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Post #50 and Update

Hello, all.  Not sure why this is still getting views when I haven't updated in a long time, but since I'm here and it is still getting views, I'll post something.

I'm only getting to one contra dance a month these days, and unfortunately, they all seem to blend into one another anymore, without much uniqueness to make one stand out from another.  Part of that is the monotony (sorry) of having the same band and the same caller time after time.  That was one of my main goals as the scheduler for that brief time, making sure that there was a different band and a different caller every time out.  You'd think with a board and a ready supply of cash in the till that they could afford a greater variety of bands and callers, but you'd think wrong.  You'd also think that they would be working on developing new bands and callers, but you'd think wrong on that score, too.

I've been told that I can come across as harsh in my writing, but you should know this is me being nice.  If I wanted to be harsh, I wouldn't be nearly this restrained.  I would be brutal.  But generally speaking, I like most of the people involved in the dance and have no wish to create hard feelings.  That doesn't mean that I can't or won't point out when I believe there's room for improvement.

Just for fun, I think I'll write an entry for my own amusement in which I am brutal.  If you think you can take it and want to see it, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you.  Then you'll know what harsh really looks like.

New Venue Report

A new location for the Davie dance run by Pat & Anita...  the Hollywood Woman's Club.  It's a beautiful building and a beautiful floor.  Unfortunately, because the room is nearly square, it seemed much tighter in size than it is.  Only about 16 people showed up, which is better than the Unitarian church, but still not enough.  I'm not sure what to do about the square shape, though...  two lines with only 16 people in each line?  Parking is also a problem.  That's not to say I dislike the venue, I still like it, I just recognize there are limitations.  One other limitation is that it won't always be available for contra dancing, so dances there may be haphazard rather than on a regular schedule.

Several people I have not seen recently showed up for the dance on Sunday, so that was nice.  I think we had just two complete newbies, one male and one female.  The female seemed to catch on quicker than the male did.

Something to Report

It's been a long time since I posted anything new on here, mainly because I've forgotten about it, but also because I really haven't felt like I had anything to post.  But now I do.

Over the eclipse weekend in August, I managed to make it to the Athens, Georgia, contra dance, even though I had blown a tire on the RV and had to get it repaired on a Saturday.  It was a great dance!  The dancers were experienced, the band was good, the caller was good, and of the crowd of about fifty or sixty, HALF were young people under 30!  I don't know how to create that situation down here in Florida, but we need to.

It's now a week until the 5th Saturday dance in Davie at the Davie Woman's Club.  The club survived the storm, the band and I survived the storm, so we're going ahead with the dance.  I'm calling it the "I Survived Irma" contra dance.  Please come, and please bring a friend.

Nothing to Report

I'm missing tonight's and tomorrow's dances still, as well as missing last week's dance, so I don't really have anything to report.  I haven't heard from anyone asking about the April fifth Saturday dance, so it is still on hold.  My ankle is still bothering me, so I'm not sure how much dancing I'll be able to do, anyway.

Random Post Title

Well, I missed Orange Blossom Ball and it looks like I'm going to miss Snowball, too, and I didn't go to the Boca dance, so I don't have a lot to report.  I did make it to the Barnacle dance, but there weren't too many people there.  The wood floor has warped in place.  I injured my ankle dancing on it, still sore three days later.  Cornbread played and Anita called.  I know why she does it, but Anita's dances are way too simple for someone who has been dancing for 13+ years now.

I still haven't decided whether or not the 5th Saturday dances will continue.  If you care, let me know.

On the bright side, relations with a couple of people showed some evidence of a warming trend.  I know I can come off as cuddly as a cactus sometimes, but I'm not that bad, really.  Those who take the time to get to know me find me warm, kind, and funny.  Of course, if you're an idiot or a control freak, you'll find me extremely hostile and unforgiving.  Fortunately there aren't too many of those in the contra dance.

First 2017 Dance

I see Rose has started her own blog about the dances on Facebook.  I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that subject.  You can probably guess what my opinion is.

The dance was quite good, with plenty of people to dance and a new fiddler named Rex who was excellent.  The caller was okay, not great.  I can't stand that one dance where you wander around the room rather than dancing in the contra dance line, and I'm not terribly fond of the four facing four dances.  Sicilian circles are okay, IF you get to dance with everyone, but the dance we did skipped three couples at a time, and the number of couples was a multiple of four, so we only got to dance with three couples out of the 24 on the floor.  Lou believes all callers should be musicians.  I think all callers should be mathematicians so they can see how the numbers are going to work.  I remember at one dance making sure that a double progression dance had an odd number of couples just so everyone would get a chance to dance with every other couple, but no one understood what I was about or why I was so adamant that there should be an odd number.

I wonder how many are going to be around for the Davie dance on Saturday.  I don't think I'm going to make it because I'm broke, but most of the regulars will be in Daytona for the Orange Blossom Ball.  But most of the regulars have not been going to Davie anyway, so maybe it won't make much difference.

New Year, New Post

We had a decent turnout for the New Year's dance, we made enough to pay for hall and a little left over for the band besides.  Pat Czar wasn't able to make it down, so I ended up calling the dance.  Apparently I still need a lot of practice making myself heard and understood.  But we had some good dancers and most of the dances went well.  Pot Luck played and sounded pretty good as far as I could tell.  The band wasn't happy with their musical performance and the dancers thought they could play a little faster, but otherwise there were no complaints.  The hard floor did wear everyone out early, so we didn't quite make it to midnight, but that was fine, too.

Happy New Year.

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.