What follows is meant to serve as a response, though not necessarily a rebuttal, to this Facebook note. Feel free to read that before continuing. You don’t necessarily have to know all of the people involved, and my rantings and ravings thoughts on the situation are independent enough that you don’t have to read that note if you don’t feel like it.
The swing scene in the Kansas City area (including Lawrence), is hurting. In the 8 years since I started dancing, I have seen a serious decline in the amount of cooperation between dancers and studios alike. I attribute much of this to bad blood between specific dancers. However, the symptoms affect everyone.
Our biggest problem is this: we have too many of what I call "dance snobs". These are people who, justified or not, have determined that the dance they prefer is the "best" and anyone who dances anything else is a worse dancer. I have seen this from people whose primary dance is East Coast, West Coast, Lindy Hop, ballroom, and just about every other dance out there. I know that I have been guilty of this in the past, and I think just about all dancers have done it at one point or another. I emphasize this because I don’t want anyone to think that I am trying to single out one individual or group of people. However, I strive every time I go dancing to push the envelope of what I know and what dances I do.
Are some dances harder than others? Absolutely. Anyone who claims that all dances are the same is just being naive. However, simply because one dance is harder than another doesn’t make that dance "better" or "more fun". One of my favorite dances is East Coast, and it is probably one of the easiest to start on. That’s why lots of beginners start there. But that doesn’t mean that I am a beginner dancer.
I know that a lot of things have happened between individual people, myself included, over the years. And I know that makes things that much more difficult to overcome. Even so, I believe that the swing scene in KC is worth saving, and I think it is within our ability to do so. The down side of this is that a lot of people will need to learn to put the past behind them and make attempts at moving forward. People need to stop flinging crap around at studios and individuals who they don’t like. Honestly, I don’t care whether you like a particular dance, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear you tell me how "stupid" or "boring" or "easy" that particular dance is. And if I had to guess, neither do most other people.
I am taking steps to try and blend more of the swing scene in KC. I will be teaching Lindy Hop at the Louis & Co studio starting on June 28th. I know that Geoff Crawford is trying to revitalize the old Swing Bombs that we used to have, where a couple dozen dancers would converge on some random location and just dance to the music of a boombox for an hour or two. These two things aren’t enough, though. By themselves, they will just be two more events for people to go to and complain about this or that. What we need is a combined effort from all of the dancers in the Kansas City area to consolidate and promote our art.
I want this scene to remind me of what I have experienced when I danced while traveling. I have discovered that other swing scenes are far more tolerant of newer and more inexperience dancers as well as people who prefer different styles. Granted, no place is going to be perfect, and I have run into "dance snobs" elsewhere, but they are in the minority in those places. They should be the minority here as well.