Samena Squares Lesson #5

Dear Friends,

Another fun night of dancing! We missed you, Edie and Denny!

This is the last time I’m going to list all the calls that we know. The list will get TOO long and the emails TOO big. From now on I will just list the new calls that we learn. You can always check my website for past issues of the newsletter.
www.callersusan.com

Dates to note:
Friday, October 25, Samena Squares Dance of the Pumpkins Halloween Level Dance, 7:30 – 10:30 p.m. at Juanita Community Club, Susan Morris, calling. This dance will be a mixture of squares and mixers, contras and line dances. Costumes are encouraged.

Friday, November 1, Whirlybirds First Friday Fun Fest, 7:30 – 10:30 p.m. at The Hayloft, 15320 35th Ave W, Lynnwood, Dave Harry, calling. This dance is tons of fun! This is a Samena Squares club caravan. Lots of club members will be going with you. As we get closer to the time we will be talking about maybe meeting for dinner somewhere before the dance.

I hope you are busy getting your costume ready for Friday night!

See you Thursday!!!

Happy dancing,
Susan
Week #5:
Dancer naming:
i, Couple: Two people standing side by side; for universal understanding of square dance commands the dancer on the left dances the boy/man part of commands, the dancer on the right dances the girl/lady part of commands.

ii. Heads, Sides, Couple Numbers: Head couples have their back to or face the caller/music; Sides are the other two couples; Couple numbers – #1 back to caller, #2 to their right, #3 to the right of #2 or face the caller, #4 to the right of #3.

iii. Boys, Girls: Actual Boys and Girls or those dancing the Boy/Girl part of the move.

1. Circle Left & Right: Join hands in a circle and move left or right as indicated; circles can be made with 2 or more people. CIRCLE LEFT or RIGHT – 8 dancers full around, 16 steps; 4 dancers full around, 8 steps.

2. Forward & Back:
In a squared set for heads or sides, it is 3 steps and touch, then back 3 steps. FORWARD & BACK – 8 steps.

3 a. Dosado:
With person you are facing, step slightly left, walk forward to pass right shoulders, slide back to back, back up past left shoulder, slide to face to face start position. DOSADO – with corner/partner 6 steps, across square – 8 steps.

4. Swing:
Dancers step toward each other in ballroom dance position; leaning back slightly, walk forward around each other; the boy ends facing the direction of the next call; the girl rolls out to dance position on his right side. SWING – 4-8 steps at the Callers discretion.

5. Promenade Family:

5 a. Couples: With partner walk together counter-clockwise to home position; right hands joined over joined left hands. PROMENADE – couples full around 16 steps.

5 b. Single File Promenade:
Specified dancers walk single file counterclockwise inside the square or where indicated by the caller. SINGLE FILE PROMENADE – 4 dancers inside to home – 8 steps.

5 d. Star Promenade:
Dancers in the star put their arm around (or join hands with) the indicated dancer and continue walking together until the next call. STAR PROMENADE – 4 couples full around 12 steps; with backout at home – 16 steps.

6. Allemande Left:
Turn toward corner, left arm turn 180 degrees, let go and step through, end back to back with corner, facing partner. ALLEMANDE LEFT – 8 steps.

8. Right and Left Grand Family:

8 a. Right & Left Grand: Start facing partner, take right hands, walk by, offer left hand to next, walk by; continue alternating hands to the 5th hand (should be the dancer you started with). Boys are going counterclockwise; girls are going clockwise. RIGHT & LEFT GRAND – 10 steps.

8 b. Weave the Ring:
Same as RIGHT AND LEFT GRAND without hands. Hint: pass same shoulder as the hand you would be using. WEAVE THE RING – 10 steps.

9. Left/Right Hand Star:
Indicated dancers step to the center of the formation to join the designated hand in a loose star; walk forward to starting position of next call. It is often a full turn but can be fractionalized. LEFT/ RIGHT HAND STAR – 4 dancers full around 8 steps.

10. Pass
Thru: With person you are facing step ahead passing right shoulders. STOP as soon as you pass by. End back to back. Same as 1/2 DOSADO. PASS THRU – 2 steps.

11. Half Sashay Family:

11 b. Rollaway: Dancer on right steps forward and rolls to face dancer on left and continues to roll to the left side of the other dancer, a 360-degree turn. Use your hands to steady the dancer doing the roll. In a circle, unless stated otherwise, the ladies do the ROLLAWAY. ROLLAWAY – 4 steps.

