New Square Dance Class

We began teaching a new Mainstream class for the DC Lambda Squares last night. I counted seven new dancers (three of which were named Brian --I'm not sure what criteria we're using for recruitment but I personally don't have a problem with it) and at least one lapsed dancer refreshing her skills.

I was happily impressed with the speed of their start-up. In a couple of hours, we covered --listed here in no particular order-- naming (heads/sides, couples #1-4, partner, corner, opposite), circle left/right (including circling 1/2 & 3/4, for variety), left- & right-handed stars, promenades (single file, couples, going 1/2, etc.), pass thru, U turn back, courtesy turn, right & left grand, dosado, allemande left, turn thru, weave the ring, into the middle & back and probably a few others I can't recall as I write this. They ate it all up. One couple was having a little trouble remembering courtesy turn towards the end of the evening but I think it was a boy/girl role thing they're still hashing out since they both did well with different partners. I'll keep an eye on them in future.

The pace will, of course, dramatically slow now that we're past the most trivial items. I've heard rumours but a couple of people couldn't make it this past Monday but I'm uncertain how much credence to give that: we'll see next Monday.

Thursday is graduation for our latest crop of Plus dancers. kent4str confirmed the graduation certificates are printed and I will confirm we have the "Pomp & Circumstance" MP3 on the laptop for the occasion. Depending on how they do with the entire Plus list this Thursday, I may be slipping otterpop58 some suggestions for his upcoming Sunday workshop. :-)

New Square Dance Class

We began teaching a new Mainstream class for the DC Lambda Squares last night. I counted seven new dancers (three of which were named Brian --I'm not sure what criteria we're using for recruitment but I personally don't have a problem with it) and at least one lapsed dancer refreshing her skills.

I was happily impressed with the speed of their start-up. In a couple of hours, we covered --listed here in no particular order-- naming (heads/sides, couples #1-4, partner, corner, opposite), circle left/right (including circling 1/2 & 3/4, for variety), left- & right-handed stars, promenades (single file, couples, going 1/2, etc.), pass thru, U turn back, courtesy turn, right & left grand, dosado, allemande left, turn thru, weave the ring, into the middle & back and probably a few others I can't recall as I write this. They ate it all up. One couple was having a little trouble remembering courtesy turn towards the end of the evening but I think it was a boy/girl role thing they're still hashing out since they both did well with different partners. I'll keep an eye on them in future.

The pace will, of course, dramatically slow now that we're past the most trivial items. I've heard rumours but a couple of people couldn't make it this past Monday but I'm uncertain how much credence to give that: we'll see next Monday.

Thursday is graduation for our latest crop of Plus dancers. kent4str confirmed the graduation certificates are printed and I will confirm we have the "Pomp & Circumstance" MP3 on the laptop for the occasion. Depending on how they do with the entire Plus list this Thursday, I may be slipping otterpop58 some suggestions for his upcoming Sunday workshop. :-)

Club Night

I was calling in Baltimore tonight, Chesapeake Squares' regular club night.

Alas, this particular Tuesday was up against Center Stage's gay night so our numbers were a fraction of their usual. Indeed, we started 10 minutes late for lack of enough dancers to make a square and had to close the night 20 minutes early because one had to leave to catch his municipal transit. Bummer.

The dance space we use has a peculiar lighting problem. The dance floor has a very high ceiling with 32 small floods to illuminate the space. As of tonight, only 7 of the 32 were actually working. We joked that the dancers would have to keep chattering on the floor so I could track their locations.

Club Night

I was calling in Baltimore tonight, Chesapeake Squares' regular club night.

Alas, this particular Tuesday was up against Center Stage's gay night so our numbers were a fraction of their usual. Indeed, we started 10 minutes late for lack of enough dancers to make a square and had to close the night 20 minutes early because one had to leave to catch his municipal transit. Bummer.

The dance space we use has a peculiar lighting problem. The dance floor has a very high ceiling with 32 small floods to illuminate the space. As of tonight, only 7 of the 32 were actually working. We joked that the dancers would have to keep chattering on the floor so I could track their locations.