{"items": [{"author": "Beth", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434860896556826", "anchor": "fb-434860896556826", "service": "fb", "text": "noticed out here there are more dance weekends/camp type events, but fewer actual weekly dances. contra once a week in portland.", "timestamp": "1344147565"}, {"author": "Kiran", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434862643223318", "anchor": "fb-434862643223318", "service": "fb", "text": "Exactly. We have so many good dances, and at least one great dance, within an easy drive of our beds. Who needs the hassle of a weekend?  <br><br>In much of the rest of the country (Louisville being a long-standing exception) if you want to have a dance better than even \"okay\" you need to go to a weekend, which draws the best dancers from each of the communities within a half day's drive.", "timestamp": "1344148260"}, {"author": "Perry", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434939436548972", "anchor": "fb-434939436548972", "service": "fb", "text": "Here in DC we can have a dance weekend EVERY weekend - there are dances on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, plus waltzing and other events if we wanted to go to them.  Plus have our afternoons free to do other stuff, and yeah, we get to sleep in our own bed and not spend crazy amounts of money and drive insane distances just to get there.  I happen to like that - a LOT.  Sure our weekly dances have - gasp! - newcomers - but I find that a great charm to our dances and I kind of miss that when I go to a dance weekend.  You go to a contra board and they're talking about weekends being the be-all end-all of contra dancing, but I disagree.  Give me a great local dance that is accessible, inexpensive, and open to ALL - and one where I can sleep in my own air-conditioned house rather than having to rough it - since I am definitely NOT the outdoorsy type.", "timestamp": "1344172028"}, {"author": "Gabe", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434946399881609", "anchor": "fb-434946399881609", "service": "fb", "text": "Because northeastern contra dancing is, at long last, becoming a victim of its own success -- it's becoming wildly popular all over the country and people no longer need to travel all the way up here to get their contra dance fix.", "timestamp": "1344173830"}, {"author": "Sam", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434948526548063", "anchor": "fb-434948526548063", "service": "fb", "text": "there are *some* local contra weekends, and there have been more historically: there used to be a philly weekend but for various specific reasons (butterball, space, etc.) its not something that happens any more (though there is the march medley that Mel Novner's birthday event quasi-weekended. CDNY has had a hard time getting attendance at weekend long events, though the \"Contra Shock\" thing almost counted. And then there's Neffa/Flurry/Great Bear Grove/and I think the Swallowtail weekends sorta count...", "timestamp": "1344174323"}, {"author": "Gabe", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434949236547992", "anchor": "fb-434949236547992", "service": "fb", "text": "Adirondack Dance Weekend....", "timestamp": "1344174453"}, {"author": "David", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434969963212586", "anchor": "fb-434969963212586", "service": "fb", "text": "Everything's closer in the northeast. When you have to drive farther, the tendency is to want to stay for a weekend rather than having to run straight home after one night.", "timestamp": "1344178938"}, {"author": "Kiran", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434977883211794", "anchor": "fb-434977883211794", "service": "fb", "text": "The weekends in the Midwest were also much cheaper so they were reasonable even to people with limited funds to spend on dancing.", "timestamp": "1344181027"}, {"author": "Perry", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434978929878356", "anchor": "fb-434978929878356", "service": "fb", "text": "What the northeast does seem to have is more \"festivals\" that are all encompassing - such as NEFFA, Falcon Ridge, and the Flurry.  They're big to us contra dancers but they're also big to other folkies - musicians, singers, artists, etc.", "timestamp": "1344181170"}, {"author": "Ben", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434988599877389", "anchor": "fb-434988599877389", "service": "fb", "text": "Here in Texas, the normal dances are less frequent and need to be geared towards the less experienced folk.  That's fine, but Houston only has 2 dances a month and it only draws about 50 people.  Other dance communities are all 3-6 hours away, so we need those dance weekends to draw enough people for a great dance. All things considered, Saturday night of a dance weekend in Texas will reach the quality (in terms of band, number of people, challenge of dances) of a good Thursday Concord dance. When I had weekly dances like that, I felt no need to go to dance weekends. Now, I need them to get a good contra fix.", "timestamp": "1344183578"}, {"author": "Cat", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=434991253210457", "anchor": "fb-434991253210457", "service": "fb", "text": "Here in central NY i can dance 3 nights a week with a little driving so every weekend can be a dance weekend. Sure we don't get the big name bands and callers you get at a weekend but we have some really talented local musicians and callers. we also don't get the crowds of dance weeekends which is ok. you don't need to dance with 500 people all the time", "timestamp": "1344184289"}, {"author": "Cora", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/434860199890229?comment_id=435064673203115", "anchor": "fb-435064673203115", "service": "fb", "text": "Maybe because the Northeast has so many regular contra dances that there is less need for special weekends.", "timestamp": "1344200405"}]}