Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

Summer is here in Arizona and people are staying inside to beat the heat.  I can’t say that I blame them.  We had one square on Wednesday night with a couple of extras.

There were a few new faces as well as many familiar ones.  We worked on a few calls as they came up, but mostly, what piqued my interest, was when I heard “What is a end?” I think it came after I called a Double Pass Thru – Ends Trade.

In the rather accelerated pace that the clubs use in the Phoenix are to get people to Plus, it is easy to cut some corners.  One way this happens is that we don’t address centers, ends, leaders, and trailers.  So, we did that.  I put dancers in most of the common Mainstream formations and pointed out ends, centers, leaders, and trailers.

Then, I pointed out the difference between Centers and Very Centers.  Yes, it doesn’t matter much of the time, but a stronger understanding results in a stronger dancer.

The other thing that I did was work on fractionalized circulates.  Someone had asked me to review Coordinate.  However, since it is on the Plus program, I didn’t feel that it was appropriate.  What I did think was acceptable was to review circulates (from columns) and then do some Circulate 1 & 1/2 choreography.  It worked out well.

Since we had only one square, I tried to keep my tips on the short side.  However, workshopping takes a little longer, so we took a few extended breaks.  I used the time to talk about SD land and some of its rich history.  It turns out that many people don’t know much past what they know today.  When I told them the story of Henry Ford and Benjamin Lovett, they were all ears.  So, I might need to write a short history paper geared to the dancing (as opposed to the calling) public.

Martha saw her 2nd and 3rd cockroaches ever in her life.  Definately not her favorite thing.  One person tried to just shoo it out the door.  After he walked away, another dancer came and squashed it.  Too funny.

Last Sunday, I got my “marching orders” from Tony O. about what I was presenting to the Callers’ School.  My topic is leadership and ethics.  So, I’ve got a handout written.  I’ll get it on the website after I come back from nationals.

Until next time, keep dancing!

It was a small crowd at the Mainstreamers dance/workshop on Wednesday.  More women than men, but I’m getting used to that in the overall scheme of things.

We had some rough patches with a few calls.  Circulates were causing issues as well as Square Thru.  I still have one or two that like to turn around when the do the call.    Circulates have issues because people (in general) don’t react or like to turn in when they’re done.

I like to teach people to both “go with gusto” and “plant their feet.”  So, when they’re to do something, they move in a deliberate manner and then, when they’re done, stop.

I can’t tell you the number of people that I’ve taught over the years that like to “hedge their bets” by turning in when they’re done.  Then, they’re out of position for the next call and then the errors build upon themselves.

Yuck.

So, I worked on a number of Basics and tried to get reacation time to improve.

Here’s something else for which I could use some input.  Every now and again, I find a new dancer that seems to just react.  Then tend to be male, but every now and again they can be female too.  When I teach Ladies Chain, the boy will just stand there and wait until someone gives him a hand.  Anyone have any tips on how to get them to wake up?  (I teach my boys to slide right and stick out a left hand, but it seems to be to no avail.)

I pick on boys because I am one, but I’ve seen several girls not move until either they see other girls going or until her partner gives her a push.

I should take some notes on this kind of behavior as there are dancers that will put both hands forward for every call.  Pehaps this way they hope that someone else will grab the right hand.

Everyone seemed to have a good time though I didn’t work on too many things.

This weekend, I’ve got off.  Time for some R&R with Martha and some sleeping in.  This weekend I’ll post my National Square Dance Convention schedule.  I was also supposed to be helping teach a callers’ school before the convention, but I’ve not heard back from Tony Oxendine on what sort of help he needs.  So, we’ll see.  This may be my last convention for a while.

It is going to be an expensive trip, and I’m not sure that the amount of enjoyment will be worth the expense.  The idea that I’ve got to be wearing long sleeved shirts and slacks all day on hot days in June just doesn’t thrill me.  That whole “sweaty arm” argument (that ladies don’t like to touch sweaty arms) doesn’t hold much water as if I sweat, it’s going to be soaked in my shirt.  (Oh, and girls sweat too.  Why aren’t their arms covered?)  So, it is hard for me to be supportive of the convention because it doesn’t flow with the times.  As Dylan said… “they are a changin’.”

