From wclaytor at hotmail.com Tue Jun 3 00:18:43 2008 From: wclaytor at hotmail.com (wclaytor at hotmail.com) Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:18:43 -0000 Subject: [Squaredancing] good game, I've played for a moment for free. = Message-ID: http://203.155.74.91/elib/blog/blog.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20071209/f40c3333/attachment.html From kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com Mon Jun 2 23:46:29 2008 From: kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com (Ken Robinson) Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:46:29 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] good game, I've played for a moment for free. = In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 05:18 AM 12/9/2007, wclaytor at hotmail.com wrote: >/xxxxxxx/elib/blog/blog.html This looks like spam --- do not click on it. I have put this address on moderation. Ken Robinson squaredancing owner kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com From cynde at twistercom.fi Wed Jun 4 04:45:30 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:45:30 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... References: Message-ID: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> In southern Finland where I live we have very few dancers in two clubs and one caller. Last winter the Sunday group learned A1 calls in a few weeks during a time when I was unable to attend many Sunday practices. The result was when I did turn up I was 'out' and have since had to leave that club. The same thing is happening at the Thursday group (where I do have more time to attend but if you miss a Thursday you are left behind) but it appears now that there may be no more Plus (or M) dancing in Helsinki next fall. I would like to know if there is anything like an intensive weekend A1 course where I could learn A1 and catch up? I am a very fast learner. My partner has danced A1 some years ago at a course in Sweden. The other choice may be to drop out of square dancing in Finland. We do go to Sweden, Germany and US (Maine) a few times a year and dance our little feet off but stick to Plus (and M) clubs. We will be in Maine June 13-30 Kansas City July 2-16 and Denver. Then back to Maine until July 24. Any suggestions? Are there any videos I could watch and study? Thanks Cynde in Helsinki, Finland PS Your letter in February said you wanted people to introduce themselves and still the group remained quiet. I am an American who lives in Finland and loves to dance. I have a partner who also dances and we dance square, round, folk and even morris! We have been trying to conjure up interest in contra which has been slow moving but lots of fun. We have started a music club that has REALLY taken off and last Saturday they spontaneously played two hours of varied dance music for a friend's graduation party. I say we get them ready for a real contra! There are relatively few square dancers in Finland. Two groups in southern Finland (some of same people just different venue and days) and a few in northern Finland which is over 6 hours from here. Nothing in between. The group here is very small and shrinking. There are many levels, the lowest nowadays is moving from plus to A1 with only a couple of beginners who may be gone next fall when we start again, unless we start a new beginners' group. (14-16 week summer break) I don't know what the highest level is since I'd rather dance than advance to levels. My partner and I love to travel to Germany and Sweden to dance. In Hamburg we have found many challenging Plus and even Mainstream clubs and we dance every evening while we are there. We attend festivals when we can and plan our US trips around dancing.(somewhat) We are going to Kansas City this year for the first time ever for another reason but hope to find plenty of dancing on the side! ************************************************************ Become a seeker of truth, starting with the reality that all of humanity is one family. I am not going to tell Americans how to vote this coming November except to vote for peace. And I will not tell you how to live, but recommend you dance and think freely rather than wage fundamentalist wars. Give peace a dance. Dr Glen Barry ************************************************************ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Robinson" To: Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 8:11 AM Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... > Hi, > > Over the last year, a number of new people have joined the this email > list, but it is as quiet as ever. :-( > > To the new folks, please let us know who you are, why you joined and > what you are looking to get out of this list. To the people who have > been on this list "forever", remember, the usefulness of the list is > only as good as the postings that happen. > > Many years ago, this list was "the place" to discuss our activity, > now I don't think there is one place on the Internet where this > happens. Yes, there is the SD-Callers list, but that shouldn't be > where the general discussions should take place. > > We even had a "Net together" at the 1993 NSDC in St. Louis where > members on the list who were at the convention all got together to > meet. ISTR that there were over 30 people in attendance. > > Let's get some discussions going again... > > Ken Robinson > Owner > Squaredancing list > kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > From lars-erik.morell at ericsson.com Wed Jun 4 05:16:17 2008 From: lars-erik.morell at ericsson.com (Lars Erik Morell) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:16:17 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... In-Reply-To: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> References: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> Message-ID: <1E5CB28D9F205A4CA167F2173F2C693414086E@esealmw115.eemea.ericsson.se> You can attend a teaching week in Gloessbo, Sweden. A1 is June 22 - June 28 http://www.squaredance.be/2008.html or Boedabaden, Oeland, Sweden where you have A1 class August 2 - August 9 http://www.bodabaden.com/english/ Lars Erik Morell > -----Original Message----- > From: squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com > [mailto:squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com] On Behalf Of Cynde Sadler > Sent: den 4 juni 2008 10:46 > To: This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD > Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... > > In southern Finland where I live we have very few dancers in > two clubs and one caller. Last winter the Sunday group > learned A1 calls in a few weeks during a time when I was > unable to attend many Sunday practices. The result was when I > did turn up I was 'out' and have since had to leave that club. > The same thing is happening at the Thursday group (where I > do have more time to attend but if you miss a Thursday you > are left behind) but it appears now that there may be no more > Plus (or M) dancing in Helsinki next fall. > > I would like to know if there is anything like an intensive > weekend A1 course where I could learn A1 and catch up? I am a > very fast learner. My partner has danced A1 some years ago at > a course in Sweden. The other choice may be to drop out of > square dancing in Finland. We do go to Sweden, Germany and US > (Maine) a few times a year and dance our little feet off but > stick to Plus (and M) clubs. > We will be in Maine June 13-30 Kansas City July 2-16 and > Denver. Then back to Maine until July 24. > Any suggestions? Are there any videos I could watch and study? > Thanks > Cynde > in Helsinki, Finland > > PS Your letter in February said you wanted people to > introduce themselves and still the group remained quiet. > I am an American who lives in Finland and loves to dance. I > have a partner who also dances and we dance square, round, > folk and even morris! We have been trying to conjure up > interest in contra which has been slow moving but lots of > fun. We have started a music club that has REALLY taken off > and last Saturday they spontaneously played two hours of > varied dance music for a friend's graduation party. I say we > get them ready for a real contra! > There are relatively few square dancers in Finland. Two > groups in southern Finland (some of same people just > different venue and days) and a few in northern Finland which > is over 6 hours from here. Nothing in between. > The group here is very small and shrinking. There are many > levels, the lowest nowadays is moving from plus to A1 with > only a couple of beginners who may be gone next fall when we > start again, unless we start a new beginners' group. (14-16 > week summer break) I don't know what the highest level is > since I'd rather dance than advance to levels. > My partner and I love to travel to Germany and Sweden to > dance. In Hamburg we have found many challenging Plus and > even Mainstream clubs and we dance every evening while we are > there. We attend festivals when we can and plan our US trips > around dancing.(somewhat) We are going to Kansas City this > year for the first time ever for another reason but hope to > find plenty of dancing on the side! > > > > ************************************************************ > Become a seeker of truth, starting with the reality that all > of humanity is one family. > I am not going to tell Americans how to vote this coming > November except to vote for peace. And I will not tell you > how to live, but recommend you dance and think freely rather > than wage fundamentalist wars. Give peace a dance. > Dr Glen Barry > > ************************************************************ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ken Robinson" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 8:11 AM > Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... > > > > Hi, > > > > Over the last year, a number of new people have joined the > this email > > list, but it is as quiet as ever. :-( > > > > To the new folks, please let us know who you are, why you joined and > > what you are looking to get out of this list. To the people who have > > been on this list "forever", remember, the usefulness of the list is > > only as good as the postings that happen. > > > > Many years ago, this list was "the place" to discuss our activity, > > now I don't think there is one place on the Internet where this > > happens. Yes, there is the SD-Callers list, but that shouldn't be > > where the general discussions should take place. > > > > We even had a "Net together" at the 1993 NSDC in St. Louis where > > members on the list who were at the convention all got together to > > meet. ISTR that there were over 30 people in attendance. > > > > Let's get some discussions going again... > > > > Ken Robinson > > Owner > > Squaredancing list > > kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Squaredancing mailing list > > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > From ljknews at mac.com Wed Jun 4 05:19:44 2008 From: ljknews at mac.com (ljknews) Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:19:44 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] Learning A1 in a weekend In-Reply-To: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> References: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> Message-ID: At 11:45 AM +0300 6/4/08, Cynde Sadler wrote: > I would like to know if there is anything like an intensive weekend A1 > course where I could learn A1 and catch up? I am a very fast learner. My > partner has danced A1 some years ago at a course in Sweden. The other choice > may be to drop out of square dancing in Finland. We do go to Sweden, Germany > and US (Maine) a few times a year and dance our little feet off but stick to > Plus (and M) clubs. > We will be in Maine June 13-30 Kansas City July 2-16 and Denver. Then back > to Maine until July 24. > Any suggestions? There is a A1-in-a-weekend class in Massachusetts this coming weekend, but I presume that is too short notice. Ken Ritucci is teaching an Advanced Blitz (A1 and A2) the last weekend of September in New Hampshire. -- Larry Kilgallen From WA8VEC at ARRL.NET Wed Jun 4 07:04:42 2008 From: WA8VEC at ARRL.NET (Mike Gormley) Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:04:42 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties Message-ID: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> I love after parties, and have many times suggested we have some at our club. The problem is, our dancers are of the older generation, 65 to 85 years. A 2 1/2 hour dance is about all they want. It is not like they have to go to work the next day, like me, they are all retired. Our dance is from 7 pm to 9:30 pm. I am not speaking of every dance having an after party, but perhaps 3 during a season of Nov thru April. I have tried fitting a skit between tips or during a break session to warm them up to the idea. How do I convince them to do a few of these? Mike Gormley Florida Keys From lars-erik.morell at ericsson.com Wed Jun 4 08:05:35 2008 From: lars-erik.morell at ericsson.com (Lars Erik Morell) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:05:35 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... In-Reply-To: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> References: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> Message-ID: <1E5CB28D9F205A4CA167F2173F2C6934ADD213@esealmw115.eemea.ericsson.se> You could study the definitions on Vic Ceder's site: www.ceder.net and click on definitions. Lars Erik Morell > -----Original Message----- > From: squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com > [mailto:squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com] On Behalf Of Cynde Sadler > Sent: den 4 juni 2008 10:46 > To: This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD > Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... > > In southern Finland where I live we have very few dancers in > two clubs and one caller. Last winter the Sunday group > learned A1 calls in a few weeks during a time when I was > unable to attend many Sunday practices. The result was when I > did turn up I was 'out' and have since had to leave that club. > The same thing is happening at the Thursday group (where I > do have more time to attend but if you miss a Thursday you > are left behind) but it appears now that there may be no more > Plus (or M) dancing in Helsinki next fall. > > I would like to know if there is anything like an intensive > weekend A1 course where I could learn A1 and catch up? I am a > very fast learner. My partner has danced A1 some years ago at > a course in Sweden. The other choice may be to drop out of > square dancing in Finland. We do go to Sweden, Germany and US > (Maine) a few times a year and dance our little feet off but > stick to Plus (and M) clubs. > We will be in Maine June 13-30 Kansas City July 2-16 and > Denver. Then back to Maine until July 24. > Any suggestions? Are there any videos I could watch and study? > Thanks > Cynde > in Helsinki, Finland > > PS Your letter in February said you wanted people to > introduce themselves and still the group remained quiet. > I am an American who lives in Finland and loves to dance. I > have a partner who also dances and we dance square, round, > folk and even morris! We have been trying to conjure up > interest in contra which has been slow moving but lots of > fun. We have started a music club that has REALLY taken off > and last Saturday they spontaneously played two hours of > varied dance music for a friend's graduation party. I say we > get them ready for a real contra! > There are relatively few square dancers in Finland. Two > groups in southern Finland (some of same people just > different venue and days) and a few in northern Finland which > is over 6 hours from here. Nothing in between. > The group here is very small and shrinking. There are many > levels, the lowest nowadays is moving from plus to A1 with > only a couple of beginners who may be gone next fall when we > start again, unless we start a new beginners' group. (14-16 > week summer break) I don't know what the highest level is > since I'd rather dance than advance to levels. > My partner and I love to travel to Germany and Sweden to > dance. In Hamburg we have found many challenging Plus and > even Mainstream clubs and we dance every evening while we are > there. We attend festivals when we can and plan our US trips > around dancing.