PCD Organization Meeting - 10/3/2013

We had a very intense and productive meeting last night. This summary is not meant to be all inclusive, but simply to give you a sense of what was talked about/shared/etc. I have typed this up and passed it on to Don to send to the group.

-Neil

Community Members in Attendance:

• Neil
• Chloe
• Parks
• Jill
• Xiqnawi
• Sage
• Don
• Julie Vohs
• Jim Young
• Mary Ellen
• Liberty
• Kellie
• Deb
• Dave

Agenda Items:

• General summary of what's transpired for newcomers
• Explanation of how the proposed shift in meeting (from our meeting to playshop at Bhakti) came about
• A chance for Sage to speak
• Reading Lea's email to the group (declining the invitation to come be part of the discussion last night)
• Reading Becca's email to several members of the group (also declining the invitation)
• Discussing our Response to the email that Lea sent before the Retreat (which was her response to our "declaration" email - wherein she stated clearly that EDME is an organization belonging to her and if we want a community-run organization we should go do that)
• Discussing a response to Lea's request that we run the EDME Sunday dance for her in her absence
• How we communicate anything about what's going on to the community at large (tabled 'til the next meeting)
• Are we still trying to meet in person with Lea? (talked about as part of other discussions - several options were discussed but no consensus reached - tabled)

In general - in response to the request to shift our meeting to Bhakti/etc. - we acknowledged that it takes a LOT to coordinate the entire group of people, and that last minute shifts in meeting location etc are not what we want. A standard response of something like "That's a great idea and we will put it on the agenda at our next meeting." was suggested, to allow for sufficient group input and coordination.

What followed was a deep, intense conversation that more-or-less stuck to the agenda above. Emphasized were our love for our community, wanting it to be as inclusive as possible, and also wanting to make a decision from the vantage point of what honors our needs to take care of ourselves and the community we love so dearly. We talked as well about our care for Lea, and again wanting for her to be a member of the community - but not an owner of it.

We worked through a modified consensus model - and brought up the idea of "I can't live with a particular decision (i.e. I wouldn't come dance, or I wouldn't continue to take part)" as a way of gauging how deep one's resistance to a particular course of action really was.

To that end, we considered every option from "wait and see" to "let's get started on our own thing now" (and in between).

The final proposals that we arrived at came from much discussion about what we thought we could do, as a community, with integrity. As stated before, we discussed MANY possible permutations.

There was complete agreement on the need for us to have a community dance, as we had stated in our original email - so that position was unchanged and unchallenged - though we did check in about that - (particularly in light of Lea's response to our request that she be a part of a community-led endeavor for Sunday morning dances - which was that she owned the current Sunday dance and that was the way it was going to be - and if we wanted something different from her vision then we should go start our own dance).

The final proposals were:

• State that we, as a group, are not going to organize keep Lea's Sunday dance running - and that we will instead be starting our community dance as soon as possible at a date to be determined (meanwhile continuing to attend the Sunday dance as is if individuals want to attend, assuming that Lea finds someone else to run her business while she is gone).
• Propose to Lea that we sublet the current space, run the Sunday dance until she returns, and then go on our own way to a new space with our community dance.

Of the many proposals, these were the two that we felt honored our own integrity - and everyone "could live" with either of these proposals.

We held a vote on both proposals. An individual could vote in support of both, one, or none. The first proposal garnered support from everyone in the group with one abstention. The second proposal only had a handful of supporters. We decided to go with the first proposal with everyone in agreement.

We stopped at every possible opportunity to ensure various viewpoints were being heard.

Everyone in the meeting had a chance to speak and actually did speak at least once.

We decided that Don would write a letter of response to Lea, and that it would be "vetted" by four other community members - two women and two men - and delivered to her as soon as possible.

We arranged that our next meeting would be Tuesday night, October 8th, at 7pm, at Chloe's new apartment (at 147 Brackett Street) to discuss the details of implementing our decision.

Finally, a number of people stated emphatically that they want an opportunity to clear with Lea, that they are still open to the idea of "playshop", and that they hope that in the end Lea decides to continue to be part of our dance community on Sunday mornings, while pursuing her clear vision for Ecstatic Dance as well. And that there is definitely some healing that will have to take place for that to occur.

We all want this to be seen as a move forward in support of our community - not as a "personal" issue. And that ultimately this choice will not be divisive, but will instead allow people to find dance in a way that is most in alignment with what they want for themselves and their dance.

with love,

Neil