Author: Eric B. Jacobson
Come Together: Being strategic
This is part of Come Together, a series about defining, building, growing, and sustaining our dance communities.
When I talk to others about building their local communities, it strikes me that different leaders have different goals. Some are focused on building a student base, some on throwing a good party for guests, and others on just getting more bodies in the door. The goals are up to the community leaders and their particular vision for the community.
When I make plans, I’m a geek for being strategic. To me, being strategic means acting with the end in mind – defining your goals first and then determining what strategies to use, and then what tactics to use. Goals are the high-level aims we set out to achieve; they are the North Star towards which every step is directed. The strategies themselves are the approaches we take to achieve our goals. And tactics are the tasks or actions we execute to move towards our goals. (more…)
Connection is not the goal
As partner dancers, we focus a lot on connection. I mean, a lot. It’s like we obsess over it. We constantly strive to connect with our partners. We aspire to have great connection. And we desperately want to dance with others who have great connection.
This, of course, is not surprising. Connection is critically important to a successful partner dance. We need to be able to feel our partners throughout the dance to spontaneously create, improvise, and express the music together. (more…)
The Intermediate Plateau
When I started dancing (way back when), I remember being completely enraptured. I was in college and learning Lindy Hop, and I was obsessed. I couldn’t get enough of this dance that allowed me to move – with another person, no less – to jazz music. I wanted to get good and get good fast, and I seized any and every opportunity to dance, learn to dance, and watch the dance. I lived and breathed dancing, obsessed with it, consumed by it. I even hopped on a train from Philadelphia to New York City for a weekend of workshops to get more of it.
And then, at some point, my enthusiasm waned. I was less obsessed, I was less consumed, and I was less passionate. I was a little more critical – of the dance and myself – and I enjoyed it less. It was as if the rose-colored glasses had come off, the shiny veneer now a little stained. (more…)
Come Together: Answering the “why”
This is part of Come Together, a series about defining, building, growing, and sustaining our dance communities.
In order to build and sustain a community, there must be a reason for people to join that community and stay. Like any business where customers have a choice of how to spend their time and money, a dance community must offer some value to the people it aims to serve. (more…)
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