As per the request of one of the DanceNet readers, here are copies of the past ramblings of the DanceNet Webmaster.
That dance has been around since 1986 and I myself have been attending that dance since, I think, March of 1991 (I also being an "old timer"). It has to be Boston's longest running swing dance. It was my second public dance, second dance in two days, and I haven't looked back since.
There is a good variety of dancers there, both new and experienced, and the band is typically pretty good and inspiring for dancing (especially this upcoming one) but the best part is that people who have been away for a while will always go back to *this* dance. And it's not uncommon to see a bunch of "old-timers" standing around talking instead of dancing. I don't often go out dancing as much these days as in the old days, but this is one dance I try to make. I like live music for its energy and this venue offers a different band every month to keep it fresh.
Many of us got our start at the IC dances ("IC" for Church of the Immaculate Conception, the original location in Cambridge) and that led us down a path of great fun, exercise, and friendships. Don't forget to tell your friends about it.
Someone wrote in (finally) to ask me to remove their listing from my website because they had moved from the general area about a year ago. I'm finally getting a note from them...because someone contacted them about classes...in their former state.
Hey Benson, Is this still your address? Are you still the one to contact regarding info on havetodance.com? If so, [his wife] and I have moved to [some other city far, far away] (a year ago actually) and I have recently been getting a lot of inquiries about dance lessons from folks [in his old state]. Can you remove our info please? Thanks.
While a move to another state (among other things) would be very stressful and push a lot of other issues to the background, I must admit to a certain level of frustration because I end up with very stale information for my website. I've been proud of the fact that, given the geographical area covered by this website and the amount of information I get every week, this website is still mostly up-to-date.
I put a lot of time into this website, probably much more than I should since I don't make money off it. The people who make money off dancing find it an important resource to use to promote their dance venues (for little or no cost). The result is an extensive website that is read by thousands ever week. When I list an event, I'm really helping to bring customers in *their* doors and I'm helping them make money.
As I am helping these dance professionals make a living without asking for anything in return, it is disappointing when I find out that various promoters don't bother sending me *significant* changes to their business (like an address change, a new website, URL, or the fact that they got out of the dance business). These lapses do affect their customers. Some people might go through an effort to attend some dance and arrive to find out that it was cancelled that night. A reader might have looked forward to taking classes, only to find out that the teacher stopped teaching classes after seeing their listing on this website. Ultimately, it's this website's credibility that suffers since it would appear that this website just didn't post the latest information. That could be true, but the trend is for the dance professional not to send their information in the first place.
I don't make money off my website and I don't make money off dancing; therefore, it's not my job (to update the website and chase down the promoters for their information); yet, I spend hours each week to provide a resource that benefits both the dance professionals and the dance consumers. While I check the listings occasionally to remove old data, I don't have the time nor the resources to check *everything*. I especially don't need to find out that a dance venue moved across the country...the year before.
If you have a fairly major change to your dance business (leaving the state is a good example), you have a responsibility to your current (and potential) customers to let them know. That means making sure that all possible references are changed and/or updated (try searching for yourself in Google).
I wanted to wish a Happy Birthday to Charlie Lee who allegedly turns 80 this week. He snuck out of the month IC dance this past Saturday before the information could be confirmed and before Roger could make an announcement about it. I heard that Charlie had been dancing for 65 years now.
The best thing about this is that I found out about a lot of venues that I had never known before. For example, there's a place on Galen Street in Watertown called "Lilly's" and they've been there for 18 years. I drive up that street all the time when I head for the pike but I've never noticed them (they're across from the tire place). Well, they were offering some sort of desert that was to die for.
If you missed this year's event, make sure you find out when next year's event is going to be held and to make sure you pencil it in. It was worth it. And, at the end of the event, no one's going to want to haul that food back to the store so they give it all away. I've got my breakfast for tomorrow.
A friend of mine recently new to dancing told me about some guy she danced with who suffered from serious BO (body odor).
During this past week I was rereading the book What makes flamingos pink? a great book with interesting twists on age-old questions, particularly those posted by little kids.
If you happen to look at page 126, you'll find that "perspiration by itself doesn't have a bad smell". However, if you continue reading that paragraph, it might make you consider showering before *and* after a dance,...and maybe several times a day. No, I'm not going to give it away; you'll have to buy the book and look it up.