tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post1297906276627855663..comments2019-06-26T06:33:31.410-07:00Comments on JoLaine: The Dangers of Dance CampsJoLainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03973727440294188652noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-78942594378894543392019-01-19T11:01:13.138-08:002019-01-19T11:01:13.138-08:00Really good food for thought (just found this than...Really good food for thought (just found this thanks to a link in a Facebook group)... I do remember coming back from a dance week in St. Croix waaaay back in 1997, dancing every night and some afternoons, and then going to the local Ann Arbor dance the following Saturday after my return, and thinking, "wow, these dances are sure slow here!"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18202830573232043611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-70224053230604553662019-01-14T15:19:12.350-08:002019-01-14T15:19:12.350-08:00Guilty of a few of your points. Thank you for the ...Guilty of a few of your points. Thank you for the post and a resolution for the New Year. <br />Mark G.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17298075311219897313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-15243173419556026302017-06-01T13:54:26.195-07:002017-06-01T13:54:26.195-07:00Beautifully written, and SO true, JoLaine. I'...Beautifully written, and SO true, JoLaine. I'm so glad that Dave brought it to my attention. Thanks!janetfaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11623148117359277774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-75774721156900686852017-02-11T16:45:48.458-08:002017-02-11T16:45:48.458-08:00Great post, Jolaine! Thanks! I will share.
So so...Great post, Jolaine! Thanks! I will share. <br /><br />So so true! So fortunate to be in a very loving local community where we look out for our new dancers and encourage and dance with them, also. <br /><br />AND I can totally relate to what you are saying. ThanksAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827990923283840487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-11516704459577593152014-04-09T08:53:58.294-07:002014-04-09T08:53:58.294-07:00There are some excellent local dances out there, w...There are some excellent local dances out there, with all the spirit of a dance weekend. Contra is intrinsically fun, so if the local dance is lame, it may be a problem with poor location, lack of publicity, or too many troll dancers who leer, criticize, injure, or otherwise spoil it for newcomers (or regulars).<br /><br />Experienced folks can help with some things on the dance floor, but also consider volunteering to help the organizers. It takes effort and good decisions to make a local dance thrive.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17480346170647126456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-75783333646925800142014-04-03T13:29:05.447-07:002014-04-03T13:29:05.447-07:00Lindsey - the Bruce Hamilton piece is referenced i...Lindsey - the Bruce Hamilton piece is referenced in my blog post about dancing with newbies - http://jolainejonespokorney.blogspot.com/2012/11/dancing-with-newbies.htmlJoLainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03973727440294188652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-55838014438741986622014-04-03T12:43:49.321-07:002014-04-03T12:43:49.321-07:00Really well stated. Thanks! Also, Bruce Hamilton ...Really well stated. Thanks! Also, Bruce Hamilton has a great one-pager about this, titled "When you're not the caller". Google finds it easily. L Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12438373871719709894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-2643060508231291042014-04-01T13:43:08.648-07:002014-04-01T13:43:08.648-07:00Great post. If we just focus on our partner at wha...Great post. If we just focus on our partner at whatever level they're and facilitate them feeling they are in that magical moment the most important person in the world. Happiness is an inside experience.robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08510382005720529790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-31557810891864618032014-03-31T14:37:27.200-07:002014-03-31T14:37:27.200-07:00A fun reminder, I was introduced to dancing at the...A fun reminder, I was introduced to dancing at the Flurry, by dance gypsies. For my first nine months of dancing it was a festival or Greenfield. By the time I got around to finding my local dances in the Albany, NY area, it was too late. I was spoiled, a snob. I do still seek out and occasionally support a local dance. But we all know, it's not the same... RJoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15082919560325319028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-28696166708911801932014-03-30T21:19:34.713-07:002014-03-30T21:19:34.713-07:00So many good points. I am reminded of the phrase I...So many good points. I am reminded of the phrase I used to hear as a kid, if I didn't like my supper, to think of those starving kids in (wherever). Now that I live in the midwest, and my closest "home" dance is two hours drive away, I want to say to complainers, "at least you have a home dance." I don't always find bliss, but I usually find a great measure of joy.<br />Swing Jerome!https://www.blogger.com/profile/00385893876097824856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-80334051739417272622014-03-28T14:37:07.313-07:002014-03-28T14:37:07.313-07:00I can relate to Eileen, the first dance I attended...I can relate to Eileen, the first dance I attended I was pushed shoved and snapped at. I've never returned to dance though I have played for numerous dances and I love to dance in other formats. I relate it now to the way I teach fiddle and I try to be endlessly patient and kind no matter how squeeky and slow my student is. So I did learn from the dance police-just not about dancing! Amy HopkinsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703700123225521551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-37558450252237662112013-06-21T19:05:00.143-07:002013-06-21T19:05:00.143-07:00I enjoyed reading this. (Hi, Chris Riccioti!)
