Because Challenge Square Dancing is more difficult and demanding it requires a high level of commitment to the art of Square Dancing and a high level of cooperation amongst the dancers in each square.

So you're thinking about taking Challenge lessons. You will find Challenge square dancing to be intellectually challenging and stimulating. It can be done and done well. And it is fun to dance at the Challenge levels.

Many Challenge dancers do not understand basic square dancing positions and movements. This paper is written to clarify dancer positions for Challenge dancers.

This commentary has four sections. The first was written by Linda Kendall and was printed in Zip Coder in 1998. The second was written by Bill Ackerman and posted to Lynette Bellini's web site in September 2002. The third part is a summary of the rules developed in Linda's and Bill's articles and email discussions on the challenge-sd email service. Diagrams are provided to illustrate these rules. The fourth part provides additional diagrams about the Disconnected concept.

An explanation of the Jay Concept.

A discussion of the definition of Once Removed, problems with the Once Removed concept, and strategies which may be used to dance this concept. Many diagrams are included.

The Once Removed concept is one of the hardest and least understood concepts in Challenge square dancing. This paper provides an explanation of this concept for most of us. This will be done by showing sample calls with some discussions of the nuances of the examples including discussion of the strategy to be used for the call.

There are some basic facts about parallelograms that must be understood if you are to become competent in the use of the concept.

Square dancers require a significant awareness of what is going on in their square at all times. "Positional Awareness" requires detailed knowledge of the following: 1) the starting formation for the call 2) the definition of the call and how the call is danced from the starting formation 3) how, when and where to move in the mechanics of the call 4) formation to end up in at the end of the call.

A list of the things you must know when you do Split Phantom concept calls.

Breathing is the expansion and decrease of the size of the formation as we execute a call. We breathe all the time while dancing but never think about it. It is important to successful dancing to be aware of breathing and to be able to do it well.

There are three Stretch concepts; Stretch itself, Stretched Box ans Stretched Line/Wave. Each of these concepts has its own rules and strategies for dancing. Some of the dancing strategies are applicable to more than one of these concepts.

When we were introduced to BASIC level square dancing, we were presented with a list of the "10 Basic Rules of Square Dancing Etiquette" which included items like "Always use a deodorant" and "Don't drink before attending a dance." After many years of dancing, we have additional items to add to the list, based on observations of behavior that is questionable.

We see star tips listed on many dance, festival and weekend flyers. But what do we know about star tips?