Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

News from Square Dance Land…

On March 14th, Martha and I headed north to Show Low so that I could call for the White Mountain Rim Rompers. It is a bit of a drive… over three hours …but it is a beautiful one, and the club has some of the nicest people you could meet.

An added bit of fun to the trip was seeing snow. It was still in the mid-60s (fahrenheit for those of you that use the metric system) in Phoenix, and we’d not seen snow all season. (Well, I saw it in Portland, in January, but that’s different.)

They’ve the running a set of Plus program workshops the hour before the dance for those that have been interested in learning. There’s no pattern to it and every caller teaches something different. In hindsight, I should have taken a checklist with me so they could keep it in their hall. I worked three calls. Peel Off, Peel the Top, and Crossfire. There’s not much time to do more in only 60 minutes.

I had one square for the workshop and two squares of Mainstream with a few stragglers. Near the end of the dance, they’ve traditionally asked for one Plus tip. This dance was no different, but the funny thing was that nearly everyone got up to dance. (Or, at least try.)

The dance was fun. At the end of the dance, someone requested the Grand Colonel Spin. Normally, if I’m going to do this dance, I’ll work up to it so that the teach is short. Since I didn’t have the time to do it, we ran it cold. They did a pretty good job. It is a timing pattern and, if you cut corners or take shortcuts, it doesn’t always work out right. One square got it, the other one came close. (I just don’t know how to *make* people do a Grand Square correctly. It’s probably because I don’t make people do anything… it’s not my style.)

Thankfully, there was no stage to jump off of this time, so no injuries to report.

After the dance was over, Martha and I were hosted by Chuck and Mary Ellen Bittorf. Again, two of the nicest people on the planet. Mary Ellen made us some of the best pancakes ever! We can’t thank them enough for their hospitality.

The drive home was uneventful the next day back into the Valley of the Sun!

Until next time, keep dancing!

News from Square Dance Land…

On March 7th, Martha and I headed over to Mesa where I called for the Checkmates. For those that do not know, this is a Plus club, and they’ve got a really nice hall. I think it was once heralded at a Senior Center, but is now called, I think, a Multi-Generational Center. It is well lit, with great floors.

The evening started out a little rocky, the dance was fun, and then ended with a small disaster.

I think I mentioned that I’d had a small falling out with another club in the area about how I do dances. If I call some basic material, and the floor breaks down in a major way, I’m going to fix it and move on. Some think what I’m doing is work-shopping, and that may be true, but really what I do is set everyone up for success. (At least I try to do this.)

Before the dance, one of the club members asked to speak to me privately about this matter. I didn’t really know what he wanted, but we spoke about it. He was very blunt about how he felt. He was of the opinion that if dancers couldn’t cut it, I should just keep calling for those that could. I kept my cool, but I did tell him that while I was there to call a dance, if the floor breaks down, I’m going to fix it. People don’t pay me to stand around and stare at the stage. I also said that were I anyone else, I doubt that we’d be having this conversation and it was borderline inappropriate. He disagreed, but I’d like to see him try to lecture some of the other callers that come visit. I’ll sell tickets and popcorn. After he lectured me, he then left the dance. He didn’t even wait to see how it turned out. Go figure.

The dance was fun. We had, about six squares for the evening. Five at the very end. (There’s always a few that try to get away early to get a good seat at Denny’s. I kept it pretty middle of the road difficulty wise but I also liked to keep the tempo on the brisk side. Not so fast that they’re running, but I think far too many dances that I’ve been to are way too slow.

Steve Harris was the Round Dance Cuer and he did an excellent job. He was set up before I got there, so I didn’t have to even take my equipment out of the car. That was nice.

I said, at the beginning of this post, that there was a small disaster. We had five squares at the end… they made a big ring to say “Thank You.” I said (foolishly) “wait, I’ll join you!” Then proceeded to step off the stage on to a chair, then on the floor. In a perfect world, it would have happened just that way. However, it turns out that the chairs are not really built to have 200+ pound men step on them. So, I went through the chair and landed face-first on the floor. The chair frame punctured my pant leg, scratched my skin and put a small hole in the skin. Yes, there was blood. No, there was not a lot of it.

My pride was damaged the worst though.

I got up, we said thank you, and I limped back on stage to pack my stuff. Thankfully, Steve Harris (as I also mentioned already) had used his gear, so all I had to do was pack my laptop. Someone gave me a bandage and that stopped the bleeding for the moment.

When I got home, I surveyed the damage. I had a huge bruise, a small puncture wound, and a large scratch. I cleaned it all out and was fine. (I had a tetanus shot back in 2001, so I’m still good there.)

