The Florida Callers Asssociation is dedicated to the promotion and betterment of Square Dancing throughout Florida.
Everywhere I go, when two or more callers get together the topic at some point will turn to: What are we going to do to get more dancers into the activity? I know one thing for sure. Doing the same old things over and over is not the answer to the problem.There was a time when doing a couple of demos at the mall and passing out some flyers resulted in six squares of new dancers in the beginner's class. That hasn't worked for the last 15 years, yet many of us keep doing the same old thing and kid ourselves that this will be the year.
I am not the only caller I know who believes that Square Dancing has to repackage itself to succeed. I really feel that what we are doing today is not what Square Dancing will be in 20 years. The times they are a changin' and we've got to keep up. Twenty-six weeks of lessons, followed by 16 weeks of lessons before you can go dance with your friends is killing us in the world of U-Tube, Facebook and instant gratification.
There are lot of good ideas are out there. Have you checked into the Community Dance Program, 10-10-10 or A-B-C dancing? My personal feeling is that our future lies with some form of CDP or A-B-C: something that lets a new dancer walk in at anytime and have a good time. We need people having fun at dances if Square Dancing is going to survive.
I'll be honest. Berni calls me a hypocrite when I write or say things like this. She's correct when she tells me that I talk a great CDP, but have never gotten off my duff to try one and see how it works. I'm as guilty as any other caller. I know we need to change, but I keep doing things the same old way, hoping that the good old days will magically reappear.
Changing is hard. We are all callers because we like to call. The majority of us have been doing it this way for over 20 years and we don't really want to do it any other way. We just stick our heads in the sand as clubs continue to dwindle and fold all around us. One of these days we're going to look up and all the clubs will be gone. And who's fault will that be?
Remember: if you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got.
President
Gary Murphy
move away to resume.
