09 October 2011
Happy Hoppers Newsletter #5
10/12/2011
From Steve and Susan:
It was great to see everyone Wednesday night!
During our dance time together, Steve and I occasionally share helpful dancing tips. In the middle of dancing, you might not catch them all. I will do my best to repeat them here.
1. Touch hands: If you are standing by someone, you should be touching hands with the person next to you. This will help you keep track of your partner. (Remember your partner changes frequently) Your partner can keep track of you. It will also help you know where you are in the formation. A quick example, you are standing in a line and you are touching hands with two people. You immediately know that you are in the center of the line.
2. Keep dancing: Keep moving forward. Don’t stop. It is square dancing not square standing. Move forward. There will be somebody to dance with. If your square breaks down keep dancing. There is no need to discuss what happened. It doesn’t matter. If discussion is necessary do it after the tip.
3: Make BIG mistakes: If you make a mistake, don’t be shy. Do it big! Nine times out of ten you are not the only one having trouble with that particular call. The caller will see that there is a problem and will help everyone get back on the same page or foot as it were.
4. Keep the square small: If the square gets too big, dancing becomes harder. You have to take more steps to complete the call. Frequently, when the square is too big, we don’t end up in the correct position to do the next call.
5. Finish one call before doing the next one: Following this tip will put you in the correct position to do the next call.
6. Don’t rush but move: Every call has a certain number of beats to execute it in. If you finish a call and are standing still waiting for the next one, you were rushing which is not dancing. If you are not in the correct position to do the next call you are moving too slowly. Move a bit faster next time. This is learned with more dance floor time or more dance experience. When we are learning the calls we move slower as we translate what we heard into moving our feet and hands to complete the call. As we gain confidence in doing any particular call, we can move faster toward dancing it in the correct time.
7. If you have questions or points of confusion, ask the caller/teacher: We are here to help. We love what we do and want to you be able to dance to any caller anywhere. We are here to help you be successful square dancers.
On my website (www.callersusan.com) there is a tab for “Square Dance Writings.” There you will find an article for New Dancers by Ed Foote from a newsletter from 1981. Ed shares some of these tips as well as some others for new dancers. Here is the direct link – http://callersusan.com/blog-2/index.html
Don’t forget if you miss a class or have questions about anything that we have learned you can come early to ask questions or find out what you missed. Steve and I aim to be there and set up ready to go by 6:45 p.m.
Have a great rest of your weekend! See you Monday night!
Happy dancing,
Susan and Steve
Week #5:
11. Half Sashay Family:
11 a. Half Sashay: Dancer on the right steps to their left; dancer on the left takes a small step backward slides behind the dancer on the right, step forward into the other dancer’s place. Dancers change places without ever changing their facing direction. HALF SASHAY – 4 steps.
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.
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.
16. Ladies Chain Family:
16 c. Chain Down The Line: Starting position is a two-faced line with the girls in the center holding right hands; girls trade with the right hand (the star part); offer their left hand to the boy for a COURTESY TURN; while girls are trading boys take a step to their right to be in correct position for COURTESY TURN. CHAIN DOWN THE LINE – 8 steps.
26. Walk Around The Corner: Dancers face their corners. Walking forward and around each other while keeping right shoulders adjacent, dancers return to their original position, with their backs toward their corner. WALK AROUND THE CORNER – 8 steps
27. See Saw: Each dancer walks forward and around the partner keeping left shoulders adjacent, then steps forward to face the corner. This is not a DOSADO. SEE SAW – 8 steps.
TIPS FOR BETTER DANCING:
A. Be a good listener: Listen to the caller. Be quiet so others can listen too.
B. Get into squares quickly: As soon as the music starts move to the floor to form squares. Dance at the front of the hall as often as possible.
C. Be a courteous dancer: Do your part, listen to the caller, don’t talk in the square. Touch hands; don’t grab. Don’t push or pull.
D. Be on time for class/club: Class will start on time, sometimes the beginning tip will be warm up and review and sometimes it will be new things right away.
E. Be a thoughtful dancer: Do your part, listen to the caller, don’t talk in the square.
F. Be a cooperative dancer: Do your part, listen to the caller, don’t talk in the square.
G. Take it easy: Be gentle, don’t pull or push other dancers.
H. Be a friendly dancer: To have a friend, be a friend. Smile!
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.