The next day, I got a note from one of the club members asking how I was and to send him some information for insurance purposes. Not long after I learned that the club insurance only covers what happens to the dancers. It doesn’t cover what happens what callers do idiotic things.

That week… to add insult to injury …I developed a toothache. Turns out that I had “cracked tooth syndrome” and it may have happened when I landed on the floor. (My head didn’t hit the floor, but the tightening of the jaw and the sudden stopping would have been enough.) That resulted in some quality time at the dentist’s office and a gold crown.

What fun.

Until next time, keep dancing!

News from Square Dance Land…

I had a friend ask me why I’ve started putting “News from Square Dance Land…” at the beginning of my posts. The answer is that I’ve subscribed to this blog on my Facebook page so I don’t have to repeat myself.  Adding a small header lets people know what the post is about and they can decide whether or not is is worth a read.

I’ll post my thoughts on the 58th Nataional Square Dance Convention shortly, but I thought I’d start a “new thing.” I’ve decided that every month I’m going to include a post about the music that I’ve purchased for my dances. Some may be from the website: www.dosado.com/music, it might be from a vendor like A&S Records, it might be from eBay, iTunes, or other online source.

There are a few reasons I’ve decided to do this. I believe in keeping my “record case” updated. Far too many square dance callers are using music that was super popular when they started their calling career. Music that was great then can still be great today, however, I think that variety is good *and* people enjoy dancing music with which they can connect.

I’ve read reviews of music, and like so much of society today, they tend to say something nice about every piece of music. Granted, I’m not going to start saying that certain titles aren’t good. Nor am I going to even say other titles just aren’t good for me. I’m simply going to let everyone know what I bought, why, and what I think of it.

This month bought 4 tunes at the National Square Dance Convention, one on eBay, and got one from a friend. (You know who you are… Thanks again.)

Bluesberry Hoedown on Square Tunes. This is a nice remake of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Bluesberry Hill. There are four tracks on it; each has its own take on the tune. Different instrumentations are the only real changes between each track. I like the first one, but the others are growing on me. Sometimes a minimalist version works very well. (Especially in places that have a lot of echo… echo… echo.)

On Rhythm Records, I got “I Don’t Even Know Your Name.” I don’t know who did the tune originally, but I know the Alan Jackson tune from the mid-1990s.

From Royal Records, I got “This Train.” I know this as a Peter, Paul, and Mary song. (My dad really enjoyed listening to PP&M when I was a kid, so this song really resonates with me.)

Then, on Sting Records, I got “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.” Again, I don’t the original artist, but Mr. Carl Olsen, in junior high, introduced me to the group “The Manhattan Transfer” and I heard them do it on one of their albums. (I might have even owned it on vinyl at one time.)

Finally, on eBay, I got a copy of Royal Records “Slow Dancin’.” No clue as to the original artist. But… I can sing “Slow Dancing, Swayin’ to the music… ”

Oh, and I got a pristine copy of a hoedown from Rockin’ M Records call Joe. (The flipside is Chet.) Yes, these are typical sounding tunes you’d expect for a square dance, but they are both really, really good and solid tunes. (They are the kind of tunes that make you want to tap your foot. In my mind, that’s the BEST kind!)

It will take me some time to get these songs into the computer, and then a little more time before I add them to a dance. I want to really know them before I use them. It’s sort of like using a power tool. You want to know how something works before you hit the switch. Otherwise, it could be disastrous.

Until next time, 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???)

News from Square Dance Land…

I’ve never been one to think that I need a publicity photo. People have often asked me for one, but, in all humility, I’ve just never thought of my mug as being one to sell anything, let alone a square dance.

Turns out that I was wrong. It took some convincing by some friends of mine and a large number of requests of late. So, I decided to take the plunge and have some photos taken. My first thought was to contact somebody like Sears or JC Penny’s but then I though, “if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.”

So, I looked online and did a search for publicity photos and found a photographer in the area that specializes in such things.

If you click on this link, be warned, it crashed my web browser the first time I looked at it. (The second time, there was no problem.)

http://www.christopherbarr.com

He was spendy, but his website said he’d negotiate, so we did and I got some great looking photos out of it. I’ve seen the proofs and some of my favorite ones are on Facebook. I wanted something different and something bold. I don’t think that any of them are “bold” per say, but, in some ways, it is how you define bold.

If you ever get a chance to have a professional photographer take your picture, do it. Know that when I say, “take your picture” I mean take *hundreds* of pictures of you. However, it is a really interesting feeling to have someone that focused on making you look good. (No pun intended.)

Eventually, Chris and I will chat and we’ll pick one photograph and he’ll tweak it (crop/resize/color-enhance) for me and I’ll have a publicity photo to share with the world.

Way cool!

