about ydw

history

About three years ago Brian Gallagher was at a dance weekend in Wisconsin. There was a super hot band there and a great caller. The contras were great and the squares were even better. The late night tenting community was awesome. The floor was really good; the hall was neither too cold nor too hot. The stars were beautiful. But alas, at 23 Brian was the youngest dancer there by five years! There were three other dancers there besides Brian who were under 35. One of them, Midwest based caller and then CDSS board member, Carol Ormand, spent a bunch of time with Brian talking.

Together, they came up with the idea of having a dance weekend that was targeted to the under 35 dancer. They discussed many of the factors that younger folks consider when they go dancing. Will there be anyone there I want to dance with? Can I afford the event? How will I get there? Shouldn’t I be doing homework? Is my sweetie going? Hence was born the YDW. Carol quickly passed the flame off to Brian telling him to “run with it.”

Shortly thereafter Brian met Julia Nickles. The two of them developed a survey to further probe this issue. After a while they were connected with CDSS and the project really took off. Over a few short months, Brian and Julia presented a workshop at NEFFA and got the planning for this weekend well underway.

goals

Brian and Julia have spent much of their energy focusing on ways to include younger dancers in dance communities, helping younger and older dancers and organizers communicate with one another in positive ways, and listening to those around them. In no way is this event meant to divide dancers. Instead, the goals of this dance weekend are tri-fold:

1. To have a really fun Contra and English dance experience
2. To provide a forum for discussion that can empower younger dancers to become leaders in their local dance communities
3. To create an easily duplicated dance weekend model that other communities can use to have similar discussions surrounding this important issue

faq

Q: Why can’t my 17 year old friend come to this event?
A: Insurance & liability. Next year will be better anyhow- bring them then.

Q: I’m significantly over 35, (I even have lied about my age) can I come to the dance weekend? I’m very interested in getting youth involved in my local dance scene!

A: Our event is targeted for the dancers under 35. If you are very interested in being a part of the event and are over 35, there is a pricing option for that. We highly encourage you to bring someone under 35 with you (maybe even pay their way?). We want folks to realize this is an open event, but also need make sure the event is available to the younger crowd so that they may benefit from what our programming has to offer.

Q: What if it rains?

A: The dance hall is indoors – we will eat there if need be. Please check the weather before the event and bring appropriate clothes!

Q: Showers? Toliets? You said it’s not the Ritz but….

A: YES there are showers. There are composting toilets. We’ve even tested them. The showers had hot water. The toilets worked.

Q: So, Farm & Wilderness is way out in the middle of no-where – why not pick someplace in a city? I could have used public transportation!

A: True, there is no public transportation option for YDW ’08. If you need help finding transportation, please e-mail the organizers and we’ll do what we can to connect you with someone who can help. We choose this venue because we wanted a ‘camp’ community feel. When dance weekends are held in cities and people sleep in houses & hotels spread all over the city you lose a lot. We want everyone to be able to hang out, jam, talk, play frisbee, go swimming…etc. We realize that lots of the good communication about how to be an active participant in your local community will happen outside the workshops!

ydw committee

Youth Dance Weekend is organized by a committee. We are:

Brian Gallagher, Northfield,MA
Julia Nickles, Providence, RI
Maggie Zander, Northfield, MA
Rebecca Lay, Brattleboro, VT
Sarah Pilzer, New York, NY
Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, Brattleboro, VT