Australian Dance Champions ejected from Nationals for wearing Freedom to Dance sash

Huh? There were couples ejected because of a WDF something-or-the-other, and this couple was ejected for showing support?
 
pygmalion said:
Huh? There were couples ejected because of a WDF something-or-the-other, and this couple was ejected for showing support?
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Six of Australia's Latin couples danced either the Freedom to Dance event or London Ball (I forget which competition was the precipitating issue), and were banned by WDSF as a result. Because Australian nationals were being run as a WDSF sanctioned event, the couples were also banned from doing their own Nationals. The couple that won Nationals wore a yellow sash during their victory dance to show support for the 6 banned couples, and were removed from the building by security guards as a result. This is outrageous to me on any front, but especially because this was a silent protest during a victory dance, and the only "objectionable" thing done was to wear yellow. Wandering into very nasty territory here.
 
i've taken lessons from matt and anna, they are fantastic people and dancers.

this really is ridiculous, especially if it's just a yellow sash that they wore.

btw the title is incorrect, they are standard dancers.
 
bluebereft said:
i've taken lessons from matt and anna, they are fantastic people and dancers.

this really is ridiculous, especially if it's just a yellow sash that they wore.

btw the title is incorrect, they are standard dancers.
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Oops, sorry about that, not enough coffee before posting. I've added a note in the original post, don't seem to be able to edit the title.
 
The 6 couples were suspended for taking part in the Singapore Open Dance Championships which was supported by Freedom to Dance.
 
It was quite sad to hear that something like this could happen. The political dance wars just seems to keep escalating, and I'm sure this is not what the dancers themselves want. It is disheartening to know that power and greed has such a hold over such a beautiful art form and sport.

It is a sad commentary on the people who run the banning organizations.... *heavy heart*
 
My friend just told me that they tried to suspend a US couple for worlds for no reason, right before the event. Aparently, they said they danced an event that they did not dance. Since they could not suspend them, they made sure they flew out first round. It is really ugly what is happening in this community. Dancers are the ones paying the price for this ridiculous politics. I am sure other countries are seeing the same kind of thing.
 
Interesting development.

At a dinner, we were having a spirited discussion with friends about the politics of dictatorships, and how to suppress the unmitigated greed and desire for power.

So many parallels here.

I, for one, wonder what would happen if dancers simply decline to dance (i.e., participate) en-masse and initiate change in leadership and its politics--the personal economic hit notwithstanding.





m
 
madmaximus said:
I, for one, wonder what would happen if dancers simply decline to dance (i.e., participate) en-masse and initiate change in leadership and its politics--the personal economic hit notwithstanding.
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Boycotting individual competitions en masse would only hurt the individual competition owners not the governing bodies. Perhaps the competition owners should be the people who try to put a stop to all this. Dunno but it all seems a bit crazy to me, people should be able to attend, compete and spend their money wherever they like without retribution. It's so unfortunate...
 
madmaximus said:
I, for one, wonder what would happen if dancers simply decline to dance (i.e., participate) en-masse and initiate change in leadership and its politics--the personal economic hit notwithstanding.


m
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The new leaders would face the same climate and circumstances that drove the current leaders into the political morass in the first place. How can you be sure they wouldn't be funneled in exactly the same direction?

Throwing out a couple from an event for wearing a sash seems over-the-top to me. But the larger issues around boundaries on who can compete where seem to me to have deeper roots than I've seen explored on DF so far. Am I the only one to think this?
 
Merrylegs said:
Boycotting individual competitions en masse would only hurt the individual competition owners not the governing bodies. Perhaps the competition owners should be the people who try to put a stop to all this. Dunno but it all seems a bit crazy to me, people should be able to attend, compete and spend their money wherever they like without retribution. It's so unfortunate...
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Fair point ML.

Isn't history replete with examples of abusive organizational and political systems that got overthrown, ONLY because the dissatisfaction of the members reached a critical point?

Only when people went from passive "tsk-tsk-that's-too-bad-why-doesn't-anyone-do-something" to a passionate "THAT-IS-WRONG, and I am going to do something about it" did change occur.

And it often started with a simple : "I can change this"


Can that happen in dance? I wonder...






m
 
DL said:
The new leaders would face the same climate and circumstances that drove the current leaders into the political morass in the first place. How can you be sure they wouldn't be funneled in exactly the same direction?

Throwing out a couple from an event for wearing a sash seems over-the-top to me. But the larger issues around boundaries on who can compete where seem to me to have deeper roots than I've seen explored on DF so far. Am I the only one to think this?
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[agreed. and for discussion's sake...]


Then, it predicates that the environment should also be changed, shouldn't it?

Tidal-strength change can often ONLY be initiated by economic forces that are strong enough to supplant the current toxic environment.

And change of that magnitude often starts with the most innocuous of things---i.e., the so-called "butterfly effect".

Perhaps in this case, it could be a simple individual statement: "Let's change this".

But then, as I've already pointed out, massive discontent needs to reach a critical point first.



When the environment demands good governance from their leaders, good leadership can occur.





m
 
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