Sorry - I menat this to go to the group but only sent it to Tom by mistake.... Tom has mentioned some of the things I like to do to make squares more fun for contra dancers: I have the band step up the tempo - usually around 128 bpm so the squares can be danced more aggressively than contras.I avoid visiting couples squares (with some exceptions)  I like to keep the dancer moving  as much as possibleI try to avoid pauses between figures and breaks.I like to use squares that have some figure that they do not normally find in contra - so they are doing something fun that wouldn't get otherwise.I especially like squares where the set seems really mixed up - bu then all of a sudden there is your corner or partner. I get excited and have a lot of fun and hope some of that is passed to the dancers. I rarely get complaints about calling a couple squares - but I wouldn't get a lot of complaints if I left them out either (but I would get a few - there are dancers who even ask me when they will be called so they can get a favorite partner). What really hurts is when callers call squares that are boring or call them badly - then the dancers start projecting that to all squares.  In a conversation not long ago a dancer commented that she doesn't like squares except when one specific caller calls them.  My response was it wasn't squares she didn't like - just the way a lot of our callers present them Mac McKeever From: Tom Hinds via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> To: Jacob Nancy Bloom <jandnbloom(a)gmail.com> Cc: Shared_Weight_Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2015 8:38 AM Subject: Re: [Callers] How to explain the charms of square dances (was More on Programming) Yes you are correct, pointing out the benefits of squares is a much  better option than telling them to stay home.  I included that  comment in hopes that callers might consider being less afraid of  what dancers think.  I have no illusions that others would say that  to a dancer. One aspect that makes squares attractive is the changing patterns.  For myself and others, dancing choreography that wasn't walked  through is very enjoyable.  And changing the pattern doesn't have to  be challenging. For partner changing squares there's a certain satisfaction/challenge  in performing the choreography well as a group and ending with your  partner again.  Picking the correct square for this is crucial-not  too easy and not too hard. Some people enjoy dancing squares to music where the phrasing is less  distinct.  It's hard for me to describe but it's like dancing without  holding back.  Or could it be described as charging ahead?  Perhaps  some of you can describe this gooder than I can.  This works well  with driving old time music. Although I don't enjoy the visiting couple type square, I understand  that there are a number of groups who enjoy these types of squares  with very fast music.  In central Virginia there're getting large  turnouts.  I'm told that most of these dancers are young and not  contra dancers.  I often hear of other groups in the country where  young dancers are discovering squares.  Is this the future? T _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net

I don't call squares often - it is a different feel than calling contras, and for our contra dance, I would want to be better at it to do it regularly (of course, if I did it I'd get more practice). But I do often call visiting squares like the Grapevine Twist or Birdie in the Cage for barn dances. I've even done them with 5 couples because that's what I had and it works fine as a pentagon. For beginners it is useful for them to watch the other couples do the figure so that they catch on by the time they do it. The kids in particular love Birdie in the Cage and tweet and caw when it's their turn. So I find those good opportunities for the visiting squares. I have to say that my one critique as a dancer of square dances is that it's easier to be gracious and helpful and forgiving in contra where you dance with beginners or people who have never quite got it only one time through the music and then pass them on. In squares I have seen people get really irritated at being stuck with people who never ever seem to get it well enough to allow the rest of the folks to do the square right once. It's hard on the people who are making the mistakes, and it's hard on the people who are impatient, and on everyone else in the set experiencing this. So I see ill will more frequently in squares and I think that's why some people just don't want to do them. Of course, perhaps the caller in these cases chose squares too difficult for the group - unfortunately, more often the first dancers to square up are the better dancers, and that square in the back the caller can barely see is half newcomers and falls apart throughout the dance while the square they are watching is having a wonderful time. Not sure what to do about these issues. Martha On Jun 27, 2015, at 6:38 AM, Tom Hinds via Callers wrote: