Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

It’s been ages since I’ve updated my blog on SD land.

The big news is that we’re moving back to Seattle. The back story behind it is mostly drama and not really worth telling.

I’ve purchased some new music. I want to critique it here, which I will do in the next few days.

Finally, here’s something that I’ve noticed about modern western square dance callers, in general. (If you’re a caller and this doesn’t apply to you, then you are a square dance caller in “specific.” General won’t apply to you.)

I’ve noticed that, when you get a group of a callers together and talk about a random application of a specific call, there is nearly always (I said nearly, not 100%) someone that will say that they use some variation of said call at EVERY dance. Not some dances. All dances.

I was part of a discussion to limit how one particular call was danced at the Mainstream program. It was a common sense thing more than anything. (The details are going to remain unspoken so as not to call out anyone in particular. That would be rude.)

This application was so obscure that I couldn’t even fathom why someone would try it, yet there was one caller willing to defend the application of this call (seemingly) to the death.

Seriously. With numbers as low as they are, why does anyone fight like this?

A similar argument came up 6 months ago with a different group of callers about a different call. What came out of this was that someone didn’t like being told “what to do.” Really?

When your peers decide that something is the best interest of the activity  (and getting something to a vote is nearly impossible with some of today’s leadership) the answer is not to conform but to rebel?

There is no call in square dance land that I can’t live without.

You could cut the list in half and I could still put together a dance that would be fun and engaging. I might even use calls missing from the list, but I would introduce them in such a way that no one would have to know them when they walked in the door.

It saddens me to see and hear people argue over the trivial.

My house is full of stuff I don’t need. (I know, because I’m packing it.) Some of my books are a case in point. There are many that I want on my shelves. However, there are many more that I would have gotten just as much use out of had I borrowed them from the library.

I think that we’d have better luck in Square Dance Land if we had a smaller bookshelf with a stronger library.

Though, I’ve been wrong before.

Until next time, keep dancing!

I’m getting ready to leave for the Callerlab convention in Niagara Falls, NY, but wanted to share one thing before I left.

I’ve been doing some research on square dancing’s history and traditions. To this end, I have found a number of old books and magazines to use as references. One of this year’s goals for me is to start an online “note service” like the ones from yesteryear. My plan is to publish something weekly (short articles) and have longer and more detailed issues every now and again.

Anyway, this is what I found in a booklet dated 1952.

“We are living in an urbanized period in which people are struggling desperately for something real. Life is so individualistic that they try hard to find something to bring to the group satisfaction that they find in their families. (Or once found.)”

60 years later, and this hasn’t changed.

Later, in the same introduction… “What about dancing? It is hardly fair to place this social activity in the same category with anti-social “social dancing.” Unless dancing borrows its forms from its older brother, the two are not in the same class at all.

The spirit of folk games and dances is inclusive (“everybody come”) while the spirit of ballroom dancing is more likely, “just us two.” Special dress is not usually necessary for folk games – but it is in ballroom dancing.

If people do no know how, there is usually friendly instruction in connection with folk games and squares. Nobody seems to care, usually in ballroom dancing. The assumption is that you either know how, or don’t care to. Folk games involve cooperative group activity – ballroom dancing involves individual activity.

Ballroom dancing often eliminates, or sends to the wall as a wallflower, the ungraceful, the unbeautiful, or the poor. Folk games, and squares – in their true spirit – genuinely welcome the ungraceful, those who need social activity. For this reason, church groups and many others who have similar objectives, find them valuable. they do something for people by including them.”

From “…and promenade all” by Helen & Larry Eisenberg. Copyright 1952

In this post 9/11 world, I fear that society, at least in the United States, is becoming increasingly anti-social. For whatever reason, we’re not connecting with our neighbors as we probably should. My hope is that I, as a square dance caller, can help people connect (and reconnect) with one another.

Egads! One of my resolutions for 2010 was to stay caught up with my blogs. Easier said than done. Though, I’m going to get and stay focused.

Here are some random things for today, and I’ll get more posted over the next few days.

I’ve not had a huge number of gigs in Arizona so far this year, but I’ve been busy. (Especially with Eli, but that’s another story for another time/blog.)

Here are the highlights from the dances I’ve had but not blogged about.

January 9th – This was a (solo) visit to the White Mountain Rim Rompers. We’d had a busy few days with Eli the week prior, so felt that it would probably be best if he stayed home and just “chilled.” We had a nice dance. A square of folks for the Plus workshop and then two squares (with some extras) for the dance. They are a Mainstream club, but many of their members dance the Plus program. So, if they had only Plus dancers on the floor, I called Plus. If Mainstream only dancers were up, then I kept it Mainstream. (No matter what, I made sure they had fun all the time.)

January 16th – I was honored to be able to call for part of Dessert Valley Squares’ annual fly-in. It’s a mini-festival of square dancing and always fun. It’s the third fly-in that I’ve called for and all of them have been real events. I worked with the legendary Bob Jones for my set. The dancing was fun, and the food was outstanding! DVS knows how to take care of people.

January 28th – I took the family on a road trip to Lake Havasu for the London Bridge Squares. We had a blast. LBS is a great group and a lot of fun. They’ve booked me for next year already. We had, I think, 4 squares, but 3 danced most of the night. The lovely and talented Nancy Mouser did the rounds. They put us up for the night and we played tourist on Friday. The London Bridge was cool, but I was disappointed in the kitsch around it. I expected more British fare, but it was more geared to the college/bar-hopping set.

February 12th – The family and I headed to Washington state for a small vacation and some calling dates. This initially was supposed to be a Woodinville Toe Stomper dance, but they have since folded.  Our friends Susan and Larry Morris helped me put on the dance on our own. We landed and got to the dance no problem. We had 4 squares and a fun time. I tried a “Take No Prisoners” set in place of pre-rounds. It didn’t go as well as I’d have liked, but we had fun. I called and cued the whole dance. It made for a long night, but we all had a good time.

February 13th – We headed to Puddletown for their Valentine’s Day dance. What fun! We did some mixers and split the tips for the new students and the experienced ones. Martha and I love this club and its members/guests. We had a blast. (And we had some visitors come just to see Eli.)

February 14th – Just a quick visit to Spike Reid’s Sunday Plus. I wasn’t calling; we were just visiting. However, Spike let me call a tip which was great. I thought they started at 8, but they started at 7, so we missed some dancing. However, better late than never.

February 15th – We headed over to Monday Squares where Rem Remington let me split the night with him. Just like old times. We didn’t have enough for 2 squares.  So, we kept the tips short/sweet and had some fun with it.

February 21st – We headed to Solo Squares for a visit with our square dance family there. Their caller, Cliff Nichols, took over when we moved to AZ and has done a great job of entertaining them. He even asked me to call a tip of which I was (and am) thankful.

Tomorrow, March 20th, I’m calling at the Mile High Squares in Prescott.

Over the next week or so, I’ll be providing more updates of some behind the scenes things I’m working on here in AZ. Never a dull moment!

Until next time, keep dancing!

I’ve been asked to serve on Callerlab’s Application Review Committee. (The ARC.) It’s probably not huge news to most of Square Dance Land, but, to me, it’s a pretty big deal.

The formation of the ARC in 1998 was designed to discourage, and (hopefully) eliminate, the misuse of Callerlab call applications and to protect the integrity of the Basic, Mainstream and Plus Programs.

Membership is by invitation only and the size is limited. This means there are only openings if someone leaves the committee and that happens rarely. Sadly, the opening that came about for me to join was the passing of the legendary John Sybalsky.

I was (and am still) honored to be considered and selected.

Here are a couple of interesting facts about the committee that I did not know.

Everyone on the committee is to participate in all discussion and everyone votes on every issue. There are no abstentions. If there is an issue that is outside of my realm of understanding or expertise then I’m to research it and vote.

The understanding is that the majority rules, period. I’ve also signed a form that says that I will abide by and support the decisions of the committee. So, if there is an ARC ruling with which I disagree, I’m to follow the lead of the committee and change how I call.

(What is funny to me is that I wish that we could hold more caller’s feet to the fire and have them follow the rules this way.)

Pretty cool stuff, I think!

I was going to post this on the sd-callers email list, but changed my mind. I’m not sure why, but I felt this was a better forum. (I suspect it is because there are a number of people on that list that just like to disagree/complain and I don’t feel like listening to them today.

The topic from marketing man Seth Godin’s blog today http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/11/watch-the-money.html is “Watch the money.”

For me, the lesson came in his final statement… “Money is more than a transfer of value. It’s a statement of belief. An ad agency that won’t buy ads, a consultant who won’t buy consulting, and a waiter who doesn’t tip big—it’s a sign, and not a good one. ”

As I see it, in the 21st century, Seth is right, money has become statement of belief. I’ve seen in it politics, in religion/faith, and in the workplace. Why else would someone ask, “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

In square dance land, it doesn’t matter if you’re talking about how much your charge for your services, how much you pay to dance, or how much you spend on records/music. What you do or don’t spend on the activity is very telling.

For this reason, I pay when I go to dances even when those in the know offer to let me in free because I’m a caller. For this reason, I buy new music that I might not use. For this reason, I subscribe to both American Square Dance magazine and Zip Coder. For this reason, I subscribe to the Palomino music service. For this reason, I don’t give my services away except in very rare (and special) circumstances. I believe in, and value, square dancing and the square dance experience.

For those that aren’t interested in the link, here’s Seth’s post:

Watch the money

“How much life insurance do you have?”

Zig Ziglar liked to say that with that one question, you could tell if someone was a successful life insurance agent. If they’re not willing to buy it with their own money, how can they honestly persuade someone else to do so?

If you’re in the music business but you never buy tickets or downloads, can you really empathize with the people you’re selling to?

My favorite: if you work for a non-profit and you don’t give money to charity, what exactly are you doing in this job? I’ve met some incredibly generous people in the charitable world, but I can also report that a huge number of people—even on the fundraising side—would happily cross the street and risk a beating in order to avoid giving $100 to a cause that’s not their own. And the shame of it is that this inaction on their part keeps them from experiencing the very emotion that they try so hard to sell.

Money is more than a transfer of value. It’s a statement of belief. An ad agency that won’t buy ads, a consultant who won’t buy consulting, and a waiter who doesn’t tip big—it’s a sign, and not a good one.

I read lots of stuff. Sometimes, I can’t stop reading. If I’m reading a novel, I really focus on it, and little else. If I’m reading about anything else, I can have several books going at once. It lets me process the material from one subject while I’m engulfed in another.

One of the books I’m reading now is called The Imagineering Way: Ideas to Ignite Your Creativity. It is a short book by the Imagineers at the Walt Disney Corporation. It’s full of all sorts of tidbits. Some are the usual creativity and leadership stuff, but there are some real nuggets in there.

On page 169 is this quote: “What we do is a kind of art-we’re in show business, like it or not. The guests pay to be entertained. Our product must include caring an passion, not just formulatic cold procedure.”

This is so true of what we do as square dance callers. I, as a dance leader, could memorize the rules of the dance and just spit them back out week after week. It’d be just like reading to people. Or, I can study my craft, and put together a dance reads like a story.

A story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A story that has a young hero saving someone in distress, that overcomes all odds, and is victorious at the end. Best of all, it is a story that has a soundtrack.

I may be a story teller, but the heroes of my story are my dancers. Their foe? The unknown and uncertain.

In contra dancing, the dance leader has to do their best to stay out of the way of the dancers. The contra caller must let the dance speak for itself. In modern western square dancing, the caller has much more to do. Sometimes, callers do too much and the dance falls apart. When the caller does too little, the dance never comes together.

The best callers I know are, indeed, artists. They deliver their stories while managing so many other things. Those things include the music selection, music speed, and the music volume. Don’t forget the speed and timing of the delivery of the calls. Then there’s the opening of the show to consider. Someone has to welcome everyone and, if you welcome them, you have to bid them farewell. Finally, there are all of those little intermissions where we meet/greet everyone and tell the occasional side story and even offer a little levity.

There’s so much to think about that it’s hard to think at all. However, like that quote from above, there must be passion. Without it, the dance is cold and sterile.  No matter what program you call or dance, there must be at least a little fire. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Meanwhile, back at the Square Dance Land Ranch…

If the rallying cry is to take back the SD activity from those that would over-analyze it, what would you do?

If you were given magical powers to overhaul things in Square Dance Land, how would you change it to make it more accessible and approachable?

You want more dancers for your club… where do you get them? How do you compete with alternative forms of entertainment that are available today that weren’t around 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago?

What would you do to keep them? Better, what would you do to prevent them from leaving?

There is, admittedly, a finite supply of dancers. One thing that gets overlooked is the short supply of callers. What would you do to increase the number of callers? What would you do to ensure that these new dance leaders do things without “over-analyzing” them and making the dance more complicated than it needs to be? (For the new dancer, that is.)

Then, for those dancers and callers that want the puzzle to be harder, how do you treat them? In this case, treat = reward.

News from Square Dance Land… at least my corner of it.

There’s a new Callerlab committee called “New Initiatives.” I’ve been asked, and accepted, to be the chair.

Its function has several aspects. (Though, I’m still a little unsure of one of them.)

One is to continue the work of the (now disbanded – I think) Program Policy Initiative. This is a discussion of how we can actively adapt the existing programs and mold them into a system that works better on an individual/local level.

Next, NI is going to actively maintain the Winning Ways document. The idea is to make it a living document that revisits past successes to see what still works, what might not work, and what changes took place to keep things going.

As part of NI, we’re going to be soliciting new ideas for the development and growth of the
square dance community and then find ways to engage our dancing population
to implement these ideas.

The last big part of the NE is probably the most fun. “Square Dancing in 50 Years.” What will square dancing look like in 50 years? How will it evolve? How will it grow? These are all hypothetical questions that allow us to talk about change but not feel threatened by it.

If you would like to be a member of the committee, here are the requirements. You must be in good standing and be an Active Member, Associate Member, Active Youth Member, Associate Youth Member, a Lifetime member, or a Partner of any of these members.

With the blessing of the Callerlab leadership, I may try to set up a group of dancers that are not callers to get their input as well. They might not be full committee members, but dancers have a stake in some of what we’re talking about, so I’d like to create a forum where I can get some information.

If you’re a caller and want to be a member (or a Vice Chair) please contact the Callerlab Home Office.

If you’re a dancer and want to be involved with any of these discussions, let me know… stephen.cole@isquaredance.com.

Thanks!

News from Square Dance Land.

It’s been so long since I’ve worked my square dance blog, I almost forgot my password.

I’ve got a lot of things to write about that happened over the summer (and from the spring too), but I’m going to go back and fill in as I can. I’ll try to stay current with what’s going on in square dance land today, and go back to fill in (from memory) stuff that’s been going on.

I’m not a marketing guru, but I’m a big fan of one. Seth Godin has become sort of a folk hero to me. I’ve been reading his books and following his blogs and I believe him to be brilliant.

If you want to find out yourself, his blog can be found at:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com

His blog today was about the the pursuit of the Olympics and how people bend over backwards to get them into their city. It turns out that nearly every city that has ever hosted an Olympics has regretted it financially. Seth’s question of the day:  How little patience would you have for the International Olympic Committee and their politics if they didn’t have a show people wanted to watch?

Seth goes on to make some valuable comments about marketing and how given the size of the Olympic Games how commercializing it is more like strip mining. (There’s not much skill needed due to the enormity of it all.)

However, my take on his post made me consider his question in a different light.

Related to square dance land, I’d like to rephrase his question.

How little patience would you have for your square dance club’s politics if they didn’t host an event you wanted to attend?

Based on declining numbers of square dancers, I’d argue that people are having less and less patience for such politics. Our numbers are down. They were down from their hayday when I started dancing in the 1990s, but I’ve seen them dwindle more and more every year. It’s depressing.

With the smaller numbers, a few clubs have seen their politics become condensed. Several have folded under the strain.

I feel that there are a number of reforms that have to take place to increase the popularity of square dancing. However, with the best of reforms, it will be for naught if we can’t eliminate the poison that is politics.

Time will tell.

Until next time, (which I hope is soon) keep dancing!

A quick update from Square Dance Land…

One of the great surprises of the National Square Dance Convention was the discovery of a 2009 Callerlab Convention Yearbook. (For those of you that are not square dance callers, Callerlab is the international association of square dance callers.)

As I understand it, it was the brainchild of Erin and Scot Byars and printed by Bill Boyd of American Square Dance Magazine.

It is the coolest thing with lots of photos and memories. It is pilot project and there’s only 200 copies. (198 as I bought one for myself and one for a friend.) This one is a soft bound magazine and plans are in the works to make next year’s bigger and bolder.

If you want one, contact the Home Office. They’re $20. (Plus shipping and taxes???)