Organization and Social Customs
"Survival" dances are typically either run by a band or caller as a profit-making enterprise, or sponsored by a non-dance organization (such as a church, a Grange, or a fire department) as a social service and/or a fundraiser for its other activities. The dance may be advertised as open to the public, but the vast majority of those attending are likely to be local people who know one another. Almost everyone present is likely to know the dances: often there will be little or no teaching or walkthrough, and in some communities the same few dances are done at every meeting, without a caller. The dancers may dress up a bit—though not necessarily in square-dance-specific costumes—and they may attend and dance exclusively with a spouse or other regular partner.
"Revival" dances are usually run by a nonprofit organization set up specifically to sponsor dance events, though they may also be run by a band or caller. The dance is normally open to the public; a few series are advertised as "for experienced dancers", but it is typically left to the dancers themselves to decide whether they qualify as experienced. Often a large percentage of those attending are not very familiar with the dances; the caller is likely to walk through most or all of the figures before the music starts. Casual attire and frequent partner changes are the norm; it is considered acceptable to ask a stranger to dance.
Read more about this topic: Traditional Square Dance
Famous quotes containing the words organization, social and/or customs:
“Unless a group of workers know their work is under surveillance, that they are being rated as fairly as human beings, with the fallibility that goes with human judgment, can rate them, and that at least an attempt is made to measure their worth to an organization in relative terms, they are likely to sink back on length of service as the sole reason for retention and promotion.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877?)
“What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter, which lie close together to keep each other warm.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“The correct rate of speed in innovating changes in long-standing social customs has not yet been determined by even the most expert of the experts. Personally I am beginning to think there is more danger in lagging than in speeding up cultural change to keep pace with mechanical change.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877?)