Jay Leno square dance brouhaha

Tuesday night, Jay Leno's talk show sent Chelsea Handler to the 54th National Square Dance Convention held late June in Portland, OR. I didn't watch it that night, but I did set the VCR to record it and watched last night after club night.

There has been much gnashing of teeth on the sd-callers and squaredancing e-mail lists, but overall, I didn't think it was all that bad.
( Read more... )

Jay Leno square dance brouhaha

Tuesday night, Jay Leno's talk show sent Chelsea Handler to the 54th National Square Dance Convention held late June in Portland, OR. I didn't watch it that night, but I did set the VCR to record it and watched last night after club night.

There has been much gnashing of teeth on the sd-callers and squaredancing e-mail lists, but overall, I didn't think it was all that bad.
( Read more... )

DCLS club night

Kent was attending a dress rehearsal of "HMS Pinafore" last night (he's the lighting director) so I was at club night in DC solo. Our square dance sensei Dayle Hodge called MS & Plus; he typically puts Kent & me on the microphones to share a tip midway through the night but this time he surprised me by putting me on early in the night. I think it was his subtle way of reminding me that no evening ever goes as originally planned.

Anyway, I called my tip and did fairly well if I do say so myself. I really should tape-record these things for assessment afterward: when calling, I'm too involved in thinking about legal calls, body flow, hand usage, resolution opportunities, etc., to see if it's sufficiently creative. For the most part, I've been using the faces of the dancers as a metric: are they smiling or scowling? Do they look like they're having a good time or mulling over what shade of burgundy to repaint their dining room?

Our club treasurer Bill arrived midway through my patter and thought while walking towards the dance hall that it Dayle calling until he noticed that Dayle was actually at the refreshments table sipping water. Bill lied like a rug but --bless his heart-- I do appreciate the support. I do have a couple of great clubs here.

DCLS club night

Kent was attending a dress rehearsal of "HMS Pinafore" last night (he's the lighting director) so I was at club night in DC solo. Our square dance sensei Dayle Hodge called MS & Plus; he typically puts Kent & me on the microphones to share a tip midway through the night but this time he surprised me by putting me on early in the night. I think it was his subtle way of reminding me that no evening ever goes as originally planned.

Anyway, I called my tip and did fairly well if I do say so myself. I really should tape-record these things for assessment afterward: when calling, I'm too involved in thinking about legal calls, body flow, hand usage, resolution opportunities, etc., to see if it's sufficiently creative. For the most part, I've been using the faces of the dancers as a metric: are they smiling or scowling? Do they look like they're having a good time or mulling over what shade of burgundy to repaint their dining room?

Our club treasurer Bill arrived midway through my patter and thought while walking towards the dance hall that it Dayle calling until he noticed that Dayle was actually at the refreshments table sipping water. Bill lied like a rug but --bless his heart-- I do appreciate the support. I do have a couple of great clubs here.