WESTERN STAR DANCERS QUARTERLY SELECTIONSFALL, 1989

Western Star Dancers didn' t begin with f i reworks.I t didn' t even begin with a ful l square. But i td id start with f ive people, three phantoms, asense of purpose and some strong desires. Therewas aiso a large ki tchen space, a short handbookon square dancing published in 1954 and theusual haggl ing that occurs when ever! /one thinksthey know how to execute a cal l but no oneknows for sure. A month later, in February, u 'ewere seven people and anxious to get underu'a1':as the song in Chorus Line goes, "Al l we neededwas the music and the mirror arrd the chanceto dance. t '

That ' s the ua ! Scot t Care l s ta r ted the very -f i rst issue of THE WESTERN STAR, publ ished in\ larch, 1983 to commemmorate \ \ 'SD's f i rst anni-versar! .

\ l e l l , t h o s e f i v e p e o p l e d i d n ' t e v e n k n o u ' u h a t\ lodern Western Square Dancing was, but f romthose home-spun beginnings came our wonderfulC lub . Now we ' re in the midd le o f our e igh thyear, and what a long u!,a) ' WSD has come fromthat ki tchen! Nou' u,e dance the Cal ler lab programsfrom Basic through Plus, we're incorporated asa publ ic non-prof i t benef i t corporat ion, we helpedto s ta r t the In te rna t iona l Assoc ia t ion o f GaySquare Dance Clubs; hundreds of dancers haveiearned to square dance at Western Star - andsome have moved to other places and startednew Clubs .

Square dancing seems to be on a gradual decl inea s a r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t y . i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ,but in the Gal Community. i t 's v iable and growingfast. I t 's said that most revolut ions start withonly a handful of people - that 's certainly thecase u,ith Gay square dancing, although thosef ive intrepid dancers probabl l , ' had no idea whatwould happen! Eventual l ) , they made contactwith other I , rcups, and the whole thing got started!

These eight lears have seen classes and conven-t ions, part ies, demonstrat ions, picnics, talentshows, the Gay Games, dances, retreats, pot lucks,workshops and Fly- ins. AIso meetings, committees,frant ic mai l ings put together in the middle ofthe night, schlepping equipment in the rain,brakes going out on the float vehicle the daybefore the Parade, entire dance programs puttogether in minutes when the scheduled callerdoesn't show up. Also incredible transformationsof dingy halls by inspired decorators, wholeevents pulled off brill iantly, rescued from almostcertain disaster by committed people workingtogether.

In the course of gett ing from where \ te uereto where we are, Western Star Dancers havewres t led together and ind iv idua l l y w i th a l l theproblems and issues that beset square danceclubs everyu'here, plus our own Gay issues, plus

a l l the c ross-cu l tu ra l th ings invo lved in go ingout and darrcing in the larger Straight dancec o m m u n i t ) .

What 's the bes t dance leve l fo r our C lub?!b'r' Co r.\re sat isf y- olr dancers' nepd f orchal lenging dancing, yet st i l l provide Soodexperiences for beginners? What about expandinginto C,W and Rounds? How do you get peopleto help u' i th the work of running the Club?How do t 'ou deal u ' i th people who are rude,or unethical? How do you select good Cluboff icers, support them and keep them responsiveto the needs of the Club? How much Communit) 'involvement is comfortable? How do you 8,oout and create a good impression for !'ourClub in the Straight dancing communitS'?Should the Ciub part ic ipate in Communit l 'p o l i t i c a l a c t i r i t i e s ?

While I 've been reading the old issues of THEWESTERN STAR, American Square Dance and theother C lub 's news le t te rs , I ' ve no t iced tha t i ssuesl ike these keep coming up over and over. Atf i rst I thought, "Wht can' t we just deal withthis one and be done with i t?" But fru can' t !And the reason is that square dancing is a dl'namicact iv i t t ' - with new people ahvays coming inand br inging their ideas, these issues are constant l lnew. \ 'ou can' t just resolve one f or the Clubtoday and expect the "resolution" to apply tothe Club membership a )'ear or two from now.

WSD's QUARTERLY SELECTIONS is dedicated todiscussion of these issues that concern squaredancers everywhere, especiaily Gay square dancers.

