Saturday Report

[bjarvis]

It's been a light & easy day, something I could definitely use.


We were actually up & out of bed before noon today, a relative rarity as far as our weekends go. Indeed, we headed to Miller's Framing to collect four artworks which we had deposited there two weeks ago for framing. They've been framed & completed for a while but we haven't had a great deal of time to skip over to collect them. The four pieces haven't been hung yet but we may tackle that tomorrow.

After a quick lunch at home, we headed to Virginia to a major (straight) square dance convention, the 48th annual WASCA festival. We weren't planning to dance --especially since they have no day rate and would charge us $40/person for today, the last half of the last day of the festival; kent4str largely wanted to get a few photos of straight square dancers to include as part of his presentation at the upcoming IAGSDC convention in Denver.

I find many straight square dance clubs very... odd. So many local clubs still demand a particular stereotypical dress code which most of the rest of us recognize as a old & increasingly sad parody of a non-existent by-gone era. Despite the --IMHO-- blatant silliness of the situation, there are ardent & militant adherents to this sort of dress code. Almost as egregious is the couples-only mentality many clubs demand, as though single people, either unmarried, separated, divorced or widowed people can't possibly dance or socialize with married folks. I'm delighted that both concepts are in steep downward trends but large straight conventions still make me wary of misspeaking or mis-stepping. I really don't have a good time at events when I'm walking on eggshells.

Despite my reservations, the folks I did talk to were at least friendly, although that might have changed if they knew kent4str and I were a couple. And on the good side, I had a chance to chat with a handful of other callers whom I hadn't seen recently, most particularly Tom Miller. And whatever my level of wariness about attending, I gotta admit these folks know how to throw a festival: the props & decorations were great, the lounge spaces were very comfortable, there were a number of large information panels to help guide out-of-towners and there were a number of vendors. We bailed before the fashion show, but that surely can't be any worse than the IASGDC's honky tonk queen contest.

I'm toying with attending next year, just for kicks. If nothing else, there's always usefulness in studying the work of more experienced square dance callers. Alas, the festival runs Thursday-Friday-Saturday so I'd really need to take two days off of work to attend.

We got the photos we wanted and skipped out after about two hours, heading into Arlington to see Jeff M. After a quick introduction to Second Life by Jeff, we headed over to Potomac Yards to see "300." Yup, it's definitely not a deep movie: if you're looking for interesting character development, witty dialog and such, see something else. If, however, you're looking for really hot, mostly naked male bodies and lots of action, blood & gore, this movie is for you. I'm glad I caught it on a matinee, but I probably wouldn't watch it again, even if it was free of charge.

As is our custom following a movie in Virginia, we headed to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. In honour of St. Patrick's Day, I had the bright green mint chocolate chip ice cream, large size. Mmmm... sugar...

Comments

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

So many local clubs still demand a particular stereotypical dress code which most of the rest of us recognize as a old & increasingly sad parody of a non-existent by-gone era. Despite the --IMHO-- blatant silliness of the situation, there are ardent & militant adherents to this sort of dress code. Almost as egregious is the couples-only mentality many clubs demand, as though single people, either unmarried, separated, divorced or widowed people can't possibly dance or socialize with married folks.

This is my A-one, really furious, won't even touch straight square dancing with a 10-foot-pole beef.

Not the dress code so much, but the total cutting off of people if they lose their partner. I've heard a story about a situation when there were enough widowed women to make a square all by themselves. So they did. The caller stopped mid-dance and made them leave the floor.

I could rant about this all DAY, I'm so dead set against it.

IMNSHO, this is NOT what dancing is about.

Now if A and I end up somewhere near enough to a NON-straight square dance club, you just might see us out on the floor! (especially since I wouldn't have to wear one of those insanely ugly dresses!)

[discord35.livejournal.com]

A local straight couple, husband and wife, had been dancing with their club for years. When he died, they asked her to leave, because she was single.

Despite that, she still dances, and she has a regular partner now. I have no idea if she gives those hurtful people the time of the day. I wouldn't.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't either. I've heard horror stories like that, too.

The irony is, if the wife is the one that dies, the widower is still often welcome!

Straight people in strange clothes

[ctgstr8.livejournal.com]

My husband and I dance with a gay club, and have a wonderful time. I agree with all the remarks regarding straight clubs. It baffles me that widowers are always welcome and widows frequently are not.

Re: Straight people in strange clothes

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

what club do you dance with? I also agree with the comments.... the powers-that-be who want square dancing to exist in today's world just don't get it, both on the dress code thing, AND this widow/widower thing... we have many "straight but not narrow" people who dance with us here in Washington who have a great time all the time, after they get over being timid about going out there on the floor and putting their hand in the air for "a partner." We always assure them it is NOT a problem, that a partner will appear, but it takes a while to get over the feeling they'd be rejected. NOT HERE. see my cat in my crinolines? She loved to nap inside all that fluffy crinoline-y feeling stuff.... her name was Bear.

Re: Straight people in strange clothes

[ctgstr8.livejournal.com]

(Ett: I tried to send you a reply via Yahoo mail. If you received it, I'm sorry for this repeat.) We dance with Squares Across the Border. We have been square dancing for many years, so we have had lots of experience with straight clubs! SATB is way more fun than any other group we've encountered. We didn't feel timid when we joined the club, because everyone was friendly, but it took a couple of visits to become used to same-sex couples and the custom of tagging-in. These things were confusing at first. We enjoy changing partners for each tip. At straight clubs, couples dance only with each other all night. Your cat Bear looks sweet in "her" crinolines. IMO, cats look good all the time. When we lived in a house, we were owned by 3 cats.

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

Our straight clubs are very open to singles dancing with them, except one - the only club that dances advanced. They require that you bring a partner of the opposite sex to their lessons and their dances. The other clubs do prefer that you dance the role of your sex at lessons because it can be confusing for new students, but at dances, I've been able to dance either role.

Our gay club has actually encouraged straight women from the straight clubs to come to our lessons to learn the male part so that they can dance it. There is always an over abundance of widows at the dances so if they can dance lead, they can dance all night too. A couple of the callers have had an issue with it, but they continue to let them dance.