Swing dances were held about every Saturday evening, from 8 PM to midnight, by three dance troupes in the area. Usually, the groups that hold these events provide a 1-hour lesson – teaching the basic steps. At 9 PM, a band comes on the stage – swing, jazz, or rockabilly – and those that pay their money get to dance until midnight. Some good bands play there, and I was fortunate at one time to dance and listen to the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
One of the groups that sponsor the dances is Gottaswing. Gottaswing is a Swing dance organization, started and run by two individuals some years back. They not only sponsor the Saturday evening dances, but also provide classes for beginning and intermediate dancers.
I have been thinking about going back and this Saturday – 13 July – Gottaswing is sponsoring the event and sponsoring the event for next Saturday – 20 July. So anyway, I looked up their website for updates and came across their Frequently Asked Questions. Within the FAQ, is their Code of Conduct. A couple of statements in their Code of Conduct got my attention. Specifically, this - …everyone feels comfortable, safe, and has fun. And this -
Our dance community’s doors are open to everyone, and all should be treated with respect. Don’t use language or actions that would make anyone feel less welcome or safe; defer to a person’s preferred gender pronoun>. Refer to dance roles as “lead” and “follow” rather than gendered terms; For those unfamiliar with the terms “lead” and “follow” – the lead is usually male and the follower is usually female.
I am going to email the two owners of Gottaswing and ask a couple questions.
One – what occurred that a warning of using “preferred pronouns” must be issued to patrons?
Two – will those that want certain pronouns used for themselves, will they tell me what pronoun they want used or am I left to guess?
Third – for those of the LGBTQ community, will they identify themselves as such?
Once I receive an answer to my questions, I will post an update.
Thank you for reading.
I just recently started dancing with my senior friends in Las Vegas. It’s referred to as “lead and follow” here, and having done years of ballet as a child, it didn’t raise red flags for me and makes more sense when thinking of a troupe. It’s one of the few places I have issues with changing the terms.
I danced regularlyat glen echo for about 20 years from the early 1990’s to around 2015. Then irregularly after that. then with covid I quit altogether and moved from inside the beltway to leesburg. ... which is a little inconvenient for glen echo.
For the first 10 year I went swing dancing on saturday nights. for the second ten years, I went contra dancing on friday nights and sometimes on sunday nights. some sunday afternoons, I waltzed.
If they mention the pronouns thing, I wouldn’t darken the door.
They say, “…everyone feels comfortable, safe, and has fun.” I guess that “everyone” doesn’t include YOU. They’re offending YOU to kowtow to the freaks and perverts. Just MHO.