(somewhat) We are going to Kansas City this > year for the first time ever for another reason but hope to > find plenty of dancing on the side! > > > > ************************************************************ > Become a seeker of truth, starting with the reality that all > of humanity is one family. > I am not going to tell Americans how to vote this coming > November except to vote for peace. And I will not tell you > how to live, but recommend you dance and think freely rather > than wage fundamentalist wars. Give peace a dance. > Dr Glen Barry > > ************************************************************ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ken Robinson" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 8:11 AM > Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... > > > > Hi, > > > > Over the last year, a number of new people have joined the > this email > > list, but it is as quiet as ever. :-( > > > > To the new folks, please let us know who you are, why you joined and > > what you are looking to get out of this list. To the people who have > > been on this list "forever", remember, the usefulness of the list is > > only as good as the postings that happen. > > > > Many years ago, this list was "the place" to discuss our activity, > > now I don't think there is one place on the Internet where this > > happens. Yes, there is the SD-Callers list, but that shouldn't be > > where the general discussions should take place. > > > > We even had a "Net together" at the 1993 NSDC in St. Louis where > > members on the list who were at the convention all got together to > > meet. ISTR that there were over 30 people in attendance. > > > > Let's get some discussions going again... > > > > Ken Robinson > > Owner > > Squaredancing list > > kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Squaredancing mailing list > > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > From htrost at gmx.de Wed Jun 4 08:18:10 2008 From: htrost at gmx.de (Heinz D. Trost) Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:18:10 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties In-Reply-To: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> References: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> Message-ID: <48468802.2070208@gmx.de> Mike, > I have tried fitting a skit between tips or during a break session to > warm them up to the idea. > > How do I convince them to do a few of these? maybe offer them a little competition? Heinz DH 8 SAH -------------- next part -------------- http://www.xing.com/go/invita/7243420 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.24.6/1481 - Release Date: 03.06.2008 19:31 From nshukayr at gmail.com Wed Jun 4 09:00:46 2008 From: nshukayr at gmail.com (Nasser Shukayr) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 08:00:46 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties In-Reply-To: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> References: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> Message-ID: On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 6:04 AM, Mike Gormley wrote: > Our dance is from 7 pm to 9:30 pm. I am not speaking of every dance > having an after party, but perhaps 3 during a season of Nov thru April. > > How do I convince them to do a few of these? Perhaps you can have the skits from 9 to 9:30 pm. Or from 8:15 to 8:45. Appoint dancers to come up with their own skit(s). Have you tried threats? Tell 'em that if they don't do what you want, you'll start mumbling when you call. Nasser Shukayr From shcaldwell at gmail.com Wed Jun 4 09:34:44 2008 From: shcaldwell at gmail.com (Sandy Caldwell) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 09:34:44 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties In-Reply-To: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> References: <484676CA.9090608@ARRL.NET> Message-ID: <535fd42a0806040634g5187107bw756412ecd93e860@mail.gmail.com> Mike, I'm not quite as old as your group, but I didn't like afterparties with skits when I was still under 30. Part of that is because I'm not a night person and after dancing I don't want to think. I do love to go out and get something to eat and socialize that way. The other reason is that most afterparties bored me. I don't like the types or jokes and skits that were usually offered. We went to some parties that were actually fun, but mostly they were the ones that just had lots of interesting conversation about dancing, and food. Some had skits that were just plain offensive. One by a caller was so bad, we never danced to him by choice after that. Our original club had skits during a break at some dances, but eventually we found that people got tired of them and would rather dance more and go to a restaurant later. What does your group really want to do? Sandy (who stayed up late for Tech Squares one year and decided to just be "old" the next) On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 7:04 AM, Mike Gormley wrote: > I love after parties, and have many times suggested we have some at our > club. The problem is, our dancers are of the older generation, 65 to 85 > years. A 2 1/2 hour dance is about all they want. It is not like > they have to go to work the next day, like me, they are all retired. > Our dance is from 7 pm to 9:30 pm. I am not speaking of every dance > having an after party, but perhaps 3 during a season of Nov thru April. > > I have tried fitting a skit between tips or during a break session to > warm them up to the idea. > > How do I convince them to do a few of these? > > Mike Gormley > Florida Keys > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > -- Sandy Caldwell -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080604/7395a035/attachment.html From cynde at twistercom.fi Wed Jun 4 10:54:33 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:54:33 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] A1 crash courses References: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> <1E5CB28D9F205A4CA167F2173F2C693414086E@esealmw115.eemea.ericsson.se> Message-ID: <9FFA8E47DDEE415A96959C04CDBEF65E@736ce0a6d71648c> Unfortunately a week at B?dabaden would be about $1,700.00 which is more than I want to pay although I've heard they're fun. The one in Gl?ssbyg?rden is clearly cheaper but I'll be in US at the time! But I will definitely keep this page bookmarked for a future plan! I would love to spend a summer week in Sweden dancing. We usually go to ?rebro at Easter time for the three day festival. Maybe next summer. Thanks! Cynde > You can attend a teaching week in Gloessbo, Sweden. A1 is June 22 - June > 28 > http://www.squaredance.be/2008.html > > or Boedabaden, Oeland, Sweden where you have A1 class August 2 - August > 9 > > http://www.bodabaden.com/english/ > > > Lars Erik Morell > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com >> [mailto:squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com] On Behalf Of Cynde Sadler >> Sent: den 4 juni 2008 10:46 >> To: This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD >> Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... >> >> In southern Finland where I live we have very few dancers in >> two clubs and one caller. Last winter the Sunday group >> learned A1 calls in a few weeks during a time when I was >> unable to attend many Sunday practices. The result was when I >> did turn up I was 'out' and have since had to leave that club. >> The same thing is happening at the Thursday group (where I >> do have more time to attend but if you miss a Thursday you >> are left behind) but it appears now that there may be no more >> Plus (or M) dancing in Helsinki next fall. >> >> I would like to know if there is anything like an intensive >> weekend A1 course where I could learn A1 and catch up? I am a >> very fast learner. My partner has danced A1 some years ago at >> a course in Sweden. The other choice may be to drop out of >> square dancing in Finland. We do go to Sweden, Germany and US >> (Maine) a few times a year and dance our little feet off but >> stick to Plus (and M) clubs. >> We will be in Maine June 13-30 Kansas City July 2-16 and >> Denver. Then back to Maine until July 24. >> Any suggestions? Are there any videos I could watch and study? >> Thanks >> Cynde >> in Helsinki, Finland >> >> PS Your letter in February said you wanted people to >> introduce themselves and still the group remained quiet. >> I am an American who lives in Finland and loves to dance. I >> have a partner who also dances and we dance square, round, >> folk and even morris! We have been trying to conjure up >> interest in contra which has been slow moving but lots of >> fun. We have started a music club that has REALLY taken off >> and last Saturday they spontaneously played two hours of >> varied dance music for a friend's graduation party. I say we >> get them ready for a real contra! >> There are relatively few square dancers in Finland. Two >> groups in southern Finland (some of same people just >> different venue and days) and a few in northern Finland which >> is over 6 hours from here. Nothing in between. >> The group here is very small and shrinking. There are many >> levels, the lowest nowadays is moving from plus to A1 with >> only a couple of beginners who may be gone next fall when we >> start again, unless we start a new beginners' group. (14-16 >> week summer break) I don't know what the highest level is >> since I'd rather dance than advance to levels. >> My partner and I love to travel to Germany and Sweden to >> dance. In Hamburg we have found many challenging Plus and >> even Mainstream clubs and we dance every evening while we are >> there. We attend festivals when we can and plan our US trips >> around dancing.(somewhat) We are going to Kansas City this >> year for the first time ever for another reason but hope to >> find plenty of dancing on the side! >> >> >> >> ************************************************************ >> Become a seeker of truth, starting with the reality that all >> of humanity is one family. >> I am not going to tell Americans how to vote this coming >> November except to vote for peace. And I will not tell you >> how to live, but recommend you dance and think freely rather >> than wage fundamentalist wars. Give peace a dance. >> Dr Glen Barry >> >> ************************************************************ >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Ken Robinson" >> To: >> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 8:11 AM >> Subject: [Squaredancing] Trying to get the list active again... >> >> >> > Hi, >> > >> > Over the last year, a number of new people have joined the >> this email >> > list, but it is as quiet as ever. :-( >> > >> > To the new folks, please let us know who you are, why you joined and >> > what you are looking to get out of this list. To the people who have >> > been on this list "forever", remember, the usefulness of the list is >> > only as good as the postings that happen. >> > >> > Many years ago, this list was "the place" to discuss our activity, >> > now I don't think there is one place on the Internet where this >> > happens. Yes, there is the SD-Callers list, but that shouldn't be >> > where the general discussions should take place. >> > >> > We even had a "Net together" at the 1993 NSDC in St. Louis where >> > members on the list who were at the convention all got together to >> > meet. ISTR that there were over 30 people in attendance. >> > >> > Let's get some discussions going again... >> > >> > Ken Robinson >> > Owner >> > Squaredancing list >> > kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Squaredancing mailing list >> > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com >> > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com >> > >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Squaredancing mailing list >> Squaredancing at rbnsn.com >> http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com >> > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > From cynde at twistercom.fi Wed Jun 4 10:58:09 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 17:58:09 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] Learning A1 in a weekend References: <21C442132E9A4157A75A67A4E4D009AD@736ce0a6d71648c> Message-ID: Yes, a bit too short notice and by September I'll be back in Finland drowning in work. Cynde We will be in Maine June 13-30 Kansas City July 2-16 Then back to Maine until July 24. Any suggestions? > > There is a A1-in-a-weekend class in Massachusetts this coming > weekend, but I presume that is too short notice. > > Ken Ritucci is teaching an Advanced Blitz (A1 and A2) the last > weekend of September in New Hampshire. > -- > Larry Kilgallen > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > From KempAngus at aol.com Wed Jun 4 11:04:31 2008 From: KempAngus at aol.com (KempAngus at aol.com) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:04:31 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties Message-ID: Hi. I'm new to Square Dancing. What are After Parties? And what is their purpose? They sound like they could be a lot of fun. Do they have to comprise of skits? Or can it be a variety of entertainment? Or just socializing with food? Is it a "Get-to-know-you-better" night? Thanks for sharing your information! Sheree Colorado **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080604/e88ecbf8/attachment.html From htrost at gmx.de Wed Jun 4 12:29:36 2008 From: htrost at gmx.de (Heinz D. Trost) Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:29:36 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4846C2F0.5090601@gmx.de> Sheree, > What are After Parties? that's different. Here in Germany (where we are used to dance almost non-stop (the longest break is with the caller smokes and run out for the lenght of a cigarette and the up to 3 1/2 minutes of announcements)) after party is just a cozy get-together after the weekly club dance or the special dance for an hour or more (sometimes open end). It depends on the dance location if there is an after party after every dance, e.g. because the club dances in an adjoining room of a restaurant (and the club don't pay a fee for the room so the landlord should be able to sell food and drinks to us), or if the club dances somewhere where they aren't forced to leave just in time after the dance,- or just occassionally, e.g. because the club dances in a school or community