I apologize for the "dance gypsy".
Would have been best if I hadn't used that word.
Personally I think positively of the word "gypsy".
But my sister lived and worked with some of them in England decades
ago
and can speak authoritatively about how vehemently they feel about
this word.
We might best understand it if we had a contra move called the
"N_"
that involved some shake and jive step.
We know to be extremely careful with the "N" word.
In the United States we're not attuned to the "G" word.
But I gather, from my sister, they have similar affect.

Somewhere in this mess of words I hold onto the BELOW WORDS value of
contra dance.
By that I mean the physical act of contra dancing binds us together
(and not words).
We don't ask what political party someone belongs to before dancing
with them.
Ditto beliefs about God.
I think that's important.
From that perspective getting lost in the words can be a tangent.
(Is this email wordy enough?)

-Heitzso



  


only slightly related
  question:  Why is it offensive to call a dance figure a gypsy
  but not offensive to be a dance gypsy?


Mac McKeever

  


  

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[Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel consumption

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
I'm a believer that climate change is a real threat.

I'm also a believer that our culture desperately needs activities
that bind people together
rather than fractures them apart, and I believe contra dance is an
excellent way to do that.
(sharing weight, dancing with everyone, ...)

I've mentioned the issue of how do we change our contra culture to
minimize 
our carbon footprint from traveling to non-local contra dances to my
wife, Jennifer Horrocks, a few times
over the years (she sews and sells contra dance dresses all over the
country).

Recently Liz Burkhart (on this email's "to" list) posted on Facebook
about her trying to alter
her contra lifestyle to minimize her contra carbon footprint. 
Cut-and-pasting from her post:

  
I've spent years with a contra habit that
  takes me to roughly one dance weekend per month. The
  closest, besides our own, was 83 miles away and the
  furthest was 795 miles. I am acutely aware that this is an
  incredible amount of distance to be covered for just one
  weekend (sometimes a week) for a pleasurable activity.
  It's been weighing on me more and more, as it's becoming
  painfully obvious that our lifestyles aren't sustainable.
  My lifestyle at home is mostly pretty simple, but I feel
  this nagging guilt when I do something extravagant, like
  drive to Vermont for YDW. Although we did our best to cram
  up to 6 people and our stuff in a van, we still consumed a
  lot of fuel to make it happen. Some people flew, which
  consumes even more. 
 I think I'd like to work on decreasing
  the amount of out-of-town events I go to, and try to find
  alternative ways to get there. Carpools are great and much
  better than driving solo, but we could do more. One dancer
  this weekend took public transit and a bicycle from DC
  area to Vermont. A whole band playing for a square dance
  weekend a few years ago biked from south (I think New
  Orleans?) all the way to Nashville. I think this is really
  admirable and more people should consider something like
  this. This ongoing climate change makes our world a scary
  place, and it will only get worse (it doesn't look like
  those with the power to fix it care to change the high
  consumption status quo). It's also becoming more common
  for me to have to drive distances to call contra dances,
  which is harder to find carpool mates for. I'm not sure
  what that will look like for me - I am fantasizing about a
  NE train/bike tour with dates far enough apart that I can
  make it to gigs with this slower and less convenient
  transportation. I'm also considering making a vow to never
  fly on an airplane again. Their use is so incredibly
  terrible for our environment.
 Has anyone been adapting their travel
  habits in the face of climate change?
  

I believe that we, our contra community, needs to openly start
discussing this issue.
I applaud Liz's public request for comment and solutions.

Sincerely,
Heitzso
http://atgaga.com
  

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[Organizers] Short happy news, getting new dancers ...

[Heitzso via Organizers]

At our last contra dance this past Saturday (Playing with Fyre & 
Charlotte Crittenden)
we had two adult couples who came to the dance because their teen 
children had
been attending and their children (and their teen friends) were so 
juiced by our contra dance

that their parents chose to check it out. That makes me happy!
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Re: [Organizers] Transition to ungendered dances

[Heitzso via Organizers]

My sense is that it went well last night w/ Seth calling positional 
(versus role) for last night's dance in Atlanta.
This morning there's already been some emails from experienced dancers 
to the Atlanta (CCD) email list saying the same thing ... that it worked.

