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.

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 April 13th

Tonight was party night for the Sunnyvale Squares. It was "Hard Times" due to it being tax season, so the idea was to either dress in rags or riches. There was lots of fun, food and dancing to be had by all that came to enjoy Jim Osborne's calling and some round dancing. Here was tonight's round dance program:

Pre-Rounds:

Rivière de Lune V+1 WZ by Palmquist

Ain't Misbehavin' V FT/TS by Slater

Poppy Cha Cha IV+2+1 by Grahm

Cuando Calienta El Sol IV+1 STS by Crapo

Cotton Candy Mambo IV by Bond

Angel Jive III+2 by Wagenhoffer

My Song II WZ by Thone

Dance Portion:

It's In His Kiss IV+1 Cha by ??? (It doesn't match anything currently on mixed-up.com.) & King Of The Road II TS by MacDougall/Cohen

Tango Mannita III TG by Smith & Patches II WZ by Cibula

Run For The Roses IV+2 WZ by Valenta & Hole In My Pocket II TS by Fisher

You Are Always In My Heart III+2 RB by Slater & Yvonne's Waltz II+1 by Sobala

Due to it being party night, the schedule sometimes gets a bit off with all the fun that goes on, so we end up leaving a few dances on the table for the next time. The key is being flexible and just going with the flow. Until next time, keep on dancing.

April 9th's Star Eights Program

We do mostly single rounds between A2 tips and no pre-rounds, so there's not as many dances as we'd see at a normal hoedown even without pre-rounds. Often 4 or 5, sometimes less depending on what's going on any particular night. We range from Phase 2 to Phase 4 depending on who all comes and often it is a request night for dancer favourites or review of recent teaches.

Tonight, we had a special guest caller, Tork Clark for everyone's dancing pleasure. It is Callerlab week, so many of our local callers are travelling to attend that convention. We look forward to the stories and news from the convention next week. Next week, we are dancing, so there will be dancing on Easter Sunday. Usually we get a large crowd on holiday weekends, so we're looking forward to a special evening with our dancing friends. Anyways, here's what we did tonight for rounds:

Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On III+0+1 CHA by Koozer

Moon River IV+1 WZ by Rumble

Roses For Elizabeth II TS by Bliss (recently taught/reviewed locally)

Spinning Wheel IV WZ by Smith

Fiddlesteppers Polka II TS by Brown

April 6th's Program for Sunnyvale Squares

This was the program we did last Thursday at Sunnyvale Squares to give you an idea of the dances that are liked and tried.

7:00pm Pre-Rounds:

All That Jazz V FT Sechrist

Right Here Waiting For You V+1 RB Preskitt

Pop Muzik IV CHA Kaaria

Breaking Up Jive IV JV de Zordo

Mambo Bamboo III+2 MB Barton

I Wanta Quickstep III+1 QS Palmquist

Amanda II WZ Koozer

Adalida II TS Speranzo

7:30pm During the Square Dance Portion:

Lady Marmalade IV+1 CHA DeChenne + Turn Your Radio On II+1 TS Baldwin

Tango Mannita III TG Smith + Dream On Texas Ladies II+2 WZ Van Atta

Near You IV+1 FT Harris + Rooney II TS Woolcock

C'est Si Bon Cha IV+2 CHA Nelson + I'd Fall In Love Tonight II WZ Speranzo

 

 

Invitation to Star Eights

Here is your invitation to Dance With The Stars!

Every Sunday evening, members and guests of the Star Eights square dance club get together for some A2 level square dancing with Bob Elling and Phase 2-4 round dancing with Barbara Lynn Smith. Be sure and drop by and join us for some fun, fellowship and friendship set to music!