Week 12

I will most likely be doing a narrative with headings. It just makes the most sense. I'm really telling a story about what happened to me so narrative is a given. I think headings might give it more organization. Hopefully it will keep me from bouncing from one topic to another throughout the paper.

final concerns

RESEARCH! I keep looking up sites, articles and books and not finding much if anything I think I would use. They tend to sound good in overview but once I start reading its all about studying dance not people or a culture.

How much rambling is a good thing. This paper is mainly my observations/opinions.

Box 30

The struggle to find relevant material continues. I checked several of the sites in the Ball State Archives and found nothing I could use. There were pictures of statues dancing, paintings of dancing, a few articles mentioning music, and a lot of things that I couldn't see how it related to dancing, ballroom, or swing (the search terms I used for this search)

week 10 ref

The first 4 words everyone got correct. They are pretty self-explanatory . The leader leads the follower follows likewise with Fred and Ginger. Serpentine confused them all. If you see the dance step it is easy to see the where the name comes from but having not seen it they just have to guess. Progressive was the only other one that seemed to confuse everyone. They assumed it referred to improvement in dancing, or a quicker pace. The remaining few words were hit and miss.

week 10

Leader

Follower

Fred

Ginger

Serpentine

Progressive

Stationary

Barbie arms

Promenade

box 25

Almost all of the vocabulary specialized for my culture is used in giving directions to the couples.

Leader: The male member of the dance couple, also called the Fred.

Follower: The female member of the dance couple, also known as the Ginger.

Barbie arms: the rigid frame needed to keep the dancers in the correct position.

Serpentine step: A diagonal step used in the Foxtrot

Progressive: Any dance in which to couple moves (progresses) around the dance floor.

Stationary: Any dance in which the couple stays mainly in one place.

Promenade: A step in which the couple faces the same direction instead of facing each other.

Box 18

The Pillars are our enemies. As we practice the dances we move around the room quite a bit. Since we are new at this it is not always that easy to remember how to steer around objects and people. People eventually will move. The pillars will not. There are 3 of them on each side of the dance floor and they are always getting in the way. Even on dances that are not progressive(moving across the floor) we often find ourselves having to stop and reposition ourselves on the floor to avoid colliding with one of these menaces.

Box 16

None of the people coming to class seem to talk outside. We all rush into the church as fast as we can. I really don't know why. The parking lot is small with several vehicles already there from various other activities. As the church is located downtown there are buildings all around. If I am facing away from the church the old newspaper building is right in front of me. there is a broken down looking parking lot beside that which has two smaller buildings on it. Furthest from me is the old whitinger building. It too seems a bit worn but I think that is mostly from the choice of paint. It is a not altogether unattractive shade of washed out blue, but as it has been cloudy more often than not and edging towards night that cool seems even more faded and grey. The only real open veiw is to my right where another larger parking lot faces this one, to the left is Muncie music, with the pale grey stoned church looming behind me. There is nothing particularly nice or particularlly ugly about the building, but with all the grey, emptiness around it seems somewhat barren. I guess I do know why we all go inside to the warmth and light so quickly.

week 7

I really am struggling to find a plan. I am narrowing in on a goal but as there is so little information on the position I am focusing on it is difficult to know how to go about it. I think I need to find other places that will have dancing to see how it works there. I also think more interviews will help. There are just not many places where large groups of ballroom or swing dancers get together around here.

Week 6

So far I have noticed a lot of laughing and joking between the dancers, both with our partners and with whom ever happens to be near us. The one thing I have not found is a way to really be a part of this group without a partner. My partners have come and gone and I have even danced with myself on several occasions. This is probably worse in my class as we joined as couples than it would be in places with a larger group of dancers. I have even heard that some studios advertise 'singles classes'. Unfortunately I have not found any around this area.

week 5

I've had several sources presented to me in my dance class itself. I have gotten a dvd from each class, a cd of some of the music, and several papers outlining how to lead. I have also found articles on the benefits of dancing and some books on the history/culture. I haven't found anything really showing how a single person can find a place in this culture.

week 4

Academic sources are books by experts, academic journals, research papers and things like that. There are a few reasons why instructors tend to prefer academic sources. The information is more likely to be accurate and the sources have been verified than others. They are also likely to be more detailed in their coverage of the subject as they are intended for readers familiar with it. Reflections, literary reviews and such could use non academic sources. News papers, fiction books, and standard websites are examples of non academic sources.

Week 3

The response is normally positive. Most people seem to think it's cool that I'm learning to dance. There are a few questions and normally a bit of surprise that I'm doing this on my own.

