Star Eights Nov. 26

Our caller Bob Elling was back from his Thanksgiving last weekend, so we were able to review and continue with the class, which is doing very well. Here is what we did for rounds this evening:


Changing Partners III+1 FT by George Gardiner - I did this today in memory of him. Today would have been his birthday.


For A Moment IV+1+1 BOL by Molitoris - Sue has been working on this in the Bolero class on Sunday afternoons.


Fiddlestepper's Polka II TS by Brown


Les Bicyclettes '95 IV WZ by Moore


Neville's Waltz IV WZ by Parker


Next week is our annual potluck Christmas party. Class level (likely full A1 by now) all evening.

Star Eights Nov. 19

Today our caller, Bob Elling was having his Thanksgiving a week early as that's when all his family is able to get together, so he wasn't here. A very capable Kurt Gollhardt filled in for him and reviewed a lot of the figures from the previous several weeks for the class. For the rounds, I put on some bolero for extra floor time after Sue's afternoon Bolero class.

For A Moment IV+1+1 BOL by Molitoris

Mary's Boy Child IV BOL/CHA by Woodruff

Smoke Slow Two Step IV+1 STS by Chico

Moon River IV+1 WZ by Rumble

Reggae Cowboy IV+1 CHA by Bond

Remember, we ARE dancing Thanksgiving weekend, so if you're not doing anything else on the tail end of your long weekend and want to dance some A2 with us, come on out. We'll be dancing!

Cactus Jack Annual Hoedown Nov. 18

Square dancers having fun at
Sunnyvale Squares' Cactus Jack hoedown.

Last night was our Sunnyvale Squares club's annual Cactus Jack badge hoedown at John Muir Middle School. The evening was nice, but cool. We could dance and warm up quite nicely, yet still go outside to get cooled down. The legendary and obnoxious Cactus Jack (played by Lou) brought roses to the ladies and business cards to the gentlemen during the patter square dance tips which often brought some confusion to the unfortunate square that got interrupted. It was a hoot! Our caller Jim Osborne got 3 dozen roses and commissioned Lou to put on the costume and play the part. He did a great job and managed to get to most of the dancing ladies a very nice rose. You can read more about The Legend of Cactus Jack on Jim's webpage.

Our caller Jim Osborne calling at Cactus Jack.

Jim put on a great dance with lots of upbeat, fun music and interesting choreography to keep everyone entertained and got lots of compliments on his program throughout the evening.
I had a pretty decent program for the round dance portion also. I did basically what we do on club nights since the club night format is the same as a hoedown format. Half an hour for pre-rounds and double rounds between tips, so lots of opportunity to get in everyone's favourites!
Here is what the round dance program was:

Pre-Rounds:

Riviere de Lune V+1 WZ by Palmquist
Cuando Me Cha V+2+2 CHA by Preskitt
You Make Me Feel So Young V FT by Krol
You Make My Pants Want to Get Up and Dance IV+2 JV by Hixson
Carnival IV+1 RB by Rumble
Tango for Alma III TG/FT by de Jong/Kars
Steal Away II+1 WZ by Spence
Fireman Two Step II+1 TS by Eddins

Square Dance Doubles:

Pop Muzik IV CHA by Kaaria + Alibis II WZ by Chico
Any Dream Foxtrot III+1 FT by Pinks + Baby’s Got a Hold on Me II+1 TS by Dollar/Galbraith
Angel Jive III+2 JV by Wagenhoffer + Someone Must Feel Like a Fool Tonight II WZ by Seurer
Smoke Slow Two Step IV+1 STS by Chico + Phil the Fluter’s Ball II TS by Maguire
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da III+1 CHA by Rumble + All Night II WZ by Jaeb
Dream Awhile III WZ by Ellis + Sittin’ On Go II TS by Smith

If you were there and enjoyed the calling and dancing, come join us Thursday nights for much more fun and interesting choreography, dancing and friendship set to music!

See you on the dance floor again soon! Next week is the Annual Salvation Army Toy Dance and Thanksgiving Dinner potluck! A dance not to be missed for sure! All proceeds to the Salvation Army and be sure to bring an unwrapped toy for the kids who would otherwise have nothing this Christmas.




P.S. Sorry for the messed up formatting. I can't seem to get this program to keep the formatting in which I write the post. It does its own thing and messes it up with either lots more or not enough spaces than I planned.

Advanced Squares Nov. 17

This evening was a perfect evening for a dance. Rod Shuping from southern California was the caller and I of course was the cuer. We had a wonderful A2 dance with lots of fun, humour and some really good work-shopping of figures from Rod. This format just has 15 minutes of pre-rounds before the square dancing starts so the number is less than normal, but today I managed to squeak another quick one in.
I always make a program for a dance, but that's just the starting point. It usually evolves and changes during the dance itself depending on who attends and what people are feeling like actually doing. So, here is what I ended up doing for rounds with plenty of participation from the dancers.

Pre-Rounds:

Lady Marmalade IV+1 CHA by DeChenne

C’est Si Bon III+2 FT by Grooms

Die Lorelei III+1 WZ by Bendewald

Maple Leaf Rag II TS by Kern

I Wanta Quickstep III+1 QS by Palmquist

Square Dance Doubles:

Beach Party Cha III CHA by Williams + Rimini II WZ by Clements


Belsize Waltz IV WZ by Huffman + Swissy Missy II+1 TS by Koozer


Biloxi Lady IV+1 RB by Eddins + Feelin’ II WZ by Barbee


Scheherezade IV WZ by Gloodt + Moonlight Mist IV RB by Harris


Too Many Rivers IV+1 STS by Hooper + Dream Awhile III WZ by Ellis




See you tomorrow night at Cactus Jack in San Jose! You can read about the legend of Cactus Jack before the dance here: http://www.3osb.com/cactus-jack

Sunnyvale Squares Nov. 16

Today was a very wet day as it rained all day and all the previous night. Traffic was all messed up and there were many accidents on the road. It’s the first major “storm” of the rainy season here in sunny California, which is called winter. To me, if there’s no snow or cold weather, it’s not winter, but it’s all relative and I have gotten used to a new kind of winter in California. When you’re used to sunny and hot days all the time with no rain for half the year, this is the “winter”. It’s all relative I guess.




Anyways, we were warm and dry at our evening club dance as Jim entertained us with his square dance calling and singing and I did the rounds as usual. Here are the dances we did this evening, some of which were requests that we hadn’t done for some time and some were totally new that I’d not done at all previously. I had been working on cueing Whistle While You Work, so thought I’d give that a try live and it worked out well I think. It’s usually pretty good if I end before the music does and the dancers end with the music. That way we don’t leave either cues or extra measures on the table. They’re hard to fit in elsewhere! :)

Pre-Rounds:

Paparazzi V+0+1 CHA by Kincaid

Ain’t Misbehaving V FT/TS by Slater

Carnival IV+1 RB by Rumble

El Reloj IV+1 BOL by Trankel/Glider

Uptown III+2 JV by Gloodt

Whistle While You Work III+1 QS by Muller/Haas

Heavenly Waltz II WZ by Porter

King of the Road II TS by MacDougall/Cohen

Square Dance Doubles:

Dancing at Washington Square IV+1 TS/FT/JV by Robertson + Jacalyn’s Waltz II WZ by Wilhoit

Banana Boat Cha IV CHA by Filardo + I Don’t Do Floors II TS by Callahan

Pop Goes the Movies TS/FT/RB by Raye + Alibis II WZ by Chico

Rhythm of the Rain III RB by Seurer + Mickey’s House II+1 TS by Parker

Y Bailo III+1+2 CHA by Chadd

Don’t forget one of our club’s annual dances on Saturday, our Cactus Jack hoedown. Bring door prizes and food to put out. Doors open at 7pm and I’ll begin the pre-rounds at 7:30pm. John Muir Middle School, Branham Lane, San Jose.

