While working in Houston last week, I decided to attend a square dance. Doesn't it make sense to go to the same dance hall where a big square dance convention was held nine years ago? Sure enough, they were having a square dance that very night!
My, how things have changed over the past nine years! Here are some observations about the main differences between what THEY are doing and what WE have been doing.
Spectators are charged admission, and also have to pay for refreshments. Refreshments are sold at rather high prices. This strategy seems to work, because people actually STOOD IN LINE to BUY refreshments! All the chairs in the hall are numbered. Each spectator receives a slip of paper assigning them to a certain chair number.
The host club has their own unique style of attire. LOTS of vendor booths sell this attire, to spectators.
Dances are staged as a competition. You must practice for YEARS to be eligible to compete. The dancers are paid outrageously high amounts of money for their dancing abilities.
Before the dance starts, they play music and all the spectators sing along. The dancers, however, do not sing along with the spectators.
Visitation between clubs is important. The home club and the visiting club dance in the same hall, but never at the same time. Exactly ONE square of dancers is on the floor at any given time. The shape of the square is painted on the floor of the dance hall, presumably to avoid confusion.
Friendliness between clubs is definitely OUT. After the host club squares up, exactly one member of the visiting club tries to get into the host club's square. The host club designates a dancer to throw what looks like a rock at the would-be intruder. The intruder can get into the host club's square by hitting the rock with a stick, or by getting hit with the rock, or by a couple of other ways which I didn't quite understand.
The only call which seems to matter to these young dancers is "Diamond Circulate". Or maybe it was actually "Boys Run". In any case, it was STRANGE! Instead of dancing smoothly to the music, the dancers would wait until the VERY LAST SECOND, and then dance AS FAST AS THEY COULD to the next position in the formation. Sometimes a dancer fell down on the floor while trying to complete the Circulate.
After several members of the visiting club tried (one at a time) to get into the host club's square, the tip was over and it was the visiting club's turn to square up. At this point, members of the host club would try (one at a time) to get into the visiting club's square.
It's a controversial issue whether to allow men to wear hats indoors at a square dance. At this particular square dance in Houston, every dancer wore a hat.
It takes four Diamond Circulates to score a point. The club with the most points at the end of the dance wins the competition.
This was by far the strangest square dance I've ever been to. I can hardly wait to apply these new ideas at my own square dance club.
Nasser "Houston Astros 4, Pittsburgh Pirates 3"
Shukayr