Now this is cool…sort of post-modern square dancing: When the Rapture Comes, I’ll Still be Square Dancing:

It’s going to be insane. Mark your calenders and be there. In addition to the Golden Horse Ranch Square Dance Band leading folks in dances to such traditional tunes as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and Parliament’s “Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)”, there will also be decorations and murals by local artists, food and drink aplenty, and maybe, just maybe a mechanical bull.

It promises to be a night you WILL NOT forget. Be there AND be Square.

Note the music choices. If I were in Chicago, I’d go.

Here’s some info on the band:

Don’t let gym class memories spoil the fun of barn dance for you! Annie calls and teaches the dances in a way that gets everyone ‘allemande lefting’ with ease. The band plays a raucous set of square dances, contra dances, polkas, waltzes and others in the tradition of old time barn dances. Everyone has a real good time when they spend some time with The Golden Horse Ranch Square Dance Band.

Note the slur on gym class, then then go take a look at the comment Tomas Machalik posted to my weblog entry, Square dancing and teen blogs.

Here are some photos from the first barn dance. And here’s an article from the Chicago Reader. A couple of quotes:

Annie Coleman came out as a square-dance caller last Auguest, when she threw a hoedown for her 29th birthday. Before that, few of her guests knew she’d been calling dances she she was 14, and she was a little worried about what they might think of an activity often associated with eighth-grade gym and frilly petticoats. “I really didn’t think I would get a good response,” she says, “but everyone loved it. jWe danced from eight at night till three in the morning.”

…dancing “breaks down boundaries when you meet new people. It gives people an out to totally let down their guard.”

“Square dance isn’t really a living art form anymore,” says Coleman, “so a lot of people are into it as history. Some people are into doing things ‘right’ and they take it really seriously. I don’t think that’s what square dancing used to be. I don’t want to dis the scene, but we’re very different. We’re like punk square dance.”

If you’re in Chicago, why don’t you go to The 2nd Annual Open End Barn Dance Apocalypse? And then let me know how it was…

Rich Reel, of all8.com, is organizing a Newer Caller Workshop in the Bay Area. Take a look at the schedule; it’s intense. Here’s Rich:

My goal is to keep things moving. Explanations will be kept to a minimum with the focus on everyone calling as much as possible. An exercise designed for everyone will be provided for every session, however each caller may use their mic time any way they want. (call patter, do a singing call, sight resolve the square, read cards, test choreo, practice voice, etc…)

His homework section looks like good prep for anyone heading off to a callers school (speaking of which, the 2004 GCA caller school has totally filled its beginner and intermediate sections).

Rich has also written an interesting take on resolution: Square Dance Sight Calling – Resolving a Square 2-Face Line Method. It’s basically what I use, except he’s done a further generalization to avoid the distinction between Eight Chain Thru and Facing Lines resolution. With his technique, when both couples are paired, he suggests immediately calling bend the line and slide thru, and then deciding whether a pass thru or a square thru 3 will bring corners to an allemande left. In the technique that I learned (basically from Bill Davis’ Extemporaneous Caller, when both couples are paired, call bend the line and then evaluate sequence (corners adjacent or corners separated) and call either slide thru and pass thru (out of sequence) or slide thru and square thru 3 (in sequence). It’s a very subtle change, but I think it might make a difference in looking at getouts in the future. By evaluating sequence from the facing lines setup, one then has access to a large number of so-called 1P2P getouts.

At any rate, after a full day of calling exercises and mike time, the new callers get a chance to call a tip at a Newer Caller Hoe-down.

Lindsay Marshall, in his Bifurcated Rivets blog, found Vic Ceder’s square dance patter page on January 9 this year. It’s just listed, with no comments; I guess he just found it amusing.

On October 24, 2003, ABC in Chicago published this story:

October 24, 2003 — Three Mondays out of every month the Square Spares Square Dance Club takes over at the senior center in Park Ridge. When it comes to the doe cee does, George Bullat is one of the most energetic participants.

“The friendship, the fun, the exercise…its just a real fine social event. Nice to be with people who care for each other,” said Bullat.

George Bullat was born in 1908 and today in 2003 he is celebrating his 95th birthday.

“I’m just lucky to be here…and especially they told me I seem to be physically and mentally fit which I’m very grateful for,” said George Bullat.

Before his retired at age 78, George Bullat worked for the central scientific company as export sales manager, a job that made him an international traveler.

The dance party was also a birthday party for the clubs oldest member who is the father of two, grand father to one and great grandfather to another.

“I am so thrilled for him…I haven’t had the chance to see the square dance thing…I can see how he enjoys himself so much here,” said Suzanne Davik, daughter.

So what is his advice to those who’d like to reach his age?

“Stay square dancing…have a good attitude…don’t smoke…especially don’t smoke ..it may seem kinda corny but those are good precepts to live by,” said George Bullat.

One of my dancers at the Palo Duro Senior Center is 94 years old. He had a stroke a few weeks ago, but he came back to dancing last week, and is doing pretty well.

Another thing about the story: Mr. Bullat and I share a birthday.

Here’s a reference to square dancing in a blog from Kiersten aka surfbaby:

we started square dancing in gym. hahaha our square is by far the worst in the entire period. it’s me, jen, leah, and some girl anne who somehow got into our group. geh, well i don’t care, shes extremely quiet but seems nice enough.. but the guys in the square are just odd. (we got last pick on guys since jen, leah, and i were busy trying to figure out why anne was in our group instead of lauren, and we ended up with those fools.) i think they’re scared of girls. the mexican in my corner like refuses to make eye contact with me. rawr. that gets me angry. stupid kid, his last name rhymes with his first. who does that.

bahhh.. our group got in trouble today for being the worst. hah it was kinda funny. mr. laycock tried to speed our group up since we were like 12 moves behind every other group, so when chris had to courtesy turn me or whatever he did it incredibly fast and almost threw me into the bleachers. hahaha, i laughed. mr. laycock didn’t.

And here’s Joyceline aka Faithful Skeptic:

Our gym class began the square-dancing unit today. Need I say more? It’s actually not as horrible as some may perceive it to be. It’s funny to watch the freshmen sometimes. It’s like they’re still in their “cootie” phase. (The guys especially.) They’ll casually tuck their hands into the sleeves of their baggy shirts. Or they’ll go into robot mode or something, and they’ll offer their hand to their partner in a way so that they cannot clasp their fingers.

The upperclassmen are a different story. Unlike most of their freshman counterparts, they can get really into it. Clapping their hands, stomping their feet to the music, singing along. Of course, being in a group with those kind of people makes the experience considerably less painful, and maybe somewhat enjoyable. (In a sick and twisted sort of sense…)

They say that this square dancing session is supposed to “enhance our social skills with the opposite sex.” Mmmhmmm….square dancing is definitely the ultimate aphrodisiac. That stetson and those overalls are enough to drive any girl off the wall.

Jennie at Kill the Drama reports on square dancing at a Y camp:

we went back to our cabins to change out of our clothes and went back to the main hall to…square dance. which was actually very very very fun. ahh. it was chaotic, tho, cuz we were all very bouncy and uncooperative. the obese square dancing man was an arse, too. my partner was tim and everyone was split in two sides. and we did the square dancing thing for like half an hour non stop or something. all we did was run around and ‘dosie-doe ’round yer partner…’

I wonder if “square dancing man” equals “caller”…

Moonmaster25 is getting tested:

Tomorrow at my school we are having a test in our skill of square dancing. Tkis test actually counts for our grade too!! I am nervous and happy at the same time. I am having a nice 3-day weekend though. I hope my good friend (who is part of my square ) can shape up for our test, she was absent on Friday the day we reviewed.

Caitie says (about square dancing in high school):

I have found that -even now- a lot of people have a hard time getting out onto the dance floor. Some weird middle school phobia extended into early adulthood.

Maybe they shouldn’t have taught us square dancing in middle school gym class… How is square dancing relevant in today’s society? I’ve never been to a place where people square dance to Outkast. (Would I go to one, though? You better believe it. Store that experience away to mortify my grandchildren)

All I’m saying is that they should have taught us a more applicable form of dance in gym class… THEN people might not be so scared to get out on the floor and shake their thang.

Shake it like a polaroid picture. It’s fun. Do it for you.

We were dancing five squares at Duke City Singles’ first new dancer session last night. And there were even people under 40! And lots of energy! Hope we can maintain it!

I did what I could…kept it light, kept them laughing, tried not to lecture. It felt good, and people said they would come back…but we’ll see next week.

After I finished writing this, I read the sd-callers mailing list, where Tony O. had this to say:

people come to square dance lessons not to be taught square dancing, but to have a couple of hours of entertainment. We¹re trying to make square dancers out of them, and all they want to do is have a good time. Instead of giving them a good time, we try and cram call after call down their throat. We have been trying for years to make the new people adapt to what WE want to call/dance. For the same number of years, ]these new people have been showing us that this is pretty much not what they want (by not staying in the activity). We are trying to gear the people to the activity and not the activity to the people. Consequently, our numbers have been steadily declining.

For the rest of Tony’s thoughts, see the new, apparently publicly accessible sd-callers archives. Tony’s email is here: SD-Callers (no subject).

Dudley Laufman presents several dances that are appropriate for this situation:

…an evening of dancing for children where parents drop them off and you are left to baby sit. Kids running up and down the gym/hall….somebody finds a basketball, lots of screaming. What parents or adults are there, ignore you and their kids.spend their time gossiping, talking about who won the football game etc.

in a post on usenet: NEITHER CONTRA OR SQUARE