East Side, West Side and Beyond
As submitted by Nizana
I
have noticed both in my career world and my dance world, what I might call the
east side-west side phenomenon. In my work world, I have traveled to
attend conferences and meetings, and I have traveled to festivals, haflas and
shows in my dance world. Travel is part of the deal if you want to expand your
horizons and be part of the bigger picture, and since travel is one of my
hobbies, I am good with that. I find the different perspectives about it
interesting though.
On
the one hand, you have those living in the more metro areas, where variety
abounds, and you expect to draw people in from all around, and do. I have gone
as far as Rakkasah and the two International Conferences in Costa Mesa, and
when on vacation, took private lessons with Kajira Djoumahna on Maui and
attended a benefit performance in San Diego that featured John Belezikian and
the Dahlin sisters. I have attended several I-5 Corridor events, including an
annual trek to Medfest for many years. I also regularly travel to many Eastern
Washington events outside of my city. A handful of local dancers make the trek
outside of town to attend events when they can.
On
the other hand, you have locations that may not be as big as a metro area, such
as Spokane, but still have big things going on, and people may not feel the
need to go outside of their geographical location. (Just like “west-siders”
think?) There have been some top notch instructors come through this way, BDSS
shows stop here, and many local performers sponsor events throughout the
year. In fact, sometimes there is even a glut of events. Additionally,
Tri-Cities, Yakima, Wenatchee and other towns have things going on in their
areas.
And
while the hospitality is very appreciated to stay over to help defray costs,
still not everyone can afford to go to the farther away events due to financial
and time constraints. It’s a long ride between the Seattle area and Spokane,
and you see a lot more people going that way then coming this way. When was the
last time a “west-sider” attended a Spokane event? When was the last time
co-workers came over to this side of the state for a work meeting? It just
doesn’t happen very often, and it’s understandable. And in my opinion,
the caliber of some of the events in the I-5 corridor area are top notch and
can’t be matched, but there are many that can be matched.
I
have seen great dancers and events, and those who need to keep working at it
everywhere I’ve been. I have attended or participated in events all over
Washington state and beyond, and I had heard some dancers question why more
dancers don’t come from the east side to events over on the west side of the
mountains. I thought I’d explain my perception of what might be going in that
regard. While you got it going on over there, we got it going on over
here, too. Let's keep inviting one another and sharing events and enjoy
events together wherever and whenever we can!