[Squaredancing] Clark's San Antonio trip report

[Clark Baker]

I posted this on sd-callers at the end of June.  Perhaps some of you 
were also there. -- cmb

I have just returned from the National Square Dance Convention in San 
Antonio, TX and thought I would give you my observations.

Having attended the last 4, my daughter wanted to avoid the bus system 
and stay in a nearby hotel so I signed up to call and we stayed at the 
"callers" hotel.  With respect to dancing, we knew what to expect and 
how to pace ourselves.  Attendance was around 7200 this year.

One of the great things we have gotten from NSDC is new friends. Laura 
stays in touch with them throughout the year (e-mail and IM) and 
convinced me to start our trip 2 days early since her friends were 
doing the same.  We arrived late Monday and she spent Tuesday at 
Schlitterbahn -- a large water park.  I spent the day shopping for a 
few items I forgot to pack, going to registration (though caller 
registration wasn't open), and visiting each of the halls so I knew the 
lay of the land.

The convention center is large -- large enough to accommodate us along 
with another 3500 immigration lawyers!  I think we should have hosted a 
one to two hour party dance for them.

About half the large halls had built-in wood floors and the rest were 
polished concrete.  The smaller halls were carpet with a dancing 
surface on top -- usually those black, plastic, interlocking squares. 
The contra hall spent its budget on covering its carpet with a wood 
floor (like what you would rent in a hotel).  A/C was OK but not 
impressive.  Sound was fine in the small halls and OK in the large 
halls.  No sound bleed problems.  While dancing, I did experience 
several overheated amplifiers which cut out.

Tuesday night was the ContraLab energizer dance.  I found this by 
googling "contra dance san antonio".  It took place in San Antonio's 
regular contra dance venue (3 miles west of the convention center) but 
on an unusual night.  We had live music and each of the ContraLab 
members present called a tip.  There were about 40 people in 
attendance.  The "open dance format" of contras allowed me to dance 
with the student who books the hall even though she had never contra 
danced before.  Each of the dances was walked thru before we danced it.

Wednesday morning I attended the ContraLab board meeting.  While I do 
not call contra, I enjoy dancing it and was interested to understand 
more about their organization.  In addition to a business meeting, Stew 
Shacklette gave an educational presentation.  There were 17 people at 
the meeting and I learned that their membership was 101 in 1999 and is 
now 62.  Many of these leaders are the ones who will be staffing the 
contra hall at the convention.

ContraLab (http://www.contralab.org/) is a member of the ARTS 
(http://www.arts-dance.org/) and reflects our couple oriented, club 
structured, dress code favoring, MWSD sensibilities.  Their membership 
list did not contain the names of any of the contemporary contra 
callers that I encounter at NEFFA (http://www.neffa.org/), in New 
England, or who I dance to LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Charlotte, 
Suracuse, etc.  Bottom line, there are two completely separate contra 
dance communities -- ContraLab and, for lack of a better name, 
contemporary (http://www.neffa.org/Top/Folk_Dancing/Contras/).

This being my first time calling at the convention, I signed up for 
only challenge and said I would do advanced if needed.  While I was 
scheduled for 30 minutes of chellenge every day, I was shocked to be 
assigned two high-energy Mainstream tips, one prime time Plus tip.  I 
have no clue what they were thinking giving me Mainstream.  I went with 
the flow, prepared the easiest material I could for my calling spots 
and did the best job I could.  It was a thrill to call to 800 Plus 
dancers.

The Challenge room could comfortably hold 3 squares and I saw between 1 
and 3 squares in it.  Dancers were doing OK and depending on who was 
dancing I could call easy and some medium written C1.  The New England 
Convention (with less than 1000 dancers) also has a challenge hall with 
the same number of squares.  I attribute the lack of challenge dancer 
support at NSDC to the Academy for Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts 
(AACE) which happens the week before (see 
http://www.ceder.net/aace.php4).

AACE is a follow-on to the National Challenge Convention which sprung 
out of NSDC afterparties and dissatisfaction with challenge dancing at 
the Nationals.  At the NSDC afterparties in 1966 the idea for "a better 
level of dancing on a national basis" started and was continued in 1967 
with private challenge afterparties at the NSDC.  This turned into the 
National Challenge Square Dance Convention in 1968 which initially was 
an invitation-only event for top challenge callers and dancers.

I am a big fan of Hexagon dancing (see http://www.tiac.net/~mabaker/) 
and there was a hour clinic scheduled every day.  There were 12-14 
hexagons each day (!) who were interested in receiving instruction in 
this hot, new craze.  I was able to dance some hexagons in the back of 
some halls at night, but less than past years.

I attended a panel discussion on "What Youth Want" with 4 older youth 
on the panel.  There were about 30 of us in the room, and I am guessing 
that 15 of us were either other youth supporting those on the panel or 
parents and friend of youth.  I don't believe the average 60-80 year 
old MWSD cares one bit about what youth want (though the people who 
took the time to attend the panel do).  This talk was offered twice.

While the topics were wide ranging, the subject of the Youth Hall did 
come up multiple times.  The youth hall at NSDC is run under some 
strict rules and doesn't always serve the youth well.  One caller from 
Germany was shocked at what those who run the convention feel needs to 
be done for a youth hall.

Dress code was also touched on with differing views.  Some, especially 
those who grew up in square dancing (because their parents danced or 
called) were happy with square dance dress.  Others who came to square 
dancing later had more of a take it or leave it attitude but didn't 
want stuff forced on them.

A common complaint is that teens hate it when old dancers push them 
around, assume the teens don't know what they are doing, are rough and 
hurt the teens, and blame square breakdowns on the teens.  Trust me -- 
this happens more often then you know.  Just ask my daughter (and stand 
back).

Another topic that came up was learning speed.  Teens learn fast and 
most lessons are oriented towards old people.  Teens get bored real 
fast in these kinds of lessons.

In 1975 the New England square dance magazine listed 2 pages of teen 
clubs.  Today 0.  How are we doing supporting our future?

This year the exhibition dancing was on a stage in the theater.  The 
advantages included comfortable seating, reduced house lighting, good 
sound, and everyone's attention was focused on the dancing.  The 
disadvantages were a smaller dance space and a reduced ability to get a 
good "top view" of the intricate patterns.

I brought some non-MWSD friends in to see the Colorado Rocky Mountain 
Dancers and they were blown away.  This performance (every one is 
different) was in a true hexagon and they did a cool Venus and two Mars 
star figure with a central 6-dancer star and two 3-hand stars and 
exchanging back and forth.  Of course there were several aerial moves, 
including one for 12 dancers.  We should all appreciate the amount of 
effort and coordination it takes to bring any of the exhibition groups 
with younger dancers to NSDC.

I spent a lot of my time dancing in the contra hall.  I like the fact 
that I can ask anyone to dance, and that I can bring anyone into the 
room, no matter what their dance experience.  While I appreciate 
partners with energy and who can (partner) swing, I danced with most 
everyone.

We usually had one line and occasionally two lines.  What we lacked was 
people with energy and who could swing.  The leaders did their best 
with what they had to work with.  Friday and Saturday nights featured a 
live band.  Several from the local contra dance community paid our 
steep admission price and danced with us, adding energy and new faces.  
What they encountered (low energy, lame dances, people who can't swing) 
came as a shock to them, and some didn't return.

I really enjoyed breakfast at the caller hotel.  There were lots of 
people to talk with and it wasn't too noisy.  I felt like the callers 
all supported each other.  Many times, there were two or three at the 
mike doing singing calls.  I don't know all the ins and outs of which 
callers get along with each other, record labels, etc., but if there 
are problems they were below the surface.

Things I didn't see: There was no rainbow room.  There was no 
handicapable room.  There was no dinner hour youth calling.  Last year 
this was a eye opener and should have been repeated.

Dress code: I wore clean shorts and a clean contra dance themed t-shirt 
during the days.  I wore a long sleeved western shirt and slacks at 
night.  While I wasn't accosted by the dress code police, there were 
many signs which said that proper attire was required on the dance 
floor or else you would be escorted out of the facility.  As I 
represent callers (I was calling at the convention) and Callerlab (I am 
on the board), it was suggested to me on Friday that I "get with the 
dress code".  I thought long and hard about it, buckled under, and 
dressed appropriately from Friday evening on.  I don't like it, but my 
other option is to not attend.

I spoke with one person about the dress code and they asked me if I 
would wear shorts and a t-shirt to the presidential inaugurations. They 
consider this to be the premiere square dance event and we should be 
wearing our finest.  I think the premiere square dance event should 
have better dancing.

One area in which the National can do better is showing us what our 
options are at any particular time.  There is a lot going on at once 
and, unfortunately, even when you purchase the convention program and 
the daily pocket guides, it is hard to see what your alternatives are. 
The seminars, clinics, and panels are listed in one place, exhibitions 
another, dancing a third (spread over many pages), etc.  Check out how 
NEFFA presents their options.  Also, the NEFFA grids are posted in the 
web in advance of their Festival: http://www.neffa.org/grid/index.html

If all of the above sounds a little negative, I had a great time, got 
to vacation with my daughter, renew old friendships, make some new 
friends, do some calling, dance some MS, some Plus, some A2, some C1, 
and a lot of contras, watch exhibitions, support callers I know and 
like, teach some hexagon, watch a woman's wallet get stolen in the food 
court and immediately recover it for her (money intact), and have 
Continental fly us first class and give us $1200 in travel vouchers for 
volunteering and getting bumped, twice, on the trip home!

I am appreciative for all the hard work and meetings that it takes to 
put on such a large party.  Any insight I have had behind the scenes of 
convention planning has shown me dedicated volenteers who are trying 
their best given lots of rules and regulations and a limited budget.  
They want to put on the best convention possible and they gave us a 
good show.  Congratulations and props to all of them.

--
Clark Baker, Belmont, MA
cmbaker at tiac.net