The “Emperor Has No Clothes” is one of those fairy tales where the general population is so afraid of the royalty that nobody, but a child, is willing to acknowledge what everybody sees. The King is naked and parades through town as if nothing is the matter. Since the populace says nothing and gapes in awe, he naturally assumes that everybody admires him and his position and fine suit of clothes. The people are not aware of the part in the story where, the clever tailor has convinced the King that the material is so fine, that only he deserves it, and subsequently weaves his suit with tall tales.
Not unlike what is currently happening in the NDCA where the confusion, delegation, standards, and examples of actions on the behalf of so few will eventually affect so many, the regular folk are left on the sidelines. In case one suspects that I may be misguided a recent look at the NDCA’s own web site of News and Press Releases provided the following information for the little people:
- Blurb on upcoming “Ballroom Bootcamp” so that we all know that the NDCA is up to date and hip
- A review of how the second week of the show, “Dancing with the Stars” went. (note that I am writing this on September 1, 2005 and the series is long over for the season)
- Advice to check out the trailer for, “Mad Hot Ballroom”
- A one paragraph notice that the “World Championship Pro Am Championships” and “World American Style” professional championships will be held at….( an entirely new venue, and therefore being jerked from another venue, namely the USDSC, and this for this year not next year, or sometime in the future).
- Followed by how to rent a room in Florida in July and Rules changes in January.
The point being that a “World Championship” is a big thing. Have you been offered one lately? How about your friends who have a competition? Of course, the possibility exists that my notice to bid on it just happened to get misplaced, so before we jump to conclusions, please forward your copy to the offices of Dance Week. I choose their office since I am sure the number will be overwhelming and extra staff will have to be hired to handle the correspondence.
Some people feel America is going through a hard time now. Jobs are going overseas, foreign students perform better than ours in standardized tests, prices are going up and wages are staying down. However, that said, few people other than maybe our leaders think the answer to our problems is eliminating the Free Market. How else can you explain it? An important Championship is taken away from one event. This can only be because of poor performance, right. Some dastardly deed must have occurred that impugned the event sponsor’s reputation so much that this quick action needed to be taken. It appears that the dastardly deed was a purchase of stock or was it something else?
I am not one to jump to conclusions, but think issues of this sort are important enough that the discussions should include many if not most of the people who might be affected. The National Championships of any sport have always held a special place for the sport’s participants and the same applies to Dancesport. Those members of the National Dance Council, at whatever level, have joined because they care about the sport. The have a vested interest, whether as a competitive dancer, teacher, judge or official. Some may say the fees are too small to qualify as vested, but are you more vested having put all your time and some money in, or are you more vested when all you do is take and receive?
It is now time for those members to demand a satisfactory explanation to what happens. If you are a member, the NDCA is your organization, and sitting on the side is not what dancers are encouraged to do. There may well be satisfactory and even exemplary reasons for what has transpired, but unless and until all the members understand and believe them the organization provides too much influence for too few, and too little information for the rest.
Michael Reichenbach
Published Dance Week
October 7, 2005