I don't know to what extent Seth altered the dances he chose to call.
He did call chains and heys.  I didn't experience it as a limited dance 
selection.
(Seth, cc'ing you in case you're not on this list and want to discuss 
your choices.)


If I were to (slightly) change Seth's emphasis last night, it would be 
to not push the gender-less dancing
as much as he did, but rather let us get over one thing at a time.  In 
this case, getting used to
positional calling.  i.e. Seth both called positional and consciously 
flagged having fun trying
out dancing non-standard roles. What I saw is that folks who dance other 
roles normally
danced other roles last night, and folks who dance traditional roles 
danced their traditional role
last night.  From that perspective, Seth's invitation was a nice 
invitation that, for the most part,

was politely declined.

I agree with another commentator that changing the terminology does not 
instantaneously
change the culture. But I also believe this terminology shift opens the 
door a crack which is good.
I often hear that the young adult crowd (under 22?) dislikes "gent/lady" 
terminology regardless of their gender preference.


In any case, I do value this exploration and sharing.

Sincerely,
Heitzso


On Aug 9, 2019, at 9:56 AM, Heitzso via Organizers 
 wrote:


I know that this evening, in Atlanta, Seth Tepfer will intentionally call 
role-less dances (no reference to gents/ladies/larks/whatever).

I'd be interested in learning more details about what Seth does and about how 
it works in practice.  Here are some specific things I'm wondering about and 
that anyone wanting to report might make a point of noticing:

For many dance sequences in the current contra repertoire, correct progression 
depends on some dancers identifying themselves as a 
dancer-who-ends-swings-on-the-left or as a dancer-who-ends-swings-on-the-right, 
regardless of whether or not the caller uses any specific set of names for 
those roles.  Of course, experienced dancers may be quite comfortable switching 
between those roles on the fly--for example, during a partner swing.  On the 
other hand, inexperienced dancers who inadvertently switch roles with their 
(equally inexperienced) partners may be disconcerted to find themselves doing 
some subsequent figure on the opposite side of the set from where they expected 
to do it, or having difficulty finding their shadow (even when the potential 
shadows are not engaging in role-switcing with their own partners).  Dancers 
who inadvertently end a neighbor swing in the wrong place could experience 
various difficulties such as finding themselves catty-corner to their 
respective partners, rather than adjacent, in a subsequent circle of four.  So 
what I'm wondering is this:

1.  Will Seth somehow stick to dance sequences in which identifying as a dancer-who-ends-swings-on-the-left 
or as a dancer-who-ends-swings-on-the-right is actually unimportant?  Or will he really be counting on 
dancers to identify themselves as having one of those roles, even if he contrives not to need to utter names 
for the roles out loud?  Or will he perhaps try to get around the issue by using other ways to tell people 
how to end their swings--for example, by saying whether each swing leaves you where you started it or makes 
you trade places with the other dancer.  (Note, however, that neither "trade places" nor 
"finish where you started" may apply when a neighbor swing is followed by "Down the hall four 
in line".)

2.  If the dances really do depend on people identifying themselves as 
dancer-who-end-swings-on-the- (with or without a short name for that idea), 
I'd be curious how often the dancers--and especially new or less-skilled 
dancers--seem to be swapping roles *indavertently* with partners or neighbors, 
and whether it seems of happen noticeably more or less often than at the usual 
local dances.

3.  If Seth chooses dances to avoid dancers needing to identify themselves by 
where they should end swings, I'd like to know whether the evening overall 
seems to involve an unusually large amount of quirky choreography.

And of course you might notice other details that seem worth reporting.

Thanks,

--Jim




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Re: [Organizers] Transition to ungendered dances

[Heitzso via Organizers]

Just want to thank everyone for working through this and providing 
information on your transitions to this listserv.

