+1 to Harris's comment To add something a bit minor and pedantic, however, wheelchair ramps are *also* something where dances commonly compromise. I would love it if every dance were accessible to everyone, but in choosing venues for dances we need to weigh a lot of factors (floor, size, cost, location, ...) and in parts of the country with a lot of pre-ADA buildings this often means ending up somewhere without a ramp or elevator.
(Though I do wish dances would at least list on their websites whether they're accessible via wheelchair) Jeff On Sat, Jan 7, 2023 at 4:12 PM Harris Lapiroff via Organizers < [email protected]> wrote: > Julian: > > > Like, how is this "both sides have a preference" narrative any different > from able-bodied people being like "Oh, well, I just don't like handicapped > ramps, I prefer steps"? > > I think we're on similar pages. You seem to be agreeing it's OK if some > dances are mask-optional as long as not all of them are—which I think I > agree with. I definitely wouldn't advocate that every dance should drop > their masking right now. Right now in the Boston area, where I dance, I > believe there are *no* mask-optional dances unless you count Worcester, > which is over an hour drive. So we have the opposite situation here: if you > would like to contra dance without a mask, you can't. I agree this is less > bad than people who need mask-required dances not being able to access > them, but I think it's still some amount of bad, since I have talked to > people (who, again, are not crazy or callous, but dear friends who I have > danced with for many years and who took covid precautions very seriously > for most of the pandemic) who have told me that they will stop contra > dancing if they can't find unmasked dances soon. > > I think masks are not very analogous to ramps. An entryway ramp doesn't > have much effect on anyone's experience of dancing except to make the dance > more inclusive. Besides maybe construction costs, I can't think of much > downside to having an entry ramp and there's plenty of upside. > > On the other hand, I think many people find that masks impair their > enjoyment of dancing. This isn't true for all of us, but it's definitely > true for some of us. A better analogy might be another covid precaution: > open windows. In the dead of winter a hall with all of its windows open > might be pretty chilly. In summer it might be sweaty and humid. But it > makes respiratory virus transmission much less likely if you make the air > inside mix as much as possible with the air outside. In the right hall, I > suspect having all the windows open would be *more* effective than a mask > requirement. But most dances I've encountered post pandemic still sometimes > close their windows if the temperature or humidity would otherwise be > unpleasant and I haven't seen a lot of hubbub about it. > > Anyone who agrees that those dances can reasonably close their windows > understands that minimizing transmission does not necessarily mean taking > every possible precaution. (I'm sure you can think of other precautions we > also don't take at most dances, even if they'd make it safer.) So there's > acceptable debate on what precautions strike the right balance of safety > and enjoyment for your community. For some people masks strike that > balance, for others they don't. I think both views there are pretty > reasonable. (Personally I am not sure I would go to a dance without a mask > in the near future, but I do want people to have the option to and I'm > trying to explain why I see it as basically reasonable.) > > I think an additional element here is that it's hard to see that the covid > situation is going to get much better in the future. When we were waiting > for the first vaccines, there was an obvious target time for when things > might improve. We don't have anything like that now. I think things will > continue to get less risky covid-wise over time, but I expect that it will > be slow and progress won't always be obvious except in retrospect. I think > people are reasonable for asking "If we can't dance without masks now, when > can we dance without masks?" It's possible your answer to that is "No time > in the foreseeable future," but I think a lot of people won't like that > answer very much. Again, I *don't *think every dance should immediately > unmask, but I do understand why our community is split on this and I don't > think the dancers who want mask-optional dances are crazy or callous. > > Perry: > > > I have to question if now, this current moment, is the time to be asking > this. > > Cases are spiking now, but, if history holds—and who knows, it may or may > not—they'll be declining soon and I think it's good to have conversations > in anticipation of that. Right now is around the time when BIDA decided to > restart last year and, when our dance restarted in February, Boston > wastewater levels were at a 6-month low. > > Harris > > On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 11:19 PM Julian Blechner via Organizers < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Question for anyone with the "you will alienate someone" or "everyone has >> a different level of risk" mindset: >> In other areas of life, do you consider someone's personal preference >> (like not wearing a mask) the same as someone's health needs (like having a >> health condition, or a family member who does)? >> >> >> I'm not asking to be mean or rude. I genuinely would love an explanation. >> >> I think there actually _is_ a way to please most people, and not just >> disregard people with medical conditions (or family with them). >> That is - making sure no area's dances are all mask-optional. >> There's a big difference between an area having _some_ mask-optional >> dances, sure, but if they're _all_ mask-optional. >> >> Thanks, >> Julian Blechner >> >> On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 5:56 PM John and/or Jan Bloom via Organizers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> As Alan said, whatever you do you will alienate someone. >>> >>> What I did with the Brunswick ECD was to ask all of the dancers >>> - would you dance if masks were required >>> - would you dance if masks were optional >>> and so on. >>> >>> Then I picked the rules that maximized the number of dancers. >>> >>> I realize that this is harder for Contra, where you have a lot of >>> dancers that you can't ask, including potential future dancers. But in >>> my case it seemed like the right way to do it. >>> >>> John Bloom >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Organizers mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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