Frequency Counts

by Al Stevens

There is a lot of talk going around regarding "Frequency Counts" (the number of times each call is used) at square dance events to determine which calls are being used more than others. Some people religiously believe that they can get a good idea as to which calls are being used, or which calls are NOT being used, across the country.

First of all, most of the square dance events that are being taped for these counts are the big dances like the National Square Dance Convention, or various State Conventions around the country. This, in my estimation is NOT where the average should be measured. The dancers don’t represent the average dancer and the eallers are more "cautious" of their reputation to really call their "average" tip. The callers at a National Convention know that they only have one tip to draw attention to themselves for future bookings. Callers need at least a tip to warm up as well as the dancers-it is very difficult to call your "best" material while you are warming up. The average dance should be the club evenings that are being called around the world and not just in North America.

Another factor that is not figured into the equation is the fact that some calls are used more than others to get into a particular FASR state (get-in) so that other calls can be used. It is unfair to couot calls that are non-formation oriented calls the same as you do with calls that are formation oriented. For instance, any facing couple calt is going to automatically be counted more than a call that can only come from "inverted paralellograms". There is no formula to compensate for these infrequently used formations-therefore the calls are going to be placed in a position to be removed from the list because they are not being used as much as other calls.

I also have voiced objection to the fact that decisions are being made that affect the entire world of square dancing based on what is being counted in the United States of America only. There are those who say that if we in Europe were to take a frequency count we would find the same calls being used less and less as in the U.S. even though they may be used more often here-l don’t know.