USA Dance resignations

[Bailamosdance]

Sadly, the people who know what happened either are still there and protecting their power and $$$s, or were asked to sign secrecy agreements. I would be very surprised if anything other than platitudes and please to 'thank those who still remain' (as if they are the good guys) are forwarded. As they ask for dues for 2016, so many are asking what has been happening with their dues from 2013, 2014, and 2015. The gc allocated over $100,000 to publishing a happy talk magazine and a publicist and has not gotten sponsorship at all, paid for trips and events for the gc members, and managed to make the entire executive council and most of the gc appontees, none elected to even trying to do what we elected in attempting to change from the entitled and ingrown ruling force that existed to the leadership and change that we voted in with a landslide.

Sadly, Chen has abandoned us and the gleeful losers of the last election i am sure aregoing to spin this. Hiwever, remember that they were tossed out to make way for smarter and more progressive folks. Lets not lose sight of the fact that obstructionism and politicking by the losers never helped the membership, and may have ultimately contributed to the current scenario, debt, chapters leaving, and a new organization on the horizon poised to take in these disapponted chapters.

 

[caw]

Sadly, the people who know what happened either are still there and protecting their power and $$$s, or were asked to sign secrecy agreements.

How do you know this? Is this just speculation?

 

[Bailamosdance]

People are still there. The 3 executives that left signed agreements not to talk. These are facts i know. That they are still there protecting their power and $ is my assumption. The last act of the folks in the gc was to censure me from social media connected to the org, so i can easily assume that they can and would do that to anyone else who seems to be a 'distraction' from their personal and corporate program.

 

[Loki]

a new organization on the horizon poised to take in these disapponted chapters.

I hope that's not just swamp gas if it comes to that. Maybe they'll be able to play nicely with NDCA. SOMEBODY needs to put emphasis on am-am.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

Here is my pitch for the presidency..


As your president I plan to:

Strengthen the NQEs and and other amateur competitive events to return USA dance to the forefront of amateur competitive dancing in the US.

To increase the social dance presence of USA dance into underserved regions of the US


To completely abandon the pipe dream of Olympic competition for ballroom dancing as an unbiased scoring system is impossible and the pros would end up going anyways

think i can win???

 

[Dancing Irishman]

Here is my pitch for the presidency..


As your president I plan to:

Strengthen the NQEs and and other amateur competitive events to return USA dance to the forefront of amateur competitive dancing in the US.

To increase the social dance presence of USA dance into underserved regions of the US


To completely abandon the pipe dream of Olympic competition for ballroom dancing as an unbiased scoring system is impossible and the pros would end up going anyways

think i can win???

I'm not sure the WDSF would let you actually do the last one. Maybe what USAD should really do is leave the WDSF? The Olympic pipe dream seems totally antithetical to an organization focused on social dancing, dance education, and amateur competition*; now that you mention it, it's kind of insane that an organization that hosts zero professional competitions that I know of is pushing so hard for Olympic inclusion.

*In some other countries, this isn't necessarily true, but there's no way the US would ever see its am/am couples beat out the pros. Unless the USOC decided to say a Russian and an Italian couldn't represent the US. Actually, I'd be kind of scared to see if getting Olympic recognition forced the ballroom world to abandon cross-nationality partnerships that are currently an awesome facet of the sport-art.

 

[Mengu]

Maybe what USAD should really do is leave the WDSF?

And become an NDCA member organization, and rename themselves to USABDA? That would be a nifty Cher song wouldn't it...

 

[Smooth Dancer]

"a happy talk magazine"

I like the newer magazines. I think they show a more active and dynamic organization.

It seems to the locals pretty much manage themselves, not particularly attached to the central org. The critical part (seems to me) is the comps. Need more and need some format changes. Not sure how the central org can orchestrate these since the workforce is from the locals.

I would also like to see a continued interest in young dancers. US needs bigger dancing population and the long view is in the kids.

 

[hereKittyKitty]

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. From what I remember, when Peter resigned in 2009 USA dance started going downhill. I think he may be the right person to go head to head with other dance organizations because he has dealt with them in the past.

 

[Bailamosdance]

He resigned and lydia took his place, then she was unopposed in the next election. The reason the current folks were elected in a landslide was in rwaction to the arrogant mismanagement that was perceived. We will probably have to wait until the finanancials are made public to see who was most to blame, since that is one of the failures of the last admin, with the membership dropping double digit and revenue decreasing proportiantely...

 

[Joe]

Here is my pitch for the presidency..


As your president I plan to:

Strengthen the NQEs and and other amateur competitive events to return USA dance to the forefront of amateur competitive dancing in the US.

To increase the social dance presence of USA dance into underserved regions of the US


To completely abandon the pipe dream of Olympic competition for ballroom dancing as an unbiased scoring system is impossible and the pros would end up going anyways

think i can win???

Should you be elected, good luck getting your agenda through.

 

[Bailamosdance]

Agreed, Joe, the brick wall that the GC seems to present to new ideas or at least progressive ideas has been borne out by their immediate responses to requests for clarity and requests that some of these major positions be filled by people who requested that they be considered. Here, politics seem to have crushed the mandate that the original landslide candidates were elected to do.

 

[Loki]

Lol. Welcome to politics Chicago style.

Re: comps - it would be nice if they were all run equally well but that's another thread.

 

[danceronice]

*In some other countries, this isn't necessarily true, but there's no way the US would ever see its am/am couples beat out the pros. Unless the USOC decided to say a Russian and an Italian couldn't represent the US. Actually, I'd be kind of scared to see if getting Olympic recognition forced the ballroom world to abandon cross-nationality partnerships that are currently an awesome facet of the sport-art.

If they're not both citizens, they can't. This has come back to bite some US pairs and ice dance couples as one or the other has had to rush to get citizenship (Tanith Belbin, of Belbin/Agosto, got stuck in the post-9-11 slowdown and they needed help getting her US citizenship finalized in time.) In other cases some people have attempted to delay/fog the issue for someone to get a competing pair disallowed so their [relative] could move up. I don't even think is USOC (all those couples had competed at international events for the US), it may be an IOC thing--you have to be a citizen of the country you represent.

 

[tangomaniac]

I remember how the "insurgents" were going to clean house and revitalize USADANCE. Now they're all gone!

Just like politics at the national level.

Sounds like the Frank Capra classic "Mr. Smith took dancing lessons."