Until next time, keep dancing!

Saturday was a busy day!  Last year, while I was still living in the Seattle area, I booked a dance with the Rosetown Ramblers and Heads to the Center.  While I was forced to cancel most of my bookings when I moved, those that I knew would at least pay airfare stayed on the books.  So, off I went.

Martha drove me to the airport.  It was my first time actually driving/riding there and paying attention to my surroundings.  Every other time has been via a taxicab.  We live close to the airport, which was good as I took too long getting ready for the day.  It was a slow day at the airport and my trip through security was pretty quick.  Usually my microphones get me stopped, but I took them out in advance.  The TSA guy said that I didn’t have to do that in the future.  So, we’ll see.

The flight was fine.  It was full, but I had no one next to me.  Sweet!  The idiot, er, guy, behind me was only happy while his knees were in my back, so that was… unfortunate.   The icky part of the trip was when that same guys started clipping his fingernails just before touchdown.   I thought that fingernail clippers were verboten on planes.  Am I the only person on the planet that thinks common courtesy is becoming uncommon?

I was met at the airport by my host, Shawn.  We had some time to kill, so we went and grabbed a bite of Chinese food, and over to his home.  I considered a nap, but thought better of it.  Instead, I finished programming the music for my dance and getting my Advanced cards in order.

Heads to the Center dances first.   I was there on time, but we didn’t have a key to the closet where their amplifier and speakers were held.  So, we waited.  Eventually, someone took the hinges off the closet and we got started.

I don’t like to read my material, but, since I don’t call Advanced on a regular basis, it is easier for me to provide a solid dance experience if I do.  Some day I hope to get back to calling the program, but I’m not going to worry about it much as it is more important to get new dancers in the door.

We danced until about 6:40 since we had a late start.  Then, we booked it out the door for a quick bite to eat.  We went to an “all you can eat” Chinese buffet.  (Yes, I had Chinese food twice, but Martha will tell you that I’d eat the same food 3 times a day, every day for months if needed.)  We ate fast, and got back just in time for me to start the dance.

There are two “schools of thought” when it comes to square dancing.  One of them is to have the dance start slow and build it up to the middle and then let the dancers down gradually.  Me, I went for, start fast and then go faster.

Granted, it helps that this group was on the younger side so they moved.  (After the dance, a number of people commented how much energy the dance had and how much fun they had.  My kind of compliments.)

I used a number of “alternative patter tunes” that were on the energetic side, but I did slow it down a little bit on occasion to give everyone some breathing room.  Still, people paid to dance.

The funny thing for me was that I’m so used to leaving out Dosado and having to cut corners that it was odd to have people end a home during the singing call with time to spare.  They were rushing a bit, but not too much.

My first singing call was a strong one… Swing Down Sweet Chariot.  (On Red Boot.)  It isn’t so fast as to “take no prisoners” but fast enough to make people a little winded when done.  It really set the tone for the evening.  People knew what they were in for.

Another song I did that got people moving was “Fisherman’s Luck.”  I like to start this one slow and then move it up 2-3 bpm after every sequence.  It starts at 123 bpm and ends at 136.  This really isn’t that much faster than the standard 128 bpm.  Every minute they’re taking 8 extra steps.  However, in the context of the dance, it feels like they’re running.  People were having a blast!

In the middle of the dance, they requested that I review a pair of songs that they want to do at a demo in two weeks at a roller derby.  (They still have those?  I suppose the roller derby people say “square dances, they still have those?”)  One of the songs was Deborah Carroll-Jones singing “Ghost Chickens in the Sky” and the other was a parody of King of the Road called, Butch of the Road called by Anne Uebelacker and Et Macatee. I had to tell them that Anne and Et used some colorful language that I just couldn’t repeat.  However, I did the figures as written.  There was a little bit of confusion with the King/Butch of the Road, but I walked them through it and explained what was going on and what they should look for.

Piece of cake.

After the dance, Shawn drove me home and I just crashed.  It had been a long day.

Sunday morning, we went to breakfast in Portland at a place called the Cup and Saucer.  It was one of the best breakfasts ever.  I had a pancake with chocolate chips, rice crispies, and marshmallows and a small serving of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon.  Oh, and I can’t forget my diet pepsi.  It was divine!

We had some time to kill before I had to be at the airport, but I’d rather just get through security and chill.  Portland (like Phoenix and unlike Seattle) has free wireless Internet access.  So, I chilled in style, got on my plane and headed home.  (The plane had more than its fair share of crying children.  Two of them, a brother and sister were right behind me, and the brother did his best to keep his sister annoyed and loud.  Their mother was next to them, but she just put headphones on and tuned them out.  Lucky me.)

Until next time, keep dancing!

On Wednesday, the Mainstreamers were back in session, so, with Martha in tow, I headed over to Mesa to call for them.

We had a square with some extras. Some were struggling with some of the basics, so I decided to review “Box the Gnat” and “Square Thru.”

Box the Gnat is a fairly easy teach, but Square Thru is a little more involved. When I teach it, I like to teach it with same sex so as to ensure people know that the call is not “gender specific.” We still struggled, but overall, we got better as the night went on.

I still had one gent that liked to either turn away from his foursome or try to courtesy turn any woman that gave him a left hand. However, at the end of the evening, if I was very deliberate and measured (a fancy way of saying slow) we did pretty well.

I did try one of my “show” numbers. I probably should have saved it, but we gave it the old “college try.” It was “Fisherman’s Luck.” I start it out a little slower and speed it up through each figure. We did well until the last figure. What got us into trouble was not the actual moves, but rather, some of the flourishes like the twirls. The extra twirls meant that people took longer to do their Promenade.

Over time, we’ll get there.

Martha told me that one of the things that she likes about my calling the Mainstream program is that I don’t treat it like the “ugly step-child” of the Plus program. Plus dancers are not better dancers… they simply know more calls. This is not a measure of how good they are.

At the dance, Virgil, from the Valley Single Squares, brought my contract. I went dancing last week (and took Martha with me) to the VSS and danced to Dale Dockery. (Sorry that I didn’t blog about it. I forgot.) Virgil had a contract for me, but it needed a few tweaks. He took care of them and we’re all set. My first dance for them is on Thursday, June 19th.

For now, that’s all I’ve got to report. Until next time, keep dancing!

Wednesday, Martha and I were headed back to the Mainstreamers.  I went casual, though the weather was cooler than normal.  (Nobody got bent out of shape.  Thank heavens. )

I got home with some time to spare, so changed out of my bicycle attire (it is how I get to/from my day job) and into some more respectable clothes.  As I said earlier, the weather wasn’t too hot.  Sometimes, I have to jump in the shower for a few minutes to cool off.

We had TWO SQUARES!  Very nice.  My first time out, we had one square, then one and a half, now two.  I hope that we get more people the next time.  Still, it is exciting.

I worked on Cast Off 3/4 from mini-waves for most of the night.  I’ve found, in general, that people either overshoot it or undershoot it.  So, I used the teach that I learned from Jerry Junck.  “It is 5 steps.”  I go a little further and say… “Not Baby Bear steps, nor Papa Bear steps… I’m looking for Mama Bear steps as they’re JUST RIGHT.”

There are not a lot of applications for the Cast Off 3/4 call, so I dovetailed into a small workshop with Spin the Top.  I can’t tell you how many times I see from Normal Couples, Swing Thru – Spin the Top.  So, I worked it in the opposite direction.  Spin the Top – Swing Thru.  It is a TOTALLY different feeling.

So much so, that I might continue the Spin the Top exercise another time.  I’m not sure that the combination of:

Spin the Top
Swing Thru
Right and Left Thru

is viable.  The Ocean Wave rule comes into play, so it is “proper” I just don’t think it is comfortable.

I did some new music, much to Martha’s delight.  Scooby Doo on Sting was released last month and I bought it.  It’s a fun song and a great arrangement.  I’d say that it is a must have for any caller.  Who doesn’t know Scooby Doo?

Until next time, keep dancing!