strathspey@strathspey.org:53279

Monica Pollard

Re: The RSCDS dance publication process (was: Tunes for "Hornpipes Suitable for Catch the Wind" on the "More Memories.....)

July 31, 2008, 1:32 a.m. (Message 53279, in reply to message 53270)

Anselm Lingnau said:
> We -- the Society -- must make it abundantly clear that there is no
»ivory tower« where matters are, as a matter of course, decided
»without reference to anyone«....
> ....getting the members (ex-members, future members) behind the
Society is the Big Thing, and that this must proceed at a grassroots
level. The perception problems that the Society has are not going to
be fixed by hiring a single person to work out of Coates Crescent...
> ...The Society -- and that most emphatically means *everyone*, not
just the office bearers and MB -- must be seen to go out and do things
where the dancing is, not waste another decade in committees
discussing strategy papers on glossy stock that emanate from an
Edinburgh office.

Pia and Campbell both ask Anselm (essentially) :
> So you will be standing for Management Board this year?

Why ask Anselm?  Aren't most of us the "Members"?  What are each of
*us* going to do about helping the RSCDS become more responsive to our
needs?

My first step will be a renewed effort to talk about the Society in
class more often, and encourage my dancers to join.  We don't usually
talk about the RSCDS much in class or at events, because it's
difficult to show people here exactly what it is they're getting for
their money.

However, with the support of our group, I hope to attend TAC Summer
School in 2010 to take Unit 5.  Hopefully ;) our dancers will be
getting a better teacher out of that effort.  It's an ideal
opportunity to remind them that this training exists because of the
work of the RSCDS.

I've not been a wildly enthusiastic supporter of the RSCDS in the
past, for various reasons.  But if the Society did make more
'missionary effort' to become visible in isolated areas, and more
supportive of small groups like ours, it would gain much goodwill.

Monica Pollard
Nampa, ID




-- 
"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a
horrible warning."
Catherine Aird