There is not any real set type of person for my subculture. We have everything from high school students to retirees. We have people in really good shape, and some in very bad shape. On average it seems to be middle aged in decent health. Of course besides myself everyone is part of a couple.

Contributions

the community, at least in this area, is small. From the sampling I have had most of the people who have tried it liked it but it is difficult finding places to dance. For myself it is hard just finding a partner, even if I get one for class if I go someplace outside of class the odds of running into a girl that can do the dances is slim. So my contribution is simply exposure. I hope that as more people learn about it and see how fun it can be that more people will take it up. For the classs they will be introduced to something I don't think any of them have done before.

week 8

Almost all of my research has focused on either the purposes the dances fill(or filled in the past) or the benefits of dancing. The people in my group seem to really demonstrate the second focus. There is a bit of the social ramifications shown in the classes but mainly everyone is having fun and improving, so they just see the benefits.

I am still a student as I was when I started, two major changes have occured since then. First I have learned a lot and in my opinion am one of the better dancers in the class. The biggest and worst change is I have lost my partner. I have taken class alone repeatedly and even though I really like dancing it is hard to learn on my own and just plain lonely at times.

Version 2

Entering the church from the north side there is a landing at ground level. I don’t know what is upstairs, because I go down for the dance classes we go down. It is simple to get to the right room just turn ninety degrees left when you get to the bottom of the first flight of stairs, and follow the short narrow hallway straight into the room. If you get lost its not a major problem. If you walk straight at the bottom of the steps you are forced to make left turns that take u back to the dance class. If you take the stairs to far down, the hall will do the same thing to the right once more taking you to the classroom.

It is a large room. There are no bright colors or decorations anywhere. It is almost like a small gym without basketball hoops. There are tables and chairs scattered about the outer edges of the room. Four pillars march down the length of each side of the room. The class take place in the middle of the room. It is sometimes difficult to avoid the pillars when the floor is crowded. The floor is hardwood but just as plain as the rest of the room. The room comes alive as soon as just a few students arrive. There is an air of excitement and camaraderie that seems to unite these strangers if only for the one hour a week we are in class.

Version 1

Entering the church from the north side there is just a landing at ground level. I don’t know what is upstairs. For the dance classes we go down. If you know where you are going its extremely simple to get to the right room just turn ninety degrees left when you get to the bottom of the first flight of stairs, and follow the short narrow hallway straight into the room. If you get lost its not a major problem, as if you walk straight at the bottom of the steps you are forced to make left turns until you wind up in the dance class. If you take the stairs to far down the hall will do the same thing to the right once more taking you to the classroom.

It is a large room, and seems rather bland. There are no bright colors or decorations anywhere. It is almost like a small gym without basketball hoops. There are tables and chairs scattered about the outer edges of the room. Four large pillars march down the length of each side of the room. The class dances in the midst of them. It is sometimes difficult to avoid them when the floor is crowded. The floor is hardwood but just about as plain as the rest of the room. For all this dreary scenery the room comes alive as soon as just a few students arrive. There is an air of excitement and camaraderie that seems to unite these strangers if only for the one hour a week we are in class.

chaotic

There was so much I saw and did at the on my first night of dance classes that it was hard to even get half of it on paper.
should probably learn more about the location and instructor.

try to get to know other couples get their input.

Several men seemed to want to do this too. Should talk to them and see what motivated them.

follow my progression as the 'leader' and Kimmie's as 'the follower'

expand on dances learned and how they are taught.

maybe give more definition on what ballroom and swing are.

describe instructors swing dance at the end in detail.


Really good start for having only been there one time. Probably going to be hard to find time to get to know any of the other people and learn about them.

terms

dancing, ballroom, and swing(better specify swing dance or who knows where I'd end up.) dancemuncie.com , google

How's it gonna be?

1. How big a group will be there?

2. How well will I learn the dances?

3. What should I wear?

4. How into this are the other people there?

5. How long has she been teaching this.

6. Will there be a lot of interaction between the couples or will we all sort of keep to ourselves?

7. The instructor had said there are always more women than men in the classes. How does that work for learning these dances?

8. How will people handle their mistakes or those of others.

9. What is the place like?

10. How well will doing 2 classes back to back work?

Would you like to dance?

The main factor for me is I have to find it interesting. I get way too little sleep to sit through extra hours of boredom and be able to focus at all. As I mentioned in a previous post time and distance are also major factors. I'm really undecided on what I want to do and was thinking of doing something physical that would help get me into shape and interact with people more, (which is something I rarely get to do out here) Now I have a new email. You all got it the Ballroom and Swing dance classes one. I have wanted to learn to dance for a long time now and was really interested in trying last semester. Having a partner would also help with the getting to interact and fit in factor, but I don't know anyone which is what kept me from doing it last semester. Probably wind up having to do something alone anyway.

