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Interview with Peter Davis

Dublin Core

Title

Interview with Peter Davis

Date

12/8/2016

Is Part Of

Skidmore-Saratoga Memory Project

Publisher

DS113A: Storytelling Interviewing, Skidmore College

Description

An interview with Peter Davis, the program director of the Flurry Festival from 2006- present day. Peter discusses the nuts and bolts of creating the schedule and how it changed from Paul Rosenberg's direction to the current form.

Language

English

Creator

Amanda Muir

Subject

Saratoga Springs -- Flurry Festival -- History

Format

Original recording wav file, 16 bit 44.1 khz

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Amanda Muir

Interviewee

Peter Davis

Location

Room 128B, Lucy Scribner Library, Skidmore College

Original Format

digital audio recording

Duration

53:34

Time Summary

00:00:00 Introductions

00:00:32 Discusses role of program director

00:01:28 Relationship to Paul Rosenberg, becoming the flurry program director

00:03:17 Asks wife how to strategize taking on the Flurry organization. Turns to computers

00:04:18 First year directing the festival, a power outage occurred in the city center while the weather became colder

00:07:25 Brought in swing music, the vision of Paul Rosenberg

00:08:30 Restructured the guidelines to increase profit for organization and increase younger attendance

00:10:40 Hired younger bands to increase youth attendance and added more youth oriented programing

00:12:20 Expanded the Flurry festival reach to a national scope, while still including local bands, teachers, and performers

00:14:20 Set up specific event for little kids and teens with help from board members

00:16:05 Remincing of sense of community at first Flurry festival.

00:16:50 Placed in a swing dance workshop at Old Songs Festival, met Jay Unger and Molly Mason who were big influences in the beginning of the Flurry Festival

00:17:30 Early swing dancing at the Flurry. Played the band at the festival and helped spread the word of the festival to more swing dancers

00:19:17 Played as a musician at the Flurry along with his son Ben

00:20:30 Maintained and increased the diversity in music and dance, added techno contra dance along with urban and traditional dance forms

00:23:50 Advertising the amount of music and songs available

00:24:25 Grant outreach through the Flurry Organization to underprivileged organizations to give them attendance to the festival

00:26:14 Increased positivity and support from the Saratoga community, specifically businesses

00:28:05 The flurry festival community. Hired musicians discovering the Flurry for the first time

00:30:07 Support of flurry community through financial troubles

00:31:00 Effects of the cold weather on the festival programmers and participants

00:33:25 Enjoying the Flurry. The difficulty of programming the events

00:36:20 Final performance was a medley of musicians at the festival that jammed including the Midwestern Swing

00:38:30 Watching the new people see the huge contra dances

00:39:30 Explaining the Flurry experience to non participants

00:42:20 The role the Flurry plays in Peter Davis’ life, looking towards the future

00:45:03 Considering the attendance of workshops and events

00:45:40 Positives and negatives of program director, writing a decline to a workshop teacher

00:46:50 The directors and departments on the Flurry Organization board

00:49:30 Desire to have support from local colleges and student performances

00:53:20 End



Record Creation Date

8/12/2016

Collection

Citation

Amanda Muir, “Interview with Peter Davis,” Skidmore Saratoga Memory Project, accessed January 31, 2025, https://ssmp.skidmore.edu/document/416.

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