A couple of years ago, when I first wrote this weblog, I got involved with the Open Directory, a collaborative human-edited directory of the Web. I became an editor of the Square Dancing category (which, by the way, currently needs an editor). I mentioned the Open Directory a couple of times: here and here.

I also mentioned Nupedia, an open source, collaborative encyclopedia. Well, Nupedia looks like it’s going nowhere; the latest article was posted more than a year ago . However, there’s another project, the Wikipedia, a WikiWiki site devoted to building an open content encyclopedia that may have taken away Nupedia’s impetus. Nupedia has (had?) an elaborate review system for every article. Wikipedia is open; anybody can edit any article at any time. For more info, see the entry on Wikipedia in the encyclopedia itself.

This open format has clearly encouraged contributions. While the Nupedia had no entry on square dancing, Wikipedia has several, including:

• Square Dance
• Western Square Dance
• Contra
• Gay Square Dancing

. And all can be edited at any time. We could make it a definitive reference.

Here are a couple of links on writing and building a web site:

• Patterns for Personal Web Sites:
  

  There are many personal Web sites. The vast majority are mediocre. Some are bad. Fewer are good. An extremely small number are excellent.

  These excellent sites — and I use “excellent” subjectively — fascinate me. Why is finding a new one such a delight? What distinguishes them from the rest? What unnamable yet instantly recognizable quality do they possess?

  This is my attempt to answer some of these questions. My method is to distill the qualities of the best personal Web sites (and my own) into a set of patterns. These patterns can be used as guidelines for creating a personal Web site.

• Gar’s Tips on Sucks-Less Writing:
  

  When it’s time for a tight edit, go over every word. Ask yourself: is this necessary? Is this the simplest, most straight-forward way of saying this? If not, toss or revise it! You’ll be amazed at how many words you’ll be able to trash.

I found a series of interesting essays, written by Henry Morgenstein, a confirmed contra dancer. Here’s an excerpt from Contra Dancers & Squares:

Contra dancers like the predictability of contras: once you’ve done the dance once or twice, you know exactly what moves comes next. You don’t have to think. You don’t have to be alert. Died-in-the-wool square dancers like to be surprised. They like being in the hands of a caller who can, and will, change his mind on the fly. If a “true” square dance caller sees a crowd of dancers anticipating his next call, he will change the call, try to trip them up. Square dancers love being so alert that you can’t trip them up.

This is not a game contra dancers like to play. They do not like to be on “high alert”. They like to be lost in the dance, not alert in case a new move appears. In another essay I called Contra dancing “trance dance”. Being on “high alert” is the very opposite of being “in a trance”, lost in the music and lost in the flow of the moves.

And, in Dance Before Class, he says:

Gym classes should not be devoted to competitive team sports. Gym classes should be devoted to social dancing.
…
Dance emphasizes cooperation, not competition. Dance emphasizes personal grace, not punishing power. Dance involves absolutely every person in the class, and you are never inactive, waiting for the ball to be pitched or snapped. Dance is egalitarian; size and weight do not matter.

While I like the “flow” state of being on “high alert”, when one is dancing on the edge, but but the whole square is moving together and succeeding, I also like a “dance trance” sometimes. And I enjoyed reading Henry’s essays. Check ’em out.

Article on marketing square dancing: The Life Cycle of Modern Square Dancing. If you’d rather have .doc version, it’s here. The article is by Patrick Demerath.

Here are a couple of articles on square dancing from a Canadian farm journal: Western Producer – Square dancing fails to attract younger crowd and Western Producer – Dancing puts twist into life

Want to see yourself as google sees you? Check out Googlism, where you can enter yours (or somebody else’s) name and how web pages would describe you.

For example, I entered my name (of course) and got:

1. kris jensen is a top 12 teacher recent honorees
2. kris jensen is the club caller or cuer
3. kris jensen is project leader for sdsm&t
4. kris jensen is responsible for networking
5. kris jensen is an amazing and wonderful caller
6. kris jensen is the third book set on the world of ardel where the natives experience esp as a genetic attribute that emerges with the stage of
7. kris jensen is active in the community surrounding southwest district court
8. kris jensen is working for fluor

.
Obviously, only a couple (sort of) apply to me. No. 6 is about Kris Jensen, the science fiction author, who, unfortunately, doesn’t have a web site.

Now, here’s a (slightly edited) list of what you get if you enter “square dancing”:

• square dancing is friendship
• square dancing is healthy fun
• square dancing is fun for everyone
• square dancing is probably not what you think it is
• square dancing is high energy dancing
• square dancing is a cooperative activity involving the dancers themselves and their
• square dancing is today
• square dancing is distracting to you and especially others
• square dancing is universal
• square dancing is a social activity where eight people interact through a series of movements as “called” by the square dance caller
• square dancing is a dance form where groups of 8 people working as a team perform
• square dancing is all goofed up
• square dancing is the perfect exercise
• square dancing is movement to music
• square dancing is also good exercise
• square dancing is rarely held where alcohol or smoking is permitted in the building
• square dancing is one of the hottest new social activities in our community
• square dancing is party time every time you do it
• square dancing is a language
• square dancing is the great grandchild of contra dancing their roots are similar and their history intersected at one time
• square dancing is in fact an extension and refinement of numerous foreign influences brought to this country
• square dancing is “friendship set to music
• square dancing is not native only to the united states
• square dancing is friendship set to music”
• square dancing is for eight persons acting together in a “square”
• square dancing is often used as a general term for the whole activity which includes contra dancing
• square dancing is really the authentic barn dance of those american pioneering days
• square dancing is a vital part of america’s history and tradition
• square dancing is not just do si do and left alamande
• square dancing is the american folk dance
• square dancing is to be found in every state
• square dancing is life
• square dancing is that the caller makes up the dance as you dance it
• square dancing is based upon walking in defined directions for defined distances
• square dancing is quite different from its grandchild
• square dancing is not barn dancing
• square dancing is an important social event in the east bay lesbian and gay community
• square dancing is unlike any other form of dance
• square dancing is out of this world
• square dancing is a favorite family pastime both here in the usa and in many other parts of the world
• square dancing is fun
• square dancing is great fun
• square dancing is a couple activity
• square dancing is square dancing as it is generally danced in the gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans community
• square dancing is typically hosted by square dance clubs
• square dancing is more popular than ever
• square dancing is a standardized outgrowth of this
• square dancing is done under the direction of a caller
• square dancing is called in english
• square dancing is a far cry from the old time barn dances of yesteryear
• square dancing is so different from the traditional barn dance that it deserves a completely different name
• square dancing is america’s national dance
• square dancing is in foreign countries
• square dancing is hard to differentiate from good old american heterosexual square dancing
• square dancing is like the ultimate game of simon says
• square dancing is standardized
• square dancing is offered as part of the dearborn recreation department’s senior services division
• square dancing is a cross between fast walking and aerobic dancing
• square dancing is the world’s greatest social mixer
• square dancing is made up of four couples whose movements are directed by a “caller” who chants the rhythmic calls
• square dancing is fun and friendship set to music”
• square dancing is on the move and is a great way to keep physically and mentally fit
• square dancing is a popular activity here in southern california
• square dancing is an excellent form of aerobic activity
• square dancing is good for the body and the mind
• square dancing is completely different and is a truly fascinating activity

You can get the unedited results here. Put it all together, and square dancing sounds like a really intriguing activity, don’t you think?