- Patt-v White

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B O B B E L L V I L L E ,C A L L E R L A B A C C R E D I T E I )

bt' Freeman Stamper

Before a larg,e gathering of his Western StarDancers fr iends, students and supporters, BobBel lv i i le $as presented w i th the Cer t i f i ca te o fAccred i ta t ion f rom Ca l le r lab on August 9 ,1989.WSD's Plus Class that evening was dedicatedto recogn i t ion o f h is accompl ishment .

Bi l l Hanzel, a cal ler rvho is a former presrdento f the Nor thern Ca l i fo rn ia Ca l ie rs ' Assoc ia t ionand instructor for about three !ears for WesternStar Dancers, made a surpr ise appearance just

t0 make the presenta t ion to Bob. B i l l exp la inedtha t the process o f accred i ta t ion requ i res theacknou ledgment and suppot ' t o f accred i ted ca l le rsu h o c a n v o u c h f o r a p e r s o n ' s a b i l i t l ' t o t e a c h ,hold a class together, produce competent dancers,and conduct hoedowns. He stated that "whi iesome s ignatures are easy ' to ge t , " he knew tha t ,in Bob 's case, the s ignatures on h is app l i ca t ionwere f rom qua l i t y ca l le t ' s . B i l l was inv i ted todo a gues t t ip a l te r the presenta t ion , wh i leBob danced u i th h is roommate and dear f r iend ,Chris Anderson.

I t was jus t th ree ) 'ears ear l ie r , in Ju ly , 1986,tha t Bob uas e lec ted in to the Nor thern Ca l i fo rn iaC a l ! e r s ' A s s o c i a t i o n a s a f u l l c a l l e r - m o v i n gfrom an apprent ice status. During the presentat ionceremont, i t was noted that this accomplishmenthad nat ionai s igni f icance to the Gal communityin that Bob's admission marked the f i rst t imethat an openl)' Cay person had gone throughthis process. Claire Meisel, who had supportedBob br fa i th fu l l f ' a t tend ing the ca l le r meet ingsas his taw, attended the presentat ion and wasacknowledged for her contr ibut ions.

The even ing 's fes t i v i t ies were a surpr ise to Bob,w i th so many o f h is long- t ime WSD fe l low mem-bers present for the class just to show apprecia-t ion for his work. His biggest surpr ise was Bi l lHanzel 's presence. Bi l l has been support iveof Bob from the beginning of Bob's appl icat ionfor membership into the Northern Cal i fornia assoc-iat ion. Bi l l and his wife, Janice, have been long-t ime supporters of the Gay- community. Janicefor many years has worked with the Barbarl'Coast Cloggers in instruct ion and choreographl ' .

Much commotion ensued during breaks betweentips as members and friends enjoyed punch andcookies. A good time was had by all (just hadto get that l ine in there, for al l those smal l-tou/n reporters out there!)

The Cert i f icate of Accreditat ion from Cal ler labis signed by John Kaltenthaler, who has been

the organizat ion's Execut ive Secretary since19i6. Ivlr. Kaltenthaler was one of the featuredcai lers for "Peel the Apple," the Sixth AnnuaiConvent ion of the Internat ional Associat ion ofGay- Square Dance Clubs, held in New \ork City'in Ju l l , i989 .

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O N B O B ' S A C H I E V E N { E N T

by' Patt l ' White

What Freeman d idn ' t ment ion , and what I hadn ' trea l i zed t i l l I f ina l l l pu t tu ,o and two together ,is that Bob uasn' t even a square dancer unt i l1 983.

He s ta r ted u ' i th a \ l ' es te rn Star c lass (Scot t sa lswe even have a i ideo o f Bob rece iv ing h is d ip lomaat Graduat ion ! )

Bob has progressed from being a non-dancerto be ing a fu l i y accred i ted ca l le r in jus t s i ry 'ears. He went from being a non-dancer to beinge lec ted as a fu l l ca l le r in the Nor thern Ca i i fo rn iaAssociat ion in just three years!

