Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

Well, I was invited back to call for the Mainstreamers and I was pretty stoked for the opportunity.  We danced at the Del Sol Recreation Center.  It’s a very nice little hall and not too far off the beaten path.

The trip over was painless.  Martha and I live in Tempe, just down the road.  When I lived in Washington, it seemed that so many of the dances/gigs I called were quite a distance away from home, so it is a welcome change to be able to be so close.

We had 6 couples with a few extras.  One couple made a point of coming up to me and said that had it been anyone else calling, they’d have stayed home.  Wow!  What a great compliment.  In square dance land, it is hard to sometimes tell if people are having fun, so I try meet and greet everyone to get a pulse on the evening.  This however, was really wonderful to hear.

With only 6 couples, I decided to change our format just a bit and did six couple square dancing all night long.  It works the same, mostly, as 4 couple dancing, but, as a caller, you have to be very careful about sequence.  (Timing goes out the window too as 64 beat sequences just don’t cut it.)  For dancers, you have to be a little more aware of formations and Right and Left Grands (and Weave the Ring) adds two extra hands.

I had a blast and I think everyone else did too.  I worked on a few calls in the evening.  Dixie Style was one of them and Scoot Back was another.  A third one that I looked at a little bit was Circulate, but I didn’t spend too much time on it.  Actually, I try not to spend too much time on any of them as I want everyone to dance as much as possible.

I’ve got a few goals at these dances.  Floor time is one of them.  Creating stronger dancers is another.  One of the problems that I see in the Metro-Phoenix area is that without Mainstream clubs/dancing, we rush new students though class to get them into clubs.  As we rush, we take, I think, too many shortcuts along the way.  Or, at the very least, we don’t spend enough time letting people practice the moves they know before we move on.  In this, the Mainstreamers provide a much needed service.

Strong Mainstream dancers become strong Plus dancers.  Another thing that I get from Mainstream dancers is a pool from which to train new callers.  We need more in the Phoenix valley.

We danced the night away and we were all sad to see the evening end so soon.

Also, I got a call from the president of Valley Singles.  Starting (I think) in June, I’m going to be calling for VSS on the third Thursday of the month.  Chuck Meyer, their caller, is going to ease into retirement.  So, I’m going to call for him once a month.  I think Chuck is a great guy, and I really want to sit down and pick his brain a bit.  He’s got some great choreography that I want to talk to him about.

On Monday the 19th, I got a call from a woman that wants some square dancing at a fund raiser her church is hosting in October.  I’m going to do it for her.  It won’t work, really, for recruitment (I never expect things like this to be recruitment tools) but if I can change one person’s views on what square dancing is about and make them see how much fun it is, then it is a good day.  I’m excited for the opportunity.

Until next time, keep dancing!

It was time for trip to Tucson!  Friday, I left work at 5:00 sharp, headed home, changed clothes, and hit the road.

I shouldn’t have been in such a hurry.  I managed to leave home without some important things.  No, I remembered my gear.  However I left my wallet at home, my keys, and my dark socks.  I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m wearing white socks with dark pants and dark shoes.   Not going to happen.

I wish I could say that the trip itself was uneventful.  Holy cow!  I’ve never seen so many aggressive drivers.  I mean I know that I can be on the aggressive side, but even I know my limitations.  I was in the end of a line of cars and we were doing a hair over the speed limit and this idiot (and I mean that in the nicest possible way, not) was so close to me that I could no longer see the hood of their car.  The funny thing is that twice I got out of the way, passed people on the right hand side of the road, and this car STILL ends up behind me.  Ugh.

Since I forgot my wallet, Martha was kind enough to put gas in my car.

(For many in Arizona, they make a big deal about illegal immigrants.  Personally, I don’t care about them.  I’d much rather have safe highways.)

We made it to the dance we a few minutes to spare.  We stopped at McDonald’s as it was the first an only fast food joint we saw after we got off the highway.

At the dance, I set up my equipment and got ready for the dance.  I told the “powers that be” that my trip was uneventful, but that I’d forgotten my socks.  They just said not to bother and be casual.  So, I called the entire dance in shorts,  a t-shirt, and my sandals.  It was fun and very relaxed for everyone.

We had, at one point, two squares.  It was a Plus dance and we all had a fun time with it.  I didn’t call anything too out of the ordinary and they kept laughing, smiling, and singing along.

At one break, a couple of the guys were telling dirty jokes and making everyone laugh.  (Not dirty crude/rude, just dirty risque.)

Martha really enjoyed talking to everyone and is (as am I) looking forward to our next visit.  Since Martha paid for gas and bought us food, I gave her the entire proceeds from the night’s dance.  Fair is fair.

