Hello dancers. We (the North Berkshire Community Dance organizing committee) met this week and decided that, beginning with our September 16th dance, we will not require dancers to wear masks. 

We do continue to require that if you have any symptoms or have been exposed to someone with Covid, that you stay home, recover, and come back next month!

Combined with our earlier decision to stop requiring proof of vaccination or any kind of registration, this eliminates most of our official covid policy for our dances – for now. As always, we are prepared to reevaluate our policy as public health circumstances evolve.

Discussion:

We made this choice recognizing that Covid is not over, neither objectively nor subjectively. Far from it! 

Objectively, the rate of covid infection is as high as it’s ever been. However the rate of hospitalizations (and death) are at their lowest since tracking began, and continue to decline. Because of this decline, we feel that it’s not necessary for us to continue to act in the role of public health authority or turn away dancers who are unwilling to wear masks.

At the same time, we cannot ignore how people feel about their own safety, on the one hand, and their eagerness to (for lack of a better term) “move on”. A beautiful thing about social dancing, and contradancing in particular, has been its willingness to change itself, devising codes of safe conduct and language and practices designed to ensure that every one of us feels safe, seen, and included. It hasn’t always been easy(!), and much work remains, but still, it’s genuinely wonderful to see all that we have done. It is in this spirit of social enlightenment that we ask that you have compassion for those among us for whom joining a line of unmasked dancers is still a little frightening. Personally, I plan to continue to mask, and I hope that you will too if you are even just a tiny bit more comfortable doing so, or just to show solidarity! At the same time, I want every dancer to know that I want them here exactly as who they are – with or without a mask, with or without a vaccine card. Dancing is about the magic of trust and even love among friends and strangers. It’s magic that we all create together. Let’s always remember that!

Pat Dunlavey, president North Berkshire Community Dance, on behalf of the rest of the organizing committee: Doone MacKay, Eric Buddington, Kate Abbot, Nick Adams.

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to answer our survey about Covid policy preferences! Responses showed roughly equal support for each of the three policy options we outlined, namely 1. continue to require both proof of vaccination and masking, 2. move to mask requirement only, 3. drop all covid precautions. After thoughtful discussion, we decided:

Starting with our July 8th dance we, will no longer require proof of vaccination to attend our dances. Masking, for now, is still required.

As the Covid public health situation changes, and dance community attitudes about personal and community safety evolve, we occasionally reassess our Covid policies. We have noted that the majority of dances in the Northeast no longer require proof of vaccination. Many dances no longer require covid protections of any kind. For us the decision to relax our Covid policies is driven not only by what our community wants, though obviously that is very important, but also by what our own consciences are comfortable with.

Hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid are at their lowest levels since the CDC began collecting statistics, and continue to decline. This fact is largely attributable to the degree of covid resistance in our population as we approach 100% of Americans having antibodies to the virus that causes Covid 19, acquired either through vaccination or exposure to the virus. However, Covid has definitely not gone away, and it remains a frightening health risk to a significant minority of our population. The mechanics of Covid transmission and re-transmission have not changed, nor has the risk that an infection poses to a significant minority of our population. Mask wearing while indoors with more than a few people, using a N95 or equivalent mask that fits tightly to the face, continues to be the most effective protection against both acquiring an infection and transmitting one, short of abstaining from dancing entirely.

These facts lead us to the policy that we have selected. We recognize that reasonable people draw different conclusions, and are grateful that our community is large and diverse enough to accommodate these different viewpoints. We hope that at some point in the not distant future we will feel comfortable expressing our masking policy as “masking wholeheartedly endorsed and supported, but no longer required”, so that we can continue to include those wonderful members of our community for whom masking makes dancing possible. For now though, we look forward to seeing your smiling eyes on the dance floor.

North Berkshire Community Dance: Pat, Doone, Eric, Kate and Nick.

Remember how much fun we were having in early 2020? (Link to video on Facebook.)

Join us for the sequel on May 13th, 2023! We’re having another open band dance. As before, we’ll have calling by Andy Davis, and the band led Becky Hollingsworth and (this time) Susan Conger on fiddle.

The dancing will, as usual, feature a gentle opening suitable for beginners and children at 7:30 PM, then progress into somewhat zestier dances after 8:30, including the old chestnut Chorus Jig.

Admission: pay-what-you-can, $12 – $20 suggested

Location: 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA 01267, in the community hall of the First Congregational Church

Time: 7:30 – 10:30 PM, Saturday, May 13th

Covid Precautions: Masks and proof of vaccination required. If you’re pre-registered, you won’t have to show your card at the door. Here’s a link to the pre-registration form:  https://tinyurl.com/NorthBerkshireDancePreReg  Performers may go unmasked *if* they’ve had a negative rapid test that day — this includes open band members while in the band area, but masks are required while dancing and elsewhere in the hall.

Anyone with an acoustic instrument is welcome to join the band. Here’s a list of the tunes we’ll play: https://northberkshiredance.org/tune-list-for-open-band-may-13-2023/ Chorus Jig is a little tricky — sheet music available in the “New England Fiddler’s Repertoire” or the “Fiddler’s Fakebook”. Note the ABCB form of Chorus Jig differs from the standard AABB of most contra dance repertoire.

Worried your dance skills are rusty? Have a friend or family member who is scared to dance? Come to our April 8th community contra dance in Williamstown, bringing your hesitant friends, and your enthusiastic friends, too!

Our caller this month will be Paul Rosenberg, who specializes in leading dance events welcoming to complete novices, families with children, and people who are really worried about the whole idea. The evening will feature lots of simple dances appropriate for novices and families, gradually building the dancers’ skill levels and confidence while having fun.

Caller: Paul Rosenberg

Musicians: Tony Pisano, Eric Buddington, Patrician Kernan (Two fabulous locals, and one spcialist in the caller’s repertoire.)

Location: the community hall of the First Congregational Church, at 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA

Time: 7:30 – 10PM, Saturday April 8th

Admission: pay what you can; $10 – $20 suggested

Covid Precautions: Masks and proof of vaccination required

Community contra dance in Williamstown, MA, Saturday, February 11th. All welcome; introduction for beginners at 7:30pm, flowing right into the main event. Admission fee self-determined, $10 to $20 suggested.

Masks and proof of covid vaccination required. Optional pre-registration form here: https://tinyurl.com/NorthBerkshireDancePreReg

Dave Eisenstadter will call, with music by George Wilson and Selma Kaplan.