Alberta Alberta Square & Round Dance Federation (AS&RDF) Alberta Report to: Canadian Square & Round Dance Society (CSRDS) Annual General Meeting October 22, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec
Submitted by Norman & Loretta Demeule - CSRDS Alberta Directors
The Alberta 2011 compared to 2010 CSRDS membership statistics are as follows:
Year Callers Associations/Federations Clubs Dancers Total Members 2010 103 9 68 2500 2680 2011 108 (+5) 10 (+1) 73(+5) 2394(-106) 2585 (-95)
The 2011 statistics compared to 2010 shows an increase of 5 Callers, 1 Associations/Federations, and 5 Clubs, with a decrease in Dancers (-106= -4.24%), and total Members (-95 = .3.5%). This is somewhat encouraging as previous years have shown a decrease in Dancers of around 10%. A slight increase in Callers,
Associations/Federations and Clubs indicates we are holding our own instructing and organization. The "43rd Alberta Annual Convention 2011" was held September 3, 4, & 5, 2011 in Wainwright, AB. The Convention was changed somewhat from the usual by starting Saturday morning with the Banner Parade, followed by the Opening Ceremonies and Showcase of Rounds. Square Dance Workshops were limited to Saturday & Sunday afternoons; all other available Square Dance times during the Convention were programmed as Square Dances. Round Dance teaches were held throughout the Convention with Round Dances both Saturday and Sunday evenings. All Callers/Cuers at this Convention did participate at one time or another during the weekend, with no one being left out. A new feature, an after party for all Convention participants was held following the Closing Ceremonies, which was enjoyed by all. The new Convention format was very well received and has been recommended for following Alberta Conventions. The 44th Alberta Annual Convention 2012, hosted by Calgary & District Square Dance Association, will be held September 1, 2 & 3, 2012, in High River, AB.
High River is located approximately 30 kilometers south of Calgary on Highway 2.
Everyone is welcome. Join us for a fun time in High River. For more information check the Calgary website: www.squaredancecalgary.com
The Square & Round Dance Instructor's Association of Alberta held a very successful Caller's School August 15 to 19, 2011 at Lone Ridge Hall, located approximately 25 kilometres west of Westaskiwin, AB. Instructors Lorne Smith and Murray Few put the 20 new or almost new Callers through many topics such as: techniques of calling, music, teaching, equipment, and singing call techniques, etc. The attendees came from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Local dancers contributed their time for the new Callers to practice their newly acquired Calling skills by providing 7 Squares for the Tuesday evening Dance and 12 Squares for the Thursday evening Dance.
Plans are already in the works for an August 2012 Caller's School. British Columbia Report From the B.C. S. & R.D. Federation July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011
We did see a slight decline in the membership from the previous year with only one Region showing an increase. We also gained 5 extra Callers/Cuers. Many Regions reported New Dancer Classes but somehow we still have dancers falling through the cracks.
We now have only 6 Regions as the Kootenays were unable to keep a club going. Prince George, Northern B.C. Region, had planned for a Festival in July but due to the lack of pre-registered dancers, callers and cuers the Festival had to be cancelled.
The good news was that many clubs and Regions held Spring Jamborees with good attendance. Vancouver Island with its lower and upper regions holds campout weekends for dancers all summer long. With the cost of Ferry travel they have a little community all to themselves and have some great times. Upper Island held a successful week long Caller School with 12 students in attendance and Doug Davis doing the instruction. Courtney on Vancouver Island was the host for the 2010 B.C. Senior Games and again the B.C. Dancers participated but since have voted to withdraw from any further games as we don’t really meet the games criteria of a competitive sport.
We again had 2 very active and competitive Teen Clubs. The Pacific Northwest Teen Festival was held in Region 2 – in the lower mainland with many U.S. clubs competing but somehow our clubs again hit the spotlight and won many awards. We did see several of these teens take over the mike to call and cue for the nightly dances at this years’ Peach Festival Square Dances in Penticton. This again was a great time of dancing.
The B.C.S. & R.D. Federation embarked on a very extensive project to print and distribute some 5000 copies of our "Your Prescription For Better Health Brochures as well as made available to each Region $600.00 toward a Pull Up Banner to advertise Square Dancing in their Region. Some Regions were able to swing a deal and secured two Banners for the $600.00.
We had a Booth at and were part of the 3 day B.C. Wellness Show in Vancouver and are looking forward to being part of the Canadian Zoomers Show when it comes to Vancouver in November. Some clubs are putting in an application to participate in the Grey Cup Parade.
There was just a glimmer of hope for hosting the Canadian Convention for 2012 in Victoria but when we got the quote for the shipping and rental of the flooring from the U.S. at a cost up to $20,000.00 it was a no go. The Maverick Club in Victoria will celebrate their 60th year of Dancing in March 2012. This could be the oldest active Square Dance Club in Canada.
