I use it all the time; if you check past stories, I often talk about “googling” someone. Should I cease and desist? According to Google’s lawyers, yes. Will I? Nope. Should I? According to Frank Abate, a former editor for the OED, no. So, a-googling I will go…

Anybody remember her? She was going to be square dancing’s celebrity spokesperson, although this is the only place I could find this memorialized (see Square Dance Fact #9). I remember her being at a CALLERLAB convention in the mid-nineties, where they were shooting some kind of commercial featuring her, but I don’t remember much else (except wondering who the heck is Rebecca Holden, never having been a Knight Rider fan). So Rebecca didn’t have much of an impact on square dancing, and square dancing didn’t have much of an impact on Rebecca, although if you go to her resume (her website is framed, so I can’t give you a direct link) and look real close, you’ll find “Square” among her special skills:

Singing (Country, Pop, Gospel, & Classical), Dance (Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Ballroom, Swing, Country, & Square), Piano, Guitar, Aerobics, Weightlifting, Running, Jogging, Horseback Riding, Swimming, Fishing, Tennis, Stuntwork, Snorkeling, Yoga, Roller-Skating, Exhibiting Show Animals (Dogs, Persian Cats)

Yet another indication that square dance callers are like programmers: here’s a comparison of text-command based OS’s to square dance calling.

DOS
“Disk Operating System” While the term DOS at one time referred to any disk-based operating system running on a computer, use of this term today is usually directed to the Microsoft DOS (MS-DOS) that was created to run on the Intel-based PCs. While Windows and the Macintosh OS are graphical user environments, DOS is text based. This means that users of DOS need to learn the specialized codes necessary to perform tasks. The concept is a little bit like calling a squaredance for your computer. Just don’t expect it to “do-si-do” when you type “DEL *.*”

The last time I wrote about a particular individual, he had nothing to do with square dancing (see Who is Gregg Ostrick?). Carl Kaye, however, is having a big impact on square dancing, at least on the music. Two new labels (EPTunes, based in The Netherlands, and Ozark Productions, based in Arkansas, are using Carl Kaye’s music production skills. In February, EPTunes released two MP3-only tunes, with producer Erik Pluylaar singing, and Ozark Productions released five CD/MP3 tunes, with different singers (including Carl Kaye on Put Some Drive in your Country).

I would say the music is of high quality, but you need to be careful on tempo; I’m not sure the producers are focused on getting a good square dance tempo. Also, on at least one of the songs from Ozark (Summer Nights), there are some extra beats added each time through the melody.

If you’d like to get Carl Kaye to create some square dance music for you, see Aaron’s Audio Alternatives. Aaron Albright is a nom-de-plum for Carl Kaye, and this company will do all kinds of music-related services, including cleaning up old vinyl and arranging and recording songs.

I like to keep up on rec.folk-dancing, and there have been a few interesting threads recently:

• Dealing with non-traditional lifestyles at dances: Most of the dancers had a pretty negative reaction to the person who brought up his discomfort with dancing with a transvestite. Interestingly enough, the cross-dressing guy was dancing the man’s part and always partnered up with his wife, but apparently, the complainer had a hard time even holding hands with the cross-dresser.
• Unsolicited Advice for Contra Dance Callers: This discussion (very long!) ranges over a lot of topics, including calling and dancing squares. There’s a lot to wade through, but there are some interesting observations along the way.
• Reply to “unsolicited Advice”: A continuation of the already very long discussion.
• HR 645 – designating “square dance” the “national folk dance”: it comes up almost every term; why should this one be an exception, even though we are perilously close to starting a war?

Here’s a blast from the past: an article on gay square dancing from 1998: before the LA convention, back when SquareUp was still publishing, back when Allan Hurst had just started learning to call–you know, becoming “one of those guys you’ve seen standing on a hay bale calling out complex choreography like an auctioneer.” (Quote from the article)

Google can lead to strange places. I googled Myers-Briggs square dance and came across:

• a 1996 report on a long distance hiking association gathering.
• an article on spiritual awakening written for a Canadian Evangelical Lutheran publication, which talks about square dancing churches and ballroom churches…
• a transgender newsletter
• a Pride and Prejudice discussion list, where one post talks about the dances as predecessors to modern square dances, and another wonders if there are specific personality types attracted to the character traits of Lizzie and Darcy (hmmm…I’ve always been attracted to Elizabeth and Darcy, and I’m a square dancer…could there be a correlation?).
• various calendars with juxtapositions of Myer-Briggs workshops and dance events

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Went to see Kate Clinton last night; nothing to do with square dancing (except I missed dancing to Rick Gittelman at ACES), but it was like old home week for the Albuquerque lesbian community. I saw folks there I hadn’t seen in (seems like) 10 years.

True confession time: I’m an introvert. I first realized this years ago, when my mom got into making everyone she knew take a Meyers-Brigg Type Indicator (lots of references here) questionnaire. (If you knew my mom, you’d know it’s easier just to take the test than to resist.) I was an ISTJ–wishy-washy on the S/N scale, but extremely strong on the I side of the I/E scale. My mom is an extremely strong E, and both my brother and I are equally strong I’s. I think the test helped her realize that when we resisted going to her parties and meeting all her friends, it was because we honestly wouldn’t enjoy it (even though for her, nothing could be more fun than going to one of our parties (assuming we had them) and meeting our friends).

Square Dance relevance? While the MBTI has its share of skeptics, it might be interesting to know if there’s a common set of types among square dancers. Do we tend to be more ST (Guardian) types, because square dancing tends to be fairly regimented, and people who stay can put up with (and even enjoy) lots of rules and structure? Should we aim our marketing to particular personality types?