Re: [Organizers] Ideas for connecting family dances with contra

Weighing in from Belfast Flying Shoes (www.belfastflyingshoes.org) in Maine. 1. What is the timing of the different parts of the dance(s) first Fridays 6:30-7:30 Community dance, with open All-Comers Band (For Community Dance only it's $2 adults, $1 kids)

Re: [Organizers] what to do about a dancer with dementia

I always tell people about my one of my favorite dance partners when I was 23 and just starting to dive into contra dancing. He was about 7 decades my elder. Paul Kanaly---one of the sweetest people in the world, a former cross-country champion, and a verrry slow moving dancer. But gosh,

Re: [Organizers] what to do about a dancer with dementia

The notion of hosting a variety of dances to please varied audiences resonates here too. For several years, I've been leading weekly contra sessions (sort of like classes, at a local dance studio) and for some of the participants that scene is preferable to our monthly contra. But I'm still

Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?

, 2016 10:47 AM, "Chrissy Fowler via Organizers" <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote: Interesting data so far! Are there dances out there that have seen an INCREASE in average attendance in the last year? Besides asking

Re: [Organizers] Taking admission

Thanks for all input so far. I expect it will help inform our board discussions. Anyone else? Cheers, Chrissy (for Belfast Flying Shoes, in Belfast ME) ___ Organizers mailing list Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net

Re: [Organizers] Flyers

Doing our part to stem the tide of paper, we have eliminated our own monthly dance's paper flyer. (We stopped making one, although not really to stem paper tide... did it purely to save our promo team time, as it seemed like hardly anyone was taking the flyers at dances.) We do have business

Re: [Organizers] Lower attendance this year?

Glad Heitzo reintroduced this thread, as I'd dropped the ball on responding to Alex. Responses below. And about that focus group, it was lovely. We ended up with fewer respondents than we anticipated, but what got shared was quite juicy, and it spawned a project to further document our

[Organizers] Taking admission

We're curious about how other dance organizers handle the task of sitting at the door and taking money. Who does it? - organizers? - volunteers? - a mix? - nobody? - how many people at a time? How is it done? - scheduling people to do the task (how?) - vetting/soliciting the vols (any

[Organizers] Belfast Flying Shoes programming - Focus group discussion

Here's a link to the blog post with the video from our January 31 outreach program (film at the Belfast Free Library followed by a focus group discussion with local teen dancers.) http://belfastflyingshoes.org/teens-talk-contra/ We're delighted to share the insights of these five teens; we

[Organizers] Belfast Flying Shoes programming - Focus group discussion

Here's a link to the blog post with the video from our January 31 outreach program (film at the Belfast Free Library followed by a focus group discussion with local teen dancers.) http://belfastflyingshoes.org/teens-talk-contra/ We're delighted to share the insights of these five teens; we

[Organizers] dance books - a bibliography

Hi Shared Weight Organizers List. I'm writing to share a resource that I recently put together - Dancing in Literature: A Partial Bibliography. It's posted on the Belfast Flying Shoes blog (http://belfastflyingshoes.org/dancing-books-for-flying-shoes/) and is meant to be widely disseminated.

Re: [Organizers] CDSS youth involvement web chat + a promo work party inviting youth???

I think a promotion tasks "work party" is a great idea. Wow. Love it. Chrissy Fowler Belfast, ME ** ** ** Dance Calling | Transcription | Belfast Flying Shoes chrissyfowler.com | westbranchwords.com |

Re: [Organizers] News on many new organizer resources coming out from CDSS!

What a comprehensive and useful resource, Emily (and CDSS)! I've already dived into it a bit, and have forwarded to my board-mates. Cheers, Chrissy Fowler Belfast, ME ** ** ** Dance Calling | Transcription | Belfast Flying Shoes chrissyfowler.com |

[Organizers] outdoor dances in parks?

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

Re: [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel consumption

Love this thinking! Here's my story: With our local dance 3.2 miles from my house, I seldom travel very far to dance. However, I do log a lot of miles traveling throughout Maine for family visits and for various sorts of calling jobs (dance leadership work is my primary income). I drive a

[Organizers] sorry I forgot to delete history!

Will try to remember next time I post -Chrissy F ___ Organizers mailing list -- organizers@lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net

[Organizers] Re: Special Dance Caller Criteria

Glad that the Shared Weight Organizers list is active again! We produce a monthly contra dance series, whose callers are booked according to the collective priorities of our entire board. Those priorities may seem arbitrary or inconsistent, but we don't worry about that. We also produce a

[Organizers] Re: Organizers Roundtable in Kansas

Hi Margretta, I don't have any suggestions re: a particular facilitator, but you might get good ideas and inspiration from the CDSS Portal. Here's a link to organizer resources for in-person gatherings. On that page

