Just Ask Alice

Went to the Sunday Boca Raton dance and missed the Miami Barnacle dance.  Alice Milmoe called and Cornbread played.  The incorporation of Christmas songs into the repertoire was nice, although using the Chipmunk's Christmas Don't Be Late for a waltz was a bit odd.

I like Alice's calling, though I think most female callers need to speak up just a bit more than they do.  I've been told the same about my calling, of course.  Alice was calling at Orange Blossom Ball a few years ago and paid me the supreme compliment of asking me to dance.  With a room full of excellent dancers, being singled out like that was most gratifying.

Here is the website link once again for anyone who wishes to sign up for the New Year's Eve contra dance: http://new-years-eve-contradance.jwbsite.com/  The more people who sign up early, the better we can make the dance.

Decent-er 3rd

A decent turnout for the December 3rd dance.  Not quite up to two lines but enough to fill the hall with one line.  More guys than gals again, which used to be unusual but seems to be occurring with more regularity lately.  Stepping Stones played and Brian called.  Brian attempted, with some success, to give us a couple of harder dances than usual.  I can't fault Brian for trying, but most of our dancers just aren't up to that level.  At least the contra corners went reasonably well.

I did get to announce the New Year's Eve dance once again, and while there is some interest, I still don't have a good feel for how many will actually come to the dance.

When I was in Valparaiso, Indiana, I felt like the callers called too many circles, squares, Sicilian circles, triplets, and other novelty dances, and not enough contras.  Down here in south Florida, I feel like we don't get enough of them.  The only one I really don't like is the four-facing-four arrangement, only because you get stuck with a permanent corner not of your choosing.  I have tried on occasion to pick my own corner, but most of the time it doesn't work.  The other problem with the 4-4 arrangement is you only get to dance with half the crowd.  The same problem occurs with the Sicilian circle, but by turning another willing couple, you can head back the other way and dance with everyone.  Picking your own shadow is also problematic, particularly if you don't know a dance with a shadow is coming.

Miami Dance

An unusual evening in Miami where new people showed up all evening long, making things a little difficult.  It's still the case, though, that the Barnacle dance attracts the youngest crowd of any of the dances.  I don't know that the Barnacle dancers actually translate into many (or any) regulars, but if we could figure out how the Barnacle dance attracts younger people and do the same at the other dances, we might start to create a new generation of contra dancers.

It was a pretty low turn-out for Miami.  I expected a lot more considering it was relatively cool and close to the snowbird season.  Too close to Thanksgiving, perhaps, but that's always true of November.

I will soon have a website where you can purchase tickets for the New Year's Eve dance.  I talked to the scheduler for the Woman's Club and no one else has asked about renting it, so I'm going ahead with the dance.  Please sign up!

November 20th Dance

I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to announce the New Year's Eve dance, so I haven't posted anything this week about last Sunday's dance.  But now I have something new to post about.  If you haven't heard of him, go check out Cecil Sharp, the founder of the English Folk Dance and Song Society in the UK.  (Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Sharp)  Not only was Cecil Sharp instrumental in saving and reviving folk dances and songs in England, including Morris dancing, he toured Appalachia and wrote down and preserved many folk tunes here in the US.  It may not be stretching things too much to say that there would not be a Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) in the US if Cecil Sharp hadn't existed.

I can't recall the caller's name now, but different is always good.  The dance in Valparaiso tried hard to have TEN different callers a year, a different one every month in the season.

The Twelfth of November

Cornbread played and Anita and Brian called, dividing the calling duties between them.  Turnout was low but better than usual.  Lots of new people were there, with the usual confusion that results.  But at least the balance of male and female was pretty close, and even right on the money at one point.

I did get to announce the New Year's Eve dance, and three people were interested in it, but no ticket sales yet.

For anyone too young to remember, my post title is a reference to The Twelfth of Never, a song back in the 50s by Johnny Mathis.  I'm too young to remember, too, but I like old 50s songs.

November Now

A decent turnout last night at the 1st Saturday dance, although it didn't look like it would be at 7:45 p.m.  Chuck Abell called and Stepping Stones played.  Both did a very nice job.  I think there was only one new person there, and none of the young ones from the previous dance.  A lot of our regulars were missing, too.