In reading old issues of THE WESTERN STAR,I found several references to Bob's part ic ipat ionin the Cal ler Apprent ice Program, and foundJason Fonta ine 's account o f the ceremon] 'whenBob rece ived h is f i rs t Ca l le r ' s badge a t the StarThru the Colden Gate Convent ion in 1986. Anexcerpt of Jason's art ic le:

I uou ld l i ke to ment ion a very 'persona l , toWestern Star Dancers. moment that occurredat our Fr idal ' n ight banquet in the Palace'sGold Room. This was quite a surpr ise to mostof us Bi l l Hanzel. our dedicated WSDclub instructor for our new class dancers,walked to the podium and asked WSD memberBob Bel lv i l le to join him. He then presentedBob with a badge denot ing membership asa FL]LL CALLER in the Northern Cal i forniaAssociat ion Bob is the f i rst gat cal lerof this straight organizat ion. Bi l l \ r 'as joinedin the presentat ion by Steffany "Lad) ' S"of Sanchez & Chicken Ranch fame. Chris Ander-sgn, (Bob's) longt ime fr iend and companion,pinned the badge to Bob's bosom. A standingovatron couid not conceal the emotion-chargedmoment as mascara ran freelr-, deep sighswere taken and manly' sobs hardll, suppressed.To me, this was the highl ight of our convent ion.

Having been in WSD only since 'g7, I didn' t knowall the background to the achievement we celebra-ted a few weeks ago. I really admire Bob's commit-ment to persevere through ever)'thing and reachhis personal goal.

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The fol lowing two art ic les, b-"" Bi l l Heimann andBarr) Ciasper, are included here by permissionfrom the Zip Coder, the publ icat ion in whichthey' first appeared. Biil and Barry are bothChal lenge dancers, and thel use Chal lenge termin-o logy to i l l us t ra te the i r po in ts . A l though thecal ls thel talk about are unfamil iar, \ rhat Bi l lsa) s about good dancers goes for i\lainstreanrand PIus dancers as u,el l as Chal lenge dancers.The problem Barry analt 'zes, that the capabi l i t iesof the dancers at a giren lerel decl ine overt ime because dancers rush to "higher" levelsbefore they"re ready' , is something Clubs at al lle re ls contend u i th . These ar t i c les a re repro-duced in to to because the \ a r t i cu la te so ue l lthcse ideas tha t concern a l l sauare dancers .

A L O O K A T - O L ] R . S E I , V E S

br B i l l He imannH i l l s i d e , I L

Let ' s c rea te a scenar io . \ 'ou and I a re f r iendsat tend ing a C2 dance w i th someone ' * ,e neversau before. After the dance ! ou ask me i f Idanced w i th tha t coup le in t l re red sh i r ts . Isa id , "No, I d idn ' t . Whl '? " \ 'ou rep l l , "The5 ' rereal l l ' good dancers."

That ' s a scenar io tha t ' s p robab l l happened toyou i f you' \ 'e been around chal lenge dancingfor an t leng th o f t ime. But le t ' s take i t onestep further. What do y. .ou mean b) sa) ' ing the1, ' ."good dancers? Did ! 'ou ever try to analyze exact-l l what ) 'ou observed that created that impres-sion? iVost people probabl l ' couldn' t verbal izethe precise reasons. I t 's just that their "generalsense," their "gut feel ing" was that the peopleuere good dancers.

That 's happened to me too, but those kindsof emotional responses to a rat ional sett ingbother me. Consequent ly, I ' r 'e tr ied to quant i f lwhat 's real ly involved in leading me to sucha conclusion. Here are some of the cr i ter iaI use in evaluat ing a dancer.

1. Mistakes - This is the most commonf ailing of most dancers. Thet simpl)' maketoo many mistakes. Dancers must be ableto execute the rout ine steps f lawlessly.I t 's just l ike basebal l . Nobody wants ashortstop who is capable of making thespectacular plaj's if he can't be reliedupon to make the routine ones. It's simplya matter of numbers. There are hundredsof routine ones for every spectacularopportunity. In this case the price ofthe spectacular pla-'- is too high.

2. Command of F$damentals - Absolutelycr i t ical . I f you can' t spl i t c i rculate, whocares if you know the latest and greatestcal l? I think a dancer is al lowed one ofthese types of mistakes every time theUnited States loses a war!

Here are just a few examples of whatI consider fundamentals: spl i t c i rculate,counter rotate, s ingle rotate, pass in orou t , ro l l , le f t f rom r igh t , beaus and be l lesident i f i ca t ion , and the most d i f f i cu l t ca l lo f a l l . cas t 3 , ,4 .

3. Degree of Help - How much help cana dancer provide at the level he considershimself ? I t 's probabl l not unreasonableto erpect him to provide some help tosomeone s tand ing nex t to h im, and tosome extenl to the square as a whole.Feu ' peop le have the ab i l i t f to p rov ided) 'namic help to a u'hole square on a cons-istent basis, but to be considered real l lcompetent at a level, a dancer shouldbe capable of providing this help on anoccas iona l bas is .

4 . Ab i l i t l to adapt to neu: s i tua t ionslVust a dancer be u'alked through a famil iarcal l f rom a new setup before he can dance; ' t n n r r o n t l r ' ? A o n n d r l a n c o r r l o l o l n n c t h e

ab i l i t y to adapt to these new s i tua t ionsat a dance, and at dance speed.

5. Abi l i t l ' to recognize and deal u ' i th adistorted f igure - Examples are T-bones,concentr ic setups, magic columns, phantoms,tr iangles, and paral lelograms.

6. Precise formations - Some people seemto spend al l night dancing at a 45 degreeangle with the wal ls. Can a dancer cir-culate exact l) ' two posit ions on a Perkupeven i f the centers are T-boned to them?Does he know where he is relat ive tothe other dancers in the square? Doeshe stand exact l) alongside his partner?

1. Abi l i t l ' to recognize when somethingdoesn't seem r ight - For example, i t cons-tantly amazes me that some dancers cango several cal ls T-boned to the rest ofthe square and not know it. Some dancersjust seem to be dancing to the beat ofa di f ferent cal ler.

8. How does he react when he doesn'tknow what to do? Does rigor mortis immed-iately set in? Does he move any'way hopingno one will notice he doesn't know whatto do? Or, does he immediately find his

opposite, listen for a cue from the calleror someone in the square, or try to blendin with the other dancers who seem toknow what the;-'re doing? Does he knowhow to wait?

9. The dancer's demeanor - Does he dancewith conf idence? Does he appear to havecontrol of the si tuat ion? Does he dancewith the other dancers or is he a soloart ist? How's his t iming? Can he danceat the r ight pace, not too slow or toofast?

These are some o f the qua l i t ies I th ink cons t i -tute a good dancer. Okay, there mal be others.I t wasn ' t m l ' purpose in u r i t ing th is a r t i c leto spec i f i ca l l y exhaust the poss ib i l i t i es . Mfpurpose was something else.

Take another quick look at the l ist - go ahead,I ' l l w a i t !

How many of the i tems are related to level?Malbe some of the distorted f igures in number5 , bu t o ther than tha t , none o f them! In o therwords, BEING A GOOD DANCER HAS NOTHINGT0 DO WITH LEVEI-! Other things being equal,i f dancer A makes fewer mistakes than dancerB, dancer A is a better dancer. I f he can exe-cute fundamentals better, he's a better dancer.I f he makes more precise formations, he's abetter dancer. How about i f dancer A attendsC3 dances and dancer B dances no higher thanC2? Is dancer A therefore a better dancer thanB? Abso lu te ly no t . Accord ing to the l i s t , cons id -erat ions l ike what dances a dancer attends,how man) cal ls he knorvs, how long he's beendancing, or uhat workshop he's in have absolute-l l ' nothing to do with evaluat ing his performance.

Aren' t the cr i ter ia on the l ist the ones usual l l 'used by the chal lenge community to judge otherdancers? Unfortunately, thel ' don' t seem tobe. Let 's look at an example at our C2 dance.I ' v e h e a r d m a n ) ' p e o p l e s a ) ' t h i n g s l i k e , " T h a tlast t ip should have gone better than i t didb e c a u s e w e h a d t w o ' C 4 c o u p l e s ' i n i t . " I s n ' tthe impl icat ion here that the square was poten-t ial ly strong due to the presence of the twoC4 couples? In other words, these couples weregood dancers simply because they're

'C4 dancers. '

But does that fact mean they"re an)' good?Not according to the above l ist . l t 's been m)experience that people can be incompetent atany level. Just because someone 'dances' C3doesn't mean he's a good Cl dancer. Indeed,that fact alone doