The first thing I noticed about contra dancing was how inclusive everyone was. When we got there, the caller immediately brought us together and taught us some of the basic moves. While there were a lot of beginners, there were enough experienced dancers to pair up with us and help us get the hang of things. When the dancing started, my partner basically lead me through the whole thing which made me feel more at ease. As we made our way down the line, everyone was really nice and didn't look down on you if you messed up. I felt very included and comfortable. This event was different in that the quality of dancing didn't matter as much as the number of people participating--a characteristic of participatory music. Also, the group of dancers was very diverse. It was completely normal to pair up with a partner twice your age which wouldn't really happen at most public dances.
I think that I would attend this event again. I really appreciated everyone's kindness and inclusiveness. I am not so great at dancing but during some of the easier dances I was able to feel flow. I've experienced it on my own but I can't think of a time when I've had flow experiences with other people. It was a new experience but one that I would like to have again. Also, I don't really get many opportunities to dance for two hours straight and I really enjoyed this dance, so I think I would go to this event again.
Participatory music allows everyone to dance or make music, so it is non-hierarchical. This is great because it brings many people together and encourages diversity. Also, this type of music is especially good for forming communities and strengthening social bonds. Participatory music is most likely to cause people to experience flow, and when people play music together they sometimes experience communitas. This helps people to recognize their similarities and forget their differences which is good for group bonding.
No comments:
Post a Comment