| Monthly Newsletter |
December 2018 |
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CURRENT EVENTS
From the President
It is once again that time of the year when we are amazed at how yet another year is coming to an end and a new year about to begin, which gives us pause to reflect on what has happened and what we have to look forward to or what our plans are for the coming year.
In 2018, NASSPDA had only two sanctioned events, with Floorplay in the Desert taking a hiatus.
April Follies, organized by the Bay Area Same-Sex Dance Association (BASSDA) and the longest running same-sex competition in North America, was once again a very well organized and successful event, hosting not only continuously the California State Championships but this year also the North American Championships. The latter is the only titled event for which NASSPDA provides bronze through gold medals for the winners of each multi-dance category at every level, the 10- and 9-dance as well as the Showdance categories and certificates for each member of the Formation Team category. The organizing committee of BASSDA, putting together this event, continue to create each year a very enjoyable, welcoming, well thought through and multi-faceted one-day affair.
The experienced and very dedicated team of Boston Open Dancesport (BOD) had been organizing most recently a series of annual competitions in Provincetown, MA, on Cape Cod, which is a town known to be welcoming to the queer community and its seaside enjoyments. This year though the event moved to Providence, RI, a very charming New England town. The event was a hybrid of mainstream, same-sex and reverse-role categories and has hosted for the first time the New England Championships. The two-day affair was held at the Providence Convention Center, creating surprisingly a warm and welcoming ballroom atmosphere, and was quite well attended.
Aside from these two events, many of us also headed to the 10th Gay Games in Paris in August, which was also appointed to be IFSSDA's World Championship (International Federation of Same-Sex Dance Associations). As per the rulebook of the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), the Red Book, which was compiled in a joined effort for Dancesport by ESSDA and NASSPDA, in the absence of any rules by IFSSDA, the rules of the closest continental governing body shall be applicable. Demands made by ESSDA attached to their sanctioning prior to the event caused some concerns within our greater community, which were though worked out, and we all experienced a very exciting and successful event, thanks to the organizers, Rainbow Evidanse.
Finally, this year our former Board member, Kathy Wildman, who has been instrumental in creating our current website, added a calendar function, which allows us to list all NASSPDA sanction, non-sanctioned that welcome participation of our members and social events (
http://nasspda.org/events/). In particular, since USA Dance has changed their definition of a couple and opened up many of its competitions to welcome same-sex couples, we have reached out, in order to add those to our calendar.
In 2019, we start the year with another edition of the popular event Floorplay in the Desert (
http://www.floorplaypalmsprings.com/), held in Palm Springs, which has agreed to host once again NASSPDA's North American Championships. NASSPDA's Competition Rules state that "It is the intention of NASSPDA that the North American and all National titles move from one geographic region to another over time." We are therefore grateful that the organizers of this competition have agreed to host the 2019 edition of this championship and are equally grateful that Boston Open Dancesport (
http://www.bostonopendancesport.com/) has agreed to host the 2019 USA Championships in conjunction with the New England Championships, which will be held at a yet to be determined date in the fall. And, as every year, we are looking forward to April Follies (
https://www.aprilfollies.com/) hosting the 2019 California State Championships in Oakland, CA.
Following April Follies, as established a few years back, NASSPDA will hold its annual elections to the Board of Directors, since the two-year terms of the directors are purposely overlapping, so that we are always assured continuity. This year's election resulted into the valuable addition of Debbie Esparza, elected by the Board to the position of Vice-President, and Horace Luong, appointed by the Board and his expertise to Webmaster. In the coming year, Erik Jaeger, our very capable Secretary, and I will stand for reelection. Barbara Zoloth will regrettably retire after many years of services, part of this as our very formidable President. We are therefore looking for candidates, who are willing and interested in serving our community. If you are considering this or know of someone to nominate, please inform yourself about the election process on our website (
http://nasspda.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Election-Process.pdf) and access the necessary forms (
http://nasspda.org/board-members/) to be submitted to
info@nasspda.org.
The next and 11th Gay Games will be held in 2022 in Hong Kong, which raises the question of which competition rules will be applicable. The FGG has reached out asking ESSDA and NASSPDA for updates to the Red Book (see above). Establishing IFSSDA as an internationally legal entity has proven to be difficult, which hampers efforts of adopting by-laws, a governing structure and creating overarching competition rules that will expand on the Red Book. But IFSSDA's Constitution has been adopted and signed by the founding members ESSDA, IAGLCWDC and NASSPDA since 2013, which gives enough framework, at a minimum, to start the process of examining the possibility of creating competition rules for these games, which are due according to the FGG by July 2019. First steps in this direction have been taken, but more will have to follow soon.