Ov...I enjoyed reading this. (Hi, Chris Riccioti!)<br /><br />Over the years and decades, my body has gotten less suited to contra (arthritis in shoulder and spine). I really enjoy welcoming new people into the community, as well as dancing with old friends. But sometimes dancing hurts. And that's when I think, "I wish there weren't so many beginners" or such.<br /><br />I've learned: if I'm feeling cranky, I sit down. If talking quietly with friends (or other folks), listening and watching don't make the crankiness pass, I go home.<br /><br />And come back when I can share the delight of the dance with whomever The Dance puts in my path.<br /><br /> judy goldsmithAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03724185541328219675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-12038551446164954992013-06-21T14:26:43.195-07:002013-06-21T14:26:43.195-07:00Definitely an excellent post, and thank you! I&#...Definitely an excellent post, and thank you! I've been a part of the Boston Gender-Free contra dance community for 25 years (I started this community back in 1988), and I agree whole heartedly. Both dance events, the local dance and the dance weekends are a part of what makes dancing good. My philosophy and the philosophy of our community is, if you really want to enjoy your dance weekends, a part of that is putting some of that joy and dedicated effort into your local dance to help make it a fun and friendly, warm and welcoming community for all to enjoy. As an experienced dance, who yes loves a hot experienced contra from time to time, I still get my greatest joy from being an active participant in helping the new folks who come to our dance for the first time. To be really effective and to ensure new folks feel welcome, it takes a gentle guidance, patience, encouragement, taking some time to help new folks with moves so they too can enjoy the dance the way you do. If we don't take the time to encourage new folks, and make it our goal to help them along, eventually the energy for the dance weekends shifts from being a fun and inclusive friendly community to one of elitism. Eventually if there are no new folks to draw from and add to the weekend events, much like anything else that goes nurtured, they dwindle, become less attractive, and eventually die off from lack of interest and leadership. <br /><br />I feel a real commitment and a responsibility that, as a caller, a community organizer and a dance leader with a vision, that it is vital that we all take a part from time to time to step back, welcome someone new, join the dance with them, and help make their experience wonderful. You might surprise yourself. It is often in giving, even a little, that we can reap so much. Think about it! <br /><br />Have fun dancing!<br /><br />Chris Ricciotti<br />Ricciotti@aol.com Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-80790074380798947712013-06-21T09:43:25.926-07:002013-06-21T09:43:25.926-07:00Excellent post. I'm involved in both the cont...Excellent post. I'm involved in both the contra/square dance and international folk dance communities and your observations are spot on for both! My philosophy has also been the more dancers and the more dances (opportunities) we have, the better. Local groups are not in competition with dance weekends - they're a different entity and newer dancers should be helped to understand how to appreciate them both. I've learned that "Fancy Dancers" or "Hot-Shot Dancers" who add the extra twirls, spins, etc. or who are snobbish about whom they dance with really do this "because they can". In general, I feel they are unaware that newer dancers may be following them as role models, and in some cases, I believe they do not care - it's all about them. As these dancers mature, they may change their attitudes. Many such dancers seem to have forgotten that at one time, they were struggling as beginners. On the other hand, dancers who emulate the "Fancy Dancers" may even think that what they are doing is the norm. However, we have to live with all different types of people at dancing and perhaps some improvement feedback would be in order if the perpetrators of such behaviors are open to receiving it. Whether or not such feedback has any effects, as some callers out here in the Midwest say when things get all wound up, "It's only a dance"!Paul Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16192407979873653781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-31362471242474979702013-06-13T05:23:11.272-07:002013-06-13T05:23:11.272-07:00i'm a sub-beginner, really, but i must say tha...i'm a sub-beginner, really, but i must say that both communities i have peripherally attached myself too have been more than welcoming, the one in Pinellas Park, fl, and the one at john c. campbell folk school. i do love watching the dance, and i do love dancing, but i must confess that, at this age, i am simply too self-conscious to enjoy actually dancing contra. i ALWAYS feel that i am gumming up the works, no matter how many times i am assured that is not true, and i cringe when a new partner comes towards me because i know they really want a wide swing and i'm stopping that. it's certainly not any attitude of the dancers, it's just reality! i haven't been over to pinellas park in several years(i know i shoud start again)...e...https://www.blogger.com/profile/09429557878900457999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-16016565922162640552013-06-12T14:26:50.120-07:002013-06-12T14:26:50.120-07:00Sadly, a dear friend of mine, himself a talented m...Sadly, a dear friend of mine, himself a talented musician who contributes much to the community, had a bad experience with a member of the "dance police" at his very first contra dance. <br /><br />He hasn't been back since, and that was in the 1980s.Eileenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17142493517203680252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387756019667060830.post-10979323338558532822013-06-12T05:51:39.260-07:002013-06-12T05:51:39.260-07:00Excellent post. I shared it with my local group...Excellent post. I shared it with my local group! Kimberly Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09607486250088993980noreply@blogger.com