Our dance is in Gainesville, Georgia.
We haven't transitioned to gender neutral terminology.
On the other hand, our dancers are moderately comfortable dancing 
different roles.
For instance, it's not uncommon for us to have two male high school 
students dancing together.
However, we're not as fluid as, say, what I've seen at ContraCopia in 
Philly.
I've recently been offering the option of calling some larks and ravens 
to our callers but the environment/mix wasn't right for them to jump in 
(their choice).
I know that this evening, in Atlanta, Seth Tepfer will intentionally 
call role-less dances (no reference to gents/ladies/larks/whatever).
Band in Atlanta for that is Playing with Fyre with David Digiuseppe 
joining in on accordian.

So good weekend grade music.
(They're playing for our Gainesville, GA, dance tomorrow evening w/ 
Charlotte Crittenden calling. Shameless plug if anyone is in the area.)


That's an approach (role-less calling) that Beth Molaro has been trying 
out lately.


Sincerely,
Heitzso

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Re: [Organizers] Handouts on contra figures + history?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
What follows are YouTubes, so may not
  be, at all, what's desired.
  But they're what I refer people to.
  
  My favorite "history of contra dance" is the YouTube
      
      The new Contra commercial - A short
  history of Contra - Part 2 of 7
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG6vVoiFT9c
  
  which, I assume, is simplified, but does map to my entry into
  contra 35 years ago.
  (And which has implications re demographics of our dances.)
  
  Our dance's website currently has 3 videos from our dance on the
  home page
  followed by 3 videos to show what contra dance can be like.  
  I suggest checking out the 3 videos about contra dance (currently
  includes the above short history).
  Here's our website:
    
      http://atgaga.com
  
  Jim Crawford, from Atlanta, has done slews of YouTubes promoting
  contra dance,
  including YouTubes of the basic figures.  Search, on YouTube, for
      "jim crawford contra dance lesson"
  and you'll find his YouTubes, including dancer lessons by Seth
  Tepher and Cis Hinkle.
  
  Sincerely,
  Heitzso
  
  p.s. (way off topic)  I'm excited that one of our teen sound
  helpers invited 9 of his high school friends
  to come to our contra dance this past Saturday, all of whom were
  comp'ed in.  
  We ended with about 70 dancers, well over a third of whom were
  students.
  Our youngest dancers are elementary school aged children.
  
  
  

  
  
Hi Folks,


One of our
  new dancers has asked if we could have a handout on the
  history of contra dance as well as a list of the figures with
  a brief description of each.


Does anyone
  have examples of these types of resources?  Any leads?


Thanks!
Emily
  
  

  

  
  Virus-free.
www.avg.com 

  

  
  
  
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Re: [Organizers] outdoor dances in parks?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Dance repertoire needs to adapt for
  grass or pavement.
  And suggestions need to be made during teaching and during walk
  through re how to adapt for grass or pavement.
  
  Re grass ... go outside and try to waltz with a friend on grass!
  Then try to swing ... and spin out of something ... etc.
  Lots of adaptation needed.
  
  Re pavement ... again, check for that surface's resistance to
  twisting the foot.
  Also check for how hard the surface is.  Asphalt is softer than
  concrete.
  
  Heitzso
  
  


  
  
  
Anyone have tips/advice for ways to successfully structure a
free (no charge) outdoor dance series for the general public in
public parks?
  

  
  
Logistics
Sound
Tips for dancing on grass/pavement
Dance repertoire
Promotion, including language to help welcome in non-dancers
Hydration that doesn't involve single-use plastic bottles
  from aquifer- draining profiteers (ooops, crankpot
  editorializing...)
Add-ons
Other
  
  

  
  
We're working with our parks & rec director and other local
groups to produce a series this summer.  Would love any 'hot
tips" from the hive.
  

  
  
Cheers,
Chrissy Fowler
  
Belfast Flying Shoes, Belfast ME
  
  

  **
  ** **
  

  Dance
  Calling |
Transcription | Belfast
  Flying Shoes

  chrissyfowler.com
| 
westbranchwords.com | 
belfastflyingshoes.org/blog

  (207) 338-0979
  
  

  
  
  
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Re: [Organizers] Youth on your organizing boards/committees?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Our contra dance in Gainesville, Georgia, has a few
elementary/middle/high/college aged dancers (some in every
demographic category).
My goal is "a third under 30".  Usually we have, by door count,
about a fourth who come as students or children in families.
We have a few teens and young adults who assist and dance at every
dance (token pay for their time helping setup sound, door, food,
etc.).

