academie: Caroso?

[Edvard Gayer]

Saturday's Ball was my first exposure to a "modified-Caroso" -style, and 
I've got a few observations I would like to share.

First, I think it's fantastic to let the dancers participate in the 
selection of the dances without having the situation devolve to a vote or 
shouting match.  Having different people pick any dance that they would like 
to do is a nice change, and it certainly relieves the coordinator of the 
task of coming up with a set list.

That said, I noticed a pretty big flaw.  Saturday, the first dozen or so 
dances were pretty much exactly the same.  People handed the baton off only 
to other people that they knew, and as a result, the dances never changed.  
Several of our more experienced dancers were getting bored, dancing the same 
"SCA 101" dances over and over again, and were on the verge of going 
elsewhere to dance things that *they* were interested in.  Fortunately, we 
were able to derail that.  Nevertheless, I see how the selected dances could 
very easily get stuck in a particular country/period/style.

I would like to invite the Academie to brain-storm on this to see if we can 
come up with a better way to ensure a better mix of dances, while continuing 
to encourage dancers to be as involved in the selection as they are.

On a related topic, I have been tasked with coming up with the list of 
dances for 20th Year.  I would *very much* like to keep with the 
modified-Caroso format, and have already announced as such on the website 
(www.ravenstreet.org/20yc).  The job is mine, but I value the inputs of each 
of you.... please suggest dances that you would like to see on the list that 
we give our musicians.

FYI, here's the dance schedule for 20YC:
Friday (5/25)    7:30-Midnight  Welcome Dance
Saturday (5/26)  1:00-4:00pm    Dance Classes
Sunday (5/27)    7:30-10:00pm   20th Year Ball

(Friday night's Welcome Dance will be an informal affair, to offer our 
guests a chance to unwind after their travels and prepare themselves for a 
weekend of revelry. Dance instruction will be offered during the dance by 
instructors from the Dance Academie.)

Thanks for your time,  back to work for me....
-Vard
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