It was great to see everyone Wednesday night!
During our dance time together, Steve and I occasionally share helpful dancing tips. In the middle of dancing, you might not catch them all. I will do my best to repeat them here.
1. Touch hands: If you are standing by someone, you should be touching hands with the person next to you. This will help you keep track of your partner. (Remember your partner changes frequently) Your partner can keep track of you. It will also help you know where you are in the formation. A quick example, you are standing in a line and you are touching hands with two people. You immediately know that you are in the center of the line.
2. Keep dancing: Keep moving forward. Don’t stop. It is square dancing not square standing. Move forward. There will be somebody to dance with. If your square breaks down keep dancing. There is no need to discuss what happened. It doesn’t matter. If discussion is necessary do it after the tip.
3: Make BIG mistakes: If you make a mistake, don’t be shy. Do it big! Nine times out of ten you are not the only one having trouble with that particular call. The caller will see that there is a problem and will help everyone get back on the same page or foot as it were.
4. Keep the square small: If the square gets too big, dancing becomes harder. You have to take more steps to complete the call. Frequently, when the square is too big, we don’t end up in the correct position to do the next call.
5. Finish one call before doing the next one: Following this tip will put you in the correct position to do the next call.
6. Don’t rush but move: Every call has a certain number of beats to execute it in. If you finish a call and are standing still waiting for the next one, you were rushing which is not dancing. If you are not in the correct position to do the next call you are moving too slowly. Move a bit faster next time. This is learned with more dance floor time or more dance experience. When we are learning the calls we move slower as we translate what we heard into moving our feet and hands to complete the call. As we gain confidence in doing any particular call, we can move faster toward dancing it in the correct time.
7. If you have questions or points of confusion, ask the caller/teacher: We are here to help. We love what we do and want to you be able to dance to any caller anywhere. We are here to help you be successful square dancers.
On my website (www.callersusan.com) there is a tab for “Square Dance Writings.” There you will find an article for New Dancers by Ed Foote from a newsletter from 1981. Ed shares some of these tips as well as some others for new dancers. Here is the direct link – http://callersusan.com/blog-2/index.html
Don’t forget if you miss a class or have questions about anything that we have learned you can come early to ask questions or find out what you missed. Steve and I aim to be there and set up ready to go by 6:45 p.m.
Have a great rest of your weekend! See you Monday night!
Happy dancing,
Susan and Steve
Week #5:
11. Half Sashay Family:
11 a. Half Sashay: Dancer on the right steps to their left; dancer on the left takes a small step backward slides behind the dancer on the right, step forward into the other dancer’s place. Dancers change places without ever changing their facing direction. HALF SASHAY – 4 steps.
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.
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.
16. Ladies Chain Family:
16 c. Chain Down The Line: Starting position is a two-faced line with the girls in the center holding right hands; girls trade with the right hand (the star part); offer their left hand to the boy for a COURTESY TURN; while girls are trading boys take a step to their right to be in correct position for COURTESY TURN. CHAIN DOWN THE LINE – 8 steps.
26. Walk Around The Corner: Dancers face their corners. Walking forward and around each other while keeping right shoulders adjacent, dancers return to their original position, with their backs toward their corner. WALK AROUND THE CORNER – 8 steps
27. See Saw: Each dancer walks forward and around the partner keeping left shoulders adjacent, then steps forward to face the corner. This is not a DOSADO. SEE SAW – 8 steps.
TIPS FOR BETTER DANCING:
A. Be a good listener: Listen to the caller. Be quiet so others can listen too.
B. Get into squares quickly: As soon as the music starts move to the floor to form squares. Dance at the front of the hall as often as possible.
C. Be a courteous dancer: Do your part, listen to the caller, don’t talk in the square. Touch hands; don’t grab. Don’t push or pull.
D. Be on time for class/club: Class will start on time, sometimes the beginning tip will be warm up and review and sometimes it will be new things right away.
E. Be a thoughtful dancer: Do your part, listen to the caller, don’t talk in the square.
F. Be a cooperative dancer: Do your part, listen to the caller, don’t talk in the square.
G. Take it easy: Be gentle, don’t pull or push other dancers.
H. Be a friendly dancer: To have a friend, be a friend. Smile!
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.