Our board invited two regular dancers/helpers of age (21 & 23?)
to be on our board and they have been on the board now for over a
year.
Our board is not heavily active in that formal board meetings
typically only occur once a year.
My wife, Jennifer Horrocks, and I book and organize our contra
dance.
But the teens and young adults, including our young adult board
members, 
who help out with setup and tear down and who dance are very(!)
important in running the dance. 

This year we invited a husband and wife pair to be on our board who
home school their children.
(Intent being to have one "vote" for the two of them which also lets
them choose which attends board meetings, etc.)
I should be meeting with them in the next few days.
Belaboring this because we want their input on
    how to make the space work for children while staying safe
        (upper running track, toddler play area, skating (skates
available at venue) before/during/after dance)
    how to reach out to home schooled students

Heitzso
http://atgaga.com


  
  
Another quick
  question about youth.


Have any of
  you had success including youth in your boards/committees? 
If so, how
  did you do it?
We've had
  some success here in Ottawa but I'd love to learn more.



We have two
  people in their 20s on our Board and one is also on our
  outreach/publicity team. Plus a teenager on our outreach
  team.  All of those were direct asks to those individuals,
  inviting them to get involved. We created a 'youth' position
  on our Board many years ago and that's what got the ball
  rolling.


I do find
  that a few of our youth volunteers aren't super reliable on
  tasks (even well defined ones) but that can happen with older
  volunteers too and I try to remember what I was like as a
  teenager. :)


Anyway -
  would love your thoughts!
Emily

  


  

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Re: [Organizers] Questions about booking performers for a series

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Jim,
  
  Some odds and ends.  I book the Gainesville, Georgia, dance. As
  Kimbi noted, we work with Atlanta (as does Sautee) to provide easy
  Friday->Saturday mini-tours to help pull good bands this far
  south. The Asheville/RiverFalls/Serenity dances provide an
  established mini-tour path that many bands know, and that helps
  pull in good touring bands for them. We're hoping to do likewise.
  
  I don't have a "stable" of local bands that I need to book, for
  good-and-ill. Good is that I can book the best available bands for
  our dancers. Bad is that we're not developing a full contra dance
  ecosystem. 
  
  I personally invest in our Gainesville dance in that we pay more
  than most venues, we have a nice facility, we provide good sound,
  etc. so good bands are starting to come to us for booking when
  passing through. (clue here is to be established long enough that
  bands approach you)
  
  I don't have a set pattern. Couple weeks ago I started booking
  Sept.-Dec. bands by sending out a half dozen emails to key
  musicians who are in multiple bands. As the dust settles I'll do
  similar for the callers. Handling that sequence because some
  callers prefer some flavors of contra music (traditional, fusion,
  swing, ...) and I try to work positive synergy. I try to give the
  band the option of saying yes/no as the callers line up.  
  
  Some bands that I reach out to are already solidly booked well
  into 2019. I ask them to suggest a date in 2019 and negotiate from
  there. The top national bands book out a year or more in advance.
  
  If there's a weekend dance in the area you can often pick up the
  good bands by offering Thursday or Monday dances (if your regular
  dance lands on one of those days). Wild Asparagus played Summer
  Soirée this past weekend in Asheville. So they played the regular
  Thursday OFB dance the evening before. Toss the Possum was the
  other band for Soirée. Toss played Charlotte's Monday night dance
  after Soirée.   
  
  I don't like saying NO to someone, but do that from time to time.
  Doesn't feel good. Can't say I handle that well. 
  
  KEY:  Work with other local dances in the area, if
  possible, so that everyone can book out as far as good touring
  bands need to setup their tour.  I've had national musicians
  complain that some important touring areas don't book out at the
  same time, which makes lining up tours IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE
  MUSICIANS in that area, without taking large risks. My suggestion
  is have your regular booking pattern, whatever that might be, but
  be open to booking much further out if you are approached by a top
  band/caller.  Also coordinate with the other potential tour dances
  to promote one another to good touring bands.
  
  Also, depending on the flavor of your dance, do consider hiring
  Emily Rush or someone like her to have something similar to her
  RushFest. That's a techno contra with recorded pop music (rather
  than the heavy thump-thump techno music). Relatively inexpensive
  and a ridiculous amount of fun when top hits from the past several
  decades are intermixed and everyone is singing along while
  dancing.
      http://www.rushfestcontra.com/
  Trick is the person who assembles the music puts in a *lot* of
  time to blend the music right.
  
  Our dance's prior bands and callers list, going back two years:
      http://atgaga.com/php/txt.php?txt=/schedule/index#prior
  
  Where are you located? We're hosting a southeast and mid-Atlantic
  region weekend retreat for contra dance organizers July 20-22 an
  hour outside Atlanta in Rutledge, Georgia. Food and housing
  provided free. If you're in the area 
  
  Heitzso
  http://atgaga.com
  
  
  
  


  Hi, folks,

I'd like to hear about different people's approaches to booking bands and callers for a dance series. For example:

* Do you ask a bunch of bands and callers at once for their availability dates and then try to fill in the schedule based on the combined responses, or do you contact folks sequentially on an "if you're available for date X, you've got it" basis?

* How far in advance to you seek to book your talent?  Does it vary for different people (callers vs. bands; locals vs. out-of-towners; top-tier locals vs. others; musicians who don't want to commit too far in advance because they might get offered a wedding gig; ...)?

* What if a band or caller asks you about some date and you were planning to ask someone else that you'd prefer but might not be able to get?  or if you ask about availability of band X and your band contact comes back with something like "No can do, but what about (lower cachet) band Y?" or 

Re: [Organizers] mini-beginner contra courses - ideas?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Lots of (somewhat biased) thoughts.
  
  Re teaching a separate contra "mini beginners course", my wife and
  I recently taught a series of 7 one hour weekly classes at an
  extremely large active retirement community. Overall that series
  was successful, in that we now have 10 or so people who come
  regularly and enjoy the class (we started with about 20, which
  whittled down).  We've followed up with a second series of 6 one
  and a 1/2 hour classes, providing a mechanism for new comers to
  join in by dividing the hour and a half into roughly 3 sections.
  The first half hour focuses on beginner basics tailored for
  whoever shows up. The second half hour is a couple of simple
  contra dances. The last half hour pushes the envelope a little.
  But, and the point of this paragraph, that first class with 20
  absolute beginners and one experienced dancer (my wife) was
  extremely hard. All of the beginner classes I have seen or
  participated in that take place the half hour before the real
  dance always have some experienced dancers joining in and helping
  out.  Even having just 1 experienced dancer in a foursome helps
  immensely.  I thought I was breaking our first class down to a
  simple level when I said "find a partner" and ... but what does
  "find a partner" mean? So it took much longer to teach than I had
  imagined. Now the second series is bopping on along the way you
  would expect because several dancers from the first series are
  coming for that first half hour lesson and helping out. Eureka!
  Anyway, my caution for a separate series of contra dance classes
  for beginners is to really be ready to spend a lot of time on core
  building blocks which are easy to take for granted when taught
  with a few experienced dancers joining in. 
  
  Now for biased opinions ... I'd argue that if you have 15 new
  people each dance and are not retaining 1 or 2 of them every
  couple of dances then you should consider revisiting what it is
  you are offering.  I.e. what is the product you are selling and
  what demographic are you targeting with that product. Scattered
  considerations: 
  