I announced about the New Year's Eve dance, and got a round of applause, which was a bit of a surprise, but no tickets sold yet.  If you'd like to buy tickets ($15 each), please get in touch with me.  Pat Czar will call and Pot Luck will play.

It will be interesting to see if we end up on the FAU campus whether or not any/many students come out to try contra dancing, or if they do, how many keep at it.  I know in Goshen, Indiana, the students at the college did NOT go to the dance when it was on campus, but DID start going after it moved off campus.

5th Saturday

A disappointing turnout for my dance Saturday, just eight paying guests showed up, ten total.  We're going to go ahead with the New Year's Eve promotion to see how many people we can get signed up.  Around 30 came to the NYE dance two or three years ago, but a lot of those dancers have not been coming to any dances lately.

I lead a trivia team on an on-line trivia site that attracts top-notch players from all over the world, and I have led my team to the top of the bunch, either #1 or #2 in almost every game.  Why haven't I been able to do the same with my contra dance?

Pot Luck is going to play for New Year's, so I have a band lined up.  It's going to be $15 instead of the usual $10, but we're going to go five hours instead of three and a half, and we'll have two breaks instead of one.  Pat Czar is going to call.

Remiss

I've been somewhat remiss this month in posting concerning the contra dances, and I don't really have any excuse for it, I've just been absent-minded.  However, I want to assure anyone who hasn't been to the Boca dances to hear, YES, there is a dance this Saturday, the 29th, at the Davie Woman's Club, from 7:30-11:00 p.m.  Pot Luck will play, and we're going to have open mic night for calling.  So far, I've got two callers coming plus me, and I'm hoping to hear from a couple more before Saturday.  So come on out and enjoy the variety.

The Sunday Boca dance last week was lightly attended, and I understand there was more than one disagreement that took place that soured the atmosphere for more than two people.  There were not enough men for all the women who wanted to dance once again, too.  I trust the atmosphere will be more pleasant and more balanced on Saturday in Davie.

It was good to see and hear Anjie playing for a contra dance again.

There were a couple of young people at the dance, but without other young people there for them to dance with, the odds of them coming back are low.  This is the major problem with contra dancing in Florida, no young people.  This problem seems unique to Florida, too, dances in other parts of the country have substantial populations of 16-24 year olds as part of their dance communities.  From 25-55 or so, they disappear again since they're home with their kids, but then they come back when the kids go off to college.  With no kids coming in the 16-24 bracket now, there won't be any 55 year olds 30 years from now to come to the dances.

Three in a Row

Well, that's the third first Saturday dance in a row with a low turnout, and this time it wasn't raining, so I'm not sure what the story was.  Cornbread played and Brian called.  The music was quite good.  Dancers trickled in little by little during the evening, but then they were trickling out again, too, so it never did become a large crowd.

I do not yet know how many people will try their hand at calling a dance during the 5th Saturday dance on the 29th.  I believe William Eagan will be there, I will be there, Lou Dow may be there, depending on his travelling schedule, and I'm trying to get one or two more people who haven't called before to participate.  And if Sharon King is back from North Carolina by then, I'll try to get her to come.  So we could get as many as six people calling different dances.

Being hard right politically, I'm used to the idea of being exclusionary and strict, so it is an odd situation I find myself in, that I am now the inclusive and laid back leader.  So y'all come.  Boy howdy, we'll have ourselves a time.  I'm actually southern by birth, a Florida native, but doing a southern accent requires effort and feels contrived and artificial.

I am refraining from commenting on the demonstration dance on purpose, until I know more about the results.

Saturday Evening Review

Hello to France, Indonesia, and whatever country that is in Africa that is reading my blog!  Why, I have no idea.

Saturday's dance was the second first Saturday in a row with a low turnout.  Last month's dance had a low turnout because it was raining down buckets, but the rain was hit or miss this past Saturday, so I'm not sure what the story was.  Cornbread played and Brian called.  Pat's fiddler, whose name escapes me again, was much improved.  Unlike previous third Sunday dances, we could have used an extra female or two Saturday night.  I ended up sitting out the last two dances, and I love doing contra corners.

