Twinning

[alanw]

Apart from Dance, my greatest interest is in Town Twinning, Sister Cities, Jumelage, Partnerschaft or whatever it is called in your part of the world. In the UK the term Town Twinning is most frequently used.

I operate a national web portal for UK Twinning Associations and am always on the lookout for examples of twinning links within our members areas.

We know of many examples of sports clubs forming a link with their equivalent in their linked community, choirs, rowing clubs, bridge clubs etc but I have not yet come across any dance schools/clubs who have linked with a similar organisation within their twin town.

One of the greatest advantages in Twinning is the understanding of different cultures and Dance is an important part of any culture.

Most visits between linked towns/communities include a function which involves a meal (formal or informal) and some social dancing and perhaps a dance demonstration from a visiting school or similar.

My own group is twinned with France and Poland and although we always have a great time at these functions it is obvious that we tend to prefer different styles of dance.

Would it not be a good idea for twinned communities to arrange some form of instruction in the others dance styles which could also increase our own personal knowledge of dance culture.

What do others think? Your replies would be very welcome either here or in the forums at www.towntwinning.org.uk (http://www.towntwinning.org.uk)

[Ron Obvious]

I've heard of town twinning (it's called sister cities or friend cities here) but never of dance organisations doing this. It's agreat idea though, but I don't think that the cuban salsa community here is organised enough or has enough resources to do these kind of things.

[Spitfire]

How about tripleting?

I live in such a place.

[alanw]

Hello Ron Obvious, thanks for your reply, I notice your location is "across the channel" does that mean in Europe somewhere or is it a Euphonism for the pond (Atlantic)?

As for your dance community, why dont they make enquiries through their local Sister City organisation who could perhaps help to put them in touch with a similar group in one of their "Sister" communities, and possibly help them in creating a link and exploring ways of making it work.

Virtually all such linking organisations are actively on the lookout for groups that would like to "twin" and visits can often be made on the back of an "official visit". After all, their function in life is to develop all sorts of links to increase the success and popularity of their link

[alanw]

Hello Spitfire,

By tripleting, do you mean that your city is "twinned" with more than one other community? This is quite common and can be so very much more interesting when all the communities get together to develop their links in conjunction with each other.

[Spitfire]

Hello Spitfire,

By tripleting, do you mean that your city is "twinned" with more than one other community? This is quite common and can be so very much more interesting when all the communities get together to develop their links in conjunction with each other.

Yes, I live where there are three communities connecting to one another, actually four since no. 4 is so close.