center and must leave after clean-up just in time and then club board or some dancers ask if somebody would be in the mood for an after party somewhere else in a restaurant nearby. In the last case usually only a few dancers do attend the after party, and just a very few if the after party won't be in a walking distance. There's just one special dance I know which has a skit at the after party here. E.g. in England neither the square nor the round dances are use to have after parties. Two years ago at European Square Dance Convention just for the guests from the other countries the British hosting club installed an after party with the typicall English skit "Dinner for one". Actors (including the tiger on the floor) were the callers. In the USA a few clubs do have after parties, usually the way that some of the dancers drive e.g. to a Denny's or a Mexican, one of the rare number of restaurants which are open after 10 pm in the USA. Actually I never attended an US American club dance night with an after party with skits. Heinz Germany -------------- next part -------------- http://www.xing.com/go/invita/7243420 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.24.6/1481 - Release Date: 03.06.2008 19:31 From cynde at twistercom.fi Wed Jun 4 16:33:52 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 23:33:52 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties References: <4846C2F0.5090601@gmx.de> Message-ID: <64F464C8E7E24318B17A5FD5C81201B1@736ce0a6d71648c> I've never attended an after party in US or anywhere else with skits. But I have enjoyed after parties in Germany like the ones Heinz describes. One club I attend in Hamburg gets the space free and the restaurant makes money by everyone staying for a nightcap (or one or two of those nasty half beer - half 7up concoctions!) and a snack after the dance. It makes the whole thing very social without the pressure of someone needing to invent skits(which I would find difficult to keep up with fresh ideas) I really enjoy getting to know other dancers off the dance floor. Makes a cozy end to the evening. If you're into skits anyway, then maybe a couple of times a year there could be a potluck table for after the dance to be enjoyed at the club with skits. I know some places in Maine and New Hampshire at least, there are ice cream parties which I think are totally awesome. Cynde in Finland > Sheree, > >> What are After Parties? > > that's different. > Here in Germany (where we are used to dance almost non-stop (the longest > break is with the caller smokes and run out for the lenght of a > cigarette and the up to 3 1/2 minutes of announcements)) after party is > just a cozy get-together after the weekly club dance or the special > dance for an hour or more (sometimes open end). Heinz Germany From BOBBSHARP at aol.com Wed Jun 4 16:54:14 2008 From: BOBBSHARP at aol.com (BOBBSHARP at aol.com) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 16:54:14 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties Message-ID: nshukayr at gmail.com writes: Have you tried threats? Tell 'em that if they don't do what you want, you'll start mumbling when you call. that was Ed Gilmore's line - "I can stop the floor anytime I want - all you have to do is mumble" **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080604/a11eab7b/attachment.html From glennwriter at comcast.net Wed Jun 4 21:49:34 2008 From: glennwriter at comcast.net (glennwriter at comcast.net) Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:49:34 +0000 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties Message-ID: <060520080149.26679.4847462D000EA05B0000683722165662769D0A9B079D9902020A0409@comcast.net> Our club in Framingham, Mass., has a party in someone's home after every dance. Members take turns hosting the parties. Hosts provide a modest assortment of soft and hard drinks and a few snacks. Glenn -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Cynde Sadler" > I've never attended an after party in US or anywhere else with skits. But I > have enjoyed after parties in Germany like the ones Heinz describes. One > club I attend in Hamburg gets the space free and the restaurant makes money > by everyone staying for a nightcap (or one or two of those nasty half beer - > half 7up concoctions!) and a snack after the dance. It makes the whole > thing very social without the pressure of someone needing to invent > skits(which I would find difficult to keep up with fresh ideas) I really > enjoy getting to know other dancers off the dance floor. Makes a cozy end to > the evening. > If you're into skits anyway, then maybe a couple of times a year there could > be a potluck table for after the dance to be enjoyed at the club with skits. > I know some places in Maine and New Hampshire at least, there are ice cream > parties which I think are totally awesome. > Cynde > in Finland > > > > Sheree, > > > >> What are After Parties? > > > > > > that's different. > > Here in Germany (where we are used to dance almost non-stop (the longest > > break is with the caller smokes and run out for the lenght of a > > cigarette and the up to 3 1/2 minutes of announcements)) after party is > > just a cozy get-together after the weekly club dance or the special > > dance for an hour or more (sometimes open end). > Heinz > Germany > > > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080605/fd52afd0/attachment.html From glennwriter at comcast.net Wed Jun 4 21:49:34 2008 From: glennwriter at comcast.net (glennwriter at comcast.net) Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:49:34 +0000 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties Message-ID: <060520080149.26679.4847462D000EA05B0000683722165662769D0A9B079D9902020A0409@comcast.net> Our club in Framingham, Mass., has a party in someone's home after every dance. Members take turns hosting the parties. Hosts provide a modest assortment of soft and hard drinks and a few snacks. Glenn -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Cynde Sadler" > I've never attended an after party in US or anywhere else with skits. But I > have enjoyed after parties in Germany like the ones Heinz describes. One > club I attend in Hamburg gets the space free and the restaurant makes money > by everyone staying for a nightcap (or one or two of those nasty half beer - > half 7up concoctions!) and a snack after the dance. It makes the whole > thing very social without the pressure of someone needing to invent > skits(which I would find difficult to keep up with fresh ideas) I really > enjoy getting to know other dancers off the dance floor. Makes a cozy end to > the evening. > If you're into skits anyway, then maybe a couple of times a year there could > be a potluck table for after the dance to be enjoyed at the club with skits. > I know some places in Maine and New Hampshire at least, there are ice cream > parties which I think are totally awesome. > Cynde > in Finland > > > > Sheree, > > > >> What are After Parties? > > > > > > that's different. > > Here in Germany (where we are used to dance almost non-stop (the longest > > break is with the caller smokes and run out for the lenght of a > > cigarette and the up to 3 1/2 minutes of announcements)) after party is > > just a cozy get-together after the weekly club dance or the special > > dance for an hour or more (sometimes open end). > Heinz > Germany > > > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080605/fd52afd0/attachment-0001.html From WA8VEC at ARRL.NET Wed Jun 4 22:13:19 2008 From: WA8VEC at ARRL.NET (Mike Gormley) Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:13:19 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties In-Reply-To: <060520080149.26679.4847462D000EA05B0000683722165662769D0A9B079D9902020A0409@comcast.net> References: <060520080149.26679.4847462D000EA05B0000683722165662769D0A9B079D9902020A0409@comcast.net> Message-ID: <48474BBF.9050409@ARRL.NET> That sounds like a good idea down here in the Keys, because there are perhaps 60 percent who live within the closed community where we dance. A problem to contend with would be the size of one's home, which might only be an RV or a mobile home like structure with a "Florida Room" . At peak season we average 4 or 5 squares. The nearest restaurant is 16 miles away in one direction and 16 in the other direction which is not practical. There is just one road in the Keys, jumping from one island to the next. You either drive Northeast or Southwest. We do have an occasional "pot luck" or "carry in", or a pizza party, but my question is specific to After Parties associated with a dance. In my original post, my reference to an after party, however is the one with skits, jokes, goofy things to create laughter, costuming, games, etc. Mike Gormley Florida Keys Long Key Squares www.Mike-Gormley.com glennwriter at comcast.net wrote: > Our club in Framingham, Mass., has a party in someone's home after every dance. Members take turns hosting the parties. Hosts provide a modest assortment of soft and hard drinks and a few snacks. > > Glenn > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: "Cynde Sadler" > > >> I've never attended an after party in US or anywhere else with skits. But I >> have enjoyed after parties in Germany like the ones Heinz describes. One >> club I attend in Hamburg gets the space free and the restaurant makes money >> by everyone staying for a nightcap (or one or two of those nasty half beer - >> half 7up concoctions!) and a snack after the dance. It makes the whole >> thing very social without the pressure of someone needing to invent >> skits(which I would find difficult to keep up with fresh ideas) I really >> enjoy getting to know other dancers off the dance floor. Makes a cozy end to >> the evening. >> If you're into skits anyway, then maybe a couple of times a year there could >> be a potluck table for after the dance to be enjoyed at the club with skits. >> I know some places in Maine and New Hampshire at least, there are ice cream >> parties which I think are totally awesome. >> Cynde >> in Finland >> >> >> >>> Sheree, >>> >>> >>>> What are After Parties? >>>> >> >>> that's different. >>> Here in Germany (where we are used to dance almost non-stop (the longest >>> break is with the caller smokes and run out for the lenght of a >>> cigarette and the up to 3 1/2 minutes of announcements)) after party is >>> just a cozy get-together after the weekly club dance or the special >>> dance for an hour or more (sometimes open end). >>> >> Heinz >> Germany >> >> From Asdsc at aol.com Thu Jun 5 14:25:59 2008 From: Asdsc at aol.com (Asdsc at aol.com) Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:25:59 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] CA Dancer Asks - Are We "Sameing" Ourselves to Death? Message-ID: In a message dated 6/5/2008 10:26:39 AM Pacific Daylight Time, mcari at comcast.In a message dated 6/5/2008 10:26:39 AM June 5, 2008 Square Dancers and Callers Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: ARE WE SAMEING OURSELVES TO DEATH? My name is Mitchell Cari and I have been square dancing since 1989. I have been in local, regional and statewide leadership positions since 1990, serving and promoting an activity I love. In my almost 20 years of dancing I have seen a steady decline in the number of square dancers. In my almost 20 years of dancing I have also seen several marketing studies trying to explain why our numbers are falling. What I HAVE NOT SEEN is a strong effort to fix what is broken. The marketing studies have repeatedly pointed out three major negative points about square dancing that inhibit our ability to recruit and retain new dancers: 1) Negative memories of square dancing in grade school years. 2) Women don't want to wear the frilly skirts and petticoats. 3) It takes too long to teach a dancer to dance at floor level. I believe we need to develop a plan NOW to change some of these things or we are going to see square dancing as a fun, healthy, social activity die a painful death in the very near future. Our current dancers are not getting any younger and we are not bringing in new younger dancers to replace and supplement us. The Plan: 1) Develop a program for teachers using modern music and energetic calling. 2) Emphasize dancing in more casual attire is acceptable. Prairie skirts, pants, even shorts in the summer time. 3) Develop a call list that can be taught in 25 weeks. Start a program to begin new classes twice a year. This is going to have to be a concerted effort by the dancers and callers to change our activity to bring it back to life. I have tried advanced dancing and I have danced with new dancers. I can appreciate why some dancers go on to the advanced and challenge levels of dancing. It helps to maintain their enthusiasm and interest in dancing. But the fact is, that advanced dancing does not bring in new dancers. YOU DO NOT START AT ADVANCED LEVEL! And our advanced dancers are getting older too. IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN 1) Provide music and dance instructions to teachers at little or no cost. (This is an investment in our future). GET RID OF THE 'GET RI IN THE STRAW' MUSIC AND DANCING. The music should be changed about every 5-10 years to keep it current with the new generation. 2) Include the change in attire requirements in our advertising. 3) Teach 85 calls to dance at floor level. In the classes that I have participated, it seems most people can learn about 3-5 calls per night. After that they go 'doe eyed' and stop learning. So a 25 week program should be able to teach a dancer about 85 calls. 4) Callers are going to have to work harder at making dancing fun with 85 calls. I have been to mainstream dances and had a wonderful time because the caller worked hard at making the choreography interesting and the music was lively. Keeping interest and enthusiasm high is possible but being a lazy from the stage will not get it done. 5) The resurrection of quarterly calls will also add to the fun and interest but not deter from the 25 week teach program. Square dancing is a fun, healthy, social activity. Those of who dance know that. But the general public does not. Now is the time to change square dancing to make it more appealing to our society. Our society has changed. Computers, home electronics and loss of social interaction are all symptoms of the changes in our society. Square dancing is changing too. It can be a negative change, as in an ever quickening death. Or it can be positive, a program to bring in more, younger dancers. The choice is ours. NO action is a choice. But changing is also a choice. Let us change to see our activity revived. I cannot do this by myself. And my club cannot do this alone. This has to be a national/internatioThis has to I am writing to you because you are leaders in the national and international scene. I am just a dancer who does not want to see our activity die and be buried wearing frilly skirts, petticoats and knowing 200 calls. You can dance 200 calls ALONE, ALL BY YOURSELF. Or you can dance 85 calls in a room shared and enjoyed by younger enthusiastic dancers intermingled by older and more experienced dancers. For me, I would rather dance 85. DANCE 85 TO REVIVE! Mitchell Cari, Square dancer, President of Associated Square Dancers of Presiden Cali, Vice-President of the OVERALLS Square Dance Club, 6802 , , -- Forwarded Mess--- From: "Cari, Mitchell" To: Subject: 85 letter Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:08:10 +0000 From: "Cari, Mitchell" To: Subject: 85 letter Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:08:10 +0000 Content-Type: Multipart/mixed; boundary="NextPart_boundary="NextPaboundary="NextPabound ASDSC of Sacramento Valley Find Sacramento Valley Square Dance Info on our Website: _www.ASDSC.org_ (http://www.asdsc.org/) 41st ASDSC Fun Weekend June 13 - 15, 2008 Featuring Mike DeSisto & Jet Roberts with Rounds by Erin Byars & Charlie Eskin Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, Yuba City, CA 49th ASDSC Harvest Hoedown October 24 - 26, 2008 Featuring Pat Carnathan, Dan Preedy, Nasser Shukayr with Jack & Judy DeChenne on Rounds & Bill Silver- New Dancers Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, Yuba City, CA **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080605/791b2449/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 85letter.doc Type: application/octet-stream Size: 42496 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080605/791b2449/attachment.obj From htrost at gmx.de Thu Jun 5 16:07:23 2008 From: htrost at gmx.de (Heinz D. Trost) Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:07:23 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] CA Dancer Asks - Are We "Sameing" Ourselves to Death? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4848477B.5080406@gmx.de> Mitchell, you're absolutely right and whenever you attend a National Square Dance Convention several callers and keyhole speakers do tell the situation to the people, and all complain that e.g. with one exception at least the attendance at the Nationals do shrink by >10 percent every year. E.g. two years ago Tony Oxendine gave a speech at the Nationals and he told us that the upcoming bad situation increases continuos since 30 years (!), but no changes were done. Nobody changed anything because for those in the hobby it was enough to do and to dance. Oh, there are small projects now, so e.g. the square dance ABC project > http://www.squaredanceabc.com/ but the change is too slowly. Heinz -------------- next part -------------- http://www.xing.com/go/invita/7243420 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 270.0.0/1484 - Release Date: 04.06.2008 16:40 From squarekopp at gmx.de Fri Jun 6 11:30:11 2008 From: squarekopp at gmx.de (squarekopp at gmx.de) Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:30:11 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] Are We "Sameing" Ourselves toDeath? Message-ID: <20080606153011.81560@gmx.net> Hi Mitchell, what do you mean with "Sameing"? Heiner Fischle Hannover, Germany From catcaller at gmail.com Fri Jun 6 15:15:10 2008 From: catcaller at gmail.com (Candy Hughes) Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:15:10 -0800 Subject: [Squaredancing] CA Dancer Asks - Are We "Sameing" Ourselves to Death? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: most of everything I know, comes from my experience in the Pacific Northwest I've been square dancing off and on since 1953 I've seen the transition from "old time" visiting-couple dancing, to MWSD I personally dance Basic, Mainstream, and Plus ... have chosen not to take classes in different programs, but may have to ... since I was recruited to call a year ago (for a couple of groups who are losing their longtime callers to age and medical considerations --- and burnout as well) in the Northwest we are fortunate that there is an active and widespread Mainstream program; not only that, we are getting NEW dancers in their 30s and 40s ... and they are STAYING and bringing their friends ... and the older dancers are bringing their grandchildren too I would dispute Mitchell's #2 point --- since I have found, talking with them, that the younger women (particularly the teens) really LIKE the fluffy petticoats, like the opportunity to dress up in "different" ways ... the only objection seems to be financial ... but most clubs here have an "experienced clothing" sale ... and one hall has a room devoted to this, which is open anytime the hall is ... dancers respond enthusiastically to upbeat music, whether "old standard" or new --- they do appreciate getting away from a steady diet of fiddle-and-banjo music ... seem to like the Latin rhythms particularly ... the tunes that might seem "old hat" to those in their 70s and 80s ... are NEW to the 20-somethings; in addition, anything that can be sung along with, is a hit with the floor ... you can feel the energy level rising ... what I have seen, also, is that dancers respond with interest to emphasis on dancing SMOOTHLY and gently ... they have been hassled and harassed into learning a number of calls, some of which seem to confuse them, and they like to "kick back" a little sometimes and just dance to a simple easy-to-understand series of calls, particularly if the caller has paid a lot of attention to good body flow and "intuitive" choreography in the interest of making dancing "unusual" -- sometimes we've lost the DANCE portion of square dancing, and have downplayed the group-cooperation aspect besides that, in talking to a number of newer dancers, I found that many of them showed up because they were LONELY and found the square dancing community to be a bunch of "instant friends" ... we haven't been selling "atmosphere": .... and perhaps we should have that motto "square dancing is friendship set to music" .. strikes most as being hokey ... we need a new formulation that SAYS the same thing Candy (just some stuff from off the top of my head) From KempAngus at aol.com Fri Jun 6 16:09:50 2008 From: KempAngus at aol.com (KempAngus at aol.com) Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:09:50 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] (no subject) Message-ID: I have only been involved in square dancing since March of 2007, when I first wanted to take square dance lessons. I had to wait until September 2007 to do so. In the meantime, I attended the dances throughout the spring and summer, met some great people and enjoyed the entertainment provided by the Callers. I finished Mainstream in January, and have finished Plus lessons in April of this year. I've thoroughly enjoyed becoming involved in square dancing. I agree with Candy about the music. I've discovered so far that there is a huge variety of music. We all have our favorite music, of course. The Callers can change up their music - whether the music was created many years ago or more recently - and add songs to their program that they haven't used before. I don't think the music needs to be, or even should be, revamped by getting rid of the "old" and using all "new" songs. There are many older songs that are timeless. There should be a pleasant mixture, which is what I've experienced in the past year. I've learned that the clothing is a very hot topic - some very strong opinions are held one way or the other by some people. It seems that it should not be so complicated. It's fun to dress up - but it did take me a few times of wearing the petticoats and dresses to feel more comfortable in them. However, there are other options available for those who don't want to wear the petticoats, etc. There are the longer skirts (prairie), and some clubs leave the clothing choice up to each individual - whether dresses of any type or pants, jeans, shorts, etc. We should be respectful to those who choose to dress differently than we ourselves might choose. I think it's important that we keep the overall picture in perspective...........we gather together to enjoy the dancing and music/calling, and one another's friendship. When Candy talks about "atmosphere", she is right. Square dancing provides a very wonderful atmosphere to have fun without the complications that drinking alcohol tends to bring into a setting. Almost every person I've met in square dancing since March 2007 has been kind and friendly and I've always felt welcome. I've made tremendously wonderful friends. Perhaps we need to sell the "atmosphere" that square dancing is a fun, safe place for families and anyone interested in having a great time. It is sometimes hard for parents to find appropriate activities for their families and in my opinion, square dancing is a perfect activity to fit that venue. These are just some of my observations that I've made over the past year or so. Sheree Colorado **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080606/8c6f64ec/attachment.html From brenda.kc at gmail.com Sun Jun 8 09:21:07 2008 From: brenda.kc at gmail.com (Brenda) Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 08:21:07 -0500 (Central Daylight Time) Subject: [Squaredancing] After Parties References: <4846C2F0.5090601@gmx.de> Message-ID: <484BDCC3.000005.03128@BRENDA-7FD96C4B> Actually in U.S.A. some groups do have skits, that said must say rarely stay for the skits as do not care for them. Brenda From: Heinz D. Trost Actually I never attended an US American club dance night with an after party with skits. Heinz German -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080608/d022e05d/attachment.html From david at ameeti.us Mon Jun 9 00:17:57 2008 From: david at ameeti.us (David Ameeti) Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:17:57 -0700 Subject: [Squaredancing] Square Dance Terminology In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <484CAEF5.6010403@ameeti.us> Someone asked for what an "after-party" was. Even though I'm no longer acting in the role of the webmaster for one of the local clubs, I put back up a copy of a very popular web page that covers many of the terms we all use within this activity. Take a moment to check it out and if you have any comments or feedback, positive OR negative, drop me a llne. Also if you have terms you feel would be a great addition to the list, PLEASE let me know as well. Thanks. http://www.ameeti.us/dance/terminology.php --DD > I'm new to Square Dancing. What are After Parties? And what is their purpose? From nshukayr at gmail.com Mon Jun 9 01:49:57 2008 From: nshukayr at gmail.com (Nasser Shukayr) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:49:57 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] Square Dance Terminology In-Reply-To: <484CAEF5.6010403@ameeti.us> References: <484CAEF5.6010403@ameeti.us> Message-ID: Your terminology page is VERY good. Especially when you consider the source. :-) :-) Ignore sentence #2. :-) I think Hoedown is one word. I've seen it both ways but it's much more common as one word. Also, a second definition: a "hoedown" record is a patter record. Pilot Square ... a caller is supposed to already know the effect of each call. So perhaps a better definition would be: The square a caller watches to see who is dancing with whom. The caller uses this square to resolve. (Some callers follow more than one Pilot Square, in case their primary Pilot Square breaks down.) "Quarterly" should say "Quarterly Selection". Here's another definition you can use: Quarterly Selection (or Quarterly) The Callerlab Quarterly Selection committee was disbanded in 2003. Every three months the committee published a short list of calls. These calls were chosen either from higher programs or from experimental calls (i.e. calls not in any program). Quarterly Selections were published separately for Mainstream, Plus and Advanced. At any one time, a Quarterly Selection list could contain from zero to three calls. At the end of each quarter, the committee would vote whether to keep or drop each Quarterly. After a Quarterly was kept for three quarters (nine months), the committee had to vote on retire the call permanently as a quarterly, or whether to add it to an existing square dance program. It is by this review process that new calls were published, evaluated, and perhaps eventually added to an existing dance program. In quarterly selection process was replaced in 2004 with the Periodic Selection Committee, which publishes optional workshop material (either a new call, or an existing call used in a novel way). Resolve Calling so as to bring the dancers back to their respective original partners. The set can be resolved to a Left Allemande, R&L Grand, Weave the Ring (rare), Wrong Way Grand, Promenade, Wrong Way Promenade (rare), "You're Home", or "You've Stirred the Bucket". Trienniel Review (formerly Bienniel Review) The Callerlab dance programs are reviewed every three years. During the Trienniel Review, each dance program committee (Mainstream, Plus, Advanced, Challenge) votes on whether to add or remove any calls from their program. Mainstream votes first, followed a few months later by Plus, then Advanced, then Challenge. Up to three calls may be added or removed from a program during a Triennial Review. Any call removed from a program is automatically added to the next higher program. Of course the program which receives the new call may vote to either keep it or move it to the next higher program. In this way the dance programs evolve slowly over time. Here are some new ones: Accredited Caller Coach - a caller coach who has passed a rigorous set of Callerlab tests and criteria designed to measure his/her proficiency and experience in teaching other callers. Bracket - a tip in Australia, but normally danced as a singing call, a patter call, and another singing call. Caller Coach - a caller who teaches other callers. From nshukayr at gmail.com Mon Jun 9 01:50:45 2008 From: nshukayr at gmail.com (Nasser Shukayr) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:50:45 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] Square Dance Terminology In-Reply-To: References: <484CAEF5.6010403@ameeti.us> Message-ID: Ooops, I meant to send the reply only to David. Apologies. Nasser "fumble-fangers" Shukayr From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 9 05:03:35 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:03:35 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] Square Dance Terminology References: <484CAEF5.6010403@ameeti.us> Message-ID: <863EED133D61415EA007A65601D2C26B@736ce0a6d71648c> Great site, thanks for your work, DD. Cynde ************************************************************ Become a seeker of truth, starting with the reality that all of humanity is one family. I am not going to tell Americans how to vote this coming November except to vote for peace. And I will not tell you how to live, but recommend you dance and think freely rather than wage fundamentalist wars. Give peace a dance. Dr Glen Barry ************************************************************ ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Ameeti" To: Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 7:17 AM Subject: [Squaredancing] Square Dance Terminology > Someone asked for what an "after-party" was. Even though I'm no longer > acting in the role of the webmaster for one of the local clubs, I put > back up a copy of a very popular web page that covers many of the terms > we all use within this activity. Take a moment to check it out and if > you have any comments or feedback, positive OR negative, drop me a > llne. Also if you have terms you feel would be a great addition to the > list, PLEASE let me know as well. Thanks. > > http://www.ameeti.us/dance/terminology.php > > --DD > >> I'm new to Square Dancing. What are After Parties? And what is their >> purpose? > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 9 06:27:09 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:27:09 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] CA