Chesapeake Squares' Mainstream Class, Week #5

[bjarvis]

The class time this week was shifted up a half-hour to accommodate a baptism occuring elsewhere in the church. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a baptism in the sanctuary being performed to a karaoke version of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina." Still, we decided to be nice, thus starting & ending a half-hour earlier than usual.

We didn't have a class last weekend thanks to Cleveland's "Load the Boat" fly-in; one new dancer missed the prior class as well so she had a bit of catching up to do. Still, the review tips were largely successful: reaction time wasn't great but it was better than one might have imagined after such a long break.

This week, we tackled:

• centers in
  
• cast off 3/4
  
• eight chain thru
  
• spin the top
  
• walk & dodge
  
• fold/cross-fold
  
• dixie style to a wave

Most of these calls are combinations of smaller dance units they already know. We intentionally separated "cast off 3/4" and "spin the top" with an unrelated call in the hope that this might help comprehension and retention. Since both calls were being executed fairly confidently by the end of the afternoon, I'm declaring that idea a success.

Dayle is showing them the last six calls of the list next Saturday. Kent & I have the November 4 class in which we'll drill & review, try some left-handed versions of much-loved calls and work on flourishes.

zzbear confirmed from California via telephone that we can invite our new MS grads to the upcoming Harper's Ferry Hoedown at the lowest published registration rate ($55) rather than the at-the-door rate ($85). I hope some do attend.

Comments

[rsc.livejournal.com]

As a contra-dancer, I sometimes have the same feeling reading about square-dancing -- even just the names of the moves -- that I get when fj posts in Dutch: that I can almost, but not quite, understand what's being said.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Your prior dance experience would do you well if you ever take up square dancing... many of the call names reflect the action required and having some prior experience of general movements is a bonus.

That said, I'd love to rewrite the call lists to rename some calls to something more consistent & sane.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Your prior dance experience would do you well if you ever take up square dancing.

Yes, I expect so. Our contra evenings often include an occasional square, and I do OK.

That said, I'd love to rewrite the call lists to rename some calls to something more consistent & sane.

The only trouble with that is that it would confuse the hell out of the dancers who have already learned the old names.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

The only trouble with that is that it would confuse the hell out of the dancers who have already learned the old names.

Yes, no doubt. There's a lot of stupidity & silliness in life in general we retain purely out of tradition & convention because it would be too painful for many folks to change.

When I become Supreme Dictator of the Known Universe, all of this will change. Until then, we'll muddle through with our accumulated baggage.