Have you ever hit “Send” on an email and said to yourself, “did I put the wrong address on that?”

I have, several times. This time, it was a little more noticable than usual because rather than go to a person, I sent an email meant for a single person to the email list devoted to square dance callers.

Thankfully, it wasn’t hugely embarassing. However, it wasn’t one that, I thought, would be on topic. So, I sent a quick follow-up apologizing and asked people to disregard it.

Strangely, though, a large number of people wrote (publically and privately) about how much they appreciated it and how they thought it was relevant.

Here is what I sent:

This is from Seth Godin’s blog. (sethgodin.typepad.com)

You’re boring

—

This is what I’m striving to do, not only as part of my photo shoot today, but what I am trying to do with my attempt to revamp the lists.

I want to be good. I want to be the best. I don’t want to be boring.

———————————————-

I was embarrased, but now I’m proud to say that I started a conversation or two. Way cool.

Today is my wife, Martha’s, birthday.

If you see her, sing to her!

For this blog, I use WordPress and I love it. It has made some great changes since I started using it, and I love how easy it is to update.

I just updated to the latest version and I need to know if anyone has any problems reading or posting comments. I’ve done a quick check, and it seems fine. However, something may slip through the cracks.

I subscribe to this blog on my Facebook page, so I need to make sure it shows up there as well. (No need to comment on FB. I’ll either see it or I won’t.)

I’ve been experimentig with Drupal (a web based content managment system) that we use at my day job on another part of my site. I like it, but I think WordPress is better for what I need. The rest of my website needs a makeover and I was thinking about using WordPress (or Drupal) but I think I’ll stick with rolling my own. I’m starting to learn PHP programming (sorry for the geek-speak) and will be making more of it dynamic.

(Again, that would be in that copious amount of free time that I have.)

Until next time, keep dancing!

News From Square Dance Land…

Ever since I started my own website (which needs an overhaul in my copious free time) I’ve gotten about 1 request a month for a square dance party.  I’ve always been hesitant to tell anyone this little secret because I enjoy the business and fear losing it. However, I’ve turned down a few parties too, so the more the merrier.

I got a call, rather out of the blue, from a woman that wanted to do an event with her church. It was at an LDS church about 30+ minutes away from home so I said sure.

When I got there, it was pretty sparse and the organizer was a little nervous, but right around the time we were to start, people started to show up. It was dinner and dancing and some came dressed up in western looking attire. (There’s a certain amount of people that associate square dance with the old west.)

I had, at most, five squares going on at one point. However, most of the night was three. It was a party, so I didn’t make it hard and while people were nervous at first, once they got started, it was hard to get them to stop.

I use a variety of music during my parties… some old, some new, all fun.

I believe a great time was had by all.

News from Square Dance Land…

On the 25th of February, I taught my last session for the Mainstreamers. It was fun while it lasted.

There was food before the dance. By food, I mean a HUGE spread of things to eat. No wonder I’m not getting thinner.

Also, we had lots of visitors! (Where we these people when we needed Angels? For non-square dancers, Angels are those people that know how to square dance that come help fill out squares.) There were some dancers there that could have used the refresher. (Oops, was that my outside voice/typing?)

Among the visitors were two other callers, Jim Logan and Don Spurgin. This was planned because they wanted dancers to have a chance to get a Purple Heart badge. (This is where you dance in a square with 3 callers.) To do the 3 caller thing, I had to use a headset which is not my favorite thing. My headset is very prone to feedback. It squeals, loudly, when it gets close to my speakers. Yuck.

I also had my first equipment failure, ever. When I plugged in my turntable, it made a loud buzzing noise. To call it a hum is an understatement. Egads. Thankfully, Jim had his turntable in his car, and I was able to use it.  (When I got home, I plugged in my turntable to check it and the hum was still there.  I took it apart, foolishly, to see if I could find a problem, but there were too many things that I didn’t understand so I put it back together. Miraculously, the buzzing stopped.)

It was a fun dance. Don asked me, when we danced in the Purple Heart tip, if he had to dance it straight. I didn’t really understand the question, but what he meant was “can I clown around?” I told him he could do whatever he wanted as he was a grownup. (I’m not one for horseplay when I’m dancing.)

Rather than call one Purple Heart tip for everyone, we just rotated people in and out of the square after we got to our home positions. This worked out very well as, I think, nearly everyone had a chance to dance with the three of us.

Since this was a “graduation” dance, I didn’t teach anything. I barely reviewed anything. (With visitors/guests, I like to let people show off just a little bit. No one likes to look bad in front of a crowd.)

At the end of the dance, both Jim and Don called a tip and did a great job.

It was a nice dance and, for some, a teary farewell. I’m going to miss everyone.

Until next time, keep dancing!