to dem or not to dem. {was cues

Lee Fuell

Message 19208 · 2 Nov 1999 00:54:33 · Fixed-width font · Whole thread

Of Oberdan's two broad categories of demonstrations, I much more
value the second (recruitment) than the first (performance).
Although we certainly don't want to embarass SCD with a shoddy
demo, I would much rather do a demo that produces an "I'd like to
try that" reaction from the audience than an "Oh, my, I could never
do anything that difficult" response. I believe demos have to be
entertaining enough to get people's attention, but still look like
something that's readily achievable by Joe or Jane Average.
Additionally, I would offer that great music is the key to an
entertaining demo; probably more important to a non-dancing
audience than the actual movements of the dance.

I'm sure the demographics of every SCD group are different, but at
our branch I'm really concerned about the inadequate (IMO) influx
of new, young dancers to help perpetuate this activity we all love.
Therefore, as I've discussed with our Demo Team coach, I view our
Demo Team as our most powerful recruiting tool. Now, if we could
just improve our recruiting success rate...

Bottom line - I think demo teams need to make it a priority to make
SCD look fun, not prohibitively difficult.

Lee

Lee Fuell
President, Cincinnati Branch
Royal Scottish Country Dance Society
http://www.infinet.com/~plindsay/rscds/
xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx