Red and Blue
Meandering train of thought…
When I was at the Nationals in Denver, I did a little shopping (it was hard to avoid the vendors; one had to walk through them to get to various places…each time, I seemed to past this one sequined vest that sort of called out to me, so I bought it on the last day). As part of my shopping transaction, I received a catalog from Petticoat Junction. Today, I found the catalog as I was going through “stuff” and glanced through it. Among all the petticoats and pettipants and peasant blouses, there was a picture of a shirt with a red, white, and blue (I assume, since the catalog is black and white) stars and stripes logo and the phrase “United We Dance”.
This brought up my continuing musings, as we head into the election season, on the polarization of the country between “red” and “blue” cultures (see this Washington Post series on the two cultures; you might need to register). Seems to me that square dancing (except for gay/lesbian square dancing) is red, and contra/traditional dancing (at least the Modern Urban style that I’m most familiar with) is blue. When I go to a square dance, I’m very careful to avoid political conversation; I can almost guarantee I don’t agree with most of the people there (the most shocking moment was when I was in a square, the Abu Ghraib atrocities came up and a woman I know argued that they were justified!!). On the other hand, at a contra dance, I feel like I’m in a group where most of the people share my values and political beliefs.
This may be why there are the so-called “Contralab” contra dances (with recorded music and dress codes)…this provides the “reds” with contra dancing opportunities. And why there’s a growing group of straight couples who attend the IAGSDC conventions and dance at local gay clubs; as “blues”, they can square dance with more culturally similar people. It may also be why the ARTS organization, an umbrella organization of “the diverse groups making up the ‘greater’ American Folk Dance community” including the American Callers Association, CALLERLAB, CONTRALAB, International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs, National Square Dance Campers Association, National Executive Committee, ROUNDALAB, Singles Square Dancers USA, Universal Round Dance Council, United Square Dancers of America and, USA West Policy Board, has no connection (as far as I can tell) with contra/traditional folk dance organizations, like, for example, the Country Dance and Song Society.
At any rate, I can’t imagine going to a contra dance and seeing a “United We Dance” red, white, and blue logo.
I googled “United We Dance” and found a few interesting things. The vast majority of the hits are links to this flash animation of Britney Spears and George W. Bush dancing in front of a flag: United We Dance – Miniclip.com However, I also found a page about the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Conference event featuring dancing from many different ethnic cultures represented in the GLBTIQ community: United We Dance. And there was also a reference to an Atlanta dance event to raise money for the disaster relief efforsts of the Red Cross: United We Dance.