True confessions - Why I do MWSD
Gloria Krusemeyer
call are actually early MWSD stuff in disguise. After getting me hooked at
dance camps, they left me with no place to get a local fix - except with
those petticoat clubs, which I couldn't quite stomach.
After quite a few years of anguish, Chris Riccioti let me in on a secret.
There is also a group of people who do MWSD but don't come in couples, don't
require crinolines and long sleeves [ok, prairie skirts are now also
tolerated], and whose average age is less than 55. Most major cities have a
gay and/or lesbian square dance club.
I think I was the token straight when I joined MN Wild Roses that fall.
I've heard that other clubs are as much as half straight. The Boston area
doesn't have a gay club for some reason, but there is Tech Squares at MIT,
so don't complain.
=====
One fairly accurate description of MWSD is "close order drill set to music".
I sometimes refer to it as "Tyranny Set to Music" because of some of their
social aspects; their self proclaimed "Friendship Set to Music" seems to
extend only to "others like us".
I'm attracted to the brain twister aspect, the living "on the edge", not
knowing what is coming next. I've learned a level [set of moves] when I can
not only get myself where I need to be on time and gracefully (something
most MWSDers don't worry about), but when I also know where the other people
belong and am able to help anyone else in the square - i.e. keep the square
from falling apart. (I feel fairly comfortable at A-2 [Advanced] and am
learning C-1 [Challenge-1] now from the book. I'll see how well I'm doing
next weekend in Tucson.)
Excess brain cycles can be taken up with more attention to style and
hijinks - the easier the calling, the more hijinks. Also, when it is easy
enough (for a given person), you can find that dance groove.
=====
It is NOT necessary to go through weeks and months of lessons to learn MWSD,
assuming an ability to learn dance stuff from text and prior related dance
experience.
I plodded through the MS class for two months, already knowing (from contras
and traditional square dancing) a good part of what was being taught. Then,
I'd hang around and watch the others dance Plus, the next level up. Sure
enough, they were one short of a square, so I got pulled in two weeks in a
row - it was easier for them to push me around than dance with a ghost. I
took that as an excuse to read the rest of the MainStream and all of the
Plus manuals, and the next week when it was time to dance Plus I stood up
and said I'm ready.
This is not unheard of. A friend wanted to take his girlfriend to some big
national caller's dance. The only problem was that he was calling at a Plus
dance, and she was still in MainStream lessons. So, she read the manuals
and danced at that dance. She also went to other club's dances in the area
after that - but she couldn't go to her own club's dances until she
graduated from MainStream! (She had to finish classes and get her diploma)
[This was in the old days]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you/us who have an itch for real brain twisting, try [gasp]
MWSD. They already HAVE a very interesting product. The packaging could be
a bit better, but.....
Please DON'T try and take contras, which are far from brain twisting, and
try to twist them into something that is. Contras are about style and
interactions - that's why it's worth while repeating the same pattern
umpteen times - it's always different! The people change, the music
changes. Even challenging contras [preferably good flowing dances with
unusual moves, not dances where the challenge is to perform awkward moves -
these should be deep sixed] are walked thru, so the puzzle is "solved"
already, the trick is just executing it with style.
---
Concerning MWSD packaging:
The gay/lesbian community has taken this dance form and made [what to many
contra dancers would be] a fairly civilized social venue for it. There is
nothing that is stopping us individually from infiltrating them, or the
petticoat clubs for those who can adapt themselves.
If some people find it fun enough, you can start your own groups with local
MWSD callers [at first], recruiting from the traditional dance community and
other places, with a social atmosphere much more relaxed than the petticoat
clubs. probably the "classes" can be run at a much faster rate than the
crawl that they run them, the dancing be at a faster tempo, more challenging
material even given the same moves, etc. The gay clubs tend to have a
faster tempo and more challenging material, but they still seem to teach at
the slow tempo. Tech Squares does an improbable zero thru Plus in 13 weeks,
while assuming non-dancers but MIT level minds and learning capacities.
I've been told that the Challenge groups are more civilized than the lower
level petticoat clubs. I cannot vouch for this because of an absurd
political mess I've gotten involved with in MN.
+++++++++++++++
Sidelight: there is a major battle in MWSD between those who want to have
many levels and complexities and those who want to keep it simple and
accessible, or even make it much more so; the brain-teasers vs the social
dancers. Having both under one umbrella is an interesting problem which
hasn't been solved yet in their arena. I prefer contras for my "in the
groove" / social dancing. If it weren't that I felt some obligation to keep
the beginner level alive and healthy, I'd probably dance as "high" as I
could, except for a really good caller or ....
--
When looking at the number of MWSD clubs, realize that many MWSD clubs might
only have two or three squares on a given night. Many challenge level "tape
groups" [where the caller as well as the music is recorded] are just one
square - eight people. Then again, Times Square, the gay/lesbian club in
Manhattan, has 273 members. But this is VERY unusual.
=======
BTW: Crinolines can be fun (when it's cool enough). I finally broke down
and got a petticoat when I was learning Advanced. It was rather absurd -
the class was "casual dress", so not only was I the only person in a skirt
[I do NOT dance in pants!] but I was wearing a worn-out crinoline. I was
figuring out "skirt work" [the appropriate fluttering of the skirt as one
promenades, courtesy turns, and just about anything else where you have a
free hand, the time, and the concentration] while everyone else was
concentrating on intricate, complex maneuvers that I had already memorized
from the book.
Skirt work is a lost art, so now I, the most casually dressed woman on the
floor at a dance, am usually the only one there "properly" flourishing my
skirt and petticoat "by the book".
============
just my $.03
Gloria Krusemeyer
Northfield, MN
[Contra dancing for 10+? years, MWSD for 2 1/4 yrs]
Shawn Banta
of what I guess you'd call "petticoat club" dance lessons, on the theory
that if I was going to poke fun at it, I should give the genre the courtesy
of experiencing it firsthand. My experience was that it was dead slow and
full of homely people (though I did learn some fun moves). But this was the
absolute beginner level, too, and I decided that before I ruled it out
altogether I should see it at its peak. Unfortunately, I never had the
chance to do so, so as far as I'm concerned, the jury is out for the
duration.
--Shawn (Seattle)
p.s. I was intrigued by your reference to an "absurd political mess." Here
in Seattle, we keep politics and dancing absolutely separate. <for those who
don't know us, that's a joke, son>
Gloria Krusemeyer
Yes, they tend to be slow, full of older people, etc. For those of you who
were in MWSD some time in the past, the general consensus is that the
quality of the dancing has degenerated over the past [ten, twenty?] years,
so that many / most? of the people in this country dance some flavor of
"vanilla" MainStream or Plus.
The gay/lesbian community is a bright spot in the MWSD arena. They're
growing while the "normal" community is shrinking. They tend to dance
faster, higher energy, more complicated stuff. Go look for clubs at
www.iagsdc.org ; the Seattle group is Puddletown Squares
There are pockets of good dancing in the straight MWSD community. Go
looking for groups that call themselves DBD [Dancing By Definition] or APD
[All Position Dancing], and good luck finding them. In the NW there's a
network of youth groups that allegedly dance some wicked MainStream.
Unfortunately, they don't allow adults!
=====
The "political" mess is a dance politics thing. There was some tension
between a [very good] local caller and myself, so he decided to treat me
like I was a typical MWSD person and "get me back into line". I didn't
react in the usual manner [callers, no matter how good, aren't gods] and got
kicked out of a dance series that he organizes. Since then, others in the
MWSD community have also ostracized me. Some people are waiting for me to
"get back on effective medication" for my bipolar condition (I wish that it
existed), others just think of me as an unruly traditional dancer - unshaven
armpits and all.
There really can be culture clashes, as demonstrated above. But even with
the above crap that I've experienced, I still enjoy MWSD, especially when
done well. The product is good. If they could only do something about the
packaging and get more groups going at the high quality end ......
Gloria Krusemeyer
Northfield, MN
Gary Shapiro
was no dress code for the class.
Later, like Gloria, I infiltrated a Lesbian-Gay club. They were happy
to have me and I had a lot of fun dancing both roles. They don't ask
for partners, they just stand in a square holding out the left hand if
they're dancing the "follower" position, right hand if they're dancing
the "leader" position. Those of us who will dance either position hold
out both hands, sort of like a little teapot with no handle and two
spouts.
Unfortunately, our English Country Dance is on the same night so I
haven't been in a while. Two of the three "straight" MWSD clubs have
folded in the meantime.
--
Gary Shapiro <sir_dance...@yahoo.com>, a "throwaway" address
that goes away shortly after the spam starts.
Garry Wiegand
>There are pockets of good dancing in the straight MWSD community. Go
>looking for groups that call themselves DBD [Dancing By Definition] or APD
>[All Position Dancing], and good luck finding them.
Here's a good page of MWSD definitions, including the above terms:
http://www.jps.net/dameeti/valley_trailers/terminology.html.
Garry
Nancy Mamlin
"Gloria Krusemeyer" <danc...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:t5b4c2j...@corp.supernews.com...
> Watch out for Kathy Anderson and Larry Edelson. Some of the squares they
> call are actually early MWSD stuff in disguise. After getting me hooked
at
Hi Gloria,
It's Larry Edelman, of course. I have a lot of Kathy and Larry's repertoire
myself. John Krumm also calls some of those figures. The figures are mostly
from the 50's, and were before MWSD got quite as big and complex as it is
now.
I attended MSWD classes at the University of Maryland. Not as quick-moving
as Tech Squares in Boston, but there were people there more around my age--
or I guess I should say greater variety. I went to the classes with two
other local callers. I was told about this particular group by Bob Dalsemer.
He suggested that it would help my calling (I specialize in squares) and
knew that this teacher was a great caller. Indeed he was. I learned a lot
about teaching from him as well.
I didn't quite finish mainstream, mostly because I was in graduate school
and had a time conflict. However, I will say that the club required neither
partners nor costumes, though some folks came with both.
The teacher (whose name I have forgotten) was always good about telling me
which of the more advanced squares I could go ahead and jump into, since he
knew I was already a traditional square dancer (with about 10 years
experience by then). He also made a point of coming to dances that I (and
the other two friends in the class) was calling in the area, mostly at Glen
Echo. He also promoted the dances at Glen Echo for the others in the club to
go to-- very encouraging. Several of my classmates and clubmates became
regulars at Glen Echo as well from that experience.
Anyway, it was an experience that I really enjoyed, don't regret, and would
recommend to anyone!
> Excess brain cycles can be taken up with more attention to style and
> hijinks - the easier the calling, the more hijinks. Also, when it is easy
> enough (for a given person), you can find that dance groove.
That's something that I think contra dancers as a whole could use to figure
out-- they would enjoy more dances more.
To everyone: dance as long as you can!
To my friends: I'm actually capable of dancing once again (since August)! I
hope it lasts till I see you!
Nancy Mamlin
Nancy Martin
> Please DON'T try and take contras, which are far from brain twisting, and
> try to twist them into something that is. Contras are about style and
> interactions - that's why it's worth while repeating the same pattern
> umpteen times - it's always different! The people change, the music
> changes. Even challenging contras [preferably good flowing dances with
> unusual moves, not dances where the challenge is to perform awkward
moves -
> these should be deep sixed] are walked thru, so the puzzle is "solved"
> already, the trick is just executing it with style.
Stand tall for that paragraph! I bend on humbled knee. I've danced with
MWSDers a few times and have to say that the average contra dancer dances
with a lot more style than my square dancing friends. However, I, too, like
that sense of surprise
waiting around the corner when dancing the Edelman/Anderson type of squares
or hash. I get the feeling I'm going for a ride on one of those packing
plant meat hooks that hang from a track on the ceiling. You keep your ears
open, body loose, brain suspended and let the caller take over. Its a blast,
but far different than contra dancing and hallelujah for that!
Bill Martin