Square Dancing In Kansas
Here at Americana Music Academy, it's the place for offering lessons, workshops and concerts featuring the music America plays. It's also the home for fiddling and picking music. Now what happens if you added some line dancing for a special occasion or special event? Well, I'll show you a picture to prove it.
That's square dancing! And I tell you right now, I haven't done that ever since them. What is a square dance, you ask? I'd be very happy to tell you all about it.
A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances are part of a broad spectrum of dances known by various names: country dances, traditional dances, folk dances, barn dances, ceilidh dances, contra dances, Playford dances, etc. These dances appear in over 100 different formations, of which the Square and the Longways Set are by far the most popular formations. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances including English country dances, which were first documented in 17th-century England, and 18th-century French quadrilles and cotillions; square dancing travelled to North America with the European settlers and developed significantly there.
Square dancing is also done in many different styles all around the world. n some countries and regions, through preservation and repetition, square dances have attained the status of a folk dance. Square dancing is strongly associated with the United States, in part due to its association with the romanticized image of the American cowboy in the 20th century, and 31 states have designated it as their official state dance. The main North American types of square dances include traditional square dance and modern western square dance, which is widely known and danced worldwide. Other main types popular in England, Ireland, and Scotland include Playford dances, regional folk dances, ceili, Irish set dances, and Scottish country dances.
Do you wanna learn how to square dance here in Lawrence? If you do, then I'll be happy to help you out on that.
Fact is that the couples in a square are numbered, although numbering varies among different types. In many of the types, two of the couples are known as heads and the other two are called sides. In most American forms of square dance, the dancers are prompted or cued through a sequence of steps by a caller to the beat (and, in some traditions, the phrasing) of music. In other variations, dancers have no caller and instead memorize and perform a specific routine and sequence of steps. Square dance music varies widely, with some forms using traditional tunes and others employing more modern types. And those dances can be organized by square dance clubs, bands, individuals, or similar organizations. Attire varies by type, with some forms possessing a specific dress code and others having no requirements. The standard square formation can also vary at times to include more or fewer dancers or arrange dancers in a different shape.
So here's what I'll be planning on doing while I'm once again living in Lawrence Kansas, maybe I can go down to Americana Music Academy and asked one of the guys on a special event to hold a square dancing event here at the community building in downtown Lawrence. I'll have the music set up and they'll get the food and plenty of soda ready. Heck, I might even get somebody to help me set all this up. This'll be fun!
🤩
There’s also traditional Western square dancing too. So… Western square dance group. Modern western square dance, like traditional square dance, is directed by the caller. In modern western square dance the caller strings together a sequence of individual square dance calls to make a figure or sequence.
The reason I picked out this idea is that it would be cool to do some line dancing here at the Lawrence Community Building. And I’ll tell you why, well it’s because it’s another great way to get some exercise. Duh! So if you’d like to, then giddy up!
Here's some choices of some songs I pick for the square dancing event.
"I Fell In Love" by Carlene Carter
"Dueling Banjos" by Eric Weissberg
"Polloneese Med Förstämda Strängar" by Ingevalds Spelmän
"Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex
"5, 6, 7, 8" by Steps
"Dusty Roads" by Kansas Bluegrass
"I Am a Man Of Constant Sorrow" by The Soggy Bottom Boys
"Mama Don't Know" by Sissy & Earl
"Four Winds" by Bright Eyes
"Ghost Riders In The Sky" by Judy Codor & The Pride Of The Prairie
"Texas Hold 'Em" by Beyonce
"Never Make It Home" by Split Lip Rayfield
"Sugar Babe" by Konza Swamp Band
"Butch Baby Blues" by GCDC
"Bar-B-Que (Jug Band)" by Emmet Otter's Jug Band
"Fire On The Montain" by The Two Dollar Shoe Revival Story
"Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" by Big & Rich
"I Got Rhythm" by Michael Feinstein & Brad Paisley
"Banjo Tickle" by The Midday Ramblers
"Happy Song" by Deadman Flats
And if that's not enough, we can always bring out the fiddling folks from Americana Music Academy. I'll contact Christy J. Miller and see what's up.
The first time I’ve ever heard of square dancing was when I watched an episode of Arthur that day. It was when Arthur and Francine partner up at Mrs. MacGrady’s square dancing class in school, which they take whenever there’s rainy weather outside. Sometimes when you partner up with a friend, it’s nice to do that when you’re dancing.
The moral of this story in that episode is that you don’t spread rumors about people. And just because a boy and girl are friends, doesn’t mean they’re in love with each other. And remember that you always be nice to your friends and family.
To continue..
If you’d like to know a lot more about square dancing and you’d like to do that with me on this special event, please let me know on the comments below. It’ll be a lot fun to enjoy. Just like the time I went with my family to watch a bluegrass band play. I wonder what kind of square dancing we can try out here in Lawrence.
Plus, maybe we can try out square dancing here at the Douglas County Fair on special nights. To do that, we'll need a live jam fiddle band from Americana to do the music. We can have a party there and have a lot of fun in the beginning of August or the end of July. I'll bring in some cream soda and root beer with me.
I can also do that square dancing thing here at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on special nights and special times too. So as always, we know what to do. I'll give you a story about the time I went to the Douglas County Fair on my next blog entry.
In the meantime, when I'm finally back in Lawrence, I'll make this idea for square dancing to really work. In fact, I might even invite my friends to do too. Square dancing in Lawrence Kansas is gonna be really fun. Not only I can do that here at the community building and/or at the Douglas County Fair, but I can also do that at...
Johnny's Tavern! (I think.)
P.S. And if that's not enough, you can always try that here at La Tropicana in 434 Locust St. in N. Lawrence. And for my second other pick for this one, I’m thinking maybe at the Sandbar or at the Replay Lounge in downtown Lawrence. I'm sure those other places will be perfect for the next square dancing event. I’ll give you more info about on Facebook soon. And as always, I’ma say this again. I’m gonna invite my friends over so we can all do that together.
Anyway if you like my idea of a special square dancing event in Lawrence Kansas, feel free to send me some more information about it and leave some comments below. You know exactly what to do. So without further ado, let’s..
So swing your partner 'round and 'round,
Dosey the doe,
Put one foot in and one foot out,
Hokey the poke.
Yee-haw!
That’s it for now, check back later for more stories on my next Lawrence Kansas blog. Giddyup boys and girls, and see you on the other side! Peace!
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