Until next time, keep dancing!

On Saturday, Martha and I took to the highways of Arizona to travel to Cottonwood for a dance.  The dance had a theme, I believe, but I forget what it was, exactly.  I believe it was their Summer Celebration dance.  (Or, something to that effect.)

The trip there was uneventful.  I’m a fairly aggressive driver but I do usually err on the side of caution.  Still, it is really odd to be tailgated as much as I am here in AZ.  I stick to the posted speed limit as much as I can, but it is hard to do when people are breezing by me as if I were standing still.  On I-17, coming home, it was the worst.  I’m tired of hearing about illegal immigration enforcement.  Get those police forces on the highways.

We got to Cottonwood early enough to enjoy dinner.  I can’t remember the place we chose.  However, that’s a good thing as the food was forgettable.  Old town Cottonwood was open, but the “new” part of town was closed.  So, Martha and I played tourist.  It was fun.  (Aside from dinner.)

At about 30 minutes before the dance started, we went to the hall so I could set up my gear.  I walked in wearing my shorts and a t-shirt and was met with stares that seemed to say “may I help you?”  I suppose that I still am young enough to seem somewhat out of place.  (4 more months until I turn 40.)  I introduced myself as the caller and started to get unloaded.

For those of you that know Martha, you can ask her what color lizards are in Arizona.  Be sure to ask her what color she thinks they are supposed to be.  (Or, at least what color she thought they were supposed to be.)

Barb Lopez was the cuer and she was a blast.  She played a nice mix of music with a varying degree of difficulty.

The dance itself altered between Mainstream or Plus tips.  Nothing too hard, but I did workshop a little bit of material.  For the Plus program, some dancers (quite a few) had trouble with:

From a static square:
Heads – Touch a Quarter and Spread
Sides – Pass the Ocean
(Check a Diamond)

What was happening was that those that did the Touch a Quarter didn’t want to plant their feet.  Those that were unsure if they were correct would start to turn in place and lose the formation.

So often, our diamonds are Boys as Points and Girls as Centers.  (Or, vice versa.)  In this set-up, we create a “funny looking diamond” because we have a Boy and a Girl as Points and a Boy and a Girl as Centers.

As workshops go, it wasn’t my hardest material, but I believe it was greatly appreciated.

Towards the end of the dance, someone came up to me and said “I believe that you’re married to the grand daughter of a friend of mine.”  I said that I would be surprised if that were true as I know most of Martha’s family and I know that they’re mostly located in the Pacific Northwest.  It turns out that someone (I don’t know who) believes that Martha was one of Otto and Olga Staheli’s grand-children.  (Martha’s younger than I am, but not THAT much younger.)  Though, it is quite an honor to be even though of as family to Otto and Olga.  They’re two of the nicest and kindest people you could ever meet.

At the dance, I got a call from someone wanting to know if I’d be interested in calling in Globe, AZ on a regular basis.  It would be on Friday nights and Globe is 50 miles away from home.  I called back and said I could do an occasional dance, but nothing on a regular basis.  It’s just too far.

The drive home was quiet.  Traffic was light but ran, once again, NASCAR fast.

Until next time, keep dancing!

On Wednesday, I called for what appears to be Metro-Phoenix’s only mainstream square dance club, “The Mainstreamers.”

I truthfully don’t know if this is there official name, but that’s what I saw on one of the flyers, so it works for me.

I took Martha and we had a very nice time.  It was at the Del Sol recreation center in Mesa.  It was pretty easy to find.  If anything, we had a harder time finding a bite to eat beforehand.

We had, at one point, two squares.  However, for most of the evening, I had one square on the floor.  There were a few new dancers, so I watched and workshopped as I needed to.  I tried to keep my tips short so as not to wear people out, but I kept them long enough that I could work some material in detail.

Calls that I worked included (but are not limited to) Tag the Line, Half Tag, and Square Thru.

Since this was a dance, I didn’t take the time to teach Square Thru like I normally do.  I like to put same sexes together so that they get an idea of where the center of the box is so that they know how to turn “in.”  I said that I wasn’t going to do this, and one of the dancers, an experienced one, said (politely), “good.”

From this, I can infer that there are a number of people (and I’d say they’re a silent majority) that just want to come and dance.  These people aren’t worried about the finer points of the calls.  Yes, they’ll do an extended application of a call or two, but they don’t want to do it all night long.

The key is balance.

I must have done a good job as I was asked if I’d come back on the 21st.  So, it’s on my calendar.

Until next time, keep dancing!

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.