[Ansteorra] iso european dancers ??

[Randy Shipp]

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 1:23 PM,  <myfanwy at pug.net> wrote:
> I don't think that the lack of competition is holding back the activity.  I'm sorry if I gave that impression.
>
> Myfanwy

----------
No apology necessary, of course!  But two people have so far chimed in
with concerns about how to name a champion for an activity that,
except for a few isolated enclaves, seems to be dormant at best.
Besides my original comment about not allowing competitiveness to be
the prime motivation for any SCA activity (as opposed to fun,
scholarship, fellowship, pageantry, etc.), it also seems premature to
concern ourselves overmuch with how to identify and reward the best
among a currently non-existent group of dancers.  The real question
is, how do we interest more people in doing it, just for the fun of
it?  That's when the critical mass gets formed, I'd think: when enough
people want to do it after court at an average event, when the very
absence of a competitive aspect makes even those with two left feet
feel comfortable jumping up and joining in for a few laughs and a few
minutes of enjoying period music.  I'm just afraid that a lot of
people will be put off if they think they have to be "good enough" to
get up and dance.

I'm only going on snatches of rumors I've heard, but I'm under the
impression that one of the problems that was faced by period dancers
in the past was that the "good" or "dedicated" dancers lost interest
in doing the simpler dances that could be more easily learned and
enjoyed by the novice, casual dancers.  Surely, picking some easy, fun
dances, even if they're a little anachronistic, would be a good start?

In Service,

--Antoine
Barony of the Steppes