Dancer Asks - Are We "Sameing" Ourselves toDeath? References: Message-ID: <728A7C1F4CF245C69ADA08D675F03FA0@736ce0a6d71648c> Hi Candy, I think these are very good reasons to dance square dance and it pleases me that you have danced 'off and on' which means you can take a year or two off anytime and still jump in and enjoy dancing and the club in town has not changed levels up to SDP 10+* New people will keep coming and bringing their friends if they are ENJOYING themselves. I think that many people enjoy dancing smoothly, '' and they like to "kick back" a little sometimes and just dance to a simple easy-to-understand series of calls, particularly if the caller has paid a lot of attention to good body flow and "intuitive" choreography'' to quote you. This activity should be fun above all. I 'forced' my mother to start against her will and she has never had so much fun. She has to admit she has met people whom she may never have met otherwise in her line of work and have turned out to be GREAT friends (and she gets to dance, too!) About clothes, I know about clubs (my mom's for one) who have had sewing bees to help each other make pretty dresses and also clothes trading 'bees' where old clothes can be traded (or sold cheaply) around to each other. This should be encouraged in my opinion. We all get tired of our old rags and new ones aren't always cheap (cheaper than horse riding, hang gliding or formula car racing, though) "square dancing is friendship set to music" may be hokey but well, music and friendship are two very valuable things that make life a bit more livable. Cynde in Finland *super duper pooper ten plus ... have chosen not to take classes in different programs, > in the Northwest we are fortunate that there is an active and > widespread Mainstream program; not only that, we are getting NEW > dancers in their 30s and 40s ... and they are STAYING and bringing > their friends ... and the older dancers are bringing their > grandchildren too. > that motto "square dancing is friendship set to music" .. strikes most > as being hokey ... we need a new formulation that SAYS the same thing > > Candy > > (just some stuff from off the top of my head) > > From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 9 06:41:04 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:41:04 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] clothing References: Message-ID: <276F7B8F62494AAE8F590970735F516D@736ce0a6d71648c> It's too bad if clothing turns out to be a 'hot topic' I was at a festival in Germany where a couple were asked to leave because they were not dressed properly! The flyer had specifically said 'Square Dance Attire required' They had traveled far and were heartbroken to say the least. In the end someone leant them the money to buy some clothes in the shop on the premises. I was very unhappy about this whole thing and felt like you do-clothing should left ( a bit) up to the individuals. But if a festival insists on a dress code, then maybe they should remind via email or make it clear upon registration and have things to lend for people coming from afar so this sort of thing can never happen. A great atmosphere without the complications of alcohol is a wonderful thing but squabbling over clothes sort of spoils it! Cynde who prefers prairie skirts > I've learned that the clothing is a very hot topic - some very strong > opinions are held one way or the other by some people. .......we gather > together to > enjoy the dancing and music/calling, and one another's friendship. Square dancing provides > a very wonderful atmosphere to have fun without the complications that > drinking alcohol tends to bring into a setting. > These are just some of my observations that I've made over the past year > or > so. > > Sheree > Colorado > > > > **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with > Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. > (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002) > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080606/8c6f64ec/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > From WA8VEC at ARRL.NET Mon Jun 9 06:52:01 2008 From: WA8VEC at ARRL.NET (Mike Gormley) Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:52:01 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] World Square Dance Message-ID: <484D0B51.5020401@ARRL.NET> Hey David, What is the status of the World Square Dance? Give is an update. Mike Gormley Florida Keys From WA8VEC at ARRL.NET Mon Jun 9 06:58:48 2008 From: WA8VEC at ARRL.NET (Mike Gormley) Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:58:48 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] World Square Dance In-Reply-To: <484D0B51.5020401@ARRL.NET> References: <484D0B51.5020401@ARRL.NET> Message-ID: <484D0CE8.30608@ARRL.NET> Mike Gormley wrote: > Hey David, > > What is the status of the World Square Dance? Give is an update. > > Mike Gormley > Florida Keys > Oops! Should have read: Give US an update. I can't type without the lights on! Mike From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 9 07:02:23 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 14:02:23 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] CA Dancer Asks - Are We "Sameing" Ourselves toDeath? References: Message-ID: You said it, man! You can dance 200 calls ALONE, ALL BY YOURSELF. Or > you can dance 85 calls in a room shared and enjoyed by younger > enthusiastic > dancers intermingled by older and more experienced dancers. > For me, I would rather dance 85. > DANCE 85 TO REVIVE! > Mitchell Cari, > Square dancer, > President of Associated Square Dancers of Presiden Cali, > Vice-President of the OVERALLS Square Dance Club, > From catcaller at gmail.com Mon Jun 9 14:20:28 2008 From: catcaller at gmail.com (Candy Hughes) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:20:28 -0800 Subject: [Squaredancing] clothing In-Reply-To: <276F7B8F62494AAE8F590970735F516D@736ce0a6d71648c> References: <276F7B8F62494AAE8F590970735F516D@736ce0a6d71648c> Message-ID: I absolutely agree I would far rather dance with people who are enthusiastic about dancing, than dance with people who are more focused on what they are wearing, than on the dancing that being the case, I think that those who are adamant about a certain form of attire at a dance or event, should bring additional suitable clothing to loan to those who show up and are willing to dance wearing "dress code" clothing (after all, suitcases CAN get lost in transit ! ) my personal feeling is: those who are dancing should be allowed to dance in whatever regalia they feel appropriate, so long as it doesn't offend the sensibilities of the other attendees ... while dancers likewise have the responsibility to skip functions where their preferred mode of dress doesn't conform to the dance's announced clothing policy for example, I happen to like fluffy petticoats and short full skirts ... I find I dance in a different style if I wear jeans and a tee-shirt to conform to "casual lessons and workshop" --- it's not as much fun for me .... and I prefer to skip events where there might well be full or partial nudity (have never attended such, heard about them second- and third-hand) around here we see all sorts of attire at dances, and I'll dance happily with anyone who is clean and covered ... I'm far more upset about dancing with someone who has been smoking, since having such as my corner, even momentarily, means I will probably cough all night due to allergies ... Candy From KempAngus at aol.com Mon Jun 9 16:05:32 2008 From: KempAngus at aol.com (KempAngus at aol.com) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:05:32 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] (no subject) Message-ID: Thanks to all of you who have offered your insight and opinions about clothing and after-parties, and all the other things that you've shared. I'm learning a lot. I think Candy is right when she talks about how she dances differently - depending on what she is wearing. I've heard that what we wear can affect our behavior (and mood), or how we do things. As an example, I've heard elementary school principals talk about how the children behave differently if they have a dress code, than if they can wear whatever they want. In their observations, the children who had a dress code behaved better and did better school work than those who dressed in anything that they wanted to wear. I think most of us are that way to some extent. If we are dressed in business attire, we probably act a bit differently than if we are in our hiking clothes. It doesn't make either one right or wrong, necessarily; just different. I think the same happens with square dancing. Some days we women may feel more like dressing up, wearing the fluffy petticoats and full skirts. Other days, we may want to wear the prairie skirts. Yet there may be times when good ole comfortable jeans fit the bill. While the men don't seem to have as many choices as we do, I'm sure there are times when they dress up a little more, than at other times. I do enjoy seeing all the varieties of clothing in square dancing, just as I do with other activities. Mostly, I'm just glad when I have a partner to dance with, and when he is very energetic and enthusiastic, I enjoy it even more. I have to admit...............I've never heard of a square dance with dancers who are in various stages of nudity!! As interesting as that might be, I believe I will also skip this type of event!! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and opinions. Sheree **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080609/a22f64d2/attachment.html From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 9 17:20:58 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:20:58 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] (no subject) References: Message-ID: <61C6C1C37D734C7FB8BD75A5E013767D@736ce0a6d71648c> Then I'm afraid I feel forced to tell a story that amuses me... Last weekend I was at a Finno-Swedish folkdance festival. There we were required to wear our folk costumes representing our home towns during the festivities but allowed to wear casual, comfortable clothing for the dance that went on into the wee hours. One little girl about the age of 16 looked lovely in her costume: a homespun woolen striped vest and skirt, a woolen apron, a blousy sleeved linen blouse with some hand made lace on the cuffs and collar, a little cup hat adorned with tatted lace, knee high white stockings and black shoes. Well, she went back to change into something more comfortable and what she showed up in was all of the above... BUT she had replaced the woolen skirt and apron (and cotton petticoat) with black short-shorts! Hotpants! We about fell over then began wondering what the world would say if we all just removed our skirts and carried on with the casual attire. It sure looked a lot cooler than we were feeling! And she looked absolutely adorable. God love the little children who make waves and changes! > I have to admit...............I've never heard of a square dance with > dancers who are in various stages of nudity!! As interesting as that > might be, I > believe I will also skip this type of event!! > > Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and opinions. > > Sheree From KempAngus at aol.com Mon Jun 9 17:47:37 2008 From: KempAngus at aol.com (KempAngus at aol.com) Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 17:47:37 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] (no subject) Message-ID: That's a funny story! Sounds like she was the smart one! She kept the basic "theme" with a little adaptation for the weather! Since I'm no longer 16, I'd do all of us a favor and wear longer "hotpants"!!! Thanks for sharing!! Sheree **************Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008. (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080609/90a64031/attachment.html From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 9 18:43:41 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (Cynde Sadler) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:43:41 +0300 Subject: [Squaredancing] (no subject) References: Message-ID: I think those thoughts were going through our heads too, as we looked at each other.... > That's a funny story! Sounds like she was the smart one! She kept the > basic "theme" with a little adaptation for the weather! Since I'm no > longer > 16, I'd do all of us a favor and wear longer "hotpants"!!! > > Thanks for sharing!! > > > Sheree > > From squarekopp at gmx.de Sat Jun 14 14:03:10 2008 From: squarekopp at gmx.de (squarekopp at gmx.de) Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:03:10 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] Square Dance Terminology Message-ID: <20080614180310.229120@gmx.net> Hi all, here is another square dance dictionairy - in German language: http://www.heinerfischle.de/wortbuch/index.htm Yours squarely Heiner Fischle www.squarekopp.de From kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com Sun Jun 29 00:18:17 2008 From: kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com (Ken Robinson) Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:18:17 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Message-ID: Hi from Wichita, The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. Spokane, WA won the bid for the 61st National Square Dance Convention to be held in 2012. The National Executive Committee (NEC) announced they had a new web site . I understand it is still being worked on. I have a number of issues with it technically and the "Contact Us" form is broken (at least it was on Saturday morning) I've updated my web pages that show the NSDC attendance from 1952 through 2008. The older one can be seen at < http://www.rbnsn.com/nsdc/index.php>. The newer one, which used Google Visualization (i.e. Javascript) can be found at . You can click on the individual bars to see the attendance figures. Ken Robinson Hillsborough, NJ / Baltimore, MD From htrost at gmx.de Sun Jun 29 01:09:04 2008 From: htrost at gmx.de (Heinz D. Trost) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:09:04 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <486718F0.3060403@gmx.de> Ken et al, thank you for the data. >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than Wichita, KS, was. But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means "Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing won't stop extincting. >Spokane, WA won the bid for the 61st National Square Dance Convention >to be held in 2012. > > Doesn't look as an attractive place, I think. >I've updated my web pages that show the NSDC attendance from 1952 >through 2008. The older one can be seen at < >http://www.rbnsn.com/nsdc/index.php>. The newer one, which used >Google Visualization (i.e. Javascript) can be found >at . You can click on the >individual bars to see the attendance figures. > > yes, thank you, Ken, good job! Heinz Germany -------------- next part -------------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.101 / Virus Database: 270.4.3/1524 - Release Date: 28.06.2008 19:42 From kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com Sun Jun 29 01:21:53 2008 From: kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com (Ken Robinson) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:21:53 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history In-Reply-To: <486718F0.3060403@gmx.de> References: <486718F0.3060403@gmx.de> Message-ID: At 12:09 AM 6/29/2008, Heinz D. Trost wrote: >Ken et al, > >thank you for the data. > > >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final > >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > > > > >well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. >Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because >Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than >Wichita, KS, was. >But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means >"Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, >instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, >etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who >won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the >hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing >won't stop extincting. Looking around the dance floors I noticed that the dress code wasn't being enforced. There were plenty of guys in short sleeved shirts and women in slacks dancing. I don't know the numbers of young dancers at the convention as a percentage of total dancers, but it seemed to me, there were more younger dancers there this year than I remember in previous years. And not all were from exhibition groups. In fact, there was one major exhibition group missing this year -- The Maycroft Square Tappers. It would be interesting to see the percentage of youth dancers at the last few conventions. Ken From ljknews at mac.com Sun Jun 29 08:23:25 2008 From: ljknews at mac.com (ljknews) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:23:25 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 11:18 PM -0500 6/28/08, Ken Robinson wrote: > The National Executive Committee (NEC) announced they had a new web > site . I understand it is still being > worked on. I have a number of issues with it technically and the > "Contact Us" form is broken (at least it was on Saturday morning) The home page shows 48 errors at validator.w3.org, so it certainly does have technical problems. > I've updated my web pages that show the NSDC attendance from 1952 > through 2008. The older one can be seen at < > http://www.rbnsn.com/nsdc/index.php>. The newer one, which used > Google Visualization (i.e. Javascript) can be found > at . You can click on the > individual bars to see the attendance figures. I hope you will keep supporting the old one, for those of us who avoid Javascript. -- Larry Kilgallen From cannotdance at verizonmail.com Sun Jun 29 13:06:30 2008 From: cannotdance at verizonmail.com (cannotdance at verizonmail.com) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:06:30 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] [Square dancing] Ladies dancing without their clothes on! And, a question about the ladies being "balanced". Message-ID: <20080629170630.E535583BFA@ws3-1.us4.outblaze.com> To those who love Square Dancing, The same old topics pop up from decade to decade. I danced a good bit in the Eighties, and those were the days that when we thought Square Dancing could never die. I can still remember telling people that, "Now that I have found Square Dancing, I shall never be lonely again." I do miss the eighties. In those days, "Even a broke clock was right twice a day". I am not too sure that is true anymore. I would like to present two ideas that counter the idea that we would have more dancers if we got rid of the "Dress Code". My first observation may not apply much anymore due to the fact that we do much less swinging than we used to. However, let me assure you that in Square Dancing, and in Square Dance rounds there is still some small amount of leading going on. When a man swings a women, or pivots her, or twirls her, the Square Dance Dress gives the lady perfect balance. It feels really great to be leading a women who, due to her Dress and crinolines, is in perfect balance. If you watch dancers spin and turn around on the floor, it is difficult not to notice how beautiful the female form is when she has her crinolines floating out and her legs appear so thin because her dress is covering up the top of her thighs, (as well as her hips), and all one sees is the most beautiful parts of her legs. I doubt that any male dancer can say that he was not greatly surprised on the occasion that he first saw some of his sexiest dance partners "without their clothes on". I am sure all of the ladies know how much a beautiful dress improves a womens appearance. However, I bet there are still a couple of men who will be as surprised to find out that their favorite corner, is actually a bit larger, and older, than she seemed when she had her Square Dance clothes on. I can remember being a bit embarrassed when I discovered that one of the ladies that I had been dreaming of, was actually nearly twice my age. (With her SD clothes off.) So to the ladies out there, give it a little thought before you toss out those silly old Square Dance clothes. You might find that you will miss the gleaming eyes of the men who watch you twirl and spin on the floor. As for the men, at least one of us, (ME), will miss seeing you at your sexiest. Mick PS--- I wonder how many little girls would love to wear crinolines? My vote, Sexy women, who have great balance, are pretty good. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Robinson" To: "This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD" Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:21:53 -0500 At 12:09 AM 6/29/2008, Heinz D. Trost wrote: > Ken et al, > > thank you for the data. > > >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final > >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > > > > > well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. > Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because > Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than > Wichita, KS, was. > But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means > "Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, > instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, > etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who > won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the > hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing > won't stop extincting. Looking around the dance floors I noticed that the dress code wasn't being enforced. There were plenty of guys in short sleeved shirts and women in slacks dancing. I don't know the numbers of young dancers at the convention as a percentage of total dancers, but it seemed to me, there were more younger dancers there this year than I remember in previous years. And not all were from exhibition groups. In fact, there was one major exhibition group missing this year -- The Maycroft Square Tappers. It would be interesting to see the percentage of youth dancers at the last few conventions. Ken _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com -- -- you @ usa.com is available and 170 other free domains. Sign up at www.mail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ee403d79/attachment.html From catcaller at gmail.com Sun Jun 29 13:26:39 2008 From: catcaller at gmail.com (Candy Hughes) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:26:39 -0800 Subject: [Squaredancing] [Square dancing] Ladies dancing without their clothes on! And, a question about the ladies being "balanced". In-Reply-To: <20080629170630.E535583BFA@ws3-1.us4.outblaze.com> References: <20080629170630.E535583BFA@ws3-1.us4.outblaze.com> Message-ID: all I can say, is that the teens in this part of the country LOVE to wear fluffy petticoats, so much so that they would wear them without skirts on top if they thought they could get away with it they usually wear shorts, boxers, leggings, or sweatpants underneath, I've even seen them wearing jeans but then, teens "have to be different" Candy ( Google up the pictures of the "Daffodil Parade" float ) From Anniebplus at aol.com Sun Jun 29 13:27:00 2008 From: Anniebplus at aol.com (Anniebplus at aol.com) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:27:00 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] [Square dancing] Ladies dancing without their clothes on!... Message-ID: I agree that women look, act and feel better when they are dressed with crinolines, pettipants, etc. But in the summers here in AZ where the temperature is well over 110 most of the time, a person has to be made of ice (so as not to perspire) and have the bladder of an 18 year old to enjoy dressing in "costume." I myself prefer dancing with all the accoutrements. But if one should have to go to the ladies room during the dance it is much like trying to pull up a wet bathing suit. NOT a pretty experience. Anne In a message dated 6/29/2008 10:08:30 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cannotdance at verizonmail.com writes: To those who love Square Dancing, The same old topics pop up from decade to decade. I danced a good bit in the Eighties, and those were the days that when we thought Square Dancing could never die. I can still remember telling people that, "Now that I have found Square Dancing, I shall never be lonely again." I do miss the eighties. In those days, "Even a broke clock was right twice a day". I am not too sure that is true anymore. I would like to present two ideas that counter the idea that we would have more dancers if we got rid of the "Dress Code". My first observation may not apply much anymore due to the fact that we do much less swinging than we used to. However, let me assure you that in Square Dancing, and in Square Dance rounds there is still some small amount of leading going on. When a man swings a women, or pivots her, or twirls her, the Square Dance Dress gives the lady perfect balance. It feels really great to be leading a women who, due to her Dress and crinolines, is in perfect balance. If you watch dancers spin and turn around on the floor, it is difficult not to notice how beautiful the female form is when she has her crinolines floating out and her legs appear so thin because her dress is covering up the top of her thighs, (as well as her hips), and all one sees is the most beautiful parts of her legs. I doubt that any male dancer can say that he was not greatly surprised on the occasion that he first saw some of his sexiest dance partners "without their clothes on". I am sure all of the ladies know how much a beautiful dress improves a womens appearance. However, I bet there are still a couple of men who will be as surprised to find out that their favorite corner, is actually a bit larger, and older, than she seemed when she had her Square Dance clothes on. I can remember being a bit embarrassed when I discovered that one of the ladies that I had been dreaming of, was actually nearly twice my age. (With her SD clothes off.) So to the ladies out there, give it a little thought before you toss out those silly old Square Dance clothes. You might find that you will miss the gleaming eyes of the men who watch you twirl and spin on the floor. As for the men, at least one of us, (ME), will miss seeing you at your sexiest. Mick PS--- I wonder how many little girls would love to wear crinolines? My vote, Sexy women, who have great balance, are pretty good. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Robinson" To: "This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD" Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:21:53 -0500 At 12:09 AM 6/29/2008, Heinz D. Trost wrote: > Ken et al, > > thank you for the data. > > >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final > >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > > > > > well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. > Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because > Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than > Wichita, KS, was. > But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means > "Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, > instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, > etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who > won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the > hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing > won't stop extincting. Looking around the dance floors I noticed that the dress code wasn't being enforced. There were plenty of guys in short sleeved shirts and women in slacks dancing. I don't know the numbers of young dancers at the convention as a percentage of total dancers, but it seemed to me, there were more younger dancers there this year than I remember in previous years. And not all were from exhibition groups. In fact, there was one major exhibition group missing this year -- The Maycroft Square Tappers. It would be interesting to see the percentage of youth dancers at the last few conventions. Ken _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com -- -- you @ usa.com is available and 170 other free domains. Sign up at www.mail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ee403d79/attachment.html _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ea8ea81f/attachment.html From M0220sr at aol.com Sun Jun 29 16:47:17 2008 From: M0220sr at aol.com (M0220sr at aol.com) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:47:17 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Message-ID: ">But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means >"Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, >instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, >etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who >won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the >hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing >won't stop extincting." We saw all kinds of attire at NSDC this year. Actually, we contacted one of the leaders by email before we went so that my wife could find out if she had to wear the traditional attire or not. She was pleased when she heard that all kinds of attire were being accepted this year: regular attire with petticoats, long dresses, prairie skirts, 8-gore skirts, etc. It made it a lot easier to pack clothes. Richard **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/c4753856/attachment.html From ljknews at mac.com Sun Jun 29 17:36:14 2008 From: ljknews at mac.com (ljknews) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:36:14 -0400 Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 4:47 PM -0400 6/29/08, M0220sr at aol.com wrote: > We saw all kinds of attire at NSDC this year. Actually, we contacted one of > the leaders by email before we went so that my wife could find out if she had > to wear the traditional attire or not. She was pleased when she heard that > all kinds of attire were being accepted this year: regular attire with > petticoats, long dresses, prairie skirts, 8-gore skirts, etc. >From some perspectives that does not even begin to approach "all kinds of attire". -- Larry Kilgallen From kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com Sun Jun 29 18:07:47 2008 From: kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com (Ken Robinson) Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:07:47 -0500 Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 04:36 PM 6/29/2008, ljknews wrote: >At 4:47 PM -0400 6/29/08, M0220sr at aol.com wrote: > >> We saw all kinds of attire at NSDC this year. Actually, we >> contacted one of >> the leaders by email before we went so that my wife could find >> out if she had >> to wear the traditional attire or not. She was pleased when she >> heard that >> all kinds of attire were being accepted this year: regular attire with >> petticoats, long dresses, prairie skirts, 8-gore skirts, etc. > > From some perspectives that does not even begin to approach >"all kinds of attire". That's very true. To see "all kinds of attire" go to the Gay Convention next weekend in Cleveland... Back to the attire at the 57th NSDC, I saw men dancing in tee shirts and women in shorts (not skorts). I didn't see any men dancing in shorts, but there may have been some, since it was very hot outside on Thursday & Friday. Ken From cynde at twistercom.fi Mon Jun 30 00:26:26 2008 From: cynde at twistercom.fi (cynde at twistercom.fi) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:26:26 +0300 (EEST) Subject: [Squaredancing] [Square dancing] Ladies dancing without their clothes on!... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1244.72.224.165.45.1214799986.squirrel@www.twistercom.fi> Maybe some happy 'lightweight' medium should be established for hot summer weather. Nylons and pettycoats could ignite. But shorts just don't cut it. Cynde in freezing cold Maine (with promises to be in the 90's next week) > I agree that women look, act and feel better when they are dressed with > crinolines, pettipants, etc. But in the summers here in AZ where the > temperature > is well over 110 most of the time, a person has to be made of ice (so as > not > to perspire) and have the bladder of an 18 year old to enjoy dressing in > "costume." > > I myself prefer dancing with all the accoutrements. But if one should > have > to go to the ladies room during the dance it is much like trying to pull > up a > wet bathing suit. NOT a pretty experience. > > Anne > > > In a message dated 6/29/2008 10:08:30 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, > cannotdance at verizonmail.com writes: > > To those who love Square Dancing, > > The same old topics pop up from decade to decade. I danced a good bit in > the Eighties, and those were the days that when we > > thought Square Dancing could never die. I can still remember telling > people that, "Now that I have found Square Dancing, > > I shall never be lonely again." I do miss the eighties. In those days, > "Even a broke clock was right twice a day". I am not too sure > > that is true anymore. > > I would like to present two ideas that counter the idea that we would > have more dancers if we got rid of the "Dress Code". > > My first observation may not apply much anymore due to the fact that we > do much less swinging than we used to. However, > > let me assure you that in Square Dancing, and in Square Dance rounds > there is still some small amount of leading going on. > > When a man swings a women, or pivots her, or twirls her, the Square Dance > Dress gives the lady perfect balance. > > It feels really great to be leading a women who, due to her Dress and > crinolines, is in perfect balance. > > If you watch dancers spin and turn around on the floor, it is difficult > not to notice how beautiful the female form is when she has > > her crinolines floating out and her legs appear so thin because her dress > is covering up the top of her thighs, (as well as her hips), > > and all one sees is the most beautiful parts of her legs. > > I doubt that any male dancer can say that he was not greatly surprised on > the occasion that he first saw some of his sexiest > > dance partners "without their clothes on". > > I am sure all of the ladies know how much a beautiful dress improves a > womens appearance. However, I bet there are still a > > couple of men who will be as surprised to find out that their favorite > corner, is actually a bit larger, and older, than she seemed when > > she had her Square Dance clothes on. > > I can remember being a bit embarrassed when I discovered that one of the > ladies that I had been dreaming of, > > was actually nearly twice my age. (With her SD clothes off.) > > So to the ladies out there, give it a little thought before you toss out > those silly old Square Dance clothes. > > You might find that you will miss the gleaming eyes of the men who watch > you twirl and spin on the floor. > > As for the men, at least one of us, (ME), will miss seeing you at your > sexiest. > > Mick > > PS--- I wonder how many little girls would love to wear crinolines? > > My vote, Sexy women, who have great balance, are pretty good. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ken Robinson" > To: "This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD" > Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history > Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:21:53 -0500 > > > At 12:09 AM 6/29/2008, Heinz D. Trost wrote: >> Ken et al, >> >> thank you for the data. >> >> >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The > final >> >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had > projected 7,000. >> > >> > >> > >> well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. >> Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, > because >> Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive > than >> Wichita, KS, was. >> But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means >> "Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and > EAASDC, >> instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of > Legacy, >> etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby > who >> won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust > the >> hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square > dancing >> won't stop extincting. > > Looking around the dance floors I noticed that the dress code wasn't > being enforced. There were plenty of guys in short sleeved shirts and > women in slacks dancing. I don't know the numbers of young dancers > at the convention as a percentage of total dancers, but it seemed to > me, there were more younger dancers there this year than I remember > in previous years. And not all were from exhibition groups. In fact, > there was one major exhibition group missing this year -- The > Maycroft Square Tappers. > > It would be interesting to see the percentage of youth dancers at the > last few conventions. > > Ken > > > > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > -- > -- > you @ usa.com > is available and 170 other free domains. > Sign up at www.mail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ee403d79/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > > > > > > > **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for > fuel-efficient used cars. > (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ea8ea81f/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > Squaredancing mailing list > Squaredancing at rbnsn.com > http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com > From htrost at gmx.de Mon Jun 30 01:04:33 2008 From: htrost at gmx.de (Heinz D. Trost) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:04:33 +0200 Subject: [Squaredancing] [Square dancing] Ladies dancing without their clothes on!... In-Reply-To: <1244.72.224.165.45.1214799986.squirrel@www.twistercom.fi> References: <1244.72.224.165.45.1214799986.squirrel@www.twistercom.fi> Message-ID: <48686961.50302@gmx.de> Absolutely not. The serious marketing study say that daily people (and those are who we do need to keep any future for the hobby) won't wear any special attire if they consider square dancing as a hobby for them. So the only way for a future of square dancing is: Make ALL attire rules optional. Then those dancers who like to wear the outdated clothes of the 50's,- can do that still if they'd like. But all other people won't be forced to wear unwanted clothes do attend a dance. Nobody should be able to force other people to wear special clothes for dancing. Heinz -------------- next part -------------- http://www.xing.com/go/invita/7243420 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.101 / Virus Database: 270.4.3/1524 - Release Date: 28.06.2008 19:42 From Jimbetsy at aol.com Mon Jun 30 23:32:14 2008 From: Jimbetsy at aol.com (Jimbetsy at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:32:14 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Message-ID: Hello Heinz, We were at the 57th and saw several people in non-traditional attire. One lady danced in levis--she mostly danced the boy's part. I met her several year ago when she was asked to leave a national convention as she refused to wear traditional attire . I thought it was bullshit then and still do. Of course some people want to push the limits just to see how far they can go. In today's world in which torn levis, tattoos, and body piercing seem to be the norm, maybe we are a last bastion of good taste. On the other hand, square dancing is a party and we usually get dressed up to go to a party. On some occasions, only a tuxedo will do. The NEC is free to demand whatever attire they deem appropriate, but have eased up a lot. Maybe we can come to a happy medium. At clubs, special festivals, and so on, we can have "casual" attire. I like the long sleeved shirts for men and some sort of skirt for women. At larger events, we might go to 'proper' or traditional attire. Proper would probably mean no levis or shorts, just dressy slacks, while retaining the long sleeved shirt for men. No tie, bolo, and so on required. I think most people will see the beauty of some of the outfits and go to them. Betsy only wears the long prairie skirts, no petticoats, no crinolines, and she looks just fine! She always looks nicely turned out--clean, well dressed, AND comfortable. On choice of venue for a national convention. When we have 6,000 people come to Wichita, which has no natural draw, and know that they represent only the tip of the iceberg of square dancers, we know we are doing something right. There may be 60,000 or 600,000 dancers in the USA. They all have fun. Sure, some of them are older and have been dancing a long time. Did you see the large contingent of young dancers in Wichita? They were having a ball too. Of course when they danced in a square with other young people, they were pretty energetic, but they danced with older dancers too and seemed to enjoy it. One last point. Square Dancing is not going to "DIE" It is too much fun. It will certainly change to meet changing conditions. I know that I for one, will dance for the rest of my life, as long as I am physically capable. Jim Pead Livingston, Texas "Your Rovin' Corner." In a message dated 6/29/2008 12:09:34 A.M. Central Daylight Time, htrost at gmx.de writes: Ken et al, thank you for the data. >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than Wichita, KS, was. But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means "Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing won't stop extincting. >Spokane, WA won the bid for the 61st National Square Dance Convention >to be held in 2012. > > Doesn't look as an attractive place, I think. >I've updated my web pages that show the NSDC attendance from 1952 >through 2008. The older one can be seen at < >http://www.rbnsn.com/nsdc/index.php>. The newer one, which used >Google Visualization (i.e. Javascript) can be found >at . You can click on the >individual bars to see the attendance figures. > > yes, thank you, Ken, good job! Heinz Germany -------------- next part -------------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.101 / Virus Database: 270.4.3/1524 - Release Date: 28.06.2008 19:42 _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080630/2b908679/attachment.html From Jimbetsy at aol.com Mon Jun 30 23:36:30 2008 From: Jimbetsy at aol.com (Jimbetsy at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:36:30 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Message-ID: Hi Ken, You might be interested in what I wrote Trost. He is a nattering nabob, entirely too negative for me. He love square dancing, but is not interested in improving it, just tearing it down. He needs an attitude transplant. Hello Heinz, We were at the 57th and saw several people in non-traditional attire. One lady danced in levis--she mostly danced the boy's part. I met her several year ago when she was asked to leave a national convention as she refused to wear traditional attire . I thought it was bullshit then and still do. Of course some people want to push the limits just to see how far they can go. In today's world in which torn levis, tattoos, and body piercing seem to be the norm, maybe we are a last bastion of good taste. On the other hand, square dancing is a party and we usually get dressed up to go to a party. On some occasions, only a tuxedo will do. The NEC is free to demand whatever attire they deem appropriate, but have eased up a lot. Maybe we can come to a happy medium. At clubs, special festivals, and so on, we can have "casual" attire. I like the long sleeved shirts for men and some sort of skirt for women. At larger events, we might go to 'proper' or traditional attire. Proper would probably mean no levis or shorts, just dressy slacks, while retaining the long sleeved shirt for men. No tie, bolo, and so on required. I think most people will see the beauty of some of the outfits and go to them. Betsy only wears the long prairie skirts, no petticoats, no crinolines, and she looks just fine! She always looks nicely turned out--clean, well dressed, AND comfortable. On choice of venue for a national convention. When we have 6,000 people come to Wichita, which has no natural draw, and know that they represent only the tip of the iceberg of square dancers, we know we are doing something right. There may be 60,000 or 600,000 dancers in the USA. They all have fun. Sure, some of them are older and have been dancing a long time. Did you see the large contingent of young dancers in Wichita? They were having a ball too. Of course when they danced in a square with other young people, they were pretty energetic, but they danced with older dancers too and seemed to enjoy it. One last point. Square Dancing is not going to "DIE" It is too much fun. It will certainly change to meet changing conditions. I know that I for one, will dance for the rest of my life, as long as I am physically capable. Jim Pead Livingston, Texas "Your Rovin' Corner In a message dated 6/29/2008 12:21:37 A.M. Central Daylight Time, kenrbnsn at rbnsn.com writes: At 12:09 AM 6/29/2008, Heinz D. Trost wrote: >Ken et al, > >thank you for the data. > > >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final > >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > > > > >well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. >Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because >Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than >Wichita, KS, was. >But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means >"Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, >instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, >etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who >won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the >hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing >won't stop extincting. Looking around the dance floors I noticed that the dress code wasn't being enforced. There were plenty of guys in short sleeved shirts and women in slacks dancing. I don't know the numbers of young dancers at the convention as a percentage of total dancers, but it seemed to me, there were more younger dancers there this year than I remember