[Ansteorra] iso european dancers ??

[Charlene Charette]

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Randy Shipp <randyshipp at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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?

This is a perpetual problem with dance - how to stay welcoming to new
people without boring the seasoned dancers. There is no one solution;
what works for one group is a death knell for another. I do take issue
with the concept of "if it's period it must be difficult and boring."
There are plenty of fun dances at different skill levels. You run into
problems when you don't have enough people showing up to do the dances
the group likes to do. If you like the later Italian dances, you only
need three or four people. If the group only likes English Country,
you need at least eight people to show up.

--Perronnelle