WHAT IS RIGHT WITH SQUARE DANCING
by Jeff Garbutt ~ Bunbury, Western Australia
One of the most common statements about Square
Dancing lately is that we have problems. and that "something is wrong". Some
people have been known to ask "what is wrong with the square dance movement?"
Some say that maybe Square Dancing won't last.
First off - I'd like to
make the following bold statement: Yes - Square Dancing is in danger of dying -
not because anything is wrong with It -but because we are in danger of falling
victim to a "self full-filling prophecy" if we keep looking at the
negatives.
To digress here a little bit. Most researchers of the human
"thought processes'" tend to agree that our actions are directed by some default
program running in our "sub-conscious mind". And that if you tell yourself often
enough that you behave in a particular way it will become imprinted into your
sub-conscious programming to the extend of controlling your actions. Thus if you
keep telling yourself that you are a failure - you will become a failure no
matter how hard you try otherwise. (The self full-filling prophecy). If you
program yourself for success - then your subconscious will help you to find
unique solutions to problems. You may not be successful every time - but you
will be most of the time. (Which is better than the alternative of always
finding failure.) Now here's where we, (The Square Dance Movement), fit in -
some researchers also believe that this sub-conscious program applies to groups
as well as individuals.
Now back to Square Dancing. Let's look at solving
our "problems". Firstly I would like to take the statement "what is wrong" and
turn it around by asking - "What is right with square dancing ?" I'm sure we
could come up with many positive statements about square dancing. For instance:
* Square dancing is easy to team. Now you may find this hard to believe. but
think about it for a while. Early in our lives we team how to walk, and the
process is permanently programmed into our subconscious. We don't have to think
about where to place our feet - it is automatic. We only need to think about
which direction to walk to. Well guess what square dancing involves - "walking
in defined directions." It comes natural - we don't have to worry about the
placement of our feet as we would need to for 'ball room' or even "line
dancing".
-
Square dancing is fun. Well if it isn't fun at your club - there is
something wrong.
-
Square dancing promotes friendship. I believe we can all quote examples of
life-long friends we have made over the years through square dancing.
-
Square dancing promotes team work. (if 8 people working together is not a
team - I don't know what is)!
-
Square dancing is great to look at. (The public loves to watch demos).
-
Square dancers do a lot of traveling to different places they may not have
otherwise gone to.
-
Square dancing is standardized world-wide. No matter where you go - it is
done the same. (With some very minor Australian differences).
-
Square dancing is multi leveled, offering differing degrees of challenge.
Some people may see this as a negative, but I think it is a bonus. What maybe
wrong is that we don't exploit the levels available to us, (especially
mainstream), to their full extent.
Now the above list is not
complete. I'm sure everyone of you can add to this list. So let's exploit these
positives. Surely there are people out there who are looking for activities that
have some of the many positive attributes that square dancing has.
Now I would like to suggest some things that we - as dancers, callers, dubs and
committees can do to help.
-
Put the movement first - If you take care of the movement - the movement
will take care Of you. I have a theory which I call the "act of ultimate self
interest" which works on the assumption that if you are only interested in the
short term and getting as much out of an activity (or business) as you con -
you will not only damage that activity but your gains will only be short term
- and you will eventually cease to operate. But if you help that activity to
thrive and grow - you and your involvement in will thrive and grow. Surely
this is the "ultimate act of self interest".
-
In keeping with the above - forget petty squabbles within your club - and
with other dubs. Surely they are insignificant when compared to the health of
the overall movement. Clubs should resolve to work together, committee should
be working to service all of their dancers.
-
Co-ordinate your clubs' activities with other clubs. (ie your beginners,
party nights etc)
-
Welcome the prodigal dancer. Let's face it, people basically need to feel
wanted. So when a dancer who has been absent for a while comes back - make
them feel welcome ! Dancers have many good reasons for missing one or two
nights - and already start to feel guilty about it - don't make it worse.
Don't treat them with greetings such as "So you've finally decided to come
beck - where have you been" - no matter how innocent it may seem it will stiff
come out badly.
-
Set positive targets. The human sub-conscious will work hard to ensure
that you meet the numerical value of a target, to the extent of exceeding it
to make sure - regardless of whether it is positive or negative. If you are
expecting a "drop out rate" from your beginners of say 10% -you will achieve
it - you might even get 15%. If you instead expect a "retention rate" of 90%,
you have a good chance of achieving, (or exceeding) it. Now which do you think
is better?
-
Don't accept failure as an option. Planing to succeed will not guarantee -
but planning to fail will guarantee failure.
-
Bring the family back to Square Dancing. 1 can remember back 20 years or
so ago to the number of children who could be found asleep somewhere in the
hall. This was about the same period that we had a lot of teenagers in the
movement - it was seen as a family outing.
-
Most importantly - remember that square dancing is a people business. So
look after the people you have and they will look after your club-and maybe
even bring in more people for you to look after.
Of Course the
above will not solve our problems, and the list is not complete - but if we all
work together and work towards the overall good of the movement - we will find
the answers we are all looking for.
But whatever you do - don't give up.
The patient may be ill, but with some "TLC" (tender loving care) can be nursed
be nursed back to health - instead of talking it into a "mercy killing".
This article may be reprinted with no further permission from the
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with the stipulation that credit be given to the contributing author/publisher.
Square Dance Articles
https://www.ceder.net/articles/articles/right.php 19-November-2006 14:43:20 |