Missing Dallas?
Mar. 30th, 2006 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dhbearguyI just got an email from one of the guys of the dance group in Texas that I formed. Texas Twisters, for those who did not know. He said " U shoulda been here! There were LOTS of bears at the RU over the weekend. Sorry you couldn't be here." Referring to Texas Bear Round Up.
My initial thought was "Well, there are lots of bears in SF too, so it is not a big deal." After living in San Francisco, and spending several weekends and 12 days over July 4th weekend in Dallas, I really have no desire to visit. Do I miss my friends??? Sure I do. However, most of them have not been good at keeping in touch. A couple have, and I am really happy for that.
Another thing is that my primary focus in Dallas was country dancing. I used to go to the Round Up Saloon, and try to enjoy my time there. The most fun was Wed nights when I would get to teach line dance. They had line dance classes on Tuesday and Thursday, and open dancing on Friday and Saturday, but I did not really get much pleasure out of it.
The reason is that the Round Up Saloon, the only Gay country bar in Dallas has a straight woman who teaches dance there. She has been there for 12 years. She is a horrible instructor who promised to help Texas Twisters when we were just an idea, and never did. She teaches most of the line dances wrong, she is horrible at teaching couples dancing. But people love her, and I think it is because they have no experienced any "good" instruction. So it is is all they know.
The bar owners didn't seem to care about Texas Twisters much. We planned a convention for 3 years. Got 501(c)3 status. Repeatedly told the bar that we were going to bring them a lot of business. All they would offer us is $500.00 as a donation. I considered that a slap in the face since the cost to the group $1200.00 to shuttle our out-of-town guests from the hotel to the Round Up over the course of the weekend. They told us they were impressed by the attendance, but yet, after the event was over, did not make any additional donations. Even after one of the owners won the $11,000.00 diamond that we raffled off.
DJ's. Most of the DJ's there play horrible dance music. And people in Texas, really do not know how to dance well!! And the DJ's couldn't tell the difference from a 2-step and a west coast swing. It was disappointing to say the least.
Bears: Not many bears country dance. Sad but true. I wish more did. I have tried many times to get bears out here in SF to Sundance, but after beer bust, country dancing is something that just does not bode well. That and many of you don't even like country music. Same went for bears in Dallas. Most just didn't like country music. Many went to the Round up to stand and model, but that was about it. A few country dancing bears here and there. I wish Sundance at Hairrison had sparked more bears to come dance.
Bears in Dallas. I was never really able to connect with the bear community much in Dallas. Maybe because my focus was on country dancing so much. I tried to get involved, including hosting hospitality with Texas Twisters at TBRU 2 years in a row, and teaching line dance on Sunday at the BBQ at the Round Up. But other than that, the activities just seemed not to be there.
I think the only time I will be visiting Dallas again, is if I ever have to go there to work. My Dallas friends should come visit SF anyways. It is way fun out here. A good get away in the summer when it is 100+ degrees there.
So... Do I miss Dallas? NO. But I do miss my friends.
My initial thought was "Well, there are lots of bears in SF too, so it is not a big deal." After living in San Francisco, and spending several weekends and 12 days over July 4th weekend in Dallas, I really have no desire to visit. Do I miss my friends??? Sure I do. However, most of them have not been good at keeping in touch. A couple have, and I am really happy for that.
Another thing is that my primary focus in Dallas was country dancing. I used to go to the Round Up Saloon, and try to enjoy my time there. The most fun was Wed nights when I would get to teach line dance. They had line dance classes on Tuesday and Thursday, and open dancing on Friday and Saturday, but I did not really get much pleasure out of it.
The reason is that the Round Up Saloon, the only Gay country bar in Dallas has a straight woman who teaches dance there. She has been there for 12 years. She is a horrible instructor who promised to help Texas Twisters when we were just an idea, and never did. She teaches most of the line dances wrong, she is horrible at teaching couples dancing. But people love her, and I think it is because they have no experienced any "good" instruction. So it is is all they know.
The bar owners didn't seem to care about Texas Twisters much. We planned a convention for 3 years. Got 501(c)3 status. Repeatedly told the bar that we were going to bring them a lot of business. All they would offer us is $500.00 as a donation. I considered that a slap in the face since the cost to the group $1200.00 to shuttle our out-of-town guests from the hotel to the Round Up over the course of the weekend. They told us they were impressed by the attendance, but yet, after the event was over, did not make any additional donations. Even after one of the owners won the $11,000.00 diamond that we raffled off.
DJ's. Most of the DJ's there play horrible dance music. And people in Texas, really do not know how to dance well!! And the DJ's couldn't tell the difference from a 2-step and a west coast swing. It was disappointing to say the least.
Bears: Not many bears country dance. Sad but true. I wish more did. I have tried many times to get bears out here in SF to Sundance, but after beer bust, country dancing is something that just does not bode well. That and many of you don't even like country music. Same went for bears in Dallas. Most just didn't like country music. Many went to the Round up to stand and model, but that was about it. A few country dancing bears here and there. I wish Sundance at Hairrison had sparked more bears to come dance.
