Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

The Twirlers dance a long way from home.  Their badges say Payson, but they currently dance in Pine.  So, at at a quarter after four o’clock on Saturday, Martha and I took a drive.

It was a scenic drive, to say the least.  A scenic drive with few gas stations.  I did not run out of gas, but it was a little closer to happening than I would have liked.  What saved us was a small sign that pointed to a side road.  It took us past a rest-area/park to a “country store” like place.  There was a bar next to it with some live music playing.  Surreal to say the least.

We got there with time to spare, so stopped for a beverage.  It was on a reservation, so while they had few choices for drinks they had a room full of cigarettes to sell.  That was an odd thing to see.

I drove by the dance hall and had to back track a little bit.  Once we got there, people started to trickle in.  That is, everyone but the person that had the key.  We enjoyed the cool mountain air and socialized a bit at about ten minutes to seven, the “keymaster” arrived and let us in.

I set up pretty quickly.  There are few round dancers in the area, so no rounds at this dance.  I was also asked to alternate tips… Mainstream and Plus.  Initally, I thought I’d keep my tips short, but each one lasted about ten minutes including the singing call. 

There were some visitors from other clubs, as well.  I don’t remember where everyone was from, but I do know that one group from Show Low (Linden) was there. 

We had four squares of dancers total.  One woman was back after recovering from a stroke.  She struggled a bit, but she did well.  It was great that she works at dancing while going through recovery.  Another woman was back for her first time after a fall that broke her shoulder.  She wore a brace mostly to tell people “hands off!”

I did a variety of songs both as hoedowns and as singing calls.  Nothing too new, I think.  I figured that I’d stick with some of my favorites and stay in my own comfort zone.  It paid off, I think, as I got a number of ncie compliments all evening.  (Including one of my favorites… “will you come back and call for us again?”)

It was a good evening and everyone had fun, including me.  The ride home (with a full tank of gas) was uneventful.  The exception being that a few people need to learn how to use and adjust their accelerators.  I love my cruise control.

Up next is a dance in Cottonwood.  Hope to see you there!

Anyway… until next time, keep dancing.

I think that’s the correct name for the club.  It’s in Prescott, Arizona, so it was a fair haul to get there from Tempe.  That said, it was well worth the drive.  Not in that there was a large crowd, but rather, it was a really fun group of people.

This was a last minute sort of thing as Elmer Claycomb emailed me a couple of weeks back asking if I could help him out with it.  He was traveling to Colorado that weekend and wasn’t going to make it back in time.  Even though it was on a Sunday evening (and I have to work the next day) I told him that’d I’d be happy to help him.

Dancing started at 6:30 so I figured if I left home by 3:30, I’d have plenty of time.  I did, but I was sweating it a bit (figuratively) as there was some construction that slowed me down.  (Not to mention the drivers on the road that seem to think that “slower traffic keep right” means everyone BUT them.)

I was early, so I stopped at Burger King for a quick bite.  I’ve been getting their kids meals because of two reasons.  One is that I don’t need much food right before a dance and the other is that I enjoy toys.

I got to the hall at about 6:10 and set up my gear then did some meet-and-greet.  This was less of a dance and more of a workshop.  Sunday is there class night with dances on Saturdays.  As such, there was no Round Dancing.  My tips were a little longer than I normally like them to be, but no one complained.  (Yes, I asked.)

I was to do a Mainstream dance/workshop from 6:30 to 8:00 and a Plus dance/workshop from 8 until 9:30.  As we had a number of students, we did the Mainstream workshop until 8:30 and danced Plus for an hour.

Mary, their president, told me that usually, when Elmer’s off, they announce it.  This time they didn’t because people won’t come.  She said they made a conscious decision to not say anything and continued by telling me that they were glad they did.  Everyone enjoyed my calling and my interaction.

It was fun.

For the Mainstream workshop, I worked on Half Tag, Tag the Line, Scoot Back, and Recycle.

For the Plus workshop, I continued the Mainstream workshop and added Follow Your Neighbor.  (I had the girls looking in instead of the boys.)

I had a really great time.  I just wish it wasn’t so far away.  (And that gas wasn’t so expensive.)

Until next time, keep dancing!

Stephen

Truth be told, I wasn’t calling this dance.  I just went to dance.  A friend called me and asked if I wanted to go, so we went.  Don’t let this word get out, but there were more men then women.  Go figure!

