There are some nice squares in Ted Sannella's books. Also, many of the square dance books and magazines published in the 1950's are good resources. Check out used book stores.
Here is my experience in getting started with calling squares. I decided to call the dance "Texas Star". I had danced it many times when it was called by other callers at our contra dance. So I figured many of the dancers would be familiar with it, and they probably were. However, things didn't go as well as I hoped. There were several things that I didn't realize in advance that make calling squares different from calling contras. One is that if there are multiple squares they may not be in synch all of the time. For example promenading around is a figure that can take different groups a varying amount of time to accomplish. So some squares will be home while others will still be promenading. So you may need to do something to keep those who are home busy while the other catch up.
Another stumbling block for me was the fact that you pretty much need to keep calling all the time. Squares aren't like contras where there is a pattern that gets repeated throughout the dance, so that after a few times you can stop calling and let the dancers dance and enjoy the music. There are different parts in squares, the intro, the main figure, the breaks and the finale which are different and you need to pretty much call all the way through the dance. This takes more effort and thought than calling a contra dance.
The third difficulty I encountered was the fact that the dancers tend to get off the music. Even if you have a 32 bar figure and use a 32 bar intro and break, the way that squares tend to go it is very likely that some of the squares will take a bit longer to do some of the moves and before you know it you are off the from the music. So I have taken to using a non-square intro (not 32 bars). This gets me off the music right away and I then don't have to worry about it through the rest of the dance. That is until the end of the dance. It is nice if you can have the dancers promenade, or whatever, for a last time and have them get back home just as the music comes to an end. To do that you have to get yourself back in synch with the music and know where the B part is so you can signal the band one more time and then have a finale figure that is 32 bars so it will end with the music. I haven't gotten to where I can always do this. Sometimes it works great, sometimes not so much. Many bands are willing to just end when you give them the cut-throat sign, but you need to check with them in advance.
When I called "Texas Star" that first time I ran into all of these problems. While it wasn't a disaster, it didn't go as well as I would have liked. So I thought about it and figured out some of the problems. I decided to try again with a more straight forward dance. I used "Sheehan's Reel" by Roger Whynot which I found in Ted Sannella's book "Balance and Swing". This is a nice 32 bar figure and I used a 32 bar intro (with a few more figures added to get off the music) and a 32 bar break (which I used as the finale as well). This time things went much better. Not having to think about the music I was able to concentrate on calling and watching the different sets. With more practice I'm now able to call more complicated dances, but starting out with a simple one is my advice.
Sheehan's Reel
Roger Whynot
Square dance figure; Beginner; All Active Mixer
1 - all 4 ladies to the center and back
2 - all 4 gents to the center and back
3 - all 4 ladies right hand star
4 - left hand star the other way back
5 - pass your own and do-si-do the next
6 - swing that gent
7-8 promenade around to the gent's home place
Notes
With each repeat the ladies move one place to the right.
I like to do the whole dance twice through. The first time
I have the ladies go in first and move around the set. The
second time I have the gents go in first and they move around
the set going to new partners each time and the promenade goes
to the lady's home place.
This dance will work OK with more (or less) than 4 couples.
I've done it with 5 or 6. Just more times through the music
to get everyone back home.
Good luck.
Jonathan
On 3/18/2023 11:21 AM, Maia McCormick via Contra Callers wrote:
> After dancing to some of Lisa's Greenleaf's đ„ squares at Beantown Stomp last weekend, I'm feeling inspired to add some to my repertoire. (To be clear, I'm looking for squares-for-contra-dancers, not MWSD squares.)
>
> 1. Any resources to recommend for someone learning to call squares?
> 2. Any advice to share, techniques to look into, things you wish you'd known when starting out / wish contra callers knew about squares?
> 3. Suggestions for callers to look up on YouTube (besides Lisa ofc) / fave videos?
> 4. Favorite dances that I should add to my box?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Maia
> --
> Maia McCormick (she/her)
> 917.279.8194
A brief starter:
Resources: Probably canât go wrong with Tony Parkes text Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century from the author here <http://hands4.com/Catalog/> or at the CDSS Store here <https://cdss.force.com/commons/s/product/square-dance-calling-an-old-art-foâŠ>.