  * There is value in a simple sense of comfortable community that's
  appealing to some, but which won't tend to appeal to younger
  dancers. 
  * A weekend evening is valuable social time. Are you providing
  demographic density that's socially appealing? I go back to the
  early '80s and was the prototypical hippie off the commune back in
  Atlanta enjoying contra dancing in a room packed with my
  demographic peers (vast majority +/- 5 years of my age).
  * Do your callers call well? If not, can you take the marginal
  callers out of rotation? (Oh, NO NO NO, that might offend
  someone!)
  * Are your bands exciting? Do you hire bands that are just good
  enough but not exciting? (But they've been a part of our community
  for the past 30 years!)
  * Is your sound system good enough that the caller and music are
  heard clearly throughout the hall?
  * Is your dance playful? Can someone dip with both feet off the
  floor?
  * Are children allowed? (We typically have one or two children at
  our dances who are under 10 years of age ... they dance well.)
  * Do you have a solid representation of all ages in your dance
  such that if a 25 year old comes to dance they don't feel out of
  place? A 35 year old?  A 15 year old?
  * Do you tell your dancers to flirt when they gypsy? (Which is an
  absolute NO NO for dancers in their 20s or 30s ... you do NOT tell
  me who to flirt with ... guaranteed to not return)
  
  I'm not saying you need to have exciting music with good callers
  and good sound and a nice demographic range to have a good contra
  dance.
  There are contra dances that market comfort and stability that
  have steady numbers.
  But, if so, then tailor your community out reach to demographics
  who are looking for comfort.
  
  (promo follows ...) All of which is on the table for discussion at
  the weekend retreat for contra dance organizers that my wife,
  Jennifer Horrocks, and I are hosting July 20-22 in Rutledge, GA,
  which is about an hour east of Atlanta just off I-20, for SE and
  central Atlantic contra dance organizations. Discussions will be
  directed to avoid tangents, with tangents noted on a "parking lot"
  board to come back to. We will all say what we know and what we
  believe. No one is required to adapt to someone else's beliefs,
  etc. Food and housing provided. Last year discussions ranged from
  how to prep a floor for a weekend to how to dampen fan noise to
  how detailed contracts need to be, besides the more glaring how to
  

Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

If I'm reading this correctly, I'd like to note that "zesty" versus 
"community" is not determined by geography, i.e. rural versus urban, but 
rather one of the culture that's been 
available/created/nourished/stumbled-upon.


In my region you have Harvest Moon that runs both the River Falls dance 
out in the absolute middle of nowhere (15 minutes up a draw once you get 
off the highway, most urban areas are 35+ minutes away)
and the Landmark Hall dance smack dab in an urban area (suburb of 
Greenville). The River Falls dance's dominant demographic is under 25 
and their regular weekly dance is packed insane crazy fun.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWOcdW47bc   (dozens of River 
Falls contra dance videos on YouTube)
The Landmark Hall dance is a pleasant mixed age dance that's age biased 
older and is closer to what I would call a "community" dance.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutRApUMsXc

The St. Louis contra dance in Webster Grove, Childgrove, is nestled deep 
in an large city yet biases towards the comfort of a "community" dance 
versus a yell-and-scream-with-Great-Bear weekend dance.


Point I'm making is it's not entirely about geography.

Heitzso

A belated follow-up to Chrissy's "subtle point": I don't agree that it 
is subtle - I think the culture of a contra dance in a rural area is 
fundamentally different than a "zesty modern urban" contra dance. We 
were discussing this on the way home after the Flurry, and I truly 
value both.


I used to live in an area where I could get to both types of dances 
(roughly halfway between Philly and Baltimore). I could get to one of 
the weekly urban dances on a weeknight and then a community oriented 
dance on the weekend. Now that I live halfway up the coast of Maine I 
don't get the joy of the zesty urban dances I used to enjoy. I do 
still get the joy of the community dances, and I am glad that the 
Belfast contra dance has become such an important social setting for 
our many young attenders. The strong sense of community is wonderful, 
but the fun dance experiences for me are now the occasional festivals 
I can get to.


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Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
This is an old thread, but recently had
  interest from an active retirement community to teach contra,
  which we started last week.
  
  The active retirement community is a gated community with lots of
  resources, e.g. indoor and outdoor pools, ballroom, maybe a dozen
  tennis courts, etc. The community already has one square and two
  line dance classes each week. We had 21 individuals at our first
  contra class in an odd shaped aerobics room that was not large
  enough or regular shaped enough to be able to start with everyone
  in a circle. I've called maybe 10 full evenings of dances, two of
  which were mostly beginners, but that was 2 decades ago. I made a
  few mistakes in how I ran that first class last week, mainly in
  not really getting down to the most simple basics and running
  those basics several times with music in order to establish
  patterns of movement. I've been contra dancing over 30 years and
  watched square dancing 50 years ago. It's hard for me to realize
  how complex the simplest moves are. I did talk with Cis Hinkle
  Friday evening and she gave me pointers for this age group, e.g.
  swings are hard, so avoid at first & teach 2 handed before
  ballroom, build up from 16/32/... sequences, etc.
  