Just a reminder, I have a 5th Saturday dance coming up in October on the 29th.  Pot Luck will play, but we're going to have an open mic night for calling.  Anyone who would like to try his/her hand at calling is welcome to give it a shot.

I generated a lot of comments Saturday by turning my name tag over and writing INTJ on it.  For those who missed it, or if you saw it but don't know or remember what it meant, it stands for Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging.  It's a Myers-Briggs personality type, one of the least common.  If you'd like to know more about it, you can read about it here:

http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html

If you'd like to know more about me, you can watch a few videos about INTJ's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcqg2i_CSaU (serious)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_LHDroHyLo (serious but funny)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39B2OJ7O6sg (just funny)

An August Event

A decent dance on Sunday, the 21st, with John Roger calling (I don't think there's an S on his name) and Dorothy and guest fiddler playing.  John was calling them Southern Atlantic Muse, but I think that was Dorothy and Kevin's band name, not sure.  I think John's calling was improved this time over last, but he was hard to hear, some kind of microphone issue, especially the feedback, which was making me cringe.  The balance of men and women was better this time than last month, but there were still about four or five extra women sitting out, and many women left at the break or even sooner.  Now that Meetup is discontinued, I'm not seeing as many new faces at the dance.

I reminded everyone at the dance about the October and New Year's Eve 5th Saturday dances, but I forgot to remind folks that the October dance is going to be an open-mic event for callers.  I need to get the word out about that.

Some exciting news possibly coming in the near future, stay tuned.

Early

Here I am, posting early for a change.  A rather disappointing dance because the heavy rain kept a lot of people away.  I think there were fewer dancers tonight/last night than usually show up on a Sunday afternoon, and it was a Saturday night.  Pot Luck played and Brian called.  A new fiddler/mandolin player played and did a fine job.  I think I heard someone call him Cliff.  I hope he will come again.

I did announce that the October dance will be an open-mic night.  I did not have anyone express interest in calling a dance, however.

Comments

Four page views yesterday...  I would think you would all know by now I don't get around to posting for several days after a dance.

We had 19 people show up at the dance on Sunday, that's a good sign.  I hope we can get as many or more at the October 29th dance.  That's on the 5th Saturday like it should be.

New Year's Eve is a 5th Saturday.  I have the hall booked but so far not much interest.  If you are interested in going to a contra dance on New Year's Eve, let me know.

Pot Luck played Sunday and William Eagan called.  William is getting much better, more smooth and anticipatory.  Linda Frank played fiddle for the first time at a dance and did well for her first time out.

For the October dance, I have decided to have an open-mic night.  Anyone who would like to try calling is welcome to come and call one or two or even three dances, depending on how many callers we get.  I will start off the evening with a simple dance to get things warmed up and then throw it open to whomever would like to try.

This is my 31st post, amazingly.

New Post, Finally

Hello, all.  I know I haven't posted in a while, but it's hard to a) comment positively when things didn't go all that well, and b) comment at all when you want to avoid being completely negative.  But here goes.

Sunday's dance wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either.  There were LOTS of extra women (guys, take note, that's twice now the Sunday afternoon dance had way more women than men), but not enough guys to make the dance go.  Brian was the caller and Pot Luck was the band, with a new fiddler making her first appearance.

Just a reminder, the 5th Saturday dance will NOT be on Saturday, it will be on SUNDAY, July 31st, from 6:30-10:00 p.m.   The band will be Pot Luck but it will be Linda Frank on fiddle instead of the new girl.  We only had nine people show up for the last dance, and at least one of those people is not in town anymore, so we need YOU to come.  William Eagan will be calling, and he is of a similar mind as I am, more dancing, less talking, and John Burnett knows I like fast dances, so come on out and enjoy.

Brunettes A-plenty

A pretty good dance yesterday, though there was a noticeable lack of blondes.  Pot Luck played, and a new caller called.  There was quite a good turnout for a summer dance.  There were lots of extra (brunette) women at the dance, so any guys who missed the dance, come out next time.

