24/10/2012
FRESCA 2012 was held last weekend. I wish to thank all attendees and everyone who helped make the festival happen. It was a great pleasure to be able to once again offer a chance for everyone interested in Latin dancing to enjoy it together. I also wish to thank everyone who has participated in some form in our activities during the past three years.
Three years ago when we started with La Nieve Fresca as a dance crew I had no idea where it would eventually take me. The decision to start organizing FRESCA events was because I thought the Latin dance scene could be something more than just events for students of specific dance schools. I knew that if there was a way to bring everyone together we could create something bigger and more meaningful that would benefit not only all dancers, but also all dance schools and entrepreneurs through growing the overall market and visibility of social dancing. Perhaps the whole society could also benefit by increasing social well-being and supporting development projects. Unfortunately it seems that my vision and message did not go through in the way I wished it would have.
One can think organizing dance events is simple. But actually, not only is general event organization extremely laborious, but when you add stakeholders with strong personalities and extreme passion for what they do into the soup, the equation becomes somewhat impossible for an ordinary small business to handle. In a normal setting everyone understands that it is better to have a small share of a large pie than a big share of a very small pie. The only smart way to grow the pie is through co-operation and sharing. Insecurity, lack of trust, jealousy and fear of loss of power are all basic human attributes that prevent co-operation. I truly hope they can be overcome, as it is a pre-requisite for social dancing to become anything more than it is today and in fact any social movement to grow.
I take these past two years and 20 or so individual events as a great learning experience. It turns out event organization really isn’t my thing after all. Nonetheless, the learning has been extremely valuable and has taught me many tools for the future. La Nieve Fresca has always been a symbol for what we do, and as a symbol it will hopefully never disappear. I’m sure we’ll find a way to keep things going even if sacrificing my sleep, making infinite phone calls and messages are things I won’t be doing anymore.
Once again I wish to thank all our supporters.
Make life a dance,
Ernesto Hartikainen