And, NASSPDA's scholarship program has continued over the years to help competitors with defraying the costs of participating in events. During 2018 a total of 4 scholarships in the amount of $400 for each applicant plus NASSPDA's annual membership fee were awarded, helping two competitors to attend the North American Championships hosted by 'April Follies' in Oakland, CA, and two the New England Championships hosted by Boston Open Dancesport in Providence, RI. For 2019, NASSPDA has decided to offer 5 scholarships with the same benefits as in 2018, and the deadline has been extended for the first eligible event, the North American Championships hosted by 'Floorplay in the Desert' in Palm Spring on January 19, 2019, to January 1, 2019 (
http://nasspda.org/scholarships/).
NASSPDA also continues to offer activity grants up to $250 per activity that promotes same-sex dancing, such as classes, dances, presentations, etc., helping to defray the costs of space rental, teachers' compensation, registration fees, etc. This year a total of 3 grants have been awarded. Anyone can apply by sending in an application that can be found on NASSPDA's website (
http://nasspda.org/grants/).
In the meantime, NASSPDA's Board of Directors wishes to express its gratitude for your support, participation in and contributions to our community, and most importantly extend our season greetings along with best wishes for 2019!
HAPPY DANCING!
Benjamin Soencksen
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Announcements
NASSPDA Scholarship Program
NASSPDA's scholarship program has been expanded in 2018 to include all its sanctioned competitions. Anyone planning to compete at a 2019 NASSPDA sanctioned competition may now apply for financial aid.
Five (5!) Scholarships are available to be awarded for the year of 2019 (in the amount of $400 each plus dues for one year of membership).
The first eligible event for 2019 is Floorplay in the Desert to be held in Palm Springs, CA, on January 19th, 2019, and hosting NASSPDA's 2019 North American Championships.
Please
apply
by January
1st, 2019
if you are planning to participate in this particular event.
NASSPDA Membership Directory
Have you checked out the NASSPDA Membership Directory? This is a resource to allow NASSPDA members to connect with others in the community. Please contact Horace Luong (hluong@nasspda.org) if you'd like to be added to the directory (this is available to NASSPDA members only).
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Board of Directors Election
Election Committee
Next NASSPDA's Board Elections will be in the Spring of 2019.
Two members of the Board are up for re-election this year: Benjamin Soencksen and Erik Jaeger. Barbara Zoloth's term is also up, and she is not running for re-election
If you are interested in joining the Board or want to nominate someone, please find information about the process and required forms on NASSPDA's website under 'About Us' and 'Board Members' (
Board Members | NASSPDA)
or contact the Board by e-mailing info@nasspda.org with any questions.
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Competition Calendar
Competition Committee
NASSPDA Sanctioned:
January 19, 2019 / Palm Springs, California /
2019 North American Same-Sex Championships
April 27th, 2019/ Oakland, CA/ 2019 California Same-Sex Championship
September 2019, TBD in Boston MA /
partly sanctioned event, featuring 2019 USA Same-Sex Championships
Not NASSPDA Sanctioned
January 18-20, 2019 / Jersey City, NJ
February 9, 2019 / Fort Lauderdale, Florida
February 22-24, 2019 / Bethesda, MD
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Membership Information
Membership Committee
Join NASSPDA TODAY! Payments will now be taken by credit card instead of through PayPal. The new system has special encryption to keep your data safer than before. The new site URL is the same as before:
nasspda.org.
If you have problems, or want to help us improve the website-parts are still under construction-please write to our Board Member, Horace Luong, hluong@nasspda.org
or to
web@nasspda.org
.
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Outreach and Media
Promotions Committee
ACTIVITY GRANT FUNDING PROGRAM
NASSPDA would like to encourage its members and our community at large to engage in various fun activities that promote same-sex dancing. We recognize that many of our members may have a creative idea and NASSPDA would like to contribute in a small financial way.
Up to 4 grants of $250 each will be awarded per calendar year on a first-come first-served basis to applicants who can demonstrate that the proposed activity will advance NASSPDA's mission of promoting and expanding social and competitive same-sex partner dancing.
The proposed event should also be in alignment with NASSPDA's following goals:
* Support functions and venues for social same-sex partner dancing.
* Provide a resource for same-sex partner dancers.
* Aim to raise the level of same-sex partner dancing
* Encourage the inclusion of dancers from diverse backgrounds with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, age, [dis]ability, gender identity and/or expression.
Some ideas for events and organizers to receive grant support:
- Same-sex dance classes
- A social dance mixer with actively inviting and encouraging same-sex dancing or "alternative lead and follow"
- An excursion to a local competition, introducing dancers to the concept
- A welcome party before one of NASSPDA's sanctioned competition
- Setting up a booth at a local street fair promoting same-sex dancing
- A neighborhood or community event promoting partner dancing and the inclusion of same-sex dancing
- Involving studios to promote same-sex dancing
- An event in conjunction with a city's Pride activities
These are just a few suggestions. To apply for financial support from NASSPDA's $250 Grant Program, please visit our website at
NASSPDA.org
, click on
the
'
Scholarships and Grants
' bar and then 'Grants" to read more for more information. You can also email us at
promotions@NASSPDA.org
with any questions.
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