Herräng Dance Camp is legendary among swing-dancers. It takes place in a small village in Sweden every summer. Sometimes when I forget I am not in my twenties, I think about how cool it would be to go there and immerse myself in lessons for the low, low price of 6,500 Swedish krona. How this would advance my happiness in this life or the next is a difficult question, however. Perhaps (were I in my twenties) I could blatantly wear the brown scapular, avoid the Woke struggle sessions, invite people to go to Mass with me, and despite myself win souls for Christ.
Undoubtedly sent by the algorithm, Herräng Dance Camp popped into my Facebook feed this week. It was complaining about the small number of leads that have as yet signed up for this July’s event. Here is what it had to say:
A perceptive commentator asked this question and received this answer:
As an organiser myself, I took seriously this request for ideas. Why ever would “leads or men” not go to the legendary Herräng Dance Camp? And because I have thought about traditional dance roles for 3 years, I wrote the following
Reader, I took it down. Having broken the Gen Z code by stating inconvenient truths, I violated it again by not having the courage of my own convictions. However, the chances of Lindy Inc. agreeing with me are exactly zero, and the possibility of losing the goodwill of the local community >0. In this age of social justice and equal rights, nobody sane would want to freeze out the talented young men—that is, the talented young leads—I bring to the scene, but female follows over 40 are ten a penny. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, as my mother would say.
I have been to a good many swing-dance classes over the past three years, and went to some ten years ago, and even thirty years ago, and the vast majority of men dancers want to lead and the vast majority of women dancers prefer to follow. I don’t have much to do with male follows, but the female leads I dance with are proficient follows themselves. And I know some woman learn to lead to ensure that they–and other women–actually do get to dance. There is nothing more tragic at a dance than wallflowerdom. Well, almost nothing.
Frankly, I would rather be a wallflower all night long than exacerbate the problem by asking men to dance. However, wallflowerdom is boring, so I won’t go to a dance event unless I know male friends or acquaintances will be there. Not only do they ask me to dance, but also other men see that I dance,* and so are more likely to ask me themselves. When left alone, I amuse myself by watching others dance.
My experience is, naturally, completely different from that of my pal Chronological Shorty George. As a lead/man, Chronological Shorty George has to judge if the music playing suits his skills. If the music is right, he asks a woman to dance, and if the music is wrong, he sits it out. However, by sitting he runs the risk of being asked to dance–and to the wrong music, to boot. However, CSG is a gallant soul, so unless the music is particularly fast or confusing, he will indeed dance with female supplicants.
That brings up another reason why “leads or men” probably aren’t swift to sign up to Herräng. Few men want to take the risk of looking clumsy, especially when there are very skilled men about. (As one young man I know grumbled, “I don’t enter competitions I can’t win.”) But young men are also becoming increasingly conservative whereas I see that Herräng is not. If we want to keep young man dancing, we will have to create places where young conservatives feel comfortable dancing. And this is, of course, what Mrs McLean’s Waltzing Party is all about.
Incidentally, the Swiss girl CSG and I met the other day told us that her swing-dance group back home uses English instead of German, for German is a gendered language, and by using English they can get around ideological difficulties. I told her that that CSG and I just believe in traditional dance roles. It felt like a brave thing to say although it wasn’t really, as she was a stranger in the city where we live and decades younger than me. However, it may have been the first time she heard anyone dare to say it aloud, and who knows, perhaps we will spark a counter-revolution.
*As yet I am unsure whether the guiding principle is “I see a woman has said ‘Yes‘ to this man, so she is likely to say ‘Yes‘ to me” or “I see this man has asked this woman to dance, so she is the kind of woman men like us ask to dance.” Possibly both.
HEADLINE EXPLAINED WITH SCOTTISH PUN “Is that a cake you’re eating or a meringue?” “No, you’re right; it’s a cake.”
PRAYER REQUEST: Mr McLean no longer dances for he has lost the ability to stand, let alone walk, without support. At the end of the month, we are going on pilgrimage to Lourdes, and today we begin our Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes. If you would pray it, too, that would be very kind. Mr McLean’s given name is “Mark” and the request is that “he be cured of his disease and infirmities, granted the ability to walk again, and live to a ripe old age.” Thank you!
Leave a Reply