The YouTube search âDare to be Square 2011â <https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dare+to+be+square+2011>can lead down a rabbit hole of a bunch of fabulous callers (e.g. Tony Parkes, Phil Jamison et al) teaching and calling a bunch of fabulous squares to a bunch of dancers, some of whom you might recognize. Originally part of a Square Dance History project which may be somewhere else now.
A place to start: For contra callers, âNew Englandâ -style squares can be a good place to start. Typically, they have an AABB structure and can be prompted as you would a contra dance. Put together an AABB intro, break and ending and there you go, Bobâs your uncle, prompting nearly as you would a contra dance. Then, thereâs the restâŠsee Tonyâs text
Discombobulation for a contra caller: In a contra dance, dancers up down down the contra sets are not usually more than a step or two away from the correct position; the entire floor looks nearly the same. In squares, dancers in different squares are not necessarily in sync, as dancers can be several steps away from âcorrect, â and different squares may be a few to several steps off from each other. This can be a bit discombobulating for the contra caller when looking out at the whole floor. (One trick â learnt from Kathy Anderson1 â is something like â..and promenade home.. when you get home, you swing your ownâ to get all the squares back together and eliminate the early birds standing in place waiting for the call â or starting again without you!)
Allemand Left,
Steve Pike
Milwaukee, WI
I would like to do a live Zoom broadcast of an upcoming dance. Can
somebody tell me how you handle issues of privacy and permission? Do you
have to get permission from everyone in the room and if so, how?
Susan [image: đ¶] [image: âș]
330-347-8155
woosterdance.com
I've been calling less than a year, so I'm still learning. One problem I
have is that, when looking at a written-out dance, I'm consistently
underestimating the difficulty for newbies. My group is about 50% newbies
every week, and it isn't large, usually about 20 dancers at peak. Last
week, I thought Al's Safeway Produce would be accessible, as it has just
allemande, swing, circle, long lines, and star. But, the star-to-star
progression was more than they could do, because the stars were poorly
synchronized and we're gender-neutral, so people didn't realize whether the
people coming at them were the right ones to dance with or not, and stars
quickly started having the wrong members and the wrong number of members.
(I should have given up after six walkthroughs, I didn't, and that's
another lesson learned.)
So, I'm looking for a better set of rules to identify an easy dance than
the set I'm currently using, which is basically: glossary moves only,
mostly connected moves, and enough recovery moves (long swings, etc.). A
recent thread generated a list of such dances, which has been useful. But,
I'm going through lists of dances people like (like the ones posted on this
list, the CDNY list that Bob Isaacs compiled, and others posted online) and
looking for ones I can call to my group, especially early in the night.
What would you add to this list of rules that, if satisfied, indicate a
dance is likely easy-peasy?
Easy-Peasy Dances Suitable for New Dancers Right Out of the Lesson...
Have only very basic moves found in most dances, or at most one more that
is simple to teach.
Have mostly connected moves.
Have at least two moves where dancers can recover from recent mistakes
(e.g., balance and swing).
Don't spin too much (at most one 16-count swing, better none).
Are improper or possibly Beckett (if the dance is quite simple).
Keep the dancers within their minor set until the progression.
Have a simple progression.
Have a progression where the neighbors are likely to be there.
Have a progression that recovers easily if messed up (e.g., followed by
recovery move).
Progress at the end of the dance.
What else to add?
Thanks,
--jh--
Joe Harrington
Organizer, Greater Orlando Contra Dance
Faculty Advisor, Contra Knights, the UCF contra dancing club
contraknights.org
FB, Ig: Contra Knights
contradancerjoe(a)gmail.com
Friends,
I have been asked to lead an intro to contra dance session at a square
dance convention.
I will have time to lead 3-4 contras, and I am looking for suggestions.
My main concern is that most modern square dancers do not swing, they
simply twirl under. With that in mind, I need contras which have no more
than an eight count swing yet reflect the spirit of the modern contra
scene.
One major difference between contra dance and MWSD is square dancers are
not trained to dance to the phrase of the music. I will most likely begin
with a circle mixer to encourage a full 8 count swing and to emphasize
dancing to the phrase.
