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 | Announcement (year 2000) |  |
As most of you have heard by now, it has been decided that the National Advanced and Challenge Convention (NACC) has disbanded. The NACC served the Advanced and Challenge Community for over 34 Years with pride but seems no longer a valued or viable format. We hope that it will be kindly remembered for all the good it did for our Advanced and Challenge Square Dance activity.
Today we need to change with the times and the NACC was not chartered to accomplish radical change rapidly. At this year's convention, an attempt was made to continue the NACC tradition but it was felt that the NACC carried too many preconceived notions. The staff decided that it needed to go into Square Dance History.
Through subsequent discussion another plan arose. The idea was to start a totally "New Convention" to be held a week before the National Square Dance Convention. This New Convention would be tailored to overcome many obstacles that plagued the NACC and to become a pro-active leader in the Advanced and Challenge Community. To this end we are pleased to inform you that on June 20, through June 23, 2001 we will proudly present the "Academy for Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts".
The Founders and Staff for this Convention will be (in alphabetical order)
The convention will also have, as an addition to the staff, a different "Featured Caller" each year. This caller will call a full schedule as a member of the Staff.
In addition, we will have 2 "Guest Staff" Callers who wish to display their talents in this forum. The Guest Staff callers will share time throughout the convention and will be rotated each year to allow a varied showcase of talent to the dancers. Callers who wish to take part in the convention or for further information please contact Lloyd Sparks via e-mail at Sparky@SparksEnterprises.com, by phone at (888) 523-7585 or by mail at 6000 Crestwood Station Suite 1, Crestwood, KY, 40014-9642.
We will offer full time programs in Advanced, C1, C2, C3A, and C3 with a part time program of C4. The dancing will start on Wednesday evening then have 3 sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
The Staff will use the morning dance sessions to review and workshop calls and concepts from each program that have caused the dancers problems in the past. After the workshop in the mornings we will feature these calls and concepts in the dancing throughout the rest of the convention. A dancer will not have to attend the workshop to be able to dance in their selected hall but it will be necessary for them to be proficient with all the calls and positioning on the program list if they are to be comfortable with the extensions and positioning used throughout the remainder of the convention.
We will be providing Special Interest Educational sessions and roundtable discussions on such topics as "How to Operate a Successful Tape Group" staffed by leaders in the activity and are planning to offer sessions for callers who want additional information about calling Advanced and Challenge Programs and time for callers who wish to improve their basic calling skills. Our object with the instruction and education sessions will be to try and send you home a better and more knowledgeable dancer than when you arrived.
Knowing that "Square Glue and Computer Numbers" are always a hot topic we decided on a compromise. We plan to start each hour with an open tip followed by two tips on the numbers and to close each hour with an open tip. This will provide both a chance to dance with old friends and a mixing of the floor to allow for new friendships to be developed. We hope this balance will serve both sides of the debate and provide an open friendly atmosphere for all concerned.
"The Academy" will offer a singles rotation in each hall based on the California System. This will allow singles to sign up and be assigned a partner for a tip. Partners will change each tip and dancers who have a partner that is not dancing that session or for a single tip can also sign up so that they will not have to sit out even though their regular partner is unavailable. This rotation will be operated in each hall by a volunteer who will do the best they can to keep as many people with partners as possible.
For the first two years, the "Academy" will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center. This newly remodeled and enlarged convention center is located in downtown Louisville and close to many hotels, motels, campgrounds, restaurants, and centers of entertainment. Although the NACC has been here in the past, this will be a new experience and only one hall will be the same as when the old facility was used for the NACC. The Academy is working hard to find alternate dance sites so that we will be able to move the convention west and east so that all dancers will have a time when the convention will be more convenient to their area.
For your convenience we will soon have a website for you to receive information, register, and make comments. Also, we will also be able to accept your payment by Credit Card, Check or Cash to better serve your needs.
We invite you to come and join "The Academy" in the New Millennium and share a fresh and optimistic view of our Square Dance activity.