I've got a new club!

Well, it's not exactly new anymore, I'm just horrible with blogging. Starting in late 2015 as a substitute then turned official in 2016, I've been the club cuer for Sunnyvale Squares, a plus square dance club dancing in Sunnyvale, California. We dance to our caller Jim Osborne on Thursday evenings at Martin Murphy Jr. Historical Park, 190 California St. Sunnyvale, CA 94086.

Our program for the evening is:

7:00 Pre-rounds, typically Phase 2 to 5 depending on the floor. Starting with the higher phases and working our way down to Phase 2 for everyone to join in.

7:30 Plus Squares with Jim Osborne calling and I do double rounds between the tips. Typically Phase 2-4 during the dance portion.

We end our dance evening at 9:30pm.

Rhythms I usually cue are: Waltz, Two-Step, Cha, Rumba, Tango, Foxtrot, Mambo, Quickstep, Bolero, Jive and Slow Two Step and mixes of those.

You are more than welcome to join us for an evening dance if you're in the area.

Sunnyvale Squares website

 

Cueing with my IPad

I've been migrating my round dance music and cues over to my iPad so I can cue off it instead of lugging a computer and all the gear around everywhere. It's worked quite well on club nights at Star Eights and hoedowns. So, how about a festival?
So, I packed my computer and all the gear as an insurance policy and backup in case anything weird or unexpected happened and set off for the Golden State Roundup in San Ramon, CA.
In preparing for the festival, I needed a better way of holding it while on stage. I've got the iPad in one hand and the microphone in the other. After awhile the wrist gets tired and is at an awkward angle.
So I went online and looked for a case or holder that had a hand holder on the back and found this one to try:

Here's what it looks like with a hand in it (not mine):

It worked pretty well, although I find I like to hold it more on the edge than in the centre of the back. This is so I can hold and scroll if I need to with the same hand. I did find an acceptable angle that worked well without having my wrist at an awkward angle.
This would work well when a wireless mike is used as then both hands are free if needed without moving the mike away from my mouth.

I've been testing this out at Star Eights for several months now as I get things migrated over so the next logical thing to try was a festival and see how things worked.
The best thing about it was not having to carry so much around, startup time of a laptop and finding a power plug to plug the computer in are all little distractions that are easily eliminated. Especially when continuous dancing or a quick change of cuers is needed. The iPad is ready to go with no startup time or power needed. Just connect the music cord and the microphone, do a sound check and I'm ready.

I will definitely keep going with this and eventually it'll be my main cueing platform.

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!

Welcome!

Welcome to my web site! I named my site "Come Dance With Me" after one of my first choreography ventures which got voted Round of the Month (ROM) by our local round dance teacher's association, NCRDTA, Northern California Round Dance Teachers Association.

I currently cue for the Star Eights advanced (A2) square dance club in San Jose. We dance each Sunday evening (including some holidays). Be sure to come visit our club when you're in the area. Details can be found here.

There are several upcoming hoedowns and festivals where I will be cueing, so feel free to 'Come Dance With Me' at one of the listed dances. I look forward to seeing you on the dance floor!