I am not looking for contra dances with MWSD basics, but rather typical
contra basics. Any suggestions? I can certainly find some among my
collection, but perhaps there is a gem I might miss.
Thanks,
Rich Sbardella
Stafford, CT
ï»żHereâs one I wrote in 2006:
Jump at the Sun
A1)Cir L 0.75, Pass through, next N DSD 1.25
A2) Rory o More: Balance in wave, Slide R, Bal wave, slide to L.
B1) Pull by that N by RH to start a full hey
B2) Same N AR 0.75, W cross by LS, P Sw.
Written 2006, at the suggestion of Emil Olguin, specifically for the jig of the same name. However, I have called and danced it to other music, and haven't found anything that doesn't work. (Rory O'More and Petronella work very well.)
I have had discussions with other callers as to whether the the first move in B1 is a half allemande or a pull-by, and I have come to realize that men and women experience this move differently. For the men, it is a pull-by, leading into a hey with no direction change. Women, after the move in question, need to turn to their right to face in for the hey, so to them it feels more like a half allemande. Certainly, teaching it as a half allemande establishes the floor pattern unambiguously. However, when watching the dancers, I see that they tend to use a shake-hands grip (forearms parallel to the dance floor) during the dance. Because of the different grip required, I teach the dance as noted above. Both work, take your pick.
Sent from my iPad
> On Mar 8, 2023, at 8:02 PM, Don Veino via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> ï»ż
> I'm looking for recommendations for contras written to specifically match a given tune, square or crooked. Obviously, there's singing squares, the Chestnuts and some well known examples like David Kaynor's Cherokee Shuffle. I'm looking for other examples of excellent "modern era" dances perfectly crafted to fit an outstanding or unusual tune - such that it surpasses the standard "pick the dance, then a suitable tune" approach to foster dance floor joy.
>
> I've written a few such dances but would love to augment my repertoire with others.
>
> Thanks,
> Don
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Greeting callers!
I am calling a friend's wedding this weekend and she requested "the spiral
dance," a circle dance where at some point one person leads everyone into a
spiral (or, optionally, anywhere around the hall?). I think I've danced it
before, but I'm having a hard time finding a name or notes on how to call
it. Can anyone share a version with me?
Thanks in advance,
Hannah Chamberlain
(outside of) Portland, ME
I'll admit, I occasionally dream calling nightmares. Not usually in line
with anything that has or may happen, just awkward situations where I'm
calling and things are problematic. Last night the dream was that a member
of the band kept stopping the dance to explain to the dancers how the dance
SHOULD go. Really weird and not an issue I've actually had. Even David
Carpenter (rest his soul) who had strong opinions about chestnuts and would
opine from behind his fiddle before playing but not stop a dance in motion.
Anyway, upon waking at 4 am and processing said dream, I tried to figure
out what dance I'd been calling. It wasn't a challenging dance, and I
eventually constructed that it was
Becket, ccw
A1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right, face new couple
A2
(16) Neighbor balance and swing, end facing partner
B1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right,
B2
(16) Partner balance and swing
It reminds me of Midwestern Folklore by Oracle Johnson (and Will You Marry
Me by Seth Tepfer) in that it's sort of a half length dance you do twice
with neighbor and partner.
It would work as an Indecent dance too (although I'm pretty sure I was
calling it in Becket) :
A1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right
A2
(16) Partner balance and swing
B1
(8) Long lines forward and back
(8) Balance the ring, petronella one place to the right, face new couple
B2
(16) New neighbor balance and swing
You could even line them up improper and then sneak them into indecent,
since the first partner swing fixes it for them. Although if you did that,
some folks would probably worry that the twos and ones weren't where they
started after one walkthrough; and folks should wait out indecent. Anyway...
Looking through my cards, and the online Callers Box, I can't find this
dance in either place, in either form.
Anybody recognize it?
Thanks all. And sweet dreams.
Hi folks,
Any favourite unusual length dances or dances that do unusual things with
timings - across the music or unusual figure lengths? I'm thinking dances
like Money musk at 24 bars and Major hey at 40 bars for instance.
Thanks,
Bob
