♥♥♥ Toronto Queer HalloWICKED Slowdance! ♥♥♥

With a lending library of designated dancers for all you wallflowers, and a dancecard-booklet to set up dances in advance (should you choose to), Queer Slowdance Night has all slow songs, all night long! (Except for the occasional intermission when we play the fastest songs we can find!)

It's high school with a happy ending. Come and experience why slow is beautiful, and why love is not ironic.

PS. Fabulous and inspired attire, while desired, is not required. But would be AWESOME & HAWT. Finally, you do not have to be queer to attend this party, but you must have an open mind, an open heart, and have open arms.

PPS. Look - for this special HalloWICKED edition, wear a costume! We know that it's after Halloween proper, and most Halloween parties will be happening the week before, but since Halloween this year falls on a Wednesday, we feel that it's equidistant enough, and you know, this holiday is so nice, we need to do it twice. Besides, those that wear a costume will receive a special Queer Slowdance treat.

PPPS. We are always looking for Designated Dancers for our evenings. If you are outgoing, warm, and willing to undertake the very serious duty and responsibility of inviting wallflowers out onto the dancefloor - if in fact, such a prospect gives you great joy - then please contact the organizers at inconsolablecat@hotmail.com.

★★★

Dovercourt house
805 Dovercourt Rd. (1 block North of Bloor, 3 blks. west of Ossington)
Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2012
Doors at 9:30, Dance from 10 PM - 3 AM.
$10 admission includes your Dancecard-booklet!
Regretfully, the Dovercourt House is not wheelchair-accessible.

To be alerted to ♥♥♥ FUTURE EVENTS IN YOUR AREA ♥♥♥, please "Like" our event page, Chat Perdu Productions: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chat-Perdu-Productions/223457214331777

★★★

"Relive the prom without the angst." - the Canadian Press

"In an age where physical contact is a scarce commodity, an event that brings strangers safely together is long overdue." - The Montreal Gazette

"I really like hugging people, and this is like, a five-minute hug." - Telyn Kusalik, one of our guests

★★★

A NOTE ABOUT THE DANCE CARDS: The dancecards are these little booklets that contain a setlist of every song that will be played that evening. The idea is that during the course of the evening, you can "book" certain songs with certain people, and vice versa. So when your charming hosts announce a particular song, you can look on your dancecard and see who it is you're going to dance with next. There is a little space after every song where people can write their names. How filled your dancecard gets depends on you, of course. Ask someone to dance! Or give someone meaningful looks! Look for the Dancecard-Signing Station located somewhere on the premises, usually near a light, where small pencils are available. The dancecards also - thoughtfully - have lots of empty places where you can write down the names and numbers of charming people whom you may have danced with that night. Use of the dancecards, is, of course, optional, and completely up to you. Proceed at your comfort level.

A NOTE ABOUT THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: The Rules essentially state that as someone coming to Slow Dance Night, you have the right to ask anyone you want to dance. But whoever it is you asked has the right to refuse your request, and not have to give any reason why. But wonderfully, you have this right as well. This is done because slowdancing with someone is rather an intimate sort of enterprise, and a minor commitment, and you should have the right to back out anytime you wish. Slow Dance Night is about consensual respect and enjoyment. Just because you may have danced with someone for most of the song, if at any point you are feeling unsafe or uncomfortable, you can simply walk away. If whoever it is persists in their attention, locate one of the organizers, and they will be ejected from the premises. And fucked-up. Anyone who refuses to comply by the rules will be fucked-up. Kidding! Kinda.

