Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

The Fern Bluff Squares celebrated their second “open house” last night with a spaghetti feed and dance.  (Both were free.)  One person was absent that was the previous week, but we had three new people in the door.  Also, there’s a few couples that had conflicts last week and this week that should be there next week.  If we’re lucky, we’ll have a size-able class.

 We ate dinner until 7:30 then started dancing.  At 8:00, we took a small break to celebrate my birthday.  (Friday, September 28th is my 39th birthday.)  They had a cake for me with candles.  When I say candles, I mean CANDLES.  That thing lit up the whole room.  I was deeply touched.  Friends like this are great to have.

We danced until 9:00 and, I think, a great time was had by all.  This week, I even gave the angels a tip of their own.  This is something I don’t normally do as I tend to think of class time is for class members.  However, as the years have gone by, I’ve begun to recognize that sometimes dancers  like to sit and watch.  Indeed, some even learn that way, so “showing off” isn’t always bad.

This weekend is dark for most clubs as it is a 5th Sat/Sun.  There is a council dance or two, but Martha and I are going to go be supportive of our friend Susan Morris as she calls a “Community Dance” for the Puddletown Squares. 

Until next time, keep dancing!

Saturday night I had the pleasure of calling for the Whidbey Whirlers on Whidbey Island.  I thought it was going to be a non-event as I didn’t see a single flyer or advertisement and I knew that they weren’t dancing in their normal location.  Then, on top of that, we were competing with the Winthrop Barn Dance which is (pretty much) the last hurrah of summer weekends in the Pacific Northwest.

I was pleasantly surprised to have 4 squares on the floor with nearly another one sitting out.  I was even more surprised to have some “special guests” joining us.  Tom and Chris Clymer and Jim and Vonnie Spence of Wenatchee had called and cued the dance for the Fidalgo Fogcutters the night before and stuck around to come to my dance.  (They played tourist during the day, so I know it wasn’t all about me.)  Tom is a very good caller from Wenatchee and he likes to take his cuer, Jim, with him when he travels.  They work very well together and I’m sorry I didn’t know they were entertaining the night before.  I would have tried to drag Martha the 2 hours to the dance.

I was a little rusty.  It’s been a while since I’ve called a dance.  My big goof of the night was being overly excited doing Fisherman’s Luck.  I didn’t do the closer.  Instead, I did the last figure a third time.  Rats.  The rest of the dance was fun.

Bob Berka was the cuer and we really enjoy working with him and his wife, Linda.  Bob put Jim up to cue a tip and proceeded to dance.  He did great for someone that has had both knees replaced this past year.  (Probably better than great as he just glided as he danced.)

I offered to let Tom call, but he declined.  So, that led to my best joke of the night.  I told everyone that I offered to let Tom call a tip, but that he “said” (that is, me putting words in his mouth) that he had to sing in church tomorrow and had to protect his voice.  Then, as the tip started and dancers were promenading, I continued with “actually, he’s protecting us FROM his voice, so we’re ever so grateful.”  It was funny and next thing I know Tom was behind me with a firm “AHEM.”  He whispered, “revenge is sweet” and smiled.  Too much fun.

Not too much else to report.  The current president asked me if I’d be okay with doing the same dance next year.  So, it looks like the 3rd Saturday in October will be a regular dance for me at the Whidbey Whirlers.

 Until next time, keep dancing!

Fern Bluff Squares celebrated its first lesson of the season with a hot-dog feed and dancing.  We had four new dancers with us.  Two single ladies and one couple.  One of the single ladies is dating the club president’s grandson.  Next week, we hope to have at least two more couples.  (I’m hoping for more.)

After eating, we danced.  I treated it like an ABC Square Dance.  Nothing too complicated, but made sure there was a lot of “wind in your face dancing.”

I used the following moves:  Circle Left/Right, Allemande Left/Right (I teach “Turn your Partner with the Right” as an Allemande Right.  We already have a name for it, why not use it?), Dosado, Right/Left Hand Stars, Star Promenade, Ladies Chain, Courtesy Turn, Ladies Center – Men Sashay, and Grand Square.

Yes, I covered all of these.  No, I didn’t do it all at once.  Yes, I did singing calls.  No, I don’t teach Swing the first couple of nights.

A fun time was had by all.  We even did a “demo” square of angels.  It didn’t go smoothly, but everyone was laughing and having a great time.  So, it was proof that we have fun.

Next week, we’ll do it all again!

Until next time, keep dancing!

Stephen

I know that I said that I wouldn’t be posting for a while, but my vacation hasn’t technically started yet.   It has, sort of, as Labor Day Weekend is like “Old Home Week” for Martha and me.  We met at Circle 8 four years ago and everyone seems to remember.

Martha and I had a blast dancing the Plus Program to the calling “stylists” Kevin Thomaier and Ray Brendzy.  This weekend is fun for us as it caters to the puzzle-solving/hobby dancer type.  It is mostly “wind in your face” dancing as the choreography is smooth and very danceable.  However, it is fairly challenging and not for the faint of heart.

Once again, Ray brought the family down from Canada.  It was good to see Kristi and the kids.  Nicholas is 10 and Kaitlyn is 8 and they’re growing so fast.  (They look like they’re 12 and 10.)  Kevin’s wife, Linda was there, and it was nice talking to her too.

Bob Berka and his wife, Linda, was there as well, and Bob was up to his old tricks.  Which was good seeing that he’s got two new knees.  They did a fine job teaching some new dances and entertaining us with the Whiffle Golf Tournament.

At the after-party on Saturday night, we played Family Feud.  It was the Callers vs. the Cuers.  The callers won, but it wasn’t easy.

The choreographic material was rich and varied.  Stuff that both Martha and I enjoy.  We know it isn’t for everyone, but it is for us.  We learned a “new” call, “Try Me.”  It is three trades.  Ends and Center, Centers, then Ends and Centers.  No clue if there’s a “Grand Try Me.”  Then, they worked on Extended Applications of Trade By.  (Extended in the sense that they (meaning Ray)  called it from places other than a Trade By formation.)  They also called a number of “Facing Couple” calls from Ocean Waves.  Square Thru was one of them as was Right and Left Thru.  One that broke the definition was Pass the Ocean from a Left handed Wave.  I liked it and enjoyed it.  It has a nice feel to it, but it breaks the definition as to do the Pass Thru you need a right shoulder.  I think this could be easily fixed by changing the definition of Pass the Ocean to say “any shoulder, Pass Thru.”

At the end of the weekend, we honored two of Circle 8′s own… Otto and Olga Staheli for their hard work over the years.  It was an amazing celebration of their contributions and well deserved. 

Until next time, keep dancing!