Susie's Notebook

The ECTA Repertoire

© 2003 by Susie & Gert-Jan Rotscheid

The basis for the round dance part of ECTA/EAASDC sponsored programs is the ECTA Repertoire. Therefore we thought we would write a little bit about this to help you understand what it is, how a dance gets put on the Repertoire, and how a dance is sometimes taken off the Repertoire.

The ECTA Repertoire system was started pretty soon after the Round Dance Council was set up in ECTA. The purpose was to have a list of dances that would be taught throughout Europe so that when the dancers came together they could all participate in most of the dances cued. This is still the purpose of the Repertoire today. Most of the time a round dance teacher will use the dances from the Repertoire as they teach their class/es figures. That again is because these dances are the ones that make up most of the program at official ECTA/EAASDC functions. This has a rippling effect, so that at other dances and specials, usually at least 70% of the dances cued will also be from the ECTA Repertoire. This also makes it easier for the hired cuer to plan a program, realizing that most of the round dancers there will most likely be able to dance a good number of the ECTA Repertoire dances.

So, just how do these dances get put on the Repertoire?
At every Jamboree and Round-Up, and now probably also at the ECTA Convention, the ECTA Round Dance Council meets to conduct business. One of the permanent items on our agenda is to showcase round dances for the upcoming ECTA/EAASDC event. For each level of workshop that is offered, anyone may show a dance that they feel: 1) is a good choice for the Repertoire, and 2) can be taught in the time allowed for the workshop of that level. After all the dances have been shown for the workshops, and also an opportunity has been given for someone to suggest a re-teach of a dance that is already on the Repertoire, all active cuers are given a chance to vote for the dance they think will be the best. And then of course, the dance with the most votes is the one that is taught at the next function. Usually the person who showcased the dance will teach it at the next ECTA/EAASDC event; but this is not necessarily so. It could be that the person who showcased the dance cannot attend the Jamboree/Round-Up for which the dance was chosen, or it could be that they are not an active ECTA teacher. In that case the Round Dance Coordinator usually asks who would like to teach the dance, or they can also just ask someone in particular if they will teach it.

Is this dance now on the ECTA Repertoire?
Well, yes and no. After a dance is first taught at an ECTA/EAASDC function, it is put on the Repertoire as an Experimental for one year. Another permanent item on our agenda is to vote on the "experimentals". Here the active cuers vote whether to put these dances officially on the Repertoire. If a dance receives the majority of votes, it is then a Repertoire dance.

How does a dance get taken off the Repertoire?
First of all, sometimes an experimental is "voted down". That is usually because either after one year the dance is "danced out"; that is everyone has enjoyed it, but a year has been long enough. That happens more with "trend" dances or music. Sometimes after a dance has been taught around we (the ECTA Round Dance leaders) see that it is not really a good addition to the Repertoire, or that it is too difficult for the dancers it was meant for. Sometimes we just see that the dancers do not enjoy the dance as much as we thought they would. Also, every few years the cuers all take some time and go through the list of Repertoire dances and vote out dances that they feel are no longer needed on the Repertoire - often for the same reasons as mentioned above.

Why is it necessary to take dances off the Repertoire?
In principle you would think that this is not necessary. But if we stop and think that the purpose of the Repertoire is to have a working basis to make a program from, we realize that it is impossible to expect that most of our dancers will be able to do all the dances that were ever taught. Even now, with regularly taking dances off the Repertoire, we still have 193 dances on the Repertoire. At the moment we have 87 phase II dances, 35 phase III dances, 45 phase IV dances, 21 phase V dances and 5 phase VI dances. That is a whole lot of dances to be able to dance, no matter what level you dance. So in order to keep the Repertoire workable, the Round Dance Council regularly drops some dances that are not danced anymore.

We hope that this has helped you to understand a little better how the Round Dance Council works with the ECTA Repertoire. If we can help any of you with other or more information, please contact us, either phone, fax, e-mail or letter.

We wish you all a year of many hours of dancing pleasure,
Susie & Gert-Jan