Square Dance News Digest

Recent examples of square dance news on a variety of topics from various publications around the United States. Excerpts appear below, please follow the link to the original article.

September, 2010

Pensacola area dogs cut a rug to educate

Pensacola News Journal
Pensalcola, Florida
September 5, 2010

Angus Coale looks good on the dance floor. Energetic and attentive, he is the perfect partner — dark eyes never leaving Rebecca Coale as they trot and twirl. As the lively country tune comes to a close, Rebecca smiles. Angus wags his tail. Another performance by the Country Canine Square Dancers is complete.

Square dancing dogs? Connie Fleming, special events coordinator with the Five Flags Dog Training Club, knows it's a stretch, for some folks. "You really have to see it to understand it," she said, laughing. "But people seem to love it."

A feather in the arts' CAPP

Daily Globe
Worthington, Minnesota
September 3, 2010

"The Minnesota Academic Standards for the Arts were significantly altered in 2008 — the state legislature approved the revision this past spring — so district music and art educators have worked with the Perpich Center for Arts Education consultants over the past three years to update and align our curriculum to meet those standards," said Jenson.

"Dance was not addressed anywhere in the district’s curriculum," noted Mammen. "We have done some things with multicultural dance, some limited work in physical education classes with folk dance and square dance, but those efforts have been sporadic."

"Nowhere in the curriculum did we identify the five elements of dance — body, action, space, time and energy — and there was little done with improvising or choreographing dance, or comparing and contrasting the characteristics of various dance works or performances," continued Mammen.

Gathering of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association

Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine
Charlottesville, Virginia
September 2, 2010

The gathering includes information on journeys throughout America and the world. Among the many slated for this year are workshops on the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails. Previous gatherings have included seminars on treks in New Zealand, Canada, England, Europe, Africa, Asia, how to dehydrate your own trail food, tips for better photography, and even a workshop on how to get to Antarctica for free.

It’s not all seriousness, though. Pick-up Frisbee games, a used equipment flea market, impromptu storytelling around a bonfire, and usually a concert by some hiking singer/songwriter provide entertaining diversions. A favorite is the Saturday-night square dance. Since many attendees don’t know the moves, there are a fair number of good-natured collisions amidst the dosey-does and promenades.

Leapin' Lizards: Contra dance caller leads band at Glen Echo

The Gazette
Gaithersburg, Maryland
September 1, 2010

Carol Ormand didn't dream of becoming a dance caller. While attending Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., she joined a folk dance club. Then, after moving to the Twin Cities, a friend asked if she wanted to take it one step further.

"We were sitting around the table [at a restaurant] and the caller for that day's dance turned to me and asked, 'Have you ever thought about becoming a caller?,' and I said, 'No,' " recalls Ormand. "He asked if I'd like to, and I said, 'Sure.' I was fresh out of college and young enough to not really think things through."

Ormand became the first female caller in the Twin Cities, and for the past 20 years, has been calling dances all over the country. She will visit Massachusetts, Kentucky and North Carolina before the calendar turns over to 2011.

"It's a lot of fun to stand at a microphone and tell people what to do and watch them do it," Ormand says with a laugh. "But the thing that keeps me coming back is that no matter how many people are at the dance that day, I get to facilitate them having a great time."

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