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

[David Kirchner via Organizers]

Greetings from Minneapolis/St. Paul!

We are in our fourth year of a once-a-month family dance immediately
preceding the regular Saturday evening contra. We run 6:30pm - 8:00 pm with
a break for a snack in the middle. The contra dance runs 8:00pm - 11:00pm.
We charge $10/family of any size (and any definition), plus we tell family
dancers that they are welcome to come to the first hour of the contra for
free. That's plenty late enough for most families with small kids. Most
families that stay just watch, but some kids do try it out.

We have a somewhat unusual arrangement because we have two dance halls, a
small one and a larger one. We run the family dance in the smaller hall,
meaning that we can run right up to the start of the contra without
interfering with sound setup, teaching session, etc. A lot of
early-arriving contra dancers will stop to watch the family dance on their
way in. Having the two spaces also means that we can have kids with extra
energy to burn racing around in the small hall while the contra is starting
in the big hall.

We have a separate band/caller for the family dance and the main dance. We
run the family dance on a shoestring budget -- everyone who calls or plays
knows they'll probably get gas money and that's it. So far, we've been able
to find callers and musicians willing to do it primarily for the fun and
community spirit.

We've found that we have almost no 'core' family dancers who are there
every time. But we have several families that come 4-5 times a year. (We
gave up on June-July-August dances this year, so we're doing 9 per year.)
As with contra, word-of-mouth is the most important way we've gotten folks
in the door. We did get some people through an interview my daughter and I
did on a local bluegrass radio show -- you can find it at
http://tapestryfolkdance.org/programs/family-folkdance/ (click play next to
"family dance on the radio").

One thing you didn't ask about that I think has been important is the
continuity of programming. Our three regular callers have an overlapping
repertoire of dances, so kids will usually see some of the same dances that
they did the last time. And kids that come frequently begin to know dances
and can request specific ones. My daughter has called dances occasionally
since we started (she's 12 now), and hopefully we'll get one or two other
kids up to calling a particular favorite dance themselves.

Another important point you didn't mention is safety. No dancing with small
kids on dad's shoulders. No whirling kids round and round with feet off the
ground. No kids wandering off by themselves to explore other parts of the
building. NEVER have a situation where a kid is alone with an adult that is
not a parent or other caregiver. And make sure that there are ingredients
available for all food provided so that parents can check for allergy
issues or other dietary restrictions.

That's what we have going on here. It's working pretty well, except that we
need some new blood on the organizing committee so that people can step
aside before they burn out. But that's a common need for all sorts of
community projects, isn't it?

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

[Chrissy Fowler via Organizers]

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)
7:30-8:00 Social break
8:00-11ish Contra dance ($10 adults, $8 ages 13-20, $5 kids---price for just 
contras is same price as for attending both community dance and contra dance)

2. Is there food/potluck/? involved?
No, except at our annual "birthday" celebration of the series inception.  The 
last few years, our birthday treats have been a potluck cupcake tower and a 
clementine tower.
Early on in the series we had a "tasty treat potluck", with savory or sweet 
finger foods.  This happened between the two dances, as a social break.  We 
eliminated it for a few reasons, including these: very few folks brought things 
to share and the series was subsidizing the food, parents of young children 
told us they didn't love the sweets before bedtime, it made a big mess to clean 
up before the contras.

3. How does the transition happen between family and contra?
It's fast.  (Too fast, one might say.)  Usually it's about 20 minutes by the 
time we introduce the All-Comers Band and do community dance door prize 
drawing.  During the transition, contra performers are sound checking, people 
are milling about.
The All-Comers Band sets up in the "back" of the hall, which happens to be 
nearest the entrance and is opposite the stage where the contra performers set 
up.  This works well for us because the sound provider can set up for contras 
during community dance, contra performers can take their time to set up and 
plug in and tune. Then when the community dance ends, the All-Comers Band can 
similarly take their time cleaning up, so that there's less stress on either 
end.

4. Do younger kids stick around and not dance when contra starts? If so where 
are they and what are they doing?
Yes, sometimes with their families (parents, older siblings).  They sit down 
and watch from the sides.  Occasionally younger kids fall asleep at edges of 
hall.  When there are children who run wild, I appoint myself "chief 
grumpykins" and unequivocally remind them that this is a dance and they can 
dance or they can enjoy watching the dancers.  (Grumpykins comes out during the 
break too.  I have very low tolerance of running around.)

4b.  Do younger kids stick around and dance for contras?
Yes.  A handful of very young kids (under 10), varies from month to month.  A 
strong contingent of under 18 dance at the contras, some of whom come early for 
the community dance, especially when bringing friends who are new dancers.  
Most of the very young kids only stay for 1-2 of the dances in the contra 
portion of the evening.

5. Anyone have a play space for younger kids in the evenings?
Not us.

6. What do you do in terms of callers/bands for the family and contra portions?
Community dance - All-Comers Band, with stipend for band leadership; House 
caller, with stipend for calling.  All-Comers Band is open to all ages, 
instruments, skill levels; typically 25+ musicians each dance.  Last month age 
range was 5 - 75, including more than one parent/child/grandparent combo.  
All-Comers Band musicians get a $2 discount on the contras plus chocolate, but  
otherwise get no remuneration.
Contra dance - Varied bands from Maine and beyond; Varied callers from Maine 
and beyond, with house caller leading about half the contras in a year.  All 
performers paid a per person guarantee, plus potential profit-sharing if there 
is money left after expenses.

7. Other things you feel are important details/considerations?
We roll all the admission money into one pile; admission income from both 
dances supports the entire two-dance event.

A side-effect of our schedule (very little lag time) is this:  when folks who 
aren't part of the community dance start arriving for the contras, the hall is 
already full of people.  It feels like a happening thing from the get-go, even 
if most of those people end up leaving by the time folks are inviting partners 
for the second dance in the contra portion.  This is buoying for all concerned.




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

[Jeff Raymond via Organizers]

Howdy folks,
Our dance formerly at Freeport then at North Yarmouth Maine and now in
Topsham is the longest contiguous family into contradance in Maine.
It grew from a pre-dance jam session and potluck supper when the dance was
in Freeport and when we were in NO Yarmouth we added a 1 1/2 family dance
followed by a potluck then by the contra.
This boosted the potluck and few came stayed for the 8:30 contra.
When we moved to Topsham the dance was shortened to one hour followed by a
dessert snack potluck leaving time for s beginner session before an 8 PM
dance.
Some kids join the adult dance for a while. Some of these kids are really
good dancers.
There are some young couples bringing thier kids to the dance who started
dancing at the family dance.
Random thoughts:
We run the dance from Sept to June, the school year.
It took some time to get the dance rolling.
People have out so you gotta keep the publicity active.
Target homeschooling groups if sduch things exist in your area.
We've had in community birthday groups come, they know that they need to
dance with everyone and it's encouraged they bring enough cake for everyone.
Non dancing kids may need to be reigned in if they run around too much.
Initial pricing was something like $2/$5or $6 max per family now it's
$3/$12.
The music is provided by an open band led by a fiddler and a rhythm player
with a fairly limited tune list keeping it accessible. Some of the players
have played for over a decade. I've missed like two in over 20 years, one
when my child was born.
There are some perennial favorite dances, one is Nine Pin, the other is
known to many as the push off dance 'cause rump to rump you count and to
the call "pousser"... well it's fun to watch!
To emphasise one point it takes perseverance to establish and keep vital
any dance and the family dance more so because there's so little continuity.
I'm sure I've forgotten something, like how rewarding it casn be, but
you'll get it right if you keep at it.
Be well, Jeff Raymond
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Re: [Organizers] Ideas for connecting family dances with contra

[Perry Shafran via Organizers]

To answer the question about dance timing, we have a weekday dance which used 
to be 8 to 11, but since it is a Wednesday dance we noticed that numbers near 
the end of the night were getting pretty anemic.  Lots of people left at the 
break and even more during the course of the 2nd half so that even on evenings 
with good attendance, the last few dances of the evening were very small.
To get people to stay until the end, we then attempted a 7:30 to 10:30 dance.  
And people were indeed more willing to stay to the end, BUT it's still the 
weekday and now the problem was at the beginning as 7:30 was challenging to get 
to.  We noticed that people didn't really start arriving until 8 or shortly 
after 8 for most dances, and it was hard to get the dance going.  

Finally we settled for 8 to 10:30, cutting a half hour from the dance.  This 
has presented its own issues as we break at 9:30 as if it were a 3-hour dance, 
but then we have a 3-dance 2nd half and we do have the mass exodus at the break 
anyway, but it's still a decent attendance.  I toy with maybe having equal 
halves, thinking that dancers would stay on for the 2nd half because they did 
not get enough in the 1st half, but I've been advised against that.

As for the connecting family dances with contra, we have done that at one of 
our local dances.  Pretty short family dance (about 90 minutes), potluck in 
between, and many families do leave before the evening contra dance, but a few 
stay on.  I think we try to make the dances easy at the start but even so they 
are challenges for kids who don't understand the structured dances.  

You are right that we have lost the community aspect of our contra dances, but 
it's quite challenging integrating children in our dances.  Many kids can 
contra dance and do it well, but most prefer to run around and dance without 
structure.
Perry

  From: Paul Rosenberg via Organizers 
 To: Emily Addison  
Cc: organizers shared weight 
 Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2017 10:34 AM
 Subject: Re: [Organizers] Ideas for connecting family dances with contra
   
I remember thinking about this situation  many years ago.  I believe we linked 
the family dance with the contra a few times.  A small handful of children 
tried a few contras.  But back in those days, the contras were more community 
oriented. An evening would start with some easy dances, and include a circle 
mixer and maybe some squares. 
 At least in my area, Albany, NY (and other areas in the northeast US that I 
have visited) the shift in recent years of repertoire away from anything easy, 
into smooth, flowing, complex contras -- and no circles or squares — has made 
these evenings unwelcoming and inappropriate for most children
But hopefully, dances in Ottawa, Syracuse, Belfast and some other places still 
value the community aspect of contra dance evenings.
By the way, how do you keep attention of young people for two and a half hours? 
 When we started our monthly family dance in 1994, our dances were 2 hours, but 
included a 5 to 7 minute story and a 5 to 7 minute singalong .   For the last 
ten years, our family dances have been 90 minutes, without any “extras”
For a double dance like this, don’t you think a shorter family dance would work 
better?  Although I suppose some people could show up later for the family 
dance and then stay for the contra, without making a huge time commitment. 
On that note, after decades of organizing contras, community dances, and family 
dances, and watching changing preferences and patience levels of participants, 
I have come to the conclusion that in general, shorter is better.  So many 
dances keep their evening length as 3 hours, even with 80% of the dancers going 
home after two and a half hours..
For those dances that get so tiny for the last 30 - 45 minutes, would you 
consider thinking outside the box and leave the participants satisfied and 
shortening a dance evening?
How many arts events are three hours long?  Most concerts and other shows I 
attend last no longer than two and a half hours at the most.  Yes, in the good 
old days, a contra evening would still have a healthy sized crowd right to the 
end, but times change.  
Part of what keeps our events vibrant and exciting is watching the trends and 
reacting with appropriate response
OK, I have 25 other emails to respond to so please forgive me for typos, etc

Paul RosenbergAlbany, NYwww.homespun.biz





On Oct 12, 2017, at 10:05 AM, Emily Addison via Organizers 
 wrote:
Hi All,
Hope folks are having a good fall!
I'm writing about a question regarding family dances and linking them more to 
contras.
Here in Ottawa, we have four family dances a year... 3-530pm with a potluck 
after.  They're always on the same day as an evening contra which starts at 
730pm with a beginner lesson, dance from 8-10pm.  There's not much overlap in 
audiences and we'd like to have some of the families with the younger and

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

[Paul Rosenberg via Organizers]

I remember thinking about this situation  many years ago.  I believe we linked 
the family dance with the contra a few times.  A small handful of children 
tried a few contras.  But back in those days, the contras were more community 
oriented. An evening would start with some easy dances, and include a circle 
mixer and maybe some squares. 

 At least in my area, Albany, NY (and other areas in the northeast US that I 
have visited) the shift in recent years of repertoire away from anything easy, 
into smooth, flowing, complex contras -- and no circles or squares — has made 
these evenings unwelcoming and inappropriate for most children

But hopefully, dances in Ottawa, Syracuse, Belfast and some other places still 
value the community aspect of contra dance evenings.