11 c. Ladies In Men Sashay: In any circle of boy/girl couples with the boy on the left and girl on the right circling left, the girls step forward, the boys step to their left and the girls step back to a new empty place. If the dancers are circling right, it is the opposite. Can also be done from a line. For variety, the call can be Men In Ladies Sashay. LADIES IN MEN SASHAY – 4 steps.

12. Turn Back Family:
12 a. ‘U’-Turn back: One of the self-explanatory calls, turn around in place to face opposite direction. If you have a partner beside you it is friendlier and nicer to turn toward your partner, sometimes this is left and sometimes it is right. ‘U’-TURN BACK – 2 steps.

12 b. Backtrack:
Designated dancers roll out (away from center) and walk around the set in opposite direction until next call; the others continue in the direction they were going. BACKTRACK – 2 steps.

15. Courtesy Turn: Girls (or right hand dancer) sticks out left hand in front palm down, places right hand on hip or does skirt work; Boys (or left hand dancer) offers left hand palm up to girl, place right hand gently on back; gently guide her forward, while backing up, turning as a couple to face opposite direction or the center of the set. COURTESY TURN – 4 steps.

16. Ladies
Chain Family:
16 a. Two & Four Ladies Chain: Two (or four) girls step toward the center to make a right hand star; turn 1/2 way; offer left hand to opposite boy for a COURTESY TURN; end as couple facing center of formation. While girls are staring the boys take a step to their right to be in correct position for COURTESY TURN. TWO & FOUR LADIES CHAIN – 8 steps.

16 b. Two & Four Ladies Chain 3/4: Same as above except the turn is 3/4. Can be called with other fractions. TWO & FOUR LADIES CHAIN 3/4 – 10 steps.

18. Lead Right: Directed couples (Heads, Sides), with a couple handhold, will walk forward as a couple to face the couple to the right. LEAD RIGHT – 4 steps.

19. Veer Left/Right:
Moving as a couple, slide left or right as directed, maintaining facing direction with a small forward motion as well. VEER LEFT/RIGHT – 2 steps.

20. Bend The Line:
Couples, as a unit, turn 90 degrees to face center. Like folding a piece of paper. Each end moves forward to meet the other end. The centers need to back up a little to accommodate. This creates new lines facing in. As a couple, you will ALWAYS be facing the other couple that was in your line. BEND THE LINE – 4 steps.

21. Circulate Family:

21. a. Named Dancers Circulate: Named dancers can be boys, girls, centers or ends. The indicated (active) dancers move along the circulate path to the next position. NAMED DANCERS CIRCULATE – 4 steps.

21. b. Couples Circulate:
As a couple move to the next couples place in the square; if you are looking at someone’s back step straight ahead; if you are looking out of the square as a couple move around the corner to the place of the next couple. COUPLES CIRCULATE – 4 steps.

22. Right & Left Thru:
From facing couples, give a right hand to the opposite dancer; pull by and join left hands with the one alongside. Finish with a COURTESY TURN to face the couple with which you are working. RIGHT & LEFT THRU – 6 steps.

23. Grand Square: (32 beats of music)
Each individual dancer tracks the four sides of a square in their quadrant on the floor. Command is “Sides Face, Grand Square.” GRAND SQUARE – 32 steps.

24. Star Thru: Starting with facing dancers (boy & girl), boy’s right hand and girl's left hand form a momentary arch. The girl ducks through the arch while the boy slides past the girl crossing behind her. Each turn a quarter in the direction of their joined hands. End as a couple side by side. STAR THRU – 4 steps.

25. California Twirl:
With the joined hand of your partner, raise hands to form a momentary arch. Turning towards each other the girl goes through the arch (under) while the boy steps across behind her to become a couple facing the opposite direction. CALIFORNIA TWIRL – 4 steps.

28 a. Square Thru, 1-4:
Starting position is any two couples (BG, GB, GG, BB) facing each other; start with right hand walk by and turn one quarter in (toward center of foursome); left hand walk by and turn one quarter in; continue the given number of hands until the last one; last hand walk straight ahead; there is no turn. SQUARE THRU, 1-4 – 4 dancers full around – 10 steps.

30. Dive Thru: Inside couple raise joined hands to form an arch while the outside couple ducks through the arch into the center. The archers step forward and immediately CALIFORNIA TWIRL to face back in. DIVE THRU – diving couple, 2 steps; couple facing out, 6 steps.

43. Wheel & Deal: …From two-faced lines, both couples wheel toward the center of the line to end facing each other. WHEEL & DEAL – 4 steps.

I. Emergency call: If someone should fall down in your square, immediately have the other seven dancers join hands stretch out to as big a circle as you can and raise your joined hands as high as you can. This will signal the club officers and the caller that something happened.