Bears in Dallas. I was never really able to connect with the bear community much in Dallas. Maybe because my focus was on country dancing so much. I tried to get involved, including hosting hospitality with Texas Twisters at TBRU 2 years in a row, and teaching line dance on Sunday at the BBQ at the Round Up. But other than that, the activities just seemed not to be there.
I think the only time I will be visiting Dallas again, is if I ever have to go there to work. My Dallas friends should come visit SF anyways. It is way fun out here. A good get away in the summer when it is 100+ degrees there.
So... Do I miss Dallas? NO. But I do miss my friends.
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Confessions of a Bear
Date: 2006-03-30 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 06:27 pm (UTC)I think the Sundance Assoc. is fantastic. We just don't get out there to dance much.
You would think they would be big on 2-stepping in Texas. I thought everyone was born with cowboy boots on there.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 11:10 pm (UTC)That's what my friends in SF and the Bay Area always said to me when I told them I didn't know how to country dance. It just depends if it's something you're interested in or if it's how you wish to socialize. I met a lot of guys out in California who were more into c/w dance than I've ever been! I like the music OK, and I've even done a little of the dancing, but it just doesn't appeal to me that much. I've always enjoyed dancing to the dance/electronica dance remix type of music.
How to dance
Date: 2006-03-30 11:13 pm (UTC)Yes, you would think that. I am not saying people don't dance. They do. But they dance very fast 2-steps to West Coast Swing music. And the DJ's don't play decent 2-steps. And too many times I would dance with someone who was definatly listening to a different song than was actually playing.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 07:10 pm (UTC)As for the stuff about c/w dancing and TRU....the woman you are talking about...would her name begin with a J?
I have seen her and her "groupies" They think she walks on water and I just don't see it.
The Dallitude is very very very strong right now.....
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 07:57 pm (UTC)But we know you miss us too.
Except creep.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 11:13 pm (UTC)2-Steppin'
Date: 2006-03-31 12:23 am (UTC)Now I think that I've lost the touch...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 01:11 am (UTC)I have noticed the skilled dancers (you know, the ones that weigh about 130 lbs) spend most of their time with each other, and not very adventuresome outside of their cliques. Yes, there has been attitude observed.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 01:29 am (UTC)I love to dance as you well know ... and if you'll permit me an ego moment ... I think I dance extremely well. I've even won two-steppin' competitions. I like the fast two-steps and I define quality dancing in a very different way than you do. I want someone who is creative, improvisational, who partners well. I dislike being locked into set steps ... particularly the line-dances which don't travel well. They depend too much on the instructor and don't require anyone to step up to the plate in terms of interacting with other people. It is choreography memorized to a certain song, not any different than in the disco era with the hustle.
I go to a club to dance. I'll dance with anyone who wants to give a try... skilled or not. By most definitions, I'm considered a bear ... and I'm a Texan, so I feel a bit under attack here. When I first visited SF, I used to dance at the Rawhide. I've never experienced such rudeness on or off the dance floor, but I persisted until I found the people who love to dance just because ....
I guess the question is .. and I mean this with affection ... Who did what to you to turn you so negative about Dallas, Texas, Juanita, etc? ... I would encourage any man who likes to dance with another man to just get on the dance floor and try. It's a wonderful way to get hugs.
rebuttle?
Date: 2006-03-31 02:06 am (UTC)First, I singled out Dallas. I have danced in Houston and Austin, and I really enjoyed dancing in thoes cities. I know you are from Houston. I never said "People in Texas" I speficially said Dallas. And don't get me wrong.. not all people in Dallas are bad dancers. There are plenty of good dancers. I have seen them. Even asked them to dance. Did I? Most times got shot down! And there was plenty of times I just stood there at the Round Up and never approached.
Juanita: I have no idea how she works. I spent 3 years trying to break through and try to work with her.
When I started Texas Twisters, she attended the first meeting, and that is the last she got involved.
When we asked if she would support us, she said yes.
When we asked for her support, she was no where to be found.
She would see our group doing a great line dance and ask if we could teach her so she could teach during her classes, and we were always there with a smile. She would NEVER give credit to Texas Twisters
She would also change the dance or teach it incorreclty and not want to be open to correcing it.
This even resulted in a competitor from her class going to Austin to compete in a line dance and having to drop out after seeing that the dance he learned was not the same dance that the judges were expecting to see.
We always supported he classes and announced her lesson nights on our lesson night. She NEVER returned the favor.
We hosted a huge event last year and asked for her support in promoting the event. She never announced the compeition, the event, or did any support advertising for us during her classes. We even asked her to teach our workshops and she declined. She did not even show up for our night dances. We worked on this convention for 3 years.
The Community, which is a very big one, did not come out and support our event. Which in turn supported community organizations. This I believe was mostly due to the lack of Juanita's and the Round Up Saloon's support.
I even asked Juanita to dinner on several occasions to see how she and Texas Twisters could work together to make a better dancing experience for everyone, and she declined every time.
So I hope you can see that I am quite dissappointed that a huge communtiy like Dallas, The Round Up and the only respected instructor could not support a small organization trying to raise money for 2 very needed communtiy organizaions. Hence me being negative about Dallas.
And you are a great dancer. I know. I have danced with you and enjoyed it.
Dave