Here’s a great name for a Thanksgiving weekend dance: the ButterBall. Also, a great idea: a one-day, 12-hour dance, with different callers (and, since this is a contra dance, bands). (I wonder if the turkey people have problems with this use of a brand name…)

Over on the square dancing mailing list, Clark Baker set up a poll to record the ages of the list participants. So far, there are 57 responses, showing over 50% are between 40 and 60 (I’m pretty close to the middle of that group). While this shows that there are very few young people on the list (8 between 20 and 40), it also shows a skew towards a slightly younger group. If we did a poll at various square dance groups, I’d bet we’d find a majority over 60, whereas in this group, the majority are slightly younger.

A few days ago, I mentioned Erik Hoffman, a caller that Turtle-Bear and I really enjoyed at the Boo Camp dance weekend. I found a few chapters from his book, Contradictions, and he has some interesting things to say about dance, trance, style, and connection. Check it out.

Did you ever get the feeling that square dancers take themselves way too seriously? A few days ago, I cited a couple of articles dealing with rules and obligations of square dancers. Here are some others: Ground Rules of Square Dancing and Duties and Responsibilities. Also, a graduation ceremony that makes me laugh, it takes square dancing so seriously. But maybe it’s a generational thing: the ‘greatest generation‘ vs. the baby boomers. Or maybe it’s just my personality; I’m not particularly fond of ceremonial rituals.