How do you build a dance community?

[KevinL]

In the Argentine Tango forum Pygmalion asked:
Question: How does one build such a community?

OK, so I don't know beans about AT, so I moved the topic to the General Dance Discussion, and will change it to "How do you build a dance community?"

I'll even set it up a little more than that. Let's pretend that someone who has been dancing socially for a couple of years, and has even taking some private lessons, moves somewhere with no dancing within a three hour drive. There are a couple of big towns/ small cities (population around 50,000) in the area, but no dance schools or teachers at this time.

If the person can't move again, what should they do to build a dance community in their area?

[KevinL]

No one liked this topic? How about if I take a phrase from SueK, "What would you do if you knew you would succeed?"

[Sagitta]

:roll: Okay I'll bite. :)

Get involved in the social scene, then introduce the topic of dancing when you can. If there are people who have enjoyed dancing in the past, and/or who would like to do more there's a start. Organize a get together and you will have some dancing. Then organize an event with your new like-minded friends. If no one shows up you guys still have each other to dance with!

Schools -- The possibility of introducing some free dance lessons, or cheap dance lessons depnding on one's ability.

[SDsalsaguy]

No one liked this topic?
Now don't go jumping to conclusions Kevin! :lol:

There's been something of a lull in activity since we hit the 20k mark... and probably exacerbated by New Years.

My response, honestly, is that I don't know. I will mull this one over a bit though, and try to get back to it...

[pygmalion]

Yup, SD. I've been too pooped to post. :cry: :lol:

I did think about the topic, though, from the perspective of what successful dance communities have. Then it makes sense that you could extrapolate back to what communities need to get started. Make sense?

Successful dance communities have dance schools or teachers who teach a variety of dances. They often have high school or college dance programs. They have a variety of dance venues. They have people who spread the word about what's going on in the community. They have an economy that supports people spending money on a luxury like dance -- either that, or they have cheap places to access dance.

Hmm. I will think more, and post more.

[peachexploration]

They often have high school or college dance programs.

Kev, from Pygmalion's statement, you can also build a "Dance Team" and do promotions and build a community that way. If you start there and have interested and motivated students, parents are more apt to support this venture. For instance, there are a few programs for kids in Salsa, Lindy and Swing in my area that are doing pretty well. I'm guessing alot of that eventually rubs onto the parents. :)

[pygmalion]

Another observation. The economy is important.

I live in Orange County Florida, which has its share of very wealthy people (not me, unfortunately! :lol: ) And there are thriving dance studios all over the place. In Osceola county, the adjacent county, there is only one dance school, it struggles, and it focuses primarily on group lessons. Why? Because the county's per capita income is about 1/6th of that in Orange county.

A lot of people would love to dance, but they have to be able to afford it.

[SDsalsaguy]

But that also opens up the question of what type of dance community one has in mind too, now doesn't it? Clearly some financial wherewithal is needed, but salsa and, I assume, swing communities rely on a much lower outlaying of capital than say, does ballroom, no?

[pygmalion]

True. Salsa and swing are cheaper to support. (Side thought -- why, I wonder?)

But in this case, the county in question doesn't seem to be able to support those dances either. Osceola county just got its first salsa club. I'm not even sure if it's open yet. The irony, of course, is that Osceola county has a much larger Latin population than the wealthier county to its north. The people there just don't have the money to spend on dancing.

[KevinL]

That's more like it, lots of comments!


Successful dance communities have dance schools or teachers who teach a variety of dances. They often have high school or college dance programs. They have a variety of dance venues. They have people who spread the word about what's going on in the community. They have an economy that supports people spending money on a luxury like dance -- either that, or they have cheap places to access dance.

Luckily my local area has all these things, except maybe for the high school / college dance programs. That could use a lot of work locally.


Schools -- The possibility of introducing some free dance lessons, or cheap dance lessons depnding on one's ability.

I would do this in a minute, except for that pesky day job that pays my bills...


Kev, from Pygmalion's statement, you can also build a "Dance Team" and do promotions and build a community that way. If you start there and have interested and motivated students, parents are more apt to support this venture. For instance, there are a few programs for kids in Salsa, Lindy and Swing in my area that are doing pretty well. I'm guessing alot of that eventually rubs onto the parents.

I'm not so convinced that this would rub off on parents, though. I saw some really great tap/jazz/ballet performances as part of First Night, and there were lots of people in the audience, but I'm not sure that it inspired anyone to start dancing.

Building a "dance team" is a very good idea though, because it would put dancing in front of the public more often.