Norm Cox President Manitoba Manitoba Square and Round Dance Federation, Inc. Report for the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society Annual General Meeting Montreal, QC Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
We took over the position of President on January 1st, 2011 when Dennis Lisoway moved away to another province. We have visited Eastern and Western Association dances and both of their Annual General Meetings.
We were unable to attend any Parkland Association functions this year.
We attended as many special events as possible. There were special club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries and milestone birthdays for our dancers.
The International Square and Round Dance Convention was very successful in Winnipeg in June 2011.
The new season is beginning with all the hopes and challenges of recruitment. Everyone is looking for new dancers and sad to see some dancers and callers are not able to return for another year.
Clubs are looking to replace callers and facing the challenges of having to change nights and locations.
Our thoughts go out to our friends who are unable to continue in our dance activity and those who have lost loved ones.
Bruce and Janet Clevett MSRDF Fresident New Brunswick New Brunswick Directors’ report to CSRDS 2011 AGM
The number of dancers in NB continues to attenuate. Two major reasons identified are the increasing age of our members, and the difficulty in attracting and retaining new dancers. The Federation of Dance Clubs of New Brunswick (FDCNB) has working diligently on this problem for several years, with varying degrees of success.
It has been identified that the most effective method of recruitment is that of interpersonal activities. To this end, the president of one of our clubs has taken it upon herself to engage pre-teens in a learn-to-dance program. In this noteworthy endeavour, where she has taught 13 young dancers at the Basic level, she has received support from 10 club members and two NB callers. This program has now begun its second year and enjoys continued success. Likewise, two other clubs have jointly welcomed two pre-teens (grand children of dancers) into their ranks and hopes are high that they will continue with their lessons. In further support of recruitment, we have attached a proposal, submitted by an NB caller that, with some refinement, may also help in promoting square dance.
We have this past year presented 13 Society Certificates: 10 in recognition of 50th Wedding Anniversaries; 1 in recognition of a 60th wedding anniversary; 1 in recognition of a club 50th anniversary; and, 1 in recognition of a club’s 30th anniversary.
We are aware that a number of major wedding, caller, and club anniversaries have been missed and can only remind dancers that for these certificates to be presented we need to know about the event.
As a reminder, the events that would be eligible are: Callers, Cuers, Leaders, Instructors, Clubs, Associations and Federations on their 20th Anniversary and at 5 year intervals; 50th Wedding Anniversaries and every 10 years thereafter; and as a means to recognize significant contribution to the Square and Round Dance Community.
Submitted by Eric & Dianne McCormack NB Representatives to the CSRDS.
A suggestion from Chris Ayres, President, NB Callers Assoc.
Competitive dance suggestions
If the Corporate world were approached to offer a trophy to be won each year to the general population, for team competitive dancing, and if there were some financial benefits to go with this trophy, which have to be applied to some form of education by a recognized organization, there might be an interest in this form of activity from the younger generations, which could, if the conditions of competition were right, be a boon to the square dance organizations here.
The trophy need not be expensive in itself, just some dancers, on a base to hold winner's names, the trophy should be named after the donor, e.g.:- XYZ Corp Trophy, which would provide advertising for them, and the financial prizes would be a write off.
The name would have to be for" Competitive Team Dancing", as the word "Squaredancing" is passé with the people we are aiming at. The conditions for entry could be something like:-
Open to all teams from 4 to 16 people.
The dancing must consist of dances that include interaction between all people as couples so that each person dances with each one of the others as a partner for some period of the dance. This would include dancing as in Square dances and Contra Dances, but exclude Line Dancing, River Dancing, and Clogging! There would also have to be a clause to require Cueing and or Prompting and Calling.
The dancing would need to be judged on content, artistic interpretation, musical relatioship,( e.g. timing), and there might be a condition of dancing to the team's own leader and to a leader unknown to them. This would entail having a list of steps or calls for them to know and also give different levels for them to enter.
The prize money to be won should be for educational purposes only, but for almost any kind of education from recognized and certified organizations, e.g. university, Community Colleges, any school for things like, Archery, cooking, acting, welding, pottery, whatever
The judging could be done by one of the Dance organizations, e.g. provincial federations or the national Society.
I think that a treatise would have to be written before anyone could go to the corporate world to sell the idea, but I am not the person to write that, there are many in our organization more qualified than me. I am sending this to you as you are the people in the right position to push it and you are probably the people to write it up too!
I am sure that I have left a lot out of this suggestion, but I feel that this would bring people and groups to want to be involved, rather than us having to cajole people into learning to dance. I don't know at what level the money prizes should be, but they must be enough to make it worthwhile! Newfoundland & Labrador
No Report Nova Scotia
No Report Ontario Ontario Square & Round Dance Federation 2011 Provincial Report to Canadian Square $ Round Dance Society
In 2005 the year we joined the Federation registered membership was 5222. As of April 30 2011 there are 3830 members. This includes 142 callers, 9 associations, 118 clubs and 3560 dancers.
