Thread: Dancing the fine line

Hi!
My apologies if this has been brought up before, but I couldn't see anything recently.
I am hosting an international dancer in my city next year. My city is rather small, but there are about 4 big bellydance schools here... and none of them really talk to each other.
I have dancers coming from all over Australia to take workshops with the dancer that I am bringing over, and I would love to put on a performance to show that we have some amazing talent here in this city, and I would love to invite dancers from all the different schools to perform, but I'm worried if one school finds out that another school is going to be there, then they will cancel... and so on, and so on.
Obviously, I would like my workshops and show to go very well, so it's not only good for me, but good for the community here in general.
So, my question is - how do I approach the different schools without offending anyone? And am I being nieve to want to bring the community together?

I'm probably more naive than you are, but here goes....

I'd invite the best dancers from each school (or invite each school to send its best dancer to represent). I wouldn't mention to any of the schools that I'm inviting the others. If they asked me, I'd answer very matter-of-factly, and if anyone said 'we won't come if they're there' I'd say 'Well, I'm really sorry to hear that. I'll keep you on my mailing list for future events if you don't mind.'

In other words, I'd assume everyone is capable of acting like adult professionals and let those who can't do that stay home.

I'd pretend to not even KNOW about any animosity, and if anyone tried to talk to me about it I'd stop them and say 'I know there are politics, I don't want to get involved in any of that. I'm just trying to put on a show that features great local dancing -- can I count on you?'

I've had good results with this approach, both in the dance community and putting together family reunions/weddings/etc.

Originally Posted by MirahmarArati

Hi!
I have dancers coming from all over Australia to take workshops with the dancer that I am bringing over, and I would love to put on a performance to show that we have some amazing talent here in this city, and I would love to invite dancers from all the different schools to perform, but I'm worried if one school finds out that another school is going to be there, then they will cancel... and so on, and so on.
Obviously, I would like my workshops and show to go very well, so it's not only good for me, but good for the community here in general.
So, my question is - how do I approach the different schools without offending anyone? And am I being nieve to want to bring the community together?

This is so incredibly unimagineable to me, but I know it can happen.

I absolutely concur with every word that Lauren wrote.

Deborah

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I'd pretend to not even KNOW about any animosity

I completely agree with the suggestion to take the "naive" approach: I've had great success with this technique in the past, too. I've found that if you act as though someone is of course going to do the ethical, mature thing and as though no other possibility has even crossed your mind, most people are too embarrassed to do otherwise.

That said, however, I'd be inclined to be upfront about the fact that you're inviting dancers from all the schools, so that no one can accuse you of intentionally concealing that information and use it as an excuse to quit the show later in a huff. I would probably send out a message that reworded what you wrote above:

"As some of you already know, I'm planning to host Dancer X next year for a workshop weekend. I already have dancers from all over the country registered for the workshops, and I'd like to take advantage of this great opportunity to showcase our city's talented dancers to a national audience. To that end, I'd like to organize a showcase featuring dancers from each of our local dance schools, including schools X, Y, and Z. Please let me know if you and your school would be interested in performing at the show!"

That way, there's no confusion: what you see is what you get. Your community members will have to decide right away whether their animosity is something they can set aside long enough to take advantage of this fantastic performance opportunity you're offering them.

My suspicion? Most dancers won't turn down performing for a national audience in a show with an internationally-acclaimed dancer to prolong a local feud.

Ooooh, smart you are, Ainsley!

Hey, thanks!

That means a lot coming from Bhuz's resident advice guru. ..g.:

Are you kidding? You just totally trumped me! It was awesome.

That is some great advice! I'll definately try it out. Thank you, Lauren and Ainsley, I'll let you know how it works out.