pennsicdance: If I may play a bit of Devil's Advocate (Floor and Tent)

[Maugorn at aol.com]

Maugie here (The big furry 12 string playing guy in the <usually> green 
tunic.

First of all, as usual I had a wonderful time playing for you all.
The Pennsic dance community (and musicians theretoo)
have a very high concentration of wunderful folks.  Thus it's
my pleasure after a day of busking in the sun to kick back
and strum until I can strum no more.

I'm very glad that you are very happy with the floor and
the dance tent, but I worry about a phenomenon that
I've seen happen more than once in several settings.
(I'll get to that below)
My only personal problem with the tent (aside from the
concern that's below) is that climactically it can be a
tad manic, after dark especially.  Thus it's extra challenging
to keep strings and certain reeds in tune and 
behaving properly.   For some reason the air in the barn 
on the stage becomes alot more stable.   The size, 
of the structure, it's innate shelter from turbulence, and the
dreaded concrete slab may have a lot to do with that.
Putting up the theoretical bandshell and keeping the
flaps of the tent down in the musicians 'pen' after
dark will go along way towards stabilising that pocket
of air, and improve the acoustics.   Even if a proper bandshell
is too logistically difficult, just a screen of plywood along
that back corner will do wonders.   A tarp or something
on the ground there, screening out damp and/or dust
will also be a big boon, especially for players of precious
period reproductions that cost more than several Pennsics
to purchase.  It doesn't matter much to me, as rough
as I am on my gear, but some folks rightfully prefer to
play their instruments free from the danger of falling on the
bare ground.   Anyway, I noticed the humidity/temperature
thing because I'm usually wearing this 12string barometer/
thermometer on site that has actually forecasted weather
changes with her behaviour.

   Ok, that's all small potatoes, but there is one big
long term concern I have with the dance tent and floor.
It may only be 200 yards straight line distance from the
barn to the tent, but it is a world away in terms of how
the barn functions on the site.   The barn, no matter
how you slice it, is the social nexus of Cooper's Lake
Campground, and Pennsic.  I've always felt and still
feel that social dance at Pennsic is most appropriate
at that nexus.  The ideal solution in my mind is to
get that wondrous floor set up in the barn, and get
the majority of the kingdom courts moved elsewhere,
perhaps to their own specialised venue.
   I know that the pressure on the dancing to be moved
is because Pennsic has grown and we're adapting to
the realities of circumstance that change with that growth.
However, I feel that there's a big downside to acceding 
to that growth the way we have.
   The dance community (people actively pursuing dance
as a major activity and participating in it's facilitation)
is always going to be a limited subset of those who
dance at all.  Having dance in the social nexus of
the site where a lot of people drop in anyway at all
times of the night has facilitated the growth of the dance
community and thus the credibility and size of it's
advocates and constituency.  I believe that the growth
of Pennsic has accelerated the growth of our constituency
*because* that constituency was able to recruit from the
social nexus of the site and be a visible and tangible 
presence there.   It's already happened that I would see
most of the same folks night after night in the barn,
but that effect was magnified at the dance tent where
night after night, I started to see *only* some of those
same folks night after night.   If the growth of Pennsic
as an event reaches a plateau, (which it seems to be
doing) and the dance community stays at its present
level, that's probably OK.  But that's probably not going
to happen.  Folks will move away, get new jobs that
take their time, find their "purpose in life", couples will
break up and divide their friends with their posessions,
etc etc.   In the barn, that social nexus has always
provided a steady influx of new folks that more than
balanced the losses to attritition.  (And I really *miss*
some of those folks :-(  There is a big double sided
potential liability here:
  1)   That the dance tent serves *only* the dance 
community, and thus anything that's done for the
dance tent is only done for that constituency,
which can and often will reinforce the perception of
"elitism".
  2)   If the dance community fails to keep the recruitment
levels above the attrition rate, then that constituency
will (over time) diminish.   If that trend continues, then
the tent will eventually turn into a Devil's Deal that
hurts dance more than helps as we fail to justify our
request for the resource *and* lose the human infrastructure
needed for things as basic as assembling the floor.

BTW, I'm very sorry I can't be more help on the floor.
Tho I show up to play alot at night, Pennsic is my
working vacation.   Music is my full time job, and
Pennsic a big part of my summer work. Therefore,
I need to perform at Pennsic for much more than my 
daily bread, and so if I'm not at dance, I'm usually out 
"working".   So I'm not alot of help when I have to
be "on the clock", especially this year's War with
it's Georgian economics and the weather.

   These dire things all of course, may not come to pass.  
But as I've said, I've seen exactly this chain of events happen 
to other groups who failed to realise how much their presence
at a social nexus contributed to their numbers and credibility.
And that social nexus is important to me as well.   I do
alot of connecting and reconnecting at Pennsic.   I talked
to and caught up with a whole lot more people at the masked 
ball in the barn than at any other night at Pennsic.  The ball
is a special case, of course.   But it was also true during the
weeks that alot more people who wanted to find me had a
much easier time doing so at the barn than at the dance tent.
(even with the mere 200 yards)
That could be adjusted over time, but that's not my point.
My point is that dance in the barn should be seen as an
essential social service at Pennsic, and not as a nuisance
to be moved.  Dance is not and should not be treated as a 
special service only for those who study dance.   Social dance 
is what should be advocated.  And social dance works best
as an option in the social nexus.
    I say floor:  Big Win!!!!
    Dance Tent:    Umm, I dunno....

So I'd advocate working to get courts moved elsewhere, possibly
to their *own* dedicated structure. (*their* constituencies will follow them) 

And get evening dancing back in the barn, the social centre of Pennsic, 
where it truly belongs.   Sure, courts have grown as Pennsic has
grown, but "royal" pomp & circumstance don't and shouldn't own Pennsic,
because Pennsic has grown too.

   Political realities being what they are, this will be an
uphill battle.   BUT, social realities being what they are,
what I've seen happen in other groups and what I may
have seen early signs of here might not bode well for
the future.

I usually love saying "toldja so!", but I wouldn't enjoy it this time.

Maugorn