Milestones
Square Dance week held in Ottawa gets support from Federation. 50,000 bookmarks promoting square dancing were printed and distributed. 20,000 were allocated to the ploughing match booth manned by volunteers, Each club was given an allocation with the 800 number and space to do local promotion. The 2014 convention has been approved and planning is moving along.
Current Issues Numbers are declining. As of May 2011 there were 3,830 registered members. What are we doing about it? Anything from ABC programs, Square dance week in Ottawa, Dancing keeps you young video. Anything that works. Share your successes and your failures with us. We will make sure that the message is passed on. Funds have been made available to help recruit new dancers, caller bursaries and publicity. We lost our Northern reps and efforts are being made to replace them.
Insurance A favorite topic for a lot of dancers. Why do we need insurance? Liability insurance is provided through membership in the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society. We need to do a better job of explaining the need for insurance. Insurance for new dancers has become a bit of concern. Society rules dictate that new dancers who join after July 1 are covered. Those that join between Feb 15 and June are not covered.
A Look into the Future
Of immediate concern are the major National Conventions. Although the 2008 convention was well received with lots of publicity and lots of positive comments there is still no one to host a 2012 convention. The same problem is rearing its head with National Campers Association Annual Campout. They are having problems getting groups to sponsor their annual national campouts. How do we stop this trend?
When we look around us and look at the age of some of our callers and cuers we begin to wonder how much longer some of these people are going to be around. Do we have enough replacements coming up through the ranks?
All is not doom and gloom. A weekend dance in Cornwall was very well attended. A campout over Labor Day weekend is sold out with a waiting list. The 2014 National Convention is set to go in Ottawa. Some areas are gaining new dancers, new callers, and new cuers. We need to become innovative. This is a people movement. As has been said if every couple currently dancing brought out one new couple each year we would double in size in one year. Even if we only kept 25% of those we would still double in four years.
We need some innovative ideas. Should we change our name to Western Dancing, Cued Ballroom Dancing or some other name that does not include the word SQUARE? Emphasize that even those with two left feet can dance. Play up the health benefits, the social benefits, cognitive benefits (over 500 moves) to learn. Think what a memory exercise that is. Should we change our dress code and advertise that the crinolines are not required or long sleeve dress shirts for the men. So everybody get your thinking hats on. Pass on your ideas on to your associations. Pass them along to Federation and then they will go to Society. If everyone puts a little effort into it we can certainly accomplish great things.
Please HELP keep the Movement Alive - It Takes All of Us
Respectfully Submitted Peter & Bev Piazza Presidents OS&RDF Prince Edward Island PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND REPORT TO CSRDS AGM – MONTREAL, QUE. OCTOBER 22ND,2011
During this past year, on behalf of CSRDS, five (5) 60th. and one (1) 50th Anniversary Certificates were presented and it is worthy of note that all recipients are still active dancers.
Both island clubs are having difficulty in attracting new dancers and the number of anniversaries being recognized each year is having its effect on club attendance. We also have to contend with about 2 squares of dancers spending their winter months in a warmer climate.
Banner raids between both clubs are essential to help meet their financial obligations.
New executives have been elected and plans are well underway for another season of square dancing.
Respectfully submitted
Edythe & Wendell Brown PEI Directors. Quebec BBS RDA OCTOBER 2010 TO OCTOBER 2011 REPORT
In compliance with the Government’s request for the submission of our Annual Financial report, we had to change the date of our AGM to coincide with their Fiscal year end from the month of February to the month of October 2010.
As of October 2011, there are 11 Square dance Clubs and 4 Round dance Clubs in the Border Booster Square & Round Dance Association. (There was 1 Club that closed in 2010) Last May, we graduated 52 new dancers: 36 square dancers and 16 round dancers.
Unfortunately, as the square dance year resumed this September, we have become aware that Clubs’ memberships are decreasing. We also have noticed that the quality of dancing is still a problem.
The Disbursement Committee, elected to run the Convention Fund, is ongoing and still working on various Programs for new dancers. There will be 2 new programs proposed at the upcoming AGM on October 29th, 2011.
There were several Certificates of Merit/Congratulations given this past year; Gary & Maureen Geldart for their service to BBS RDA & CSRDS; Bert Lajoie for 20 years of Calling; and, Swinging Stars for their 20th Anniversary. Gisele Gosselin will receive a Certificate for 30 years of Cuing at the October 22nd BBS RDA dance.
There were 2 Bursaries given for Caller Lab and Cuer Lab this past year.
With respect,
Madeleine Witthoeft President – BBS RDA Saskatchewan
No Report |
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