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!

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.