in previous years. And not all were from exhibition groups. In fact, there was one major exhibition group missing this year -- The Maycroft Square Tappers. It would be interesting to see the percentage of youth dancers at the last few conventions. Ken _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080630/13b629bf/attachment.html From Jimbetsy at aol.com Mon Jun 30 23:38:45 2008 From: Jimbetsy at aol.com (Jimbetsy at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:38:45 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Message-ID: Hi Larry, Hope the NEC gets their wet site worked out. I am a long term supporter of the National Convention--since 1988 I have attended nearly every one. Heinz sometimes seems too negative for my taste. Here is my reply to him: Hello Heinz, We were at the 57th and saw several people in non-traditional attire. One lady danced in levis--she mostly danced the boy's part. I met her several year ago when she was asked to leave a national convention as she refused to wear traditional attire . I thought it was bullshit then and still do. Of course some people want to push the limits just to see how far they can go. In today's world in which torn levis, tattoos, and body piercing seem to be the norm, maybe we are a last bastion of good taste. On the other hand, square dancing is a party and we usually get dressed up to go to a party. On some occasions, only a tuxedo will do. The NEC is free to demand whatever attire they deem appropriate, but have eased up a lot. Maybe we can come to a happy medium. At clubs, special festivals, and so on, we can have "casual" attire. I like the long sleeved shirts for men and some sort of skirt for women. At larger events, we might go to 'proper' or traditional attire. Proper would probably mean no levis or shorts, just dressy slacks, while retaining the long sleeved shirt for men. No tie, bolo, and so on required. I think most people will see the beauty of some of the outfits and go to them. Betsy only wears the long prairie skirts, no petticoats, no crinolines, and she looks just fine! She always looks nicely turned out--clean, well dressed, AND comfortable. On choice of venue for a national convention. When we have 6,000 people come to Wichita, which has no natural draw, and know that they represent only the tip of the iceberg of square dancers, we know we are doing something right. There may be 60,000 or 600,000 dancers in the USA. They all have fun. Sure, some of them are older and have been dancing a long time. Did you see the large contingent of young dancers in Wichita? They were having a ball too. Of course when they danced in a square with other young people, they were pretty energetic, but they danced with older dancers too and seemed to enjoy it. One last point. Square Dancing is not going to "DIE" It is too much fun. It will certainly change to meet changing conditions. I know that I for one, will dance for the rest of my life, as long as I am physically capable. Jim Pead Livingston, Texas "Your Rovin' Corner In a message dated 6/29/2008 7:24:44 A.M. Central Daylight Time, ljknews at mac.com writes: At 11:18 PM -0500 6/28/08, Ken Robinson wrote: > The National Executive Committee (NEC) announced they had a new web > site . I understand it is still being > worked on. I have a number of issues with it technically and the > "Contact Us" form is broken (at least it was on Saturday morning) The home page shows 48 errors at validator.w3.org, so it certainly does have technical problems. > I've updated my web pages that show the NSDC attendance from 1952 > through 2008. The older one can be seen at < > http://www.rbnsn.com/nsdc/index.php>. The newer one, which used > Google Visualization (i.e. Javascript) can be found > at . You can click on the > individual bars to see the attendance figures. I hope you will keep supporting the old one, for those of us who avoid Javascript. -- Larry Kilgallen _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080630/0cddc3c2/attachment.html From Jimbetsy at aol.com Mon Jun 30 23:47:02 2008 From: Jimbetsy at aol.com (Jimbetsy at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:47:02 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] [Square dancing] Ladies dancing without their clothes on!... Message-ID: Anne, You are perfectly right about clothing--however, we are going to a party, and need to look nice. There are places where torn jeans and short shorts are appropriate, others not so. I believe in being comforatable and looking good. Here is what I wrote Heinz: Hello Heinz, We were at the 57th and saw several people in non-traditional attire. One lady danced in levis--she mostly danced the boy's part. I met her several year ago when she was asked to leave a national convention as she refused to wear traditional attire . I thought it was bullshit then and still do. Of course some people want to push the limits just to see how far they can go. In today's world in which torn levis, tattoos, and body piercing seem to be the norm, maybe we are a last bastion of good taste. On the other hand, square dancing is a party and we usually get dressed up to go to a party. On some occasions, only a tuxedo will do. The NEC is free to demand whatever attire they deem appropriate, but have eased up a lot. Maybe we can come to a happy medium. At clubs, special festivals, and so on, we can have "casual" attire. I like the long sleeved shirts for men and some sort of skirt for women. At larger events, we might go to 'proper' or traditional attire. Proper would probably mean no levis or shorts, just dressy slacks, while retaining the long sleeved shirt for men. No tie, bolo, and so on required. I think most people will see the beauty of some of the outfits and go to them. Betsy only wears the long prairie skirts, no petticoats, no crinolines, and she looks just fine! She always looks nicely turned out--clean, well dressed, AND comfortable. On choice of venue for a national convention. When we have 6,000 people come to Wichita, which has no natural draw, and know that they represent only the tip of the iceberg of square dancers, we know we are doing something right. There may be 60,000 or 600,000 dancers in the USA. They all have fun. Sure, some of them are older and have been dancing a long time. Did you see the large contingent of young dancers in Wichita? They were having a ball too. Of course when they danced in a square with other young people, they were pretty energetic, but they danced with older dancers too and seemed to enjoy it. One last point. Square Dancing is not going to "DIE" It is too much fun. It will certainly change to meet changing conditions. I know that I for one, will dance for the rest of my life, as long as I am physically capable. Jim Pead Livingston, Texas "Your Rovin' Corner In a message dated 6/29/2008 12:27:42 P.M. Central Daylight Time, Anniebplus at aol.com writes: I agree that women look, act and feel better when they are dressed with crinolines, pettipants, etc. But in the summers here in AZ where the temperature is well over 110 most of the time, a person has to be made of ice (so as not to perspire) and have the bladder of an 18 year old to enjoy dressing in "costume." I myself prefer dancing with all the accoutrements. But if one should have to go to the ladies room during the dance it is much like trying to pull up a wet bathing suit. NOT a pretty experience. Anne In a message dated 6/29/2008 10:08:30 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cannotdance at verizonmail.com writes: To those who love Square Dancing, The same old topics pop up from decade to decade. I danced a good bit in the Eighties, and those were the days that when we thought Square Dancing could never die. I can still remember telling people that, "Now that I have found Square Dancing, I shall never be lonely again." I do miss the eighties. In those days, "Even a broke clock was right twice a day". I am not too sure that is true anymore. I would like to present two ideas that counter the idea that we would have more dancers if we got rid of the "Dress Code". My first observation may not apply much anymore due to the fact that we do much less swinging than we used to. However, let me assure you that in Square Dancing, and in Square Dance rounds there is still some small amount of leading going on. When a man swings a women, or pivots her, or twirls her, the Square Dance Dress gives the lady perfect balance. It feels really great to be leading a women who, due to her Dress and crinolines, is in perfect balance. If you watch dancers spin and turn around on the floor, it is difficult not to notice how beautiful the female form is when she has her crinolines floating out and her legs appear so thin because her dress is covering up the top of her thighs, (as well as her hips), and all one sees is the most beautiful parts of her legs. I doubt that any male dancer can say that he was not greatly surprised on the occasion that he first saw some of his sexiest dance partners "without their clothes on". I am sure all of the ladies know how much a beautiful dress improves a womens appearance. However, I bet there are still a couple of men who will be as surprised to find out that their favorite corner, is actually a bit larger, and older, than she seemed when she had her Square Dance clothes on. I can remember being a bit embarrassed when I discovered that one of the ladies that I had been dreaming of, was actually nearly twice my age. (With her SD clothes off.) So to the ladies out there, give it a little thought before you toss out those silly old Square Dance clothes. You might find that you will miss the gleaming eyes of the men who watch you twirl and spin on the floor. As for the men, at least one of us, (ME), will miss seeing you at your sexiest. Mick PS--- I wonder how many little girls would love to wear crinolines? My vote, Sexy women, who have great balance, are pretty good. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Robinson" To: "This list for discussing all aspect of MWSD" Subject: Re: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:21:53 -0500 At 12:09 AM 6/29/2008, Heinz D. Trost wrote: > Ken et al, > > thank you for the data. > > >The 57th National Square Dance Convention is now history. The final > >total attendance number that I saw was 6,025. :-( They had projected 7,000. > > > > > > > well, square dancing is still dying and so the Nationals is, too. > Maybe the 58th next year will raise up the attendance a bit, because > Long Beach, CA is better connected to the world and more attractive than > Wichita, KS, was. > But as long as the NEC still forces "proper" attire, but means > "Traditional" in the definition of Legacy, Callerlab, ECTA and EAASDC, > instead of "casual" or at least "proper" in the definition of Legacy, > etc.,- and as long as there still are too many people in the hobby who > won't see the hard reality and block any major changes to adjust the > hobby to the needs of the actually and younger customers, square dancing > won't stop extincting. Looking around the dance floors I noticed that the dress code wasn't being enforced. There were plenty of guys in short sleeved shirts and women in slacks dancing. I don't know the numbers of young dancers at the convention as a percentage of total dancers, but it seemed to me, there were more younger dancers there this year than I remember in previous years. And not all were from exhibition groups. In fact, there was one major exhibition group missing this year -- The Maycroft Square Tappers. It would be interesting to see the percentage of youth dancers at the last few conventions. Ken _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com -- -- you @ usa.com is available and 170 other free domains. Sign up at www.mail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ee403d 79/attachment.html _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080629/ea8ea81f/attachment.html _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080630/faca9533/attachment.html From Jimbetsy at aol.com Mon Jun 30 23:48:15 2008 From: Jimbetsy at aol.com (Jimbetsy at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:48:15 EDT Subject: [Squaredancing] The 57th NSDC is now history Message-ID: Here is what I wrote to Heinz in Germany: Hello Heinz, We were at the 57th and saw several people in non-traditional attire. One lady danced in levis--she mostly danced the boy's part. I met her several year ago when she was asked to leave a national convention as she refused to wear traditional attire . I thought it was bullshit then and still do. Of course some people want to push the limits just to see how far they can go. In today's world in which torn levis, tattoos, and body piercing seem to be the norm, maybe we are a last bastion of good taste. On the other hand, square dancing is a party and we usually get dressed up to go to a party. On some occasions, only a tuxedo will do. The NEC is free to demand whatever attire they deem appropriate, but have eased up a lot. Maybe we can come to a happy medium. At clubs, special festivals, and so on, we can have "casual" attire. I like the long sleeved shirts for men and some sort of skirt for women. At larger events, we might go to 'proper' or traditional attire. Proper would probably mean no levis or shorts, just dressy slacks, while retaining the long sleeved shirt for men. No tie, bolo, and so on required. I think most people will see the beauty of some of the outfits and go to them. Betsy only wears the long prairie skirts, no petticoats, no crinolines, and she looks just fine! She always looks nicely turned out--clean, well dressed, AND comfortable. On choice of venue for a national convention. When we have 6,000 people come to Wichita, which has no natural draw, and know that they represent only the tip of the iceberg of square dancers, we know we are doing something right. There may be 60,000 or 600,000 dancers in the USA. They all have fun. Sure, some of them are older and have been dancing a long time. Did you see the large contingent of young dancers in Wichita? They were having a ball too. Of course when they danced in a square with other young people, they were pretty energetic, but they danced with older dancers too and seemed to enjoy it. One last point. Square Dancing is not going to "DIE" It is too much fun. It will certainly change to meet changing conditions. I know that I for one, will dance for the rest of my life, as long as I am physically capable. Jim Pead Livingston, Texas "Your Rovin' Corner In a message dated 6/29/2008 4:38:37 P.M. Central Daylight Time, ljknews at mac.com writes: At 4:47 PM -0400 6/29/08, M0220sr at aol.com wrote: > We saw all kinds of attire at NSDC this year. Actually, we contacted one of > the leaders by email before we went so that my wife could find out if she had > to wear the traditional attire or not. She was pleased when she heard that > all kinds of attire were being accepted this year: regular attire with > petticoats, long dresses, prairie skirts, 8-gore skirts, etc. >From some perspectives that does not even begin to approach "all kinds of attire". -- Larry Kilgallen _______________________________________________ Squaredancing mailing list Squaredancing at rbnsn.com http://rbnsn.com/mailman/listinfo/squaredancing_rbnsn.com **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://rbnsn.com/pipermail/squaredancing_rbnsn.com/attachments/20080630/487794e3/attachment.html