Promote Progression in Swing Dancing

Date: 10 Mar 2003 23:18:08 -0800
Newsgroups: rec.arts.dance
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Reprinted from the West Coast Swing Dance Club Newsletter to RAD for
comments.
Are you movin' on up or movin' on out?
You've been dancing for years, you've won everything there is for you
to win and you are over 40. What are you gonna do now? Are you going
to Disneyland?
Are veteran Champion dancers in our swing community being encouraged
to progress and promote swing dancing through the ages or are they
being pressured to keep up or get off the dance floor?
What kind of signal is being sent with divisions like Sophisticated
Swing and Masters that offer less than half the prize money of Classic
and Showcase? What kind of statement is being made by Jack n Jill
point tracking systems that stop tracking points for the 50+
divisions? What's the message in an Invitational Jack n Jill where no
one is over 40.
The sad reality is that the prestige for divisions like Masters and
Sophisticated Swing is so much lower than that of Classic or Showcase
that Champion competitors who qualify age wise would never even
consider competing in them. Given the current structure of our
competition dance floor our community is clearly stating that things
do "NOT" get better with age.
Where will this lead the swing dance art form? What is the fate of
swing history? Where does that part of the dance that is not about
speed, tricks and bare tummies go if it is not encouraged to progress
through it's various years of use?
Take Sophisticated Swing for instance. It's a GREAT division. Give it
the same prize money as Classic, schedule it for 8pm Saturday night
and see what you get. Now there's a statement that says we respect
and invite every NASDE Champion competitor that is 40+ to dance in
this very prestigious division and show us exactly what it takes to
be a Sophisticated Swing dancer. You don't have to dance fast, you
don't have to show your mid-rift and you don't have to do the splits
but you do have to help us set a standard that promotes progression in
swing dancing and help show us where the west coast swing dance can go
through it's various years of use.
There is a certain artistry in any art form that only comes with age
that unfortunately our community is not encouraging. We don't need to
add any more divisions, we have plenty of divisions. But we do need
to give these divisions the prestige and respect required to promote a
natural Champion progression because if we don't we are only
sentencing this dance form to a life of fad and fashion when it quite
rightly could be movin' on up to share the throne with artistry and
passion.
An editorial by
Tina Price
Thoughts?