But that also opens up the question of what type of dance community one has in mind too, now doesn't it? Clearly some financial wherewithal is needed, (snip)

I have in mind a dance community that has space for all kinds of dancers, and opportunity for people to practice whatever their favorite dance is at least a couple of times a month. Yes, this would recquire that dancers have the financial wherewithal to at the very least actually attend dances.

True. Salsa and swing are cheaper to support. (Side thought -- why, I wonder?)

Perhaps because salsa and swing are club dances, they can be danced in small spaces. Therefore, bars and clubs might be more willing to host a "swing" or "salsa" night once a week. What bar would host a "waltz" night? Who would go?

[KevinL]

Based on what several of you have described as a "successful dance community", I think that Burlington does well, even though the population is relatively small.


Successful dance communities have dance schools or teachers who teach a variety of dances.

I think we've got this covered, although the idea of "dance school" is a little limited due to the population. There are a couple of good American style social teachers, a great Interntaional teacher, and teachers dedicated to swing, salsa and argentine tango, respectively.

There are a couple of dance schools that seem to be dedicated to teaching kids, and what I've seen of them is really good, they just don't seem to do much partner dancing.

They often have high school or college dance programs.

I don't know of any high school's with a dance program, but one of the local Universities has a dance class for gym credit. It would be good if we could increase interest in dance among this age group, but without having someone dedicated to this it will be hard to manage.

They have a variety of dance venues.

The swing dancers have two dances every month, and a cheap practice session every week. The salsa dancers have a few bands, and a couple of venues they use, so they probably get out about once a week. One of the local American social dance teachers has dance parties every weekend, but the attendees seem to always be the same people. Another teacher is starting dances in other nearby towns this month. The largest event is the once-a-month USABDA dance, and that seems to be growing lately. This seems like a lot of choices, really.

They have people who spread the word about what's going on in the community.

I think most dance addicts spread the word about dancing, and I know that I promote dancing as much as I can, but I don't know what other people could do to increase public awarness.

They have an economy that supports people spending money on a luxury like dance -- either that, or they have cheap places to access dance.

The local economy seems to support a fair amount of dancing, considering the population, so I think things are good there.


Schools -- The possibility of introducing some free dance lessons, or cheap dance lessons depnding on one's ability.

I would do this in a minute, except for that pesky day job that pays my bills...

Overall I guess the local community is in pretty good shape. I do think it could be better, though, if we could introduce more people to the idea of dancing with a partner. What I have started recently is a cable access show. The idea is to teach half-hour lessons to new (less than a month experience) students live-to-tape and then broadcast the shows across cable access. That way the "audience" (whoever that turns out to be) can see what other non-dancers can learn in only thirty minutes. I've taped the first three episodes, and I think it went well, but it will take time for the shows to be aired, and even longer before any affect is felt on the local community.

Cable access is free to everyone, so this idea could be replicated elsewhere, assuming that people aren't already doing it!

[Sagitta]

Cable access is free? Tell me how that works so I can see if we can get that in my area!

How about a website devoted to all local dancing/teaching/events, then perhaps flyers advertizing it. Then anyone interested in any type of dance can figure out what local resources are available for them to explore it. The web site could even be made a school project for a kid who's really talented, resulting in minimum financial investment.

[pygmalion]

That's a good suggestion, sagitta. The local dance community here also has a couple printed dance newsletters, a couple yahoo-type used groups, and some web pages that all spread the word about what's going on in Orlando.

[KevinL]

How about a website devoted to all local dancing/teaching/events, then perhaps flyers advertizing it. Then anyone interested in any type of dance can figure out what local resources are available for them to explore it. The web site could even be made a school project for a kid who's really talented, resulting in minimum financial investment.

Oh, I forgot about that. The local USABDA chapter has a master list and the secretary sends out an email (almost) every week of everything going on in the area, and nearby. Each of the specialyt groups has their own mailing list as well


That's a good suggestion, sagitta. The local dance community here also has a couple printed dance newsletters, a couple yahoo-type used groups, and some web pages that all spread the word about what's going on in Orlando.

Print newsletters are expensive, but can reach people without computer access. Yahoo newsgroups is a great suggestion, though.

Cable access is free? Tell me how that works so I can see if we can get that in my area!

Cable is a monopoly, and as part of that monopoly most communities recquire that the cable companies supply a cable access station (or three) that anyone living in the area can use to transmit anything (within certain legal limits) to the cable-viewing public. The cost to produce and air the programs is paid for by the cable companies (really the subscribers, but that's OK).

Everything that follows may vary by local community, but most of this should be applicable to everyone:

Cable access stations often will lend equipment to tape programs. They will train you in the use of video and editing equipment. There are often in-station studios where you can tape shows, depending on the area.

