A celebration of gender diversity and dancing with everyone: Variety is the spice of life! I would much rather dance with all kinds of people presenting in different ways than get bored with a full line of men or a full line of women (maybe a full line of non-binary folks would be a temporarily welcome change?). It makes me so happy to see everyone dancing together, the thrill of the unexpected surprise person coming at me, and the fascinating puzzle to adjust to accommodate different bodies or different styles.
One of my joys of dancing, whether for ECD or contra, is dancing with the whole set or the whole room. Being present in each interaction, no matter the role, covering or noticing the big geometric patterns, choosng to move to a different line in the hall to see more people, finding a sneaky place to seamlessly swap roles.
You know how doing a double progression in a line with an even number of couples can get old? I would rather dance with 100% of people in the room than just half! And I don’t want to stay dancing the same role ever! Please don’t let me get bored as I was before, when traditional sides were the norm.