Chuck Meyers is a very talented caller.  He can call some really great stuff and I wish I’d remembered to bring a pencil and paper to take some notes.  He did some great things with circles and stars.  I need to make some time and see if he’ll coach me a bit or, if I’m lucky, give me some tips over lunch.

Chuck let me call a tip which was very kind of him.  I really appreciate the floor time.  He even asked me to share a tip with him at the end.  That was a lot of fun too. 

For my tip, I used a couple of things that “researched” from Jerry Junck.  Here was my opener:

Heads - Pass the Ocean
Explode the Wave and Cloverleaf
Sides - Pass the Ocean
Explode and… Start a Dixie Grand

It was great!

Chuck liked my “alternative” hoedown… Jennifer Lopez’s “Una Noche Mas.”  The English version is “One More Night.”  I like the Spanish version as it avoids *and* issues with her words and mine.  To end the dance, Chuck had me pick another alternative hoedown, I chose “Quando, Quando, Quando.”

I’ve learned to guage success a number of different ways for various aspects of square dancing.  A reading of the success of an evening is how many squares are dancing at the end of a dance compared to the beginning.  We had three at the beginning and four at the end.  Not too shabby!

Until next time, keep dancing!

Last weekend I had a blast visiting Tucson. Friday, after work, I drove down to visit my new friend, Rick Gittelman and, while there, do a meet and greet with one of the clubs he calls for, the Tucson Twirlers. Rick was having some work done on his car in Casa Grande (some city between Phoenix and Tucson) and I met him half way. I followed him to his place (with a trip through Saguaro National Park to get there), changed clothes, and went to the dance.

The dance was a small affair. There were (I think) twelve couples. They use cards to mix and mingle. This is something somewhat unfamiliar to me at a Plus dance, but it does have its advantages. I think Rick’s plan was to have me meet/greet and dance. However, we shared the stage all night. I had the second to last tip all by myself and he did the last one alone. It is fun to work with someone like this. We did some back and forth calling as well as some alternating calls and sang some songs together. Fun, fun fun!!!

After the dance, we went out to Buddy’s (I think that was the restaurant) for half-price appetizers. There were 7 of us. At one point, the conversation turned towards politics and I nearly got what’s left of my hair torched off. Note to self: don’t talk politics! Still, I had a great time.

That night, Rick let me crash at his house and Saturday we talked shop and had a nice lazy day. That night, we went to a Southern Arizona Callers and Cuers’ Association (SACCA) dance that was a benefit for the 2009 Tucson festival. Before the dance, Rick (who is the president of SACCA) had a dinner meeting with the other callers in the association. Mostly it was brainstorming for the festival but some other business was taken care of too. I decided to join the association and paid my dues.

The dance was fun. Everyone got a chance to call and Rick and I did two tips together. I can’t remember the songs we did… one of them was “One More Town” and that was a lot of fun.

After the dance, I drove home to Tempe as I didn’t want to be away from the cats too long.

Sunday, I went to the Desert Valley Squares. Seth, one of their callers, planned an 80th birthday celebration for his mom. Who can turn down free food? We sang happy birthday, danced to Seth Levine and Linda Harry, ate lots of food, and enjoyed some cake.

Life doesn’t get much better.

Until next time, keep dancing!

This was actually my second time calling for Valley Singles.  Not long after I moved to Tempe, and shortly after my first visit t the club, their caller, the talented Chuck Meyer, had taken ill and I was asked if I’d like to fill in for him.

The same was true on the 27th.  Chuck had come down with the flu and Virgil, the club president, called me and asked if I’d fill in for him.

We had a nice turnout.  I think we had four squares and we kept three of them until the end.   (Two dancing, one socializing.)

I tried to provide a little something for everyone.  Easy and hard, fast and slow, smooth and choppy.  It isn’t easy trying to make everyone happy, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

It was their “Easter Bonnet Dance” and sadly, I don’t have any Easter music.  So, I did two singing calls in the middle to commemorate Saint Patrick’s Day and to “spirituals” to commemorate Easter.  It was fun.

Until next time, keep dancing!

I’ve got to get on top of my postings.  Egads, I can’t believe that a month has gone by since this dance.

This was a whirlwind trip for me.  Initially, the plan was for Martha and I to take the train to Eugene, so we stuck with it.  I flew into Seattle and met her at the airport.  Woo hoo!  (It’d been WAY too long since I’d seen her.)  We went back to the condo (that we’re still trying to sell) and a cab picked us up to take us to the train station.  We had some time to kill, so we went out for lunch.  Mmm mmm mmm!  Azteca!  (I’ve yet to find a Mexican restaurant here in Arizona that I like as much as Azteca in Bellevue.  Go figure.)

The train ride was my first ever.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t what I expected.  I thought it’d have been faster and a little larger.  Still, it was nice to not have to drive.  On top of that, it was nice to be able to see Martha and be able to interact with her rather than be focused on the drive.

We stayed with Lorna Mercer and Kurt Jensen.  They were great, as always.  We love their home and their hospitality.  Lorna picked us up from the train station and we stopped for some Thai food on the way to their home.

Saturday, the dance started in the afternoon.  I called the Advanced program for about an hour and a half.  I use a number of cards for it, and they were out of order.  As such, one of my killer-hard cards was first.  I’ve got to number them better.  Still, it was fun.  We only had one square of A2 dancers.  (With a few extras too.)  Kurt pried himself away from his World of Warcraft game to join us.  I’m sure this fact alone made his sister proud.

We had a terrific potluck after Advanced.  Wow.  They had something for EVERYONE.  (Even those that require gluten free products.)

After dinner I had a multi-Program dance.  Basic/Mainstream/Plus was the menu for the day.  They had two brand-new people.  Then, they had nearly a square of dancers that had been through the Basic program.  There was also a two squares of Plus dancers.

One time they wanted a full Mainstream tip so as to try to “pull dancers through it.”  This is not my favorite thing to do, but it turned out okay.

There was, I think a square+ that came down from Portland.  Thank you!!!  It was great to see them all.

The dance was fun and lively.  I really enjoyed it.  I don’t know when I’ll be able to make it back to visit/call, but we’ll work something out.

The trip home was uneventful.  The train was full and we met some new folks.  We also had to deal with some motion sickness.  It wasn’t horrible, but just uncomfortable.  Martha’s equilibrium was off for a few days though.

I flew back to Arizona Sunday night with our cat Sarah.  She was not too happy about it.  Nor was my other cat happy to have to share the apartment, however, we’ve reached a certain level of peace since them.

As I said, it was a whirlwind trip.  I wish I could have been able to visit some friends, but alas, it was not to be.  I got a call, while on the way to Bellevue from Cathy Bruhn.  She was in Arizona and wanted to see if she could visit with me.  How bizarre!

Until next time, keep dancing!

It took me three days to get here from Washington.  In hindsight, I should have stopped before I got to LA on my second day.  As it was, my second day of driving was the worst.  (It took weeks for my cat to forgive me for three days trapped in the car.)

Arizona has a much different dance scene than Washington does.  The state of Washington has a Square and Folk Dance Federation with councils and member clubs.  There are officers and delegates and all sorts of activity inside it.  Arizona doesn’t have statewide dance leadership.  The Phoenix area has an association that I think is chartered under the USDA.  (Not the United States Dairy Association, but rather, the United Square Dancers of America.)  Tucson has a dancers association, SARDASA.  (Square and Round Dance Association of Southern Arizona.)  I don’t know with whom it is affiliated.  It also has a callers and cuers’ association, SACCA.  (Southern Arizona Callers and Cuers.)

That’s on the local scene… in Mesa, there’s the “Trail.”  There are a number of callers that have full time winter programs October-ish through March-ish.  Those callers currently include Jerry Junck, Gary Shoemake, Dale Dockery, Bill Haynes, Mike Sikorsky, John Steckman, and Randy Dougherty.  These guys call programs from ABC through Challenge.

The local scene doesn’t really mix with the Trail.  I’m not sure why, as I’ve had a lot of fun in both places.

Locally, I’ve danced at the Valley Single Squares in Mesa, the Bucks and Bows in Scottsdale, and the Checkmate also in Mesa.  The Valley Singles has, as their caller, Chuck Meyer.  He and his wife Eda Mae are two of the nicest people ever.  The same can be said for the caller of the Bucks and Bows, Dale Dockery and his partner, Pat.  It’s been a lot of fun dancing and working with these pros.  The Checkmates have guest callers every week, so when I’ve been able to attend their dances, I’ve been able to do some extra meeting and greeting.

On the Trail, I’ve touched base with Jerry Junck and Gary Shoemake.  Both of these guys have been kind enough to give me some floor time.  It was unexpected and I was a bit surprised.  The Trail is where the “big boys and girls” play.  (Yes, it was more fun than I can describe.)

So, that’s just a primer of the area.  More will come as time permits.

For those asking about Martha, the separation has been hard on both of us.  However, imagine, after being on your own and married, you had to go back to your parents to live *and* not have a room at your own.  As you can imagine, it has not been fun.  On top of this, we’re trying to sell our condo, and the current market is bad for sellers.  This is an understatement.  We’re about to be caught up in the sub-prime mess “by association.”  We were the lowest priced condo on the market.  As of last week, five others went on the market $10K less than ours.  There’s no way we can lower the price and be able to pay off the mortgage.  So, we could use a miracle right now.  Prayers are appreciated.

Until next time, keep dancing!

As it was in the beginng, so it was in the ending.  Solo Squares was the club that hired me first, they took a chance on me after my friend Michael Burke died, and they where the club that I called for last before I left for Tempe, Arizona. 

We went early as the club was having a meeting to figure out how to proceed without a caller.  I was there to provide input.  I was as frank as I could be.  I learned, form Daryl Clendenin, that all callers are my peers no matter their ability level.  So, I should not speak ill of them.  I did my best to follow his advice.  The greater Seattle area has something that Tempe doesn’t… new callers in training.  Gunter, Leo, Andy, and Cliff were all names mentioned.  They got my support.  I also said that, in a pinch, they should also call Kenny Freeman and Susan Morris.  (Though, Susan’s got almost more work than she can handle in SD land.) 

The dance was, in a word, bittersweet.  Solo Squares has been so good to me.  The people there have been patient and kind.  Those that weren’t (including a president that should have never held office) didn’t last long.  There were so many faces and name over the past 5 years that I can’t remember them all.  I wish I could. 

Had I written this in a timely manner, I could have told you how much squares we had.  I think it was three, but it might have been four.  A number of visitors came, which, like Jack Hardin’s visit the dance prior, touched me deeply.  Andy Garboden came to say farewell, as did Leo Catt.  My friends Susan and Larry Morris came to visit as well. 

It was a good time.  It went by fast.  Rosalie and Bob Steele were there.  Rosalie said that I “better keep in touch” as she thinks of me “as a son.” Again, it was a touching evening.  The late Gary Parker was there.  Which, in hindsight, was an incredible gift.  Gary was one of those men you meet in life and you can’t help but like him.  Nobody’s perfect, but Gary had a love for life that just danced in his eyes.  He was around when I started calling for Solos and during this dance he and I chatted for a bit.  He told me that I’d come a long, long way in my calling career and that he was impressed as well as proud of me.  The compliment meant a lot to me then and, now that he’s passed away, it is something that I can hold on to.

I picked a variety of music.  Some old, some new.  I pulled out some of those singing calls that I over played when I started.  It was like putting on an old favorite sweatshirt.  Those songs just fit.  And now, with years of experience, I really enjoyed them. 

In December, because I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut, I ended up dancing a round dance (I think it was a Two-Step) with Perry Spires.  Yes, I did the woman’s part.  Holy Cow!!! It is MUCH harder than it looks.  Somehow, I got to do a repeat performance at Solos.  How is that fair?

I maintained my composure for most of the evening.  When I sang Amarillo By Morning, I did get choked up at the end.  I couldn’t help but think of my friends Michael Burke and Bill Arnold.  They were taking from this earth tragically early, and I miss those two cowboys more than I can say.

Then, suddenly, almost without warning, it was over.  The end of an era.  There was a flurry of goodbyes.  There was some cake.  I packed up my gear, and was helped out the door by Linda Nold, Perry Spires, and Bill and Lavon Bowman.  As Martha and I got our things in the car, and we said our goodbyes, it just seemed so quiet. 

I’m optimistic for the club.  It has some choices to make.  I’m sure that they’ll do well, over the long haul.  I’m looking forward to the day when I can visit and tell some young caller, “Yes, I used to call for this club.”

Until next time, keep dancing!

I’ve long said that a fellow square dancer is a friend that you’ve not yet met.  The Rosetown Ramblers are no exception to this.  What a fun dance. 

Martha and I went down early to visit family.  Our Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Bill rented an apartment in Portland to be close to their son and his family.   It was great seeing the whole family. 

The dance was actually two dances.  The first dance was actually sponsored by the Advanced club, “Heads to the Center.”  I frequently omit them when I talk about Rosetown, but that’s an error on my part.  They are their own club.  We had two squares of members and visitors.  I’ve not been calling the program regularly for a while, so I don’t sight very much of my Advanced material.  If something breaks down, I’ll go into sight-resolution mode to work a call or two.  The material I use for this I call my “festival” material.  It is a number of shorter sequences (10-20 commands long) that end with Right and Left Grands, Allemande Lefts, or “You’re Home.”  They work really well.  I’ve said for years that “Right and Left Grand” is the chicken soup for the square dancers soul.  If nothing else goes right, that one will work, or, if a square is broken down, it helps with a reset.

There is a potluck between the Advanced dance and the Basic/MS/Plus dance.  Last year there was a wedding too.  (I heard that the newlyweds were doing fine, but they were working on some non-SD stuff for a bit.  Congratulations to them on their first wedding anniversary.)

The food was (once again) amazing.  There’s another (nearly) universal truth that square dancers eat well.  That is very true here.  A big thank you to everyone that brought food.  It was delightful.

After dinner and during the dance Martha visited with as many people as I did.  I’ve known a number of my peers that bemoan the fact that they don’t know how to meet new people.  I love how square dancing lets me connect with so many people from so many walks of life.  I know Martha feels the same way. 

Several friends came down from Seattle to dance and visit, as did a number of people from Eugene, OR.  There were a few students present, so I did do a few beginner tips.  I also split the night between Mainstream and Plus.  I initally was going to workshop a new call or two, but then thought better of it.  This was a “fancy dress dance.”  There was no need to stop the momentum of the dance with learning.  So, I stuck to the programs. 

Like so many evenings, this one ended too soon.  (I’ve been to dances where I look at my watch and say “it’s only been an hour?”  Yuck.)  At the end of night I still had three squares of people dancing and one (maybe more) square of people sitting out, out of the 5 squares that were there in total. 

When people stay to the end of a dance I know that I did a good job.  No amount of praise means the same thing.  A Seattle area caller will tell you that everyone lies.  If you’re bad, people that like you will tell you that you were great because they don’t want you to change.  If they do like you, they’ll tell you that you were good because they don’t want you to feel bad.  People staying to the end is people talking without speaking and they’re saying nice things.

We’ve not scheduled next year’s dance, but I’m going to talk to the club about it.  Even though we’re in AZ now, I’d still love to come up and call for the Heads to the Center (see, I didn’t forget) and the Rosetown Ramblers.

Until next time, keep dancing!

Okay… I know it has been nearly two months since this dance, but it was worthy of note.

(Until I get caught up with current events, I’ll be jumping around a bit in my blog and things may seem a little disconnected.)

Since it was my last big dance, I pulled out the “finery” for it.  I wore my tails.  I’ve had them for years.  (Over ten, and yes, they still fit.)  I’ve decided that their a tad on the “overkill” side of fashion, so eventually I’m just going to get a regular tux coat, but as costumes go, it is fun to wear.

I think, I counted enough people for it to have been over 10 squares.  However, there were a number of people that just came out to be social and not dance at all.  Some of these people, I suspect, either were unable to dance due to a physical issue or had been away from the activity long enough that they didn’t really remember how.  Kudos to them for coming out and being with us.  It made for a great party.

I didn’t have a contract for the dance, so I wasn’t sure exactly what my duties were.  Back in the spring of 2007 Steve McKay mentioned being a “Caller/MC” so I knew that I’d be expected to put other callers that were visiting on the program.  I figured that I’d take the first three tips for sure as well as the last one or two.  Since every third tip was a Plus tip, I was able to “set the tone” of the dance.  Visiting callers included Leo Catt, Mark Seabree, and Don Wiggens.  I think that it worked out that we got 9 tips in the evening.  (It helps to keep tips short.)

Before I forget… here are some photos:

 http://picasaweb.google.com/mysticole/RainierCouncilSNewYearSEveDance

Stephanie Speelman did a very nice job on the rounds.  I think the only guest cuer was Pat Wiggens.  She did a nice job too.

Martha spent some time scrapbooking with Lynn Redd.  Our friend Thal came with us which was good as I had a round dance partner.  Thanks Thal for coming! (I’m just sorry we didn’t get to dance any Phase 3 rounds.)

Robert and Theresa celebrated their first anniversary with us.  (They got married after the dance last year.)  Happy Anniversary!

I did some of my best songs, and I ended with one final singing call… Auld Lang Syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.Happy New Year!