Where are we?

Surfing the Internet and looking over the dancing I can see that "Ballroom Dancing" has come a long ways from the loose unity that we once had. The Internationals have gradually insisted that they dance the "correct" way and they have also "inherited" the rights to the terminology "Ballroom" as applied to them. They have needed large dance floors (ballrooms) and they have insisted that they are different from the rest of us. And it has taken us a while to concur. I do not believe we should disagree with their delusions, and we should all understand that "they" have made the decisions.

"Truth, like the juice of the poppy, in small quantities, calms people; in larger, heats

and irritates them, and is attended by fatal consequences in its excess."

At the same time another revolution was occurring, the Night Club dancers that prefer to dance to live music. They profess to the American Style in their basics and yet they will use the same brush on all non-club dancers, whether they are American Style or Internationals. They have something else, they drink alcholic beverages and frown on people that don't. They can dance on small dance floors and naturally they insist they are different from us. And it has taken quite awhile for the rest of us to realize that we concur. I do not believe we should disagree with their conclusions and everyone understands that "they" have made the decisions.

"How High The Moon" by Les Paul and Mary Ford

So if we have not defined ourselves, both of those groups have been doing a pretty good job of defining us, even if they have never realized that there are twice as many of us than the "bodadem" put together. The "top classes" have always underestimated the masses and history repeats itself.

So we are pretty unique type social dancers. Our Dance Floors? We dance in the Streets, Malls, Gas Stations, School Cafeterias, District Parks and Community Centers. And we partake of some of the best Pot Lucks in the World.

We may soon be going to night clubs where they have a big enough floor and allow our kind of dancing. If they get snooty, we can leave quietly and never darken their doors again. But for sure we will find the good ones and recommend them to others. We will find places where we can meet and enjoy an evening of our kind of dining and dancing. We will become more cohesive as a group, now that others have laid a good foundation for us to define our kuleana. Whatevah, it is shaping up pretty nicely and we will get biggah and bettah. American Style is moving!