  I'm mentioning this because:
   - possibly a good demographic that can be tapped into
   - ringers (experienced dancers helping out) would be very helpful
  
   - start at simplest level and work up 
  
  Heitzso
  
  
  


  
  CDSS should maybe take on a coordinating effort to be a resource
  and clearing house for ideas to engage others, older and
  especially young, even proactively promote these efforts. 
  
  
  Related I wonder if there are any efforts to actively engage
college students. I am considering approaching our local college
to see if we can’t increase participation. 
  
  
  Related, at least for summers, we have a couple of summer
camps that bring kids to our weekly dance, dramatically
increasing our numbers to the point that some regulars stay away
for the summer. 

Sent from miHand,
  
  
  Peter K Martel



  

  


  

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Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 37, Issue 1

[Heitzso via Organizers]

  
  
Note for organizers in SE and
  mid-Atlantic ...
  atgaga (Gainesville, Georgia contra dance) is co-sponsoring a
  weekend retreat for organizers
  at Warren & Terry Doyle's Appalachian Folk School near
  Mountain City, TN over the 3rd weekend in July.
  I'm covering food costs and Warren and Terry are providing housing
  and meeting space.
  Your cost is transportation and time.
  Primary focus is weekend dances but local dance organizers are
  also invited.
  We'll, collectively, sort out a discussion framework that suits
  everyone Friday evening.
  (to handle the different needs of weekend versus local dances)
  
  Here's atgaga's website: 
      http://atgaga.com
  And here's the Appalachian Folk School's Facebook page: 
     
  https://www.facebook.com/Appalachian-Folk-School-177684482575293/
  Many of you know or know of Warren and Terry because they run CDH
  (Contra Dancers Holiday).
  
  Background ... last July atgaga hosted a retreat outside of
  Atlanta in a large renovated farm house.
  We had some 15 people attend from Memphis, Baltimore, Roanoke,
  Charlottesville, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Sautee and Gainesville
  (GA).
  That was a very productive retreat with a strong request to do it
  again.
  I do not know the optimum size, but the small size of last year's
  retreat worked to its advantage.
  We had lots of one-on-one and reasonable-sized meetings in which
  everyone was able to talk.
  
  IF you might be interested in coming 
  and you haven't already received emails from me re this
  THEN please email me your
      Name
      email address
      city, state and dance organization you are affiliated with
  My name is Heitzso and my email address is 
      heit...@growthmodels.com
  or 
      heit...@bellsouth.net
  
  Thanks,
  Heitzso
  
  


  Ditto that (thanks, Claire). 


Paul Pindris
  
  
On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 3:27 AM, Claire
  T via Organizers 
  wrote:
  Emily
Hope you will post notes from your session for those of us
not able to make it to the Flurry.

Thanks
Claire

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 14, 2018, at 1:16 PM, organizers-request@lists.sharedweight.net
wrote:

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Today's Topics:

  1. Heads up -- organizers discussion group at the Flurry
this
     weekend! (Emily Addison)


--

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:56:19 -0500
From: Emily Addison 
To: organizers shared weight 
Subject: [Organizers] Heads up -- organizers discussion
group at the
   Flurry this weekend!
Message-ID:
   
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hi All,

If you're heading to the Dance Flurry this weekend, I wanted
to give you a
heads up that I'll be leading a one-hour dance organizers
discussion
session on Sunday from 11:15am-12:15pm in Hilton Broadway 4.

This year, we'll be focusing all on upping attendance!!!

When everyone listed their major concerns at last year's
session,
attendance issues were the most common.   Thus - we'll be
really digging
into this and sharing our best practices. :)

Hope to see you there!
Emily in Ottawa
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