Square Dancing with John Marshall
Aug. 22nd, 2006 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisA few folks from DC Lambda Squares have been talking a great deal lately about attending John Marshall's Phantom 8s club for Tuesday night A2 square dancing. They meet in the Tysons Corners area of northern Virginia, just outside the capital beltway on 2nd & 4th Tuesdays. Since I get very little A2 floor time these days and I seriously need to get up to speed before the coming C1 boot camp weekend, I've been giving this some serious thought.
Still, I was apprehensive. Despite square dancing for many years, I've yet to dance with a predominantly straight club. While I know John would not have any issue --he's called for DCLS at club nights, community dances, ACDC and Harper's Ferry Hoedowns in the past, as well as IAGSDC conventions-- I wasn't so sure about some of the other dancers. Our local square dance association and certain callers & dancers have --ahem-- issues with gay square dancers. I was looking for a fun night of dancing, not to participate in some inter-community drama.
On the good side, I knew several other DCLS folks had attended previously and reported no problems so the odds were in my favour of being welcomed.
Going back to the straight issue again: I know some flourishes are, to put it mildly, more reserved than the gay clubs. And many straight clubs are big on dancing as couples: singles, while not disdained, are tougher for some clubs to integrate. With these caveats in mind, it was my intention to largely play reconnaissance this particular night: I'd meet some folks, observe their particular styling and conform to their local habits since I was playing on their turf. If nothing else, stretching my cultural horizons a bit would be a very good thing for any future calling career aspirations and I had an evening free to explore.
The result: there were surprises good and not-so-good.
The good side: I was welcomed warmly by every one I met. My badge clearly said "DC Lambda Squares" although I can't expect everyone to know it's a predominantly gay club. Still, showing up single wasn't a problem and I was quickly teamed up with Mary for the rest of the evening.
Also on the good side: There were almost a full square of DCLS folks there so socializing was a lot easier and less pressured.
The not-so-good side: I didn't realize they used computer squares. While I've heard of such systems, I've never seen it in action before, let alone participated. All men's names were entered into the software and the guys would then scoot past the laptop at the beginning of each tip to determine in which of four squares he & his partner would be dancing (or sitting out). Thus, while I would have preferred more time to observe and internalize the local culture, I was launched immediately into dancing and was on the floor all save one tip (the software cycled me out that particular session) through the evening. Into the deep end of the pool! :-)
Back to the good side: John calls some fantastic A2 material. There were calls from starting positions I had never considered before, especially with the call "motivate" (eg. from a beginning double pass thru position, from two-faced lines and once --I think-- from a 3-1 line). I was sluggish through the first tip or two but came up to speed for the rest of the night. At least when our square had issues, it wasn't always me and our square always had a good laugh about our errors, as it should be.
Also on the good side: the crowd wasn't as old as I had been lead to believe. Sure, there were some who clearly were in their late 60s or higher, but most seemed in their forties or fifties. All were very mobile, sharp witted and energetic dancers. One chap was using an FM loop for hearing the calls (again, something I have read about but never seen) but he was one of the most reliable dancers in my squares.
Summary: I had fun and would like to go back again. The snag is timing: they do dance on the 5th Tuesday of the month when it happens (like this month) but we're calling in Baltimore that night. Dayle also just called to swap Tuesdays in early September because of work-related travel so I not only will I be calling instead of going to John Marshall's group, I won't be calling on National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Bummer! At least I should be able to get another session in late September before the C1 event.
Still, I was apprehensive. Despite square dancing for many years, I've yet to dance with a predominantly straight club. While I know John would not have any issue --he's called for DCLS at club nights, community dances, ACDC and Harper's Ferry Hoedowns in the past, as well as IAGSDC conventions-- I wasn't so sure about some of the other dancers. Our local square dance association and certain callers & dancers have --ahem-- issues with gay square dancers. I was looking for a fun night of dancing, not to participate in some inter-community drama.
On the good side, I knew several other DCLS folks had attended previously and reported no problems so the odds were in my favour of being welcomed.
Going back to the straight issue again: I know some flourishes are, to put it mildly, more reserved than the gay clubs. And many straight clubs are big on dancing as couples: singles, while not disdained, are tougher for some clubs to integrate. With these caveats in mind, it was my intention to largely play reconnaissance this particular night: I'd meet some folks, observe their particular styling and conform to their local habits since I was playing on their turf. If nothing else, stretching my cultural horizons a bit would be a very good thing for any future calling career aspirations and I had an evening free to explore.
The result: there were surprises good and not-so-good.
The good side: I was welcomed warmly by every one I met. My badge clearly said "DC Lambda Squares" although I can't expect everyone to know it's a predominantly gay club. Still, showing up single wasn't a problem and I was quickly teamed up with Mary for the rest of the evening.
Also on the good side: There were almost a full square of DCLS folks there so socializing was a lot easier and less pressured.
The not-so-good side: I didn't realize they used computer squares. While I've heard of such systems, I've never seen it in action before, let alone participated. All men's names were entered into the software and the guys would then scoot past the laptop at the beginning of each tip to determine in which of four squares he & his partner would be dancing (or sitting out). Thus, while I would have preferred more time to observe and internalize the local culture, I was launched immediately into dancing and was on the floor all save one tip (the software cycled me out that particular session) through the evening. Into the deep end of the pool! :-)
Back to the good side: John calls some fantastic A2 material. There were calls from starting positions I had never considered before, especially with the call "motivate" (eg. from a beginning double pass thru position, from two-faced lines and once --I think-- from a 3-1 line). I was sluggish through the first tip or two but came up to speed for the rest of the night. At least when our square had issues, it wasn't always me and our square always had a good laugh about our errors, as it should be.
Also on the good side: the crowd wasn't as old as I had been lead to believe. Sure, there were some who clearly were in their late 60s or higher, but most seemed in their forties or fifties. All were very mobile, sharp witted and energetic dancers. One chap was using an FM loop for hearing the calls (again, something I have read about but never seen) but he was one of the most reliable dancers in my squares.
Summary: I had fun and would like to go back again. The snag is timing: they do dance on the 5th Tuesday of the month when it happens (like this month) but we're calling in Baltimore that night. Dayle also just called to swap Tuesdays in early September because of work-related travel so I not only will I be calling instead of going to John Marshall's group, I won't be calling on National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Bummer! At least I should be able to get another session in late September before the C1 event.
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Date: 2006-08-23 01:15 pm (UTC)Yeah. I'm generally more comfortable dancing the boy's role anyway but until I get a firmer handle on the culture of this particular club, it seemed the polite and noncontroversial path.