By the way, how do you keep attention of young people for two and a half hours? 
 When we started our monthly family dance in 1994, our dances were 2 hours, but 
included a 5 to 7 minute story and a 5 to 7 minute singalong .   For the last 
ten years, our family dances have been 90 minutes, without any “extras”

For a double dance like this, don’t you think a shorter family dance would work 
better?  Although I suppose some people could show up later for the family 
dance and then stay for the contra, without making a huge time commitment. 

On that note, after decades of organizing contras, community dances, and family 
dances, and watching changing preferences and patience levels of participants, 
I have come to the conclusion that in general, shorter is better.  So many 
dances keep their evening length as 3 hours, even with 80% of the dancers going 
home after two and a half hours..

For those dances that get so tiny for the last 30 - 45 minutes, would you 
consider thinking outside the box and leave the participants satisfied and 
shortening a dance evening?

How many arts events are three hours long?  Most concerts and other shows I 
attend last no longer than two and a half hours at the most.  Yes, in the good 
old days, a contra evening would still have a healthy sized crowd right to the 
end, but times change.  

Part of what keeps our events vibrant and exciting is watching the trends and 
reacting with appropriate response

OK, I have 25 other emails to respond to so please forgive me for typos, etc


Paul Rosenberg
Albany, NY
www.homespun.biz





> On Oct 12, 2017, at 10:05 AM, Emily Addison via Organizers 
>  wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> Hope folks are having a good fall!
> 
> I'm writing about a question regarding family dances and linking them more to 
> contras.
> 
> Here in Ottawa, we have four family dances a year... 3-530pm with a potluck 
> after.  They're always on the same day as an evening contra which starts at 
> 730pm with a beginner lesson, dance from 8-10pm.  There's not much overlap in 
> audiences and we'd like to have some of the families with the younger and 
> middle aged kids, naturally flow into the contra dances while maintaining our 
> awesome contra dance vibe (not feel overly family dance).
> 
> We're looking to learn from others on how they might have a better link 
> between the two.
> 
> I know Belfast does a great job and Syracuse also has Family dances rolling 
> into Contras.
> 
> If you do this, might you be willing to share some info?
> Things I'm wondering about include...
> 
> 1. What is the timing of the different parts of the dance(s)
> 2. Is there food/potluck/? involved?
> 3. How does the transition happen between family and contra? 
> 4. Do younger kids stick around and not dance when contra starts? If so where 
> are they and what are they doing?
> 5. Anyone have a play space for younger kids in the evenings?
> 6. What do you do in terms of callers/bands for the family and contra 
> portions?
> 7. Other things you feel are important details/considerations?
> 
> Maybe you have a totally different model...
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> With much thanks!
> Emily
> Ottawa Contra
> 
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[Organizers] Ideas for connecting family dances with contra

[Emily Addison via Organizers]

Hi All,

Hope folks are having a good fall!

I'm writing about a question regarding family dances and linking them more
to contras.

Here in Ottawa, we have four family dances a year... 3-530pm with a potluck
after.  They're always on the same day as an evening contra which starts at
730pm with a beginner lesson, dance from 8-10pm.  There's not much overlap
in audiences and we'd like to have some of the families with the younger
and middle aged kids, naturally flow into the contra dances while
maintaining our awesome contra dance vibe (not feel overly family dance).

We're looking to learn from others on how they might have a better link
between the two.

I know Belfast does a great job and Syracuse also has Family dances rolling
into Contras.

If you do this, might you be willing to share some info?
Things I'm wondering about include...

1. What is the timing of the different parts of the dance(s)
2. Is there food/potluck/? involved?
3. How does the transition happen between family and contra?
4. Do younger kids stick around and not dance when contra starts? If so
where are they and what are they doing?
5. Anyone have a play space for younger kids in the evenings?
6. What do you do in terms of callers/bands for the family and contra
portions?
7. Other things you feel are important details/considerations?

Maybe you have a totally different model...

Thoughts?

With much thanks!
Emily
Ottawa Contra
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