The award of excellence is presented by the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society. It is an award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the Canadian Square and Round Dance community. There have only been a few recipients from eastern Ontario that have received this award since its inception in 1987. Dave is now one of them.
His nomination includes his contribution to the square and round dance movement over the years at not only the local and provincial level, but at the national level as well.
Dave was previously recognized for his achievements at the provincial level in 2016 when he and his wife Pearl received the Ontario Trillium Merit Award.
His achievements include serving as:
-President of EOSARDA from 2009 until the present. The position of president of EOSARDA was always considered a 2 year commitment. Dave has held this position for 16 years.
-Director on the board of the Ontario Square and Round Dance Federation
-Vice chair for the 2014 Canadian Square and Round Dance Festival as well as organizing the vendor village.
-initiating programs such as “the Young Dancer Program”, “the Square and Round Dance Week”, and organizing a dance team called “the EOSARDA Eagles”
-teaching line dancing for 10 years through his own club- “Got Lines-Line Dancing”
Now on to his achievement at the Canadian national level of square and round dancing, and thus his nomination for this award.
Canada’s Copyright Act provides for the mandatory payment of royalties for the public “performance” of music in Canada. “Performance” includes the playing of live and of recorded music. The amounts payable are established through two series of Tariffs set by the Copyright Board of Canada, one for SOCAN and one for Re:Sound.
A company called Entandem was established in 2019, as a joint venture with SOCAN and Re:Sound. Entandem collects annual licensing fees on behalf of SOCAN and Re:Sound; distributes the fees to their respective rights holders’ and issues annual Music Licenses.
Someone, either the club or the dance leader, must hold a valid Music Licence issued by Entandem in order for music to be played at a dance event.
Over the years there has been considerable disagreement and confusion both between Canadian Square and Round Dance Society members and Entandem and within Entandem/SOCAN/Re:Sound as to the annual cost of an Entandem Music Licence and the applicable licensing terms and conditions. As a result , most Canadian Square and Round Dance Society members were paying too much for their annual Music Licence and many did not hold the correct licence.
In the spring of 2021, Dave approached Geoff Clarke, Gavin Currie and Arlo Speer with a proposal that, with Society’s approval, they form a team to negotiate a formal agreement between the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society and Entandem /SOCAN/Re:Sound.
It took a little longer than originally expected, but two years later the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society and Entandem, acting on behalf of SOCAN and Re:Sound signed a comprehensive agreement that standardized Music Licence fees for all Canadian Square and Round Dance Society members while greatly simplifying the annual reporting procedure.
The society has recognized this effort and along with all of the contributions that Dave has made have concluded that indeed Dave should be the latest recipient of “the Award of Excellence”