ENFJ

About me

As I am considering what subculture to study I am finding it far more difficult that I originally thought it would be. I am unsure what will fit my schedule and be of significant interest to me to make this work. Also I live forty minutes from Muncie so making extra trips for meetings will be hard. If I go with the Native American group I know my own heritage will play a big part in my view as I have a that in my family history and have always wanted to learn about it. My lack of exposure may cause problems as I have little real clue what to expect. My biggest problem seems to be that most things I would be interested in studying either do not have regular meetings or may not meet frequently enough to meet the course requirements. The few I have thought of that might fit both of those criteria have no connection to the school. I know from talking to many of my female friends and from the safety message in class that many people feel fear from going to places they don't know. This is where some of my 'fixed' attributes really will help. I am male and pretty large so I do not scare easily. I have frequently been exposed to situations that other people around me were hesitant or flat out afraid. These did not affect me. I am older than any of the other students and therefore likely to be old than most of the people attached to any group at the school. This doesn't concern me much as I have always fit in with younger people. If anything this factor seems an advantage to me. By having more life experience than most I tend to be able to read people fairly well and understand what they mean even when they can not seem to express it well.

Visions

The subject leaves his sleeping chamber, bleerily looking around him with eyes half open. He seems to have trouble seeing very well as he trudges down the hall. He enters the room if have heard these creatures refer to as the bathroom and begins the oddest ritual I have ever witnessed.
He first goes to a shelf with a bowl in the middle of it. A pipe of some sort juts out over the bowl. He turns a handle and a clear liquid flows from the pipe. He touches this frequently for a few moments seemingly testing something. Once satisfied with the results he cups his hands under the pipe to catch some of the fluid. This he splashes on his face several times, rubbing his hands over his eyes vigorously. He dries his face and hands on a cloth kept near the bowl, for such a purpose. Then he opens a door in the wall in front of him. Reaching inside he pulles out a bottle with a tapered nozzle, and a small bi-colored container. The container has two compartments side by side. First he opens one, which appears to contain just another clear liquid. He dips one finger in the liquid, sometimes he does this only once but often he repeats it several times. I found his next act to be the most bizarre. He places the finger next to the wet one on his lower right eyelid, while raising his upper eyelid with the thumb of his other hand. Slowly he presses the wet finger against his eyeball. This step is also often repeated followed by rapid blinking and occasionally ranting. He then takes the lid off the other side of the container and repeats this ritual of wetting his finger and inserting it in his left eye. Surprisingly there does seem to be some benifit to this bizzare behavior. As I have studied this creature his vision seems to improve remarkably after he finishes, though I have noticed he frequently blinks and rubs his eyes. Sometimes even using a small bottle he keeps with him to drop more clear liquid into them.
What social or religious implications this routine has are still unknown.

Cultures to research

Writing
LDS
Native American

Little bit of everything

Native American: divided by tribe but still united, strong ties to nature, spiritual ceremonies.

Weirdo: also known as freaks, do not fit the norms for the society, often stand out, frequently attacked by those outside this group, no central organization or belief structure yet most people know if they belong and will naturally be drawn to others like them.

LDS: Latter Day Saints or Mormons, religious affiliation, believe in God, Christian, Not Protestant, family oriented

Writers: creative, intelligent, varied in taste and belief

American: citizen, nationality, far too varied to find definitions that include all or even most of our attributes.



I am a weirdo, also known as a freak, geek, and even anomaly. More people belong to this group than anyone outside it would ever guess. We outnumber them. We are the people that do things differently, the ones that in high school were probably made fun of. The joke is on them. Leave that sheltered little existence and we weirdos are suddenly cool. Most of the cliques that thought the were better than us dissolve outside of that environment. Suddenly people are just people again and those that don't realize it and still try to hold themselves superior are the ones looked down on. While they flounder we weirdo's flourish. We do not need an organization or team to tie us together. We generally recognize each other quickly form a bond without even realizing it. What's more is without the structure that formed and held their cliques together, many more people suddenly find they are one of us. There is no real norm. It is all just an illusion that people use to feel safe. More over it's no fun to be 'normal'.
It's a simple concept to understand. Weird is a compliment. Normal is the insult. Normally is really just a polite way of saying boring.

Cultures and subclutures

Native American(still not sure how much or where it all comes from but its in there)
French
English, Irish, Welsh & Scottish(yes the entire island)
American
Hoosier
resident of Purgatory(the sign says New Castle but I know where I am)
Writer
Sci-fi/fantasy geek
weirdo
male
boy scout
LDS
an anomally(as I was proudly dubbed last semester in English)