Star Eights Nov. 12

Here is what we did at Star Eights this evening:


Concierto de Aranjuez IV BOL by Nolen


Laurann IV+2 WZ by Preskitt


Baby's Got A Hold on Me II+1 TS by Dollar/Galbraith


Hallelujah III TS/FT by Reeder


Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da III+1 CHA by Rumble


See you next week!

The Ghost Riders and Crippled Children Benefit Nov. 11

This annual event always is a lot of fun. I've been doing it for several years now. The event is hosted by the Swinging 21ers Square Dance club, which dances at Elks Lodge #2121 in Fremont, California, hence the name. The charity the Elks Lodge support is the crippled children with their purple pig project so the proceeds all go to the purple pig project for the Elks. In the end, the children win of course as they get their special needs met. You can read more about that program here https://chea-elks.org/major-project/purple-pig.

For this annual dance, the Ghost Riders square dance band provides live music for the square dancing and I still do the rounds with my music, which gives the band a break as well. We had a full house counting 17 squares for the first tip and more people kept coming in for some time afterwards, so I'm not sure how many squares we ended up with. Jay Henderson is the annual caller for this dance and he put on a great square dance for everyone there. The hall was quite packed.

Pre-Rounds:

Die Lorelei III+1 WZ by Bendewald

Concierto de Aranjuez IV BOL by Nolen

Cuando Me Cha V+2+2 CHA by Preskitt

Tango Mannita III TG by Smith

Night Train III JV by Lawson

Ascot’s Rumba III RB by Kennedy

Jacalyn’s Waltz II WZ by Wilhoit

Fiddlesteppers Polka II TS by Brown

Manuela II WZ by Sobala

Square Dance Doubles:

White Sport Coat IV+1 FT by Lefeavers + The Lonely Goatherd 2003 II+2 TS by Chauvin

Irish Washerwoman III CHA by Buckmaster/Reigel + Piano Roll Waltz II WZ by Green

Too Many Rivers IV+1 STS by Hooper + Swissy Missy II TS by Koozer

Grand Old Flag III+2 CHA by Hanhurst + All Over the World II TS by Gotta

Carolina Moon III+2 WZ by Rumble + Louisiana Saturday Night II TS by Tracey

Could I Have This Dance II WZ by Eddins

Sunnyvale Squares Nov. 9

It was a cool and rainy fall evening tonight for dancing, but we put some music and our dancing shoes on and were ready to get warmed up and dancing our cares away. Our caller Jim kept us moving along to his calls and interesting choreography and ended with a six couple rectangle at the end of the evening. I kept everyone busy between tips and during the pre-rounds with the recent bolero teaches we did on Sunday as well as some new dances we hadn't done before.
Here is what we did for round dancing.

Pre-Rounds:

Orient Express V+2 FT by Moore

Sunflower V+1 JV by Tonks

Duerme IV+2 RB by Slater

Summer of Our Love IV+2 WZ by Nelson

El Reloj IV+1 BOL by Trankel/Glider

Tornado II CHA by Healea

Maple Leaf Rag II TS by Kern

Square Dance Doubles:

Reggae Cowboy IV+2 CHA by Bond + Beguine II TS by Seurer

For A Moment IV+1 BOL by Molitoris + All Night II WZ by Jaeb

Near You IV+1 FT by Harris + Let The Cowboy Dance II+1 TS by Sperry

Mary’s Boy Child IV+1 BOL/CHA by Woodruff + My Love For You II WZ by Hughes

Our club Christmas party will be held on December 14th with a potluck dinner and dancing afterwards.
 

See you next week if not at the benefit hoedown this Saturday with the Ghost Riders and Jay Henderson.

Star Eights Nov. 5

It was a pretty quiet evening at Star Eights for some reason. The class is continuing and doing well with review of past figures and adding new ones as we go of course.




Some of the round dancers from Sue's afternoon class attend here also, so we decided to have a bit more floor time with bolero that we did this afternoon, and also take it easy some.




Here is what we ended up doing:






El Reloj IV+1 BOL by Trankel/Glider




Fascination III+1 WZ by Crapo


Come Dance With Me II TS by Smith (me)


Manuela II WZ by Sobala

Galaxy Rounds Nov. 5

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to teach again with Chuck and Darlyne McDowell. We were filling in for Sue and Phil Harris while they were down in San Diego promoting USA West next year (see Special Events on details and to register). The class is well into the Bolero rhythm having completed most all the phase 4 figures but one.
The first half of the class is mostly classic or golden classic dances with a few newer dances taught recently we don't want to forget. I did the first set and Chuck did the second set.  Then into Bolero for the 2nd hour.


Here is the program we did for the first hour:




BL:
Send Her Roses 4+2 FT by Palmquist
You Make My Pants Want to Get Up and Dance 4+2 JV by Hixson
Paparazzi 5 CHA by Kincaid
Silver Bells 4 WZ by Hinchman
Mi Vida 4+2 RB by Read
Chihuahua 4+1 MB by Scherrer
Too Many Rivers 4+2 STS by Hooper




Chuck:
I Wanta Quickstep 3 QS by Palmquist
Sunset Rumba 4+1 RB by Lawson
Dancing at Washington Square 4+1 TS/FT/JV by Robertson
Laurann 4+2 WZ by Preskitt
Doolittle Cha 4+1 CHA by Goss
The Last Blues Song 5+2 FT by
Rachel's Song 4 STS by Stairwald


The second hour was the bolero class time. We had questions about Turning Basic, Aida and Aida Line so reviewed that before going too far.


We then went on to teach four new figures and added a couple of new dances with these figures:
Riff Turn
Double Hand Opening Outs
Right Side Pass
1/2 Moon


We reviewed and taught the following dances:
Concierto de Aranjuez IV BOL by Nolen
El Reloj IV+1 BOL by Trankel/Glider (Riff Turns and Dbl Opening Outs)
For A Moment IV+1+1 BOL by Molitoris (Right Side Pass and 1/2 Moon)


Next week is our NCRDTA bi-monthly meeting so there won't be any class next week. Sue and Phil will continue on these figures when they are back in two weeks.


Many, many thanks to Chuck and Darlyne for their superb teaching skills, demonstrating the figures and answering all the questions everyone had.

Sunnyvale Squares Nov. 2

How time has flown by. We are now fully into fall with leaves falling and temperatures dropping slightly once the sun goes down. It was a cool but nice evening for dancing. We had a fun evening with Jim calling squares and me cueing the rounds.

There are several benefit type dances coming up in November and December getting everyone ready to have a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hopefully you’ll be able to join me in supporting those efforts for the less fortunate.

Here are the round dances we did this evening:

Pre-Rounds:

All That Jazz V FT by Sechrist

Paparazzi V+0+1 CHA by Kincaid

Right Here Waiting For You V+1+1 RB by Preskitt

Concierto de Aranjuez IV BOL by Nolen

Let Me Show You How IV+2 JV by Slater

Chihuahua IV+1 MB by Scherrer

Jean II+2 WZ by Buck

Fireman Two Step II+1 TS by Eddins

Square Dance Doubles:

Love Potion #9 III+2 CHA by Huckeby + Mira River Waltz II WZ by Taylor

Paper Roses IV+2 FT by Mitchell + Houston II TS by Smith (not me)

Beautiful Sunday IV+1 CHA by Malthouse + Moon River II WZ by Hartzell

Breaking Up Jive IV JV by Croft/de Zordo + If I Had to Do It All Over Again II TS by Woolcock

King of the Road II TS by MacDougall/Cohen

See you next week!