Hopper Newsletter #20
02/08/2011
From Susan
Congratulations! You are now Mainstream square dancers. You can go to any advertised Mainstream dance in the world. Wow!
I say that with a word of caution. Just like when you graduated from high school or college, you have a certain amount of knowledge. When you went to apply it in the real world, you learned that there was a lot more to learn. Square dancing is much the same. We have learned all the calls. The ones we learned the first weeks like Right and Left Grand for example, are much easier to dance than the ones we have learned in the last couple of weeks like Spin the Top. The reason being that we have had hundreds of repetitions of Right and Left Grand and only a few of Spin the Top. More dancing means more repetitions.
Don't forget that the Happy Hopper dance this coming Saturday, February 19, is advertised as their Graduation Pie Dance. Please come celebrate your accomplishments. There will be lots of pies and lots of dancing. Squares start at 8 p.m.
Also I wanted to correct one item on your Student Level Dance list. The Square Crow Level dance is this Friday, February 18, 8-10:30 p.m. at the Sammamish Valley Grange. I am calling. If you are up to dancing, two nights this weekend come dance with the Square Crows. If you have to choose only one night, go to the Happy Hopper dance on Saturday. They will feel bad if none of their graduates are there. ;-)
Mark your calendars now! Square dance workshops will begin Thursday, March 17 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Juanita Community Club (13027 100th Ave. NE, Kirkland). We will start by focusing on the calls that we learned the last few weeks of class. The workshops are for more floor time or practice. They will also give us an opportunity to play with some of the variations that we don't have time for in class but that you might see at a dance sometime. I hope you will all plan on coming. The cost will be $5.00/person/night.
Happy Valentine's Day!
See you in a square soon!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Congratulations! You are now Mainstream square dancers. You can go to any advertised Mainstream dance in the world. Wow!
I say that with a word of caution. Just like when you graduated from high school or college, you have a certain amount of knowledge. When you went to apply it in the real world, you learned that there was a lot more to learn. Square dancing is much the same. We have learned all the calls. The ones we learned the first weeks like Right and Left Grand for example, are much easier to dance than the ones we have learned in the last couple of weeks like Spin the Top. The reason being that we have had hundreds of repetitions of Right and Left Grand and only a few of Spin the Top. More dancing means more repetitions.
Don't forget that the Happy Hopper dance this coming Saturday, February 19, is advertised as their Graduation Pie Dance. Please come celebrate your accomplishments. There will be lots of pies and lots of dancing. Squares start at 8 p.m.
Also I wanted to correct one item on your Student Level Dance list. The Square Crow Level dance is this Friday, February 18, 8-10:30 p.m. at the Sammamish Valley Grange. I am calling. If you are up to dancing, two nights this weekend come dance with the Square Crows. If you have to choose only one night, go to the Happy Hopper dance on Saturday. They will feel bad if none of their graduates are there. ;-)
Mark your calendars now! Square dance workshops will begin Thursday, March 17 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Juanita Community Club (13027 100th Ave. NE, Kirkland). We will start by focusing on the calls that we learned the last few weeks of class. The workshops are for more floor time or practice. They will also give us an opportunity to play with some of the variations that we don't have time for in class but that you might see at a dance sometime. I hope you will all plan on coming. The cost will be $5.00/person/night.
Happy Valentine's Day!
See you in a square soon!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Hopper Newsletter #19
02/01/2011
From Susan
Next week is graduation. I hope that you will consider Don's invitation to join the Happy Hoppers. Or as he said join some club. Club membership will keep you dancing.
I forgot to give you the web site that Don told you about in last weeks newsletter. It is www.videosquaredancelessons.com.
Don't forget the two sites that I gave you earlier too.
http://www.saddlebrookesquares.com/lessonindex.htm
http://www.tamtwirlers.org/tamination/info/index.html
If you are not certain about some of the calls check these sites out. Hopefully, it will help some.
The other thing that helps is dancing. As often as you can. Starting with this Friday's First Friday Fun Fest at the Hayloft.
