I recently had the distinct pleasure of participating in the Marshfield Community Learning Night. The theme of the night was The Civil War - there were various stations set up around the gymnasium. My friends Jenn and Don provided wonderful music on fiddle and guitar for our dancing station in the dance room near the gym. The purpose of the evening was to invite students and their families to attend this hands-on learning experience, having them rotate among the various stations throughout the night. We had no idea what to expect in terms of who would show up, what age range, how many people would be willing to dance.
Our first customers arrived - a middle school-aged boy and his mom.The boy repeatedly protested, "I don't know how to dance." I took that as a challenge. I remarked that I had just seen him walk into the room, and that's all the skills he would need. We circled up three, took turns allemanding and elbow swinging each other, back to circling, two making a bridge for the third to go under... Soon a couple of others joined us, and I lead them in a variation of Cumberland Reel. One dance was enough for this young man, although he did remark that it was fun.
Another small cluster of students and parents arrived. I lead them in Galopede. They left. More arrived. We did Witch's Reel. The next group learned Tunnel Contra. The music was lively and invigorating. I wondered if some of the people there had ever danced to live music before. The response was overwhelmingly positive. People danced and had fun. In the largest group, we had a family of home schooled kids, a veteran, another family with kids, and a young woman new to contra dancing who stayed around to make sure there were enough partners so everyone could dance. I'd like to see participatory dancing be more integrated into people's lives, rather than something to be exposed to at a special event. Some day, instead of hearing, "that was more fun that I thought it would be", I hope to hear more comments like, "That was so much fun -- just like it always is!"
Our first customers arrived - a middle school-aged boy and his mom.The boy repeatedly protested, "I don't know how to dance." I took that as a challenge. I remarked that I had just seen him walk into the room, and that's all the skills he would need. We circled up three, took turns allemanding and elbow swinging each other, back to circling, two making a bridge for the third to go under... Soon a couple of others joined us, and I lead them in a variation of Cumberland Reel. One dance was enough for this young man, although he did remark that it was fun.
Another small cluster of students and parents arrived. I lead them in Galopede. They left. More arrived. We did Witch's Reel. The next group learned Tunnel Contra. The music was lively and invigorating. I wondered if some of the people there had ever danced to live music before. The response was overwhelmingly positive. People danced and had fun. In the largest group, we had a family of home schooled kids, a veteran, another family with kids, and a young woman new to contra dancing who stayed around to make sure there were enough partners so everyone could dance. I'd like to see participatory dancing be more integrated into people's lives, rather than something to be exposed to at a special event. Some day, instead of hearing, "that was more fun that I thought it would be", I hope to hear more comments like, "That was so much fun -- just like it always is!"
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