I was successful in announcing the July dance; I trust I will have a better turnout since I was able to get the word out ahead of time this time.  For anyone reading this, the July 5th Saturday dance will be on Sunday instead of Saturday, the 31st instead of the 30th.

Update about the 5th Saturday Dance

Okay, folks, I finally have a venue, but I had to move the date of the dance to Sunday, May 1st, but it will be at the normal location, the Davie Woman's Club.  I moved the time up to 6:30-10:00 p.m. so people can get home in case they have something to do Monday morning.

I skipped the Sunday Boca dance because I was so ticked off about Arlene cancelling my dance at Michael's.  I went to the Wild Asparagus dance on Monday in St. Pete instead.  It was very good.  The dancers were almost all locals, but they were good dancers, and I was asked to dance several times.

Double Post

Okay, I missed posting last week about the Barnacle, so this will be a double post.

At the Barnacle, it was Cornbread playing and Anita calling.  We had a decent turn-out and while the weather outside the park was hot, the air off the water kept the dance reasonable temperature-wise.  As always, the dance would have benefitted from a few more experienced dancers.

At Michael's, it was Stepping Stones playing and Brian calling.  We had a good turn-out and lots and lots of extra women that time, so guys, you have been notified.

I want to get this up, so I'm posting now.  If I think of more to say, I'll add another post.

Sunday March 20th Dance

I'm doing this early for a change, but I'm lacking in information, sadly.  I was late getting to the dance because I was at a WLRN event earlier in the afternoon, so I don't know what the caller's name was, other than Bob.  The band was Cornbread.  It's always nice having a different caller, and he had some different dances for us, including a square, which I have not seen in Boca except on one previous occasion other than when I called one.  If I have a quibble, it's that he didn't show us anything new, or even rare.  I think the last time I was introduced to something new was the dolphin hey, and that was four years ago down at Palmetto Bay.  I tried introducing the double back dip to our group, which I learned from Youtube, but no one else has taken it up as an option.  I may call another dance later this year just so I can introduce new moves.  Unfortunately, when I'm calling, I'm not dancing, so I don't get to participate in the new moves.

Old Home Week

At least it seemed like old home week being at the Davie Woman's Club Saturday.  I hadn't been back since October, and of course that's where the 2nd Saturday dance used to be held.  There were about 20 people there, two or three more than I've been getting at the same location and two or three more than have been showing up at the UU church.  Cornbread played and Brian called.  We had four or five more guys than gals there, so Anita ended up dancing most of the night rather than playing or watching the door.

Two young couples showed up at the dance.  We need to do everything in our power (admittedly not much) to encourage them to keep coming.  The future of contra dance depends on hooking a new generation.

March 5, or Dance 5, whichever you prefer

A decent dance with Pot Luck playing and Brian calling.  I was asked to dance several times, so that was nice.  Four people picked up flyers for the 5th Saturday dance, so with any luck, that's at least four who are going.  The hardest dance for people to get once again was one with a left diagonal move.  I was glad to see a few of our better dancers show up for the dance.

Just my opinion, but if someone isn't getting the hang of the dance, it's best to give up on him/her and let that person sit out.  You are noble for trying, but it's like letting someone cross in front of you when you're holding up a much longer line of traffic behind you...  you're being nice to one and being annoying to thirty.

Barnacle Dance

I completely forgot about posting this week about the Barnacle dance on Sunday.  It was almost ALL new people, and not a large turnout.  Cornbread played and Anita called.  A pretty Chinese gal named Yanfei brightened up the evening.

My 22nd Post About the 21st Dance

Well, I don't know what time yesterday my pants split, but if it happened at the dance, no one told me.  I also left behind my dark green towel again, so if anyone picked it up, I'd appreciate it if you could return it to me.  Thanks.

Stepping Stones played, Brian called.  Sharon called two dances.  Brian did announce the 5th Saturday dance in April, so that was good.

We had a lot of people for a Sunday afternoon dance, that was nice.  And Bernie was elected vice-president of the dance board.  I don't know whether I should congratulate him or offer him condolences.