[Organizers] Searching the Organizers List

You shouldn't have to search month-by-month to find a topic. One can search the archives. (click archives in drop down menu - link below - and then use the search function.) https://lists.sharedweight.net/hyperkitty/list/organizers@lists.sharedweight.net/ Chrissy Fowler Belfast ME PS I

[Organizers] Re: Cancellation list AND a way to donate

I'm glad we are sharing information about how we are taking steps to avoid being part of the problem, in terms of being a disease vector. Our group got this from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), which I have found very useful. There are links to New England CDC/DHHS sites, and a

[Organizers] Noodle dance

PS My noodle dance concept is 100% in jest! It's so ridiculous to even imagine it, plus it would be resource-intensive (the world does not need more foam swimming noodles, in my opinion), plus, as someone pointed out, it wouldn't at all solve the problem of transmission via airborne droplets

[Organizers] Re: It might be a long time until we dance again

Here are some thoughts from Belfast ME re: Lisa's questions: Organizers, what are your plans for restarting your dances? At our most recent (online) board meeting, we agreed that we have no firm plan, beyond waiting until it seems safe to dance and continuing to reevaluate as time passes. So

[Organizers] Re: Maintaining contact with our communities

Thanks Sarah, for this important reminder! We all need to stick together, and remember that there are many many many ways to act positively in this unprecedented situation. Here in Maine, we have all sorts of wackiness going on, including vigilantes who are tailing out of state cars for

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

An alternative could be sharing what groups are doing now, or have been doing during this time, to engage and inspire their dancers/musicians/leaders as well as members of your broader community. I’m on a Maine Arts Commission conference today, for arts orgs of all types, and there’s lots

[Organizers] Re: Maintaining respectful and kind tone on the SW organizer list

Thank you, Emily, for bringing the focus back to the Shared Weight priorities! And especially thanks for reminding us of them! These values and attitudes are what motivated me to be involved in organizing participatory music and dance events in the first place. I’m glad they are core

[Organizers] Window curtains that might help w/ acoustics

I am hoping some of you will have suggestions and recommendations for me. (including where else to send this query) Note that I'm also trying to figure out how to sign up for the Trad Sound SharedWeight list. My question: Where would you buy decent quality fire resistant window curtains to

[Organizers] Re: Window curtains that might help w/ acoustics

Thanks all for the list replies, plus the direct 1:1 messages. I'll forward some of the more detailed acoustic recommendations to our sound providers in case those have helpful info for them. And we'll keep in mind the overall acoustic treatment suggestions (panels, etc) in case we have

[Organizers] Request for focused conversation re: dance organizing

Hello dear dance organizers, I appreciate and value this list when it is focused on dance organizing topics, especially when members speak from their own experience. Occasionally, I enjoy posts that meander into related topics, or are an analysis or description of others' experiences...but

[Organizers] Re: Attracting young dancers

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

[Organizers] Re: Electronic admission payments

Great topic! I'm putting responses in Jim's email, below. Chrissy Fowler Belfast ME <><><><><><> belfastflyingshoes.org participatory dance & music From: jim saxe via Organizers Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2022 10:54 PM To:

[Organizers] Re: Some examples of COVID policies

This is terrific! Thanks Lisa! We'll make good use of this data, since the Flying Board will be updating our public health policy in a couple of weeks as we prepare to move our first Friday dance series indoors for our November dance. FYI, since it's not clear in the policy (but is elsewhere

[Organizers] Strategic plan?

Do any of your organizations have a strategic plan? If so, is that plan something you'd be willing to share offlist? Thanks, Chrissy Fowler Belfast Flying Shoes <><><><><><> chrissyfowler.com dance leadership westbranchwords.com

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

“Getting back to the subject of repeat visitors, perhaps the biggest difference of all is a caller who brings the fun and the inclusiveness, the type who can laugh with you when something goes goofy. (… . ) I'm tremendously grateful to everyone organizing contra dances, and to all the people

[Organizers] Listserv dynamics

Dear organizers, On a slightly different topic, when I read Darlene's post, I nodded my head at this: I seldom chime in on things, though I lurk in the background, due to people going on the defense or sometimes attacking. I am only posting so you have some information on what we are doing

[Organizers] Re: Is it time to change our mask mandates?

Responding to Lisa’s question for data on other dance organizer experiences relative to policies about masks: See https://www.belfastflyingshoes.org for info on our programs, policies, etc. Our series resumed dancing outdoors in July-Oct 2022. When our monthly two-part public dance series

[Organizers] Re: New College Contra / 1st time with 50+ dancers!

Congrats Rob and co-organizers! Your optimism and positive outlook come through clearly. A cheerful post to read on a grey morning in Maine. :) Chrissy Fowler Belfast ME From: Robert Matson via Organizers Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 12:40 AM To: organizers

[Organizers] Dance history, incl films

For those interested in dance documentaries, the full video produced by Great Meadow (of which that YouTube is an excerpt) has some interesting perspectives and theories. I saw the "opening" at the Peterborough NH Town Hall, back in the day. David Millstone has made several excellent