The Dance Producer's Manifesto
(or, "The dance community and container are not the same thing.")
Ecstatic Dance community is anarchy. It's not democratic nor consensus-based. There's no governing organization. Nobody owns the name Ecstatic Dance. There's no authority to say what is and what isn't Ecstatic Dance, nor the right way to hold an Ecstatic Dance.
Any individual or group may start their own Ecstatic Dance events. To hold their vision of the container in the way they prefer. To decide their preferred approach to music. To pick their venue, day, and times. To invest their time and money in the ways they believe will be in service. To establish the behavioral guidelines and boundaries for their events. To decide how they want to solicit and use feedback from others.
The community and the container (dance events) are not the same thing! The community is anarchy; the container is owned by whomever holds it.
A wise "container holder" listens to the voices of the community with openness, flexibility, and curiosity to discover the best resonance for their own vision. A wise "container holder" also knows that there's no meeting the needs or desires of the entirety of a local community—many preferences held by members of the community are mutually-exclusive.
The dancers vote with their feet. They show up when they resonate with a particular dance container, and look elsewhere when they don't resonate or don't feel safe.
I produce dance containers to nourish the local community as guided by my heart vision and my values. I regularly solicit feedback from attendees to make sure my vision is landing as intended. Ultimately, I have to make various choices and decisions for the events I hold, which inevitably leave some people disappointed. Such is the way of human social fabric.
It's only by staying true to my heart vision and values that I am so driven to keep creating, producing, and serving. I genuinely hope other community members will become inspired by different heart visions and values than mine, and start new dance containers to nourish the community in other ways.
Sincerely,
Baron von Spirit
Any individual or group may start their own Ecstatic Dance events. To hold their vision of the container in the way they prefer. To decide their preferred approach to music. To pick their venue, day, and times. To invest their time and money in the ways they believe will be in service. To establish the behavioral guidelines and boundaries for their events. To decide how they want to solicit and use feedback from others.
The community and the container (dance events) are not the same thing! The community is anarchy; the container is owned by whomever holds it.
A wise "container holder" listens to the voices of the community with openness, flexibility, and curiosity to discover the best resonance for their own vision. A wise "container holder" also knows that there's no meeting the needs or desires of the entirety of a local community—many preferences held by members of the community are mutually-exclusive.
The dancers vote with their feet. They show up when they resonate with a particular dance container, and look elsewhere when they don't resonate or don't feel safe.
I produce dance containers to nourish the local community as guided by my heart vision and my values. I regularly solicit feedback from attendees to make sure my vision is landing as intended. Ultimately, I have to make various choices and decisions for the events I hold, which inevitably leave some people disappointed. Such is the way of human social fabric.
It's only by staying true to my heart vision and values that I am so driven to keep creating, producing, and serving. I genuinely hope other community members will become inspired by different heart visions and values than mine, and start new dance containers to nourish the community in other ways.
Sincerely,
Baron von Spirit