I would also suggest that you might consider dropping in on one of the other classes that is still going on. I'm sure that you would be welcome at the Whirlybirds. They dance at the Hayloft on Thursday nights. The Stanwood Sashayers dance in Stanwood on Monday nights. They just started another class. I would be glad to have you come visit the Samena Squares on Thursday nights at the Juanita Community Club too. It is just another way to get more practice.
Have a great rest of your week! A super great weekend!
See you for the party!!!!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week 19:
32 c. Wrong Way Thar: ALLEMANDE THAR formed at the end of a right arm turn.
Next week: Graduation!
Next week is graduation. I hope that you will consider Don's invitation to join the Happy Hoppers. Or as he said join some club. Club membership will keep you dancing.
I forgot to give you the web site that Don told you about in last weeks newsletter. It is www.videosquaredancelessons.com.
Don't forget the two sites that I gave you earlier too.
http://www.saddlebrookesquares.com/lessonindex.htm
http://www.tamtwirlers.org/tamination/info/index.html
If you are not certain about some of the calls check these sites out. Hopefully, it will help some.
The other thing that helps is dancing. As often as you can. Starting with this Friday's First Friday Fun Fest at the Hayloft.
I would also suggest that you might consider dropping in on one of the other classes that is still going on. I'm sure that you would be welcome at the Whirlybirds. They dance at the Hayloft on Thursday nights. The Stanwood Sashayers dance in Stanwood on Monday nights. They just started another class. I would be glad to have you come visit the Samena Squares on Thursday nights at the Juanita Community Club too. It is just another way to get more practice.
Have a great rest of your week! A super great weekend!
See you for the party!!!!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week 19:
32 c. Wrong Way Thar: ALLEMANDE THAR formed at the end of a right arm turn.
Next week: Graduation!
Hopper Newsletter #18
01/25/2011
From Susan
Great class Monday night! Everyone was dancing so well!
Ray, Anne, Tom and Eli – we missed you! We will look forward to seeing you next Monday. We will catch you up with the rest of us.
Next Monday is the next to the last class. Can you believe it? It always goes so quickly.
Come with any questions that you may have.
I will come prepared to show you some of the variations of some of the calls that you may see from time to time. There are seemingly infinite variations of Grand Square. I will show you a couple of them. They are some of my favorites.
Have a great rest of your weekend!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week 18:
64. Spin Chain Thru: A move combining arm turns and cast offs; ends and centers turn 1/2, new centers cast 3/4, centers of new wave trade 1/2, ends and centers cast 3/4. SPIN CHAIN THRU – 16 steps.
65. Tag the Line-In, Out, Right, Left : Drop hands, face center of the line pass (right shoulder) all the people (2) and listen for the next command, In, Out, Right, Left or something else. TAG THE LINE-IN, OUT, RIGHT, LEFT – 6 steps.
66. Half Tag: Drop hands, face the center of the line; center dancers pass right shoulders to end in a wave with end dancers. HALF TAG – 4 steps.
Next week: Wrong Way Thar, Review! Review! Review!
Great class Monday night! Everyone was dancing so well!
Ray, Anne, Tom and Eli – we missed you! We will look forward to seeing you next Monday. We will catch you up with the rest of us.
Next Monday is the next to the last class. Can you believe it? It always goes so quickly.
Come with any questions that you may have.
I will come prepared to show you some of the variations of some of the calls that you may see from time to time. There are seemingly infinite variations of Grand Square. I will show you a couple of them. They are some of my favorites.
Have a great rest of your weekend!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week 18:
64. Spin Chain Thru: A move combining arm turns and cast offs; ends and centers turn 1/2, new centers cast 3/4, centers of new wave trade 1/2, ends and centers cast 3/4. SPIN CHAIN THRU – 16 steps.
65. Tag the Line-In, Out, Right, Left : Drop hands, face center of the line pass (right shoulder) all the people (2) and listen for the next command, In, Out, Right, Left or something else. TAG THE LINE-IN, OUT, RIGHT, LEFT – 6 steps.
66. Half Tag: Drop hands, face the center of the line; center dancers pass right shoulders to end in a wave with end dancers. HALF TAG – 4 steps.
Next week: Wrong Way Thar, Review! Review! Review!
Hopper Newsletter #17
01/20/2011
From Susan
Good dancing Wednesday night! Thank you all for arranging your schedules in order to be there.
Well, we only have three weeks left. It hardly seems possible. Time has gone by so fast!
Monday night we will learn the last 4 calls. That will leave us two weeks to dance, practice, and get any questions answered. If you have some bring them. Bring them on Monday!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week 17:
62 b. Cross Fold: Designated dancers steps forward and crosses the center line to stand in front of or behind the remaining dancer. CROSS FOLD – 4 steps.
67. Scoot Back: In facing dancer steps straight forward and does a TURN THRU and steps back out to same partner; out facing dancer FOLDS into the empty place. SCOOT BACK – 6 steps.
68. Recycle: From an ocean wave, the end dancers CROSS FOLD and the center dancers FOLD behind them and follow and face in; ends in facing couples. RECYCLE – 4 steps.
Next week: Wrong Way Thar, Spin Chain Thru, Tag the Line – In, Out, Right, Left, Half Tag
Good dancing Wednesday night! Thank you all for arranging your schedules in order to be there.
Well, we only have three weeks left. It hardly seems possible. Time has gone by so fast!
Monday night we will learn the last 4 calls. That will leave us two weeks to dance, practice, and get any questions answered. If you have some bring them. Bring them on Monday!
Happy dancing,
Susan
Week 17:
62 b. Cross Fold: Designated dancers steps forward and crosses the center line to stand in front of or behind the remaining dancer. CROSS FOLD – 4 steps.
67. Scoot Back: In facing dancer steps straight forward and does a TURN THRU and steps back out to same partner; out facing dancer FOLDS into the empty place. SCOOT BACK – 6 steps.
68. Recycle: From an ocean wave, the end dancers CROSS FOLD and the center dancers FOLD behind them and follow and face in; ends in facing couples. RECYCLE – 4 steps.
Next week: Wrong Way Thar, Spin Chain Thru, Tag the Line – In, Out, Right, Left, Half Tag
Hopper Newsletter #16
01/11/2011
From Susan
Great class last night! The dancing is getting smoother every week. Good for you!
Don't forget that there is a dance Friday night at the Juanita Community Club wth the Samena Squares. The information is on the page that Michael gave you.
I hope you all survived the Tuesday night snow storm. I'm glad we didn't have to drive home in it from class.
Happy dancing,
Susan
53. Turn Thru: With dancer you are facing, step forward do a right arm turn half, let go and step forward. You end up exactly where you started facing the opposite direction. TURN THRU – 4 steps.
59. Spin the Top: End and adjacent center dancer turn half; new centers of the wave CAST 3/4 and ends move up 1/4. SPIN THE TOP – 8 steps.
62 a. Fold: Designated dancer steps forward turns to stand in front or behind the nearest dancer; the other dancer stands in place. FOLD – 2 steps.
63. Dixie Style to Wave: Right hand dancer or leader do a right hand pull by to do a left TOUCH ¼ with the opposite dancer. Ends in a LEFT HAND OCEAN WAVE. DIXIE STYLE TO WAVE – 6 steps.
Next week: Cross Fold, Scoot Back, Recycle
Great class last night! The dancing is getting smoother every week. Good for you!
Don't forget that there is a dance Friday night at the Juanita Community Club wth the Samena Squares. The information is on the page that Michael gave you.
I hope you all survived the Tuesday night snow storm. I'm glad we didn't have to drive home in it from class.
Happy dancing,
Susan
53. Turn Thru: With dancer you are facing, step forward do a right arm turn half, let go and step forward. You end up exactly where you started facing the opposite direction. TURN THRU – 4 steps.
59. Spin the Top: End and adjacent center dancer turn half; new centers of the wave CAST 3/4 and ends move up 1/4. SPIN THE TOP – 8 steps.
62 a. Fold: Designated dancer steps forward turns to stand in front or behind the nearest dancer; the other dancer stands in place. FOLD – 2 steps.
63. Dixie Style to Wave: Right hand dancer or leader do a right hand pull by to do a left TOUCH ¼ with the opposite dancer. Ends in a LEFT HAND OCEAN WAVE. DIXIE STYLE TO WAVE – 6 steps.
Next week: Cross Fold, Scoot Back, Recycle