Davie Valentine's Dance

A rather disappointing dance in Davie.  There weren't enough dancers, there were more guys than girls, and there weren't any single women.  I'm not sure how to build up that dance, but it needs help.

Cornbread played and Brian called.  Lew Pollack sat in.  He's still living in Texas but was visiting.  With Lew playing the melody, Barbara (I think her name is) felt free to change things up a bit.  You could really hear the classical music training when she did.

The March Davie dance will be held in the Davie Woman's Club, same as the old location and the location for the 5th Saturday dance.  It should be interesting to see what kind of turnout that gets.

Wow, 20 Posts

Hi, all.  I forgot about this again this week, so I'm a bit late.  It was a good dance with Cornbread playing and Pat Tsar calling.  We had a good turnout with lots of regulars and quite a few newcomers as well.  Hopefully some of the latter will return.  The Davie dance is this weekend, and it always needs more dancers, so please come out for that.  There will be a 5th Saturday dance in April.  I think I mentioned that in my previous post, but no harm in repeating it.

There's a new shoe policy in place at Michael's.  You must either bring dedicated dance/gym shoes that are not worn outside or have duct tape applied to your shoes at the door.  Keep it in mind for the third Sunday dance in a week and a half and future first Saturdays.  Shoe policies for gyms are not unusual.  One dance studio in Indiana insisted we dance in our socks or bare feet.  I took to bringing slippers with me.  One lady who had them danced in ballet slippers.  Old farmers' granges are the best for dancing because the floors are wood and old, so the owners don't care how much more the floor gets scuffed up.

Short & Cittern

So after missing Orange Blossom Ball and Snow Ball, I finally got to go to a contra dance, this time down at the Barnacle.  Stepping Stones played and Anita called.  It was a mix of experienced dancers and beginners rather than all beginners, but progress was slow anyway.  At least there were some pretty females to dance with.  (And yes, that is a major consideration in my book.)  Norman had a new instrument with him called a cittern.  The temperature was disappointingly warm for me.

Davie in January

Not too many surprises in Davie.  Cornbread played and Brian called.  It was my first visit in six months or so.  It was a nice change to have a relatively even balance of men and women at the dance.  Davie often has more men than women, and I think it's primarily a function of location; not that it's a sketchy neighborhood, but that it's so far out west away from I-95 and hard to find in the dark if you haven't been there more than a couple of times.

Only a couple of people have read this blog this year, so I'm not sure whether I should continue it.  Obviously no one is getting his/her news from here.  I suppose I could liven it up a bit by being more snarky and naming names.  I have a LOT I could say about certain individuals associated with the dance.

On a more positive note, I'd like to encourage anyone who reads this and is a good dancer to come out to the south Florida dances.  And if you know people who are good dancers who have not been coming, encourage them to come to the dances.  We have a bunch of good dancers in the area who think the south Florida dances are not very good, so they don't come, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, it's NOT a very good dance, mainly BECAUSE many of our best dancers don't come.

I have the hall and the band lined up for the April 30th dance, so go ahead and mark it on your calendar.

First Dance of 2016

Well, it was an interesting evening.  Most of those reading this will already know that I ended up calling the beginners' lesson and the first dance because Brian had to go back home for his cards.  It didn't go very well because I didn't have a microphone and no one could hear me.  My voice ended up being pretty sore pretty quickly, too.  Sharon called the next dance, but Brian showed up in time to get her a microphone.  Southern Atlantic Muse played.  Enough people showed up that we had two lines for most of the evening, so that was nice.

I could comment at length about the goings-on with the board, but I won't.  What I will say is that if the point of having a board was to make the dance better, it's a resounding failure.  That, of course, is NOT what the point of having a board was, but I won't go into that, either.

I think I already mentioned that there will not be a 5th Saturday dance in January (and Brian mentioned it at the dance as well) because there is a 5th Sunday dance at the Barnacle.  I thought about having a 4th Saturday dance but that's the weekend of Snow Ball, so I decided against it.  I would like to go to Snow Ball at least once.  There WILL be a 5th Saturday dance in April.  I haven't gotten a lot of interest in the dance continuing, but the band is willing and those who have expressed interest were enthusiastic, so what the hey.