Brotherly Love

Welcome back, real life.

The factual summary of March:
I was Philadelphia, and Delaware (and Pittsburgh the last weekend). I taught 3 workshops, a choreography team lesson, 3 group classes, a 4-week series, and about 65 hours of private lessons. I did a massive amount of music research.

The seemingly irrelevant backstory:
In 2005, I spent 8 days in Edinburgh and 9 days in London. In Edinburgh, the scene is small. There aren't a lot of top-notch dancers, but those that are proficient in lindy are more than welcoming to newcomers. The west-coast scene is the same. In that week+, I became a part of the crowd, someone to contact if events were going on. I learned names took part in practice sessions. In London, the scene is huge. Many very talented advanced dancers, many more intermediates. One more dancer doesn't get noticed, one less isn't missed. There's a necessary anonymity. Given a choice right now, I'd go to Edinburgh and skip London altogether.

I 'grew up' in Knoxville. Knoxville in those years was a unique phenomenon- a small scene of dedicated dancers with fire for travel and a social scene that was synonymous with the dance scene... and it produced a crop of fantastic, diverse dancers. You could count on seeing dancers every day, regardless of whether there was a dance. As instructors, we got to watch students grow, and keep track of particularly able or dedicated students. We took dancers into the fold, and for all our drama, we had a collective sense of identity. We were proud to say: Yeah, Knoxville!

After one month of watching Philly's swingout change, one month of facing challenges with the organizers, one month of gaining the trust of and for my students, I found myself saying aloud: Yeah, Philly!

Somehow, somewhere along the way, I moved to a london. I don't know the students here- there are too many teachers to teach regularly without competing against other instructors. Don't misunderstand me- it's great for the students to have access to so many good instructors, and this town is full of wonderful people. But for me, for my need for community, it's just all wrong. I don't want to be the only teacher (heaven forbid), but I want to watch students grow. I want to say, "Soandso is really coming along- we should encourage them to travel to event x." I want the personal touch of a small scene.

There's no easy solution. I could leave, go back to a Knoxville or a Philly. I also have opportunities here- there are several tango leaders seeking the same thing I am. There are also lindy projects that hold some promise (although the goal there is me, and showiness, rather than students, and connection). For the time being, I'm going to solidly commit to the place I am. I want to find ways to get what I've been missing. Maybe there's a bit of Edinburgh in this london.

Or maybe not. Time will tell.

-m.