I am really interested in the micro-histories of dance and music scenes, not the broad generalisations but the nitty gritty details of places, spaces and sounds. Through the dancing questionnaire and other posts at this site, I hope I have managed to document some details that might otherwise vanish into increasingly foggy memory. I am always keen to encourage people to write things down, even the details that don't seem so important to them, partly because in my historical researches it is often the seemingly irrelevant trivia which are actually most revealing.
Along these lines, I was interested in this brief summary of the history of dancing in 20th century Seattle, with links to articles on dance marathons, jazz at the he Savoy Ballroom and 1960s rock'n'roll at Parkers Ballrooom. It ends up with the absurdities of the 1985 Teen Dance Ordinance, whose stipulations drastically restricted young people's leisure in the city until it was repealed in 2002.
micro histories of dance, this is interesting stuff. I appreciate this because i've lived in Seattle and live in Tacoma now. Seattle is trying to attract more nightlife downtown, but the real fun is on capital hill - a more gay friendly scene. The city is gentrifying like most places, and at an increasing rate.
ReplyDelete