“Thank you, everyone at DR, for welcoming us dancers so warmly, and sharing your home and ideals with us …. and thanks for the dances!”
What is Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage?
Dancing Rabbit is an ecovillage and intentional community of about 60 people set amid the hills and prairies of rural northeastern Missouri. Our goal is to live ecologically sustainable and socially rewarding lives, and to share the skills and ideas behind that lifestyle. Rachel and Tony were part of the original group who started the ecovillage in 1996. We have built a village of natural buildings, powered by solar and wind, we grow our food organically, and share 3 cars for the whole village. We live cooperatively to varying degrees and govern ourselves using consensus.
How does dancing and Dancing Rabbit relate?
Despite the name, we have no official relationship to dancing. But dancing has been a growing part of our culture in recent years and Off Grid Blues will be a big step to helping us live up to our name. How Dancing Rabbit does relate to blues dance is that both have strong communities and Dancing Rabbit has a lot of expertise in navigating community dynamics successfully.
” I was concerned that the number of people was so small that there might not be enough people to dance with for a whole weekend, especially when as it happens at many dances, some people won’t dance with others – so your choices of people to dance with are often limited. But the small number of people and the number of really good dancers made for a very full weekend of dancing. And I think that it also meant that I ended up dancing more within may own gender, which forced me to increase my comfort level dancing with others of my own gender and improve my leading skills as well as following skills.”
Skyhouse Dining Room
What is Skyhouse Community?
Skyhouse is an income-sharing sub-community of Dancing Rabbit. It has a large six bedroom house that will be hosting the cooking and dining for the weekend.
Where do we dance?
La Casa de Cultura was built with dancers in mind. With a quality sound system, excellent ventilation and a hardwood floor made from local hickory and walnut, you’ll be able to bring your nice shoes and have great slide. Or, just dance in your socks.
“La Casa is beautiful–floors are just stunning. Dancing is even more fun when you have a beautiful setting in which to do it.”
“The Casa has the nicest floor I’ve ever been on. So fast and clean!”
What will we do for toilets and showers?
Toilets at Dancing Rabbit are composting and the majority use a system called Humanure. Showers use collected rainwater and the water is heated with high tech wood-burning systems. While there will be plenty of hot water, there will not be that many showers available, so be prepared to shower less often then you are used to. You might consider a dip in the pond a refreshing alternative. If you prefer more of the creature comforts, consider paying for the the more modern luxuries at the Milkweed Mercantile and the better shower to person ratio.
What will we do for food?
“The preparation of the foods that were made was top notch, and I really appreciated all of the fresh ingredients.”
All meals and snacks during dances will be provided as part of your registration fee. Food will be served community-style and will be primarily local, organic and in-season. Food will be vegan/vegetarian and we can try to accommodate special diets. Everyone will be asked to participate in the dishes, snack preparation or other tasks. If you like to have something that is not locally grown, consider bringing it along. Snacks and beverages will be available for sale at the Milkweed Mercantile as well as in the local small town 3 miles away.
How do I apply for a scholarship?
Please email Rachel (rachel[A T]offgridblues•com) with what your needs are and what you can contribute. We are striving to make this event as accessible as possible and will do our best to accomodate you. We will ask you to do additional volunteer work if we provide a scholarship. Some work exchange positions we need include:
Volunteer Coordinator (Experience and references necessary)
Photographer (Experience and samples necessary)
Sound Tech (Experience necessary)
Set up/Clean up help
Instructor Support & Time keeper
We are also looking for someone to come and work exchange for a month at Dancing Rabbit and help with the event overall.
Are tickets refundable?
Tickets are not refundable but are transferable. We will have a waiting list and if you cannot make it, we will attempt to find someone to buy your ticket. If we can find someone to fill your spot, we will refund all but $25/person to cover processing time and paypal fees. Beginning September 1st (3 weeks before the event), we especially do not guarantee finding you a replacement, but if we fail, you can try to find someone to purchase your ticket from you directly.
