On congresses - Democracy

I have referred to small congress lovers before and I will do it here again as they provide as good a way as any to start any debate. Small congress lovers have at times sought to explain their event size preference by referring to the more democratic nature of these events.

Indeed, if there is but one party room, then everyone will be lumped together in the same place. Not only will you avoid all friend finding issues, but you will also find that given the limited number of people, those present are required to be friendlier, more open and more willing to dance with everyone else. As the dancing snob that I am (I'm slowly admitting to it as I write this blog), I maintain that this is an attitude brought about by necessity rather than by choice. Needless to say the endgame is the same whatever the reasons: people tend to be friendlier at smaller congresses. 

Not so, according to F. He believes that some of these smaller congresses can get cliquey (to pursue the governmental metaphor, dare I say nepotistic?). It stands to reason that in a small congress, most of the dancers will be locals and their friends (you wouldn't trek across the world for a tiny event unless you were going to be there for another reason right?). As a result, until they've seen you dance, they are likely to be slightly wary. Not to worry though, crack out the charm F and all the ladies will want to befriend you - just save your famous sarcasm for me ok? 

Another issue with having a small congress is that by having one room with all the dancers in it, you also have to make sure that your DJ is much more democratic in his music choice. Unless you label yourself as a pure Mambo or Rueda congress as the Wuppertal and Stavanger ones do, you will most likely have a wider pool of dancers to satisfy. As a result, a wider selection of music will be required to keep everyone happy. Mambo purists beware! In small congresses, it is not unusual to have a half hour of reggaeton, or a period of semi-enforced line dancing.

And this is where the democratic nature of the smaller congresses loses itself. In believing that the population size is small enough for those gathered to be controlled, the organiser has been known at times to turn dictator. The people’s will is no longer listened to, the DJ’s understanding of the movements on and off the dance floor is disrupted and instead, enforced ruedas to salsa romantica (no less!) have been made forced into being. The organiser turned fascist dictator thus overturns the will of the dancers to satisfy and entertain a chosen minority. I’m not sure whether I represent the independent revolutionary pamphlet or the conservative voice of the aristocracy in this scenario, but either way, I find it hard to participate!

In my opinion, democracy is not inflicting the tastes of the many onto the few, but giving everyone the right to choose. The dancers have more power, in those congresses where they can choose which dance floor to go to, which dance floor to stay on and which tracks they want to dance to. Such congresses do not necessarily have to be the biggest congresses, but they have to be sizeable enough to be able to offer multiple dance floors within reasonable reach of each other. Take the Croatian Summer Salsa Festival – last year they had a Cuban and a Cross Body dance floor, lying 15 meters apart so that you could decide which one you wanted to be on from the carpet in between the two. Surely dance floor democracy does not get any more perfect than that?