Locally you don't even need to have cable, you just have to live in the service area. Other stations recquire a "producer" to be a subscriber, but not always.

Once you've produced a program you submit it for airing, and assuming it meets technical (no major glitches on the tapes), and "non-commercial" guidelines it will be aired. It might not be aired during primetime, but your program will be shown, and anyone who gets cable can see it.

One of the added benefits is that once you have a program you can send it to other nearby cable access stations and they will often also run it, but you'll have to check their submission guidellines.

The only downside is that you have to spend the time and effort learning how to produce shows (or be a guest an someone else's show), and only those people with cable will ever see what you produce. On the other hand, how many people get cable where you live? The smallest local station has about 10,000 subscribers.

Look in your local phone book for Televsion-Cable, and call around.

[SDsalsaguy]

Wow Kevin, the cable access idea is a fantastic one!!!!!

How did you come up with the idea for your project in the first place? What dances did you do for your three canned episodes? How did you decided on those?

[KevinL]

Wow Kevin, the cable access idea is a fantastic one!!!!!

Thanks! The program hasn't been "successful" yet, meaning that I'm not aware of it attracting new dancers, but it has a lot of potential. The program only started playing on other stations on Friday, so it hasn't really had a chance to penetrate the non-dancer market. It will come, though.

How did you come up with the idea for your project in the first place?

I'm not really sure, it kind of developed over time. I do recall these points, though: I met a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and she suggested that I try to get on cable access talk shows as a guest. Those shows are always hungry for guests. The same idea was also suggested in one of the media books I've been using. Having gotten that idea, I started checking the local station to see what was on, and (among a lot of "interesting" stuff) saw a belly dancing class. I thought it was the same program broadcast again and again, but it turns out that they tape a new episode every week. I couldn't tell because they were always standing in the same spot, wearing the same costumes. Lessoned learned there! Move around!

I also wanted to promote National Ballroom Dance Week, and so produced a 30 minute show around that. A little less than 2 hours of tape, ten hours of editing time, and I ended up with a pretty good 30 minute show.

So what did I learn? I don't want to edit tapes, that takes too long, so I'll just go live-to-tape. The downside being that any mistakes are recorded (and broadcast) for all to see. I'll teach basic stuff, and to keep me honest I'll have real students learning with me. (Having real students severely limits what can be covered, but in my opinion gives the audience a better feel for what they might actually be able to accomplish in 30 minutes.)

What dances did you do for your three canned episodes? How did you decided on those?

I started with Merengue, East Coast Swing and Cha Cha. I started with Merengue and East Coast Swing because upcoming guest teachers specialize in Salsa/other latin, and Lindy Hop, and I wanted "latin" and "swing" (in general) introduced before their episodes are shown. I chose Cha Cha as the third dance because I didn't know how well the traveling dances (Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango) would look in the studio. I think it will be OK, we'll just have to be certain to use a very small dance floor!

This month we should tape: Lindy (other teacher), Waltz (me), Balboa (other teacher), and Bolero (me).

Next month the latin teacher will cover salsa and Buchata (I think). I'm not sure what 2 dances I'll do, but I've got it scheduled out somewhere.

After that I've got several other teachers lined up to teach their specialities, and we'll keep going as long as my assistants are willing to keep running things behind the scenes. I've got plans for 15-20 episodes, perhaps more if I branch out into "non-partner" dancing like hip-hop, jazz and tap. We'll see how it goes...

Kevin

[dancersdreamland]

Wow! I wish cable TV in my area would have something like this...I would LOVE to see it. But wait, I don't have cable...bummer!

Seriously, though, what a great way to build up dance in your community.

[looyenyeo]

Here's an abridged version of how it happened here:

1. Meet with friend in a swimming pool. Decide to start a salsa and merengue society.
2. Friend starts up dance society, recruits members using demos.
3. Lessons begin.
4. Begin training up new instructors.
5. Agree that all money generated goes to charity after operational costs.
6. Purchase PA equipment and more music.
7. Set up local latin music event.
8. Train up DJs to support activites.
9. Set up salsa band.
10. Leave while the going's good.

Loo

[KevinL]

Wow! I wish cable TV in my area would have something like this...I would LOVE to see it. But wait, I don't have cable...bummer!

Seriously, though, what a great way to build up dance in your community.

Why don't you do it? Most cable access stations don't actually recquire that you have cable to use their facilities, you just have to live in the area they service.

[Swing Kitten]

I think a good way for building a dance community is an online messege board with a calander of events-- if people know what's going on then they are more likely to show up and get to know folks.