| Monthly Newsletter |
November 2018 |
|
|
CURRENT EVENTS
THE SUNDANCE STOMPEDE
November 1-4, 2018
Stompede held their annual convention in San Francisco the first weekend in November of 2018. This is four days of dance parties, workshops and exhibition performances for the LGBT+ community and friends benefiting the charities of the PRC and Q Foundations.
This year they had 433 full weekend registrants as well as walk-ups who attended one of more of the open dances bringing the number of attendees to more than 600. They also raised more than $20,000 for the above mentioned charities. Great job.
The PRC has been created by the merger of the Positive Resource Center, AIDSA Emergency Fund, and Baker Places offering comprehensive services to those affected by HIV, substance use, or mental health issues. The Q Foundation is dedicated to ending homelessness in San Francisco in the LGBT and HIV communities. At its heart the Sundance Stompede is a fundraising event with lots of dancing and fun.
Stompede starts out with the Welcome party on Thursday evening with a couple of workshops and open dancing for the evening at the Sundance Saloon. I always enjoy this party as it is where I first get to see a lot of my dancing friends from across the United States and Canada as we gather for the weekend.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons are filled with workshops of various dances at various levels of proficiency by a very competent staff of instructors, some of whom are well known in their prospective fields. Friday evening is open dancing and performances by various couples and dance teams representing their city in the main ballroom of the host hotel, the Golden Gateway Holiday Inn with a west coast swing room as well as a line dance room also filled with dancers. Saturday evening is the same but in the Regency Ballroom four blocks down the street from the hotel. More open dancing, performances, and extra rooms for the swing and line dancers. On Sunday night we're back at the Sundance Saloon with more workshops, open dancing, and a two-step contest and the ever popular Sleazy Shadow contest.
Another fun event was the afternoon "Boots Only" dance held in one of the downstairs ballroom where line dancing and couple dancing occurs with the dancers wearing boots only. On Friday and Saturday nights after the dances are over the afterhours parties are held in the hospitality suite for those who aren't ready to go to bed.
The next Sundance Stompede in 2019 will be held October 31 to November 3.
Be sure to check out their website (
Stompede.com) in the near future to get the pertinent information. It is a fun event and well worth attending.
More places to compete in USA:
USA Dance Inc is the National Governing Body for DanceSport in the United States and with more than 150 chapters throughout the country is also the representative organization for all social and recreational ballroom and Latin dancers in America, ranging from pre-schoolers to seniors.
As you might be aware, USA Dance has allowed its competition organizers to offer same-sex events at their competitions since 2016. Because these competitions follow the USA Dance rules and not the NASSPDA rules, NASSPDA does not sanction the events. However, they do offer same-sex dancers the opportunity to participate in more competitions during the year, in various geographic locations. As more competition dates form 2019 are announced, we will add them to the calendar on the nasspda.org website. Check in regularly for updates!
If you have only competed in NASSPDA-sanctioned events, you probably aren't used to following a syllabus or having costume restrictions for the different levels of dancing. Therefore, it is a good idea to check with the organizer and understand if they are offering same-sex dancers either a syllabus competition (bronze, silver, gold) or an open competition. An open competition will have the fewest restrictions, and it will be the closest to what you might have seen in a NASSPDA-sanctioned event. However, there will be no classification/grading round at the beginning.
So, get out there and dance!
|
|
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
December 1st, 2018
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).
|
|
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.
|
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
TBD, September 2019 Boston MA /
partly sanctioned event, includes NASSPDA Sanctioned Championships
Not NASSPDA Sanctioned
December 1, 2019 / Oakland, California
January 18-20, 2019 / Jersey City, NJ
February 9, 2019 / Fort Lauderdale, Florida
February 22-24, 2019 / Bethesda, MD
|
|
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
.
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
