Lots of Updates: 3) Square Dancing

[cjsmith]

(No, I'm not dancing.)

There was a dance in our area this weekend. We got to host a couple from Los Angeles; we'd stayed with them multiple times and it was nice to be able to extend our hospitality to them in turn. One slight change in routine is that they are Major Sit-Down Breakfast Eaters while we are Grab-The-Protein-Bar-That's-In-Your-Flight-Bag Eaters. Either the scrambled egg breakfast I faked up Saturday morning was okay or they were gracious enough to pretend it was. I will never know.

When they came home from the Friday night session I heard that the dance hall was awful. They said it was shaped like a pie wedge, with the caller at the point, and all the squares were dancing thirty degrees off from their neighbors. Apparently this is very disorienting. After my flight lesson Saturday, the timing worked out so that I could meet a group for lunch. Again the conversation turned to the difficulty of the material being called and the confusion of the dance hall itself. I decided I had to go see this hall.

It's rectangular enough. The problem is that the stage is in one corner and the carpet reinforces that effect with radial stripes originating there. They'd set the caller up in the "obvious" spot, in the corner. I had to admit it was very odd to watch the dancing, skewed that way!

I felt very welcomed when I dropped in. People from all over -- Canada, Japan, Florida -- came up to me and said hi.

I have to admit that if I could have one thing back, one capability my feet used to have, I'd be very hard pressed to decide between running and square dancing. Swimming is such an inefficient use of time that I'd love to be able to run for exercise, but square dancing was a huge part of my life! If given the choice on Saturday, I would have chosen square dancing, no question. Away from the fun and the social atmosphere I'd probably still choose square dancing. Maybe someday. I sure do like the people.

Comments

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Do they do that weird 'walking' style square dancing? Or regular dancing-dancing?
I tried to join in at a square dance at the fair last year and I was really disoriented because the style was so different than what I had learned when I was a teenager.

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

I sure do like the people, too...

It was great to see you. I'm glad you are flying again, and I hope that helps replace some of what you got from dancing C4. And I hope to see you on the C4 floor again!

Once we had the tape on the floor, it was easier. I'd dance there again. It certainly was convenient. (Friday night was brutal, though...)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

It's no consolation with regard to your feet, sorry, but your post reminds me I just wish I even had time to go back to the weekly Tuesday night contra dances here. I don't have class during them, but am usually doing homework, and in Summer Session 1, I will have a class time conflict. :-/

[ericainohio.livejournal.com]

I had to chuckle about the "pie wedge" room. I have danced in a round room before, and I wonder if that is disorienting in the same way? It was great for the round dancers, but the square dancers were kinda winging it when it came time to square up. Heh.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

And they sure do like you too, ma'am!