A NOTE ABOUT THE DESIGNATED DANCERS: On any particular night there will be a handful of our Designated Dancers available to dance with you for the first half of the evening - so arrive early! They will be wearing green glowing bracelets, and these Designated Dancers are warm, charming, and safe people to ask to dance. Of course, the same Rules of Engagement apply, and they, as free agents, can decide for themselves who they want to dance with, and for how long, but in all likelihood, they would be very open to dancing with you. Please think of them as a warm taxi light in the middle of a blizzard; the cast of a lighthouse, when you are too far from shore and shrouded in fog; a glimmer of hope after a lifetime of desolation. Well, actually, that might be pushing it. Please think of them as a temporary safe harbour. They will also be looking for you, and asking you to dance, trying in their way to turn wallflowers into perennials.

A NOTE ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY: We have received a number of emails and wall-posts about accessibility - or rather, the lack of it - at our current venue, the Dovercourt House. We understand, and it is an ongoing concern. We are not opposed to moving venues to an accessible one, but various places, for various reasons, didn’t work out when we finally came upon the Dovercourt House, which superficially resembles a school gym, has a working mirrorball, a sound system, lovely lighting, and a bar. We have, however, been following up on your suggestions for accessible venues, but there have been difficulties. Every venue is very particular, and finding a good match is hard. Additionally, we are based in Montreal. We come into Toronto every time to put the event on, and that doesn’t leave much time to tour various venues, or to make face-to-face contact with the venue bookers. If you have a personal contact at the Revival, or the Garrison, we would appreciate an introduction. Thus far, they have not responded to our (in some cases, repeated) inquiries. We do, however, do the occasional Slowdance at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and that venue is accessible.

A NOTE ABOUT HOMOPHOBIC ARTISTS: It was recently brought to our attention that certain artists, like Bon Jovi, Guns ‘n Roses, Sting, Eminem, Ween, Public Enemy, The Pogues, The Kinks, Sex Pistols, Frank Zappa, Korn, Violent Femmes, or Chris Brown, are alleged to have made homophobic slurs or statements in the past, and/or have homophobic lyrics in their songs. In certain cases it’s hard to be sure if the homophobia was deliberate, like in The Kink’s “Lola” which leaves things kinda mysterious. In other cases, like The Spice Girls’ “2 Become 1”, heteronormativity is espoused, like in their lyric “Any deal that we endeavour/boys and girls go good together”. Though, to their credit, in recent years, a NEW version of that song has emerged, which has changed the lyrics to: “Once again when we endeavour, love will bring us back together” which is more inclusive. This puts us in a bit of a quandry, as you can imagine, because it’s hard to keep track of every homophobic artist and every homophobic song, and even more difficult to parse out the meaning behind every lyric. Additionally, this brings into question whether we necessarily need to attach the views of an individual artist or band to a particular song. What if the artist is homophobic, but the band is not, and the song has nothing to do with queerness? Should we enjoy the song? Here, at Queer Slowdance, after much agonizing, we’ve decided to take on the possibly controversial policy of “Fuck It – it’s a great song.” We are going to play whatever song we like because it’s a wonderful song and succeeds in bringing people closer together. We know that some of you might disagree with this, and we look forward to your angry emails, but we are also big believers in Ani DiFranco’s truism: “Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right.” And we believe that any song can be beautiful if you’re holding the right person in your arms.

A NOTE ABOUT HOW TO HELP US!
Sometimes, after an event, we get kind folks coming up to us asking us how they can help out with future quirky events. We are so grateful for your kindness and enthusiasm! But perhaps the Most Helpful Thing You Can Do is a thing that doesn't feel like very much help, but which is IN FACT the Most Helpful Thing You Can Do - and that's to share the event page on your Facebook Wall and let your friends know about it. That's it. It takes a few seconds, but is incredibly helpful. Seriously. Collectively, you all know thousands & thousands of people we have never met. If you could spread the word about quirky events, that helps us out manifestly and improves greatly the chances of quirky events continuing to happen! Will you be one of our Sharers?

A NOTE ABOUT THE NOTES: Holy shit! Did you really read down this far? That's awesome. We always read all the minutiae & marginalia too. We also, if you invite us over, look over the books on your bookshelf to see if we'd be open to seduction.