Samena Squares Lesson #2
09/26/2013
Dear Friends,
Once again welcome to the Samena Squares! We are so glad that you chose to join us!
This is your weekly email newsletter. Below you will find a brief definition of the calls we danced Thursday night. You can refresh your memory before next week. Most of learning to square dance happens with repetition, building muscle memory. It will help to know the definition in future weeks though when we start combining calls in different ways.
In the next week or so you will receive books with the definitions. Every year I caution our new dancers to use the books wisely depending on your learning style. Some dancers can read them and it helps with their learning. Other dancers find them confusing until after we have danced a particular call for a week or two.
In this electronic age there are some Internet resources too. There are two websites that I recommend:
The Tam Twirlers – http://www.tamtwirlers.org/tamination/info/index.html
This site has a bird’s eye view of the moves. Squares are boys. Circles are girls. You want to pick the Basic 1 group of calls to look at this point. I would suggest picking one color and then follow how they move through the call.
The Saddlebrook Squares – http://www.saddlebrookesquares.com/lessons.htm#mainstream
This site has actual dancers. You will need to find the call you want to look at in the Mainstream list and then watch that video. Pick one of the dancers and follow them through that call.
If you have questions, bring them to class on Thursday nights.
Dates to note:
Here are two dates that I want you to put on your calendar immediately…
Friday, October 4, 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 for new square dancers. It will be an opportunity to dance the calls that you know to another caller. It will also be an opportunity to meet other new square dancers too. I am planning to go. Hopefully, some of the Samenas will be able to attend too.
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. Costumes are encouraged.
Don’t forget these resources:
Samena Squares – http://www.samenasquares.org
Susan Morris – http://www.callersusan.com.
These newsletters are also on my web site under the Samenas New Dancer tab.
Have a great week! Stay dry!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week #2:
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Once again welcome to the Samena Squares! We are so glad that you chose to join us!
This is your weekly email newsletter. Below you will find a brief definition of the calls we danced Thursday night. You can refresh your memory before next week. Most of learning to square dance happens with repetition, building muscle memory. It will help to know the definition in future weeks though when we start combining calls in different ways.
In the next week or so you will receive books with the definitions. Every year I caution our new dancers to use the books wisely depending on your learning style. Some dancers can read them and it helps with their learning. Other dancers find them confusing until after we have danced a particular call for a week or two.
In this electronic age there are some Internet resources too. There are two websites that I recommend:
The Tam Twirlers – http://www.tamtwirlers.org/tamination/info/index.html
This site has a bird’s eye view of the moves. Squares are boys. Circles are girls. You want to pick the Basic 1 group of calls to look at this point. I would suggest picking one color and then follow how they move through the call.
The Saddlebrook Squares – http://www.saddlebrookesquares.com/lessons.htm#mainstream
This site has actual dancers. You will need to find the call you want to look at in the Mainstream list and then watch that video. Pick one of the dancers and follow them through that call.
If you have questions, bring them to class on Thursday nights.
Dates to note:
Here are two dates that I want you to put on your calendar immediately…
Friday, October 4, 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 for new square dancers. It will be an opportunity to dance the calls that you know to another caller. It will also be an opportunity to meet other new square dancers too. I am planning to go. Hopefully, some of the Samenas will be able to attend too.
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. Costumes are encouraged.
Don’t forget these resources:
Samena Squares – http://www.samenasquares.org
Susan Morris – http://www.callersusan.com.
These newsletters are also on my web site under the Samenas New Dancer tab.
Have a great week! Stay dry!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week #2:
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.
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 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.
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.
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.