Greg, You need to watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7b3yzjAv8c There are dances where you can take the greatest caller in the world, the best band in the world, and there will be stubborn dancers who just. Don't. Listen. "> But if the dancers perceive the process of partnering with first-timers to > be a “duty” or “task” instead of one of the primary reasons they enjoy > attending open, public contra dances—and make the effort to drive two hours > to such a dance—this is the caller’s fault." While, in my experience, the friendliness of the average folk dancer's is better than the average person in general, we are far from the picture you describe. While you and I agree very much so on the caller's power and responsibilities, you paint too rosy of a picture of people. Callers can set a good example, promote friendliness and safety, inject energy into a room, but not even the best diplomats in the world can stand in front of a room full of people who are attending event to have personal fun, and turn them into altruists who want to seek out new dancers. I also think that by alleging this "it's the caller's fault", you de-emphasize the things that *do* work to make dances more friendly. I think they are long-term initiatives that must be done by organizers in conjunction with callers. For example, the dances I attend that have clear, written, expressed organizational values that promote friendliness and safety are, by no coincidence, the dances that are the friendliest and most inviting towards new dancers. That's why we have these discussions here - because it's the community leaders acting together, and not one person at a dance - the caller. This is a *community* dance. Attitudes in a community are dictated by the whole community, not one person on stage with a mic. In dance, Ron On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 9:06 AM, Greg McKenzie <greken...@gmail.com> wrote: > Ron wrote to Greg: > >> ** Booking ahead is done because people want to dance with a small subset >> of dancers who are their friends / the "cool, hip dancers" / etc. ** >> >> So I don't, as a caller, make the assumption that you present. Instead, I >> believe that unless a dance specifically fosters a new-dancer-friendly, >> inclusive environment, and goes out of its way to post signs / e-mails / >> promote discussion with callers / etc, dancers will generally see a narrow >> view of what's going on at the dance. It's up to organizers and callers, I >> believe, to specifically shape the dance to a friendly environment ... >> >> ... if that's the dance's goal. > > > > Thanks Ron. I think we agree entirely about our goals. Shaping the dance > to a friendly environment is a goal implicit in the open, public nature of > our dances and in the accessibility of the dance form to people of all > skill and experience levels. As callers and leaders it is our role to > facilitate that. > > > It is true that many folks “want to dance with a small subset of dancers > who are their friends / the ‘cool, hip dancers’ / etc.” It is a natural > human tendency to form cliques and subgroups. > > > But it is also true that: > > - People want to feel they are a part of something larger than > themselves. > > - People enjoy sharing something they are passionate about with > new friends. > > - The structure of the dance itself requires an empathetic > response from the dancers. We are all in this dance together and if anyone > fails we all fail. > > - Said another way: Our own personal enjoyment depends upon the > success of newcomers in the hall. or Our "enjoyment-maximizing behavior" > includes dancing with first-timers. > > - The caller is in a key position to provide leadership in this > process. > > - There are numerous things the caller can do to make this process > both easy and fun for the regulars as well as for the newcomers. > > > It is always the caller’s fault. If the caller is not doing everything > possible to make it easy and fun for regulars to partner with first-time > dancers then any attribution of this problem to “selfish dancers” is > nothing more than a “blame the dancers” excuse for our own poor calling. > > This is why I think of open, public contra dances as one of the greatest > challenges for a contra dance caller. The caller needs to know how to earn > and hold the attention of the hall. The instructions and calls need to be > clear, precise, structured using the most effective word order, and given > at precisely the time when the information is needed by the regulars so > that they can confidently lead their first-timer partners. > > The sad fact is that most contra dance callers—including some very popular > and well known callers—either do not know how to do this effectively or > don’t believe that this is even their responsibility. Instead they resort > to a “blame the dancers” strategy. I know this because I did it myself for > more than a decade. > > But if the dancers perceive the process of partnering with first-timers to > be a “duty” or “task” instead of one of the primary reasons they enjoy > attending open, public contra dances—and make the effort to drive two hours > to such a dance—this is the caller’s fault. > > Sorry about that. >
