I hit a wall at the Ar-Dale lessons tonight.  It wasn’t them, I think it was me and I think the reason was I was not explaining the calls well enough.  We had a hard time with Square Through.  Maybe this is just part of the learning process that it takes to teach someone to square dance.  I think I am trying so hard to do this right that I am not paying attention to the details.  Or maybe I am paying too much to the details  and forgetting to make it fun.

I have a week off now, I am off to North Carolina on Saturday to give Jerry Story, Tony Oxendine, Jon Jones and Deborah Carrol-Jones some grief and I hope learn a lot from them.  I have another caller coming in to teach the lessons next Tuesday so I will check with him when I get home.  Square dancing has always come easy to me so I just hope I don’t hit too many more walls, or at least I am wearing my helmet when I do.

I’ll post some pictures from callers school next week.

Keep dancing

Caller Brian

I was afraid that no one would show up but six squares came to the dance at TTT Dance in Roseville, MN including friends from theBloomington Swirlers (the club we dance with).  I had a blast calling with Bob Maiden.  My patter still needs a lot of work but the singing calls are getting easier.  No one walked out and most people stayed to the end.  Thanks to Charyl Anderson for the pictures. 

I had fun at the Minnesota State Fair Today.  The Square Dance Federation of Minnesota was asked to do some dancing for 10 out of the 12 days this year.  We are at the stage right outside the Education Building a couple times per day.

Mike Driscoll, Bob Maiden and I were the callers today and it was not only great to call with them but we had fun inviting people to give square dancing a try.

It was at the fair today that two things happened.  The first was that Dee, who is the producer of Friendship Set To Music-The TV Show came up to me and asked me to have two singing calls ready for the September 12 taping.  I have been proud to be part of the production staff of the show for the last few years but now I’m really nervous.  I had said that when I decided to start calling, it would be great to call on the show.  One of my dreams has come true.  Now can TV survive Caller Brian?  You should be able to see the show starting in November and December. Just check your local cable access channel to see when the show is on.

My second surprise of the night came when I was asked to call a dance with Bob.  So on September 26 Bob and I are the callers for TTT Squares in Roseville, MN.  Life is GOOD!  Take care and we’ll see you in a square.

Brian

I am going to wrap up this series with some food for thought so in case I have not convinced you to give it a try here’s some more reasons:

1) It is a great way to exercise.  Square Dancing is endorsed  by the American Heart Association.  In a typical dance you will walk 3-5 mile.  Square Dancing has also been endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Associtation.  Because it keeps your mind sharp.

2) Square Dancers are a lot of fun. 

3) The cost of square dancing is a whole lot less then what you spend at the health club, plus it’s a whole lot more fun.

4) If you want to see some other reason, check out an earlier post I did-CLICK HERE

I hope I will see you in a square!

Brian

This post came courtesy of the guy I call my best friend.  I am not going to use any names but his initials are KL.  We were talking on Friday night and I told him that if he and his wife had nothing to do on Saturday Morning they should come over to the studio that we tape Friendhsip Set To Music at and they could watch the show and maybe even be in the Square Dance ABC segment.  He said to me and I quote: “I’m too young to square dance”.  We have a saying around square dancing that it is good for ages 8-98.  Younger then age 8 you get into a problem with memory retention.  I do know at least one square dance who is 100 years old.  So you are not too young to square dance!  Ask any one who does!  I learned to square dance when I was 29 years old, ad that was 22 years ago.  When my wife and I were learning, we were some of the youngest in the club but we still had a blast and we still do today.  Next week I will finish off with some parting thoughts about Square Dancing.

Brian

This week I am going to talk about just how long does it take to learn to square dance.  About 5 minutes.  No really, about 5 minutes.  Now in that 5 minutes you would only know about two square dance calls, probably Circle Left and Circle Right.  The rest of the story goes like this: Square Dancing is divided into different programs and I am going to talk about what most people consider to be the first program, Mainstream.  There are 68 different calls in the Mainstream Program.  You don’t learn them all at once, it takes time but then everything worth doing takes time.  If you start out in a beginner class then it should take about 4 months to learn all of the the calls.  You will have lots of help and it’s a lot of FUN!! If you want to find a club to learn what all of the Fun, Friendship and Fitness is all about, drop me a line and I’ll help you find a club.

Last week I talked about the clothes square dancers wear, this week I am going to talk about music.  No it’s just not country, although I have nothing against CW music.  I even have some that I use.  But I’ll bet that you did not know that you can square dance to just about any type of music.  We’re talking, Rock, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Classical, Gospel.  Frankly all you need is a beat (something to walk to).  If you ask your friendly neighborhood square dance caller what they have in his or her record case (or a lot of callers use a laptop so ask them what’s in their library).  I’m betting you will get surprised.  As I write this I just got some brand new music samples and one that I know I am going to order is “Never Can Say Goodbye” (yes the Michael Jackson song).  If you are at a dance and see me ask me about it sometime. 

If you still need proof, here’s a link to a major seller of Square Dance Music.  Take a look and see what is offered.  Oh and by the way, you need to find out what all the Fun, Fitness & Friendship is all about!

Brian

Note from Brian: I hope to write something every week for the next few weeks about some of the myths about square dancing

If you asked the average person to say the first thing that comes to mind when you say square dancing, I would bet that at least 50 % (if not more) would say “Old people and funny clothes”  I hope to clear up some myths about square dancing for you.

What about the clothes?  It’s true that some people do wear the traditional square dancing outfits it has become more common place to wear jeans and a polo shirt for the guys and maybe a prairie skirt or jeans for the ladies.  Now I am not saying that you show up in shorts and a tank top although sometimes you might just see that.

One thing I can say is that I have never witnessed anyone being asked to leave because they were not in ‘square dance attire’.  I am not saying that it could happen but for the last few years square dance clubs have gone to a casual style of dress if that’s what you want to wear.

One thing to keep in mind is that square dancing is a family oriented event so maybe use some common sense.

If you want to see what square dancing is all about just go to the page with the state listings or if you want to try your hand at square dancing  go to the square dance abc page  If you still want more information drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do.  Come see the ‘Fun, Fitness and Friendship” that square dancing brings

Brian

Thanks to good friends,  Ken and Dee I got the chance to call in Hollywood (MN that is) today.  They hosted a squre dance for new callers and Dee called me to see if I could come over.  I got to try out a lot of new patter and some new singing calls also.  Bob Maiden joined me on stage today.

I got the opportunity to call in Mankato, MN with Ernie, Steve, Larry and Dean on Sunday May 31.  This was a fund raiser dance for the American Cancer Society.  4 squares and a lot of fun

Here’s a link to all the photos

Photo Link

Brian