BIG NEWS!
Starting in early July, I will be permanently moving our weekly Ecstatic Dance to Thursday evenings (at 6:30-8:30pm in Odd Fellows Hall), and will no longer hold monthly Friday evening dances. It’s still a number of months off, but I wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible to prepare for this fundamental change in our schedule. (Note: We don’t know yet whether we’ll still hold a yoga class before dance each week.)
Why Thursdays instead of Sundays? I believe this change of day will best support Ecstatic Dance Corvallis to thrive, as well as keeping it sustainable for me personally. This decision wasn’t made lightly—a lot of reflection and planning went into it. Read on if you are curious about some of the key practical and personal considerations.
Thanks, as always, for your understanding and support.
--Peter
Starting in early July, I will be permanently moving our weekly Ecstatic Dance to Thursday evenings (at 6:30-8:30pm in Odd Fellows Hall), and will no longer hold monthly Friday evening dances. It’s still a number of months off, but I wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible to prepare for this fundamental change in our schedule. (Note: We don’t know yet whether we’ll still hold a yoga class before dance each week.)
Why Thursdays instead of Sundays? I believe this change of day will best support Ecstatic Dance Corvallis to thrive, as well as keeping it sustainable for me personally. This decision wasn’t made lightly—a lot of reflection and planning went into it. Read on if you are curious about some of the key practical and personal considerations.
- It's been very challenging to sustain an epic Ecstatic Dance on Sundays week-in and week-out, especially in a small, family-oriented town like Corvallis. Many people would prefer to be outdoors during the daytime when the weather is nice. Many families travel or have other obligations on weekends, especially on holiday weekends and during the summer. We need at least 40-50 people at each dance to make it financially feasible and for it to be juicy and energetic enough—yet we don't reliably reach those numbers in the summer, fall, or on holiday weekends.
- I envision holding our dance 52 weeks per year with confidence—not having to bypass holiday weekends nor worry about enough dancers on other days. So it makes sense to hold it on a weekday evening, and Thursdays seem best.
- From a personal perspective, it’s no longer sustainable for me to devote every weekend to this effort. I’ve been holding dance most Sunday mornings since October 2017. It’s been hard for me to be tied to Corvallis (almost) every Sunday year-round, giving up other weekend event/social opportunities that come my way and keeping my travels to a minimum. But now, more importantly, I need to reclaim my weekends in support of family—my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby are moving to Corvallis this summer, yay!
- Finally, there are a couple of other valuable reasons I prefer Thursdays to Sundays: ease of DJ booking, and making it easier for Eugene friends to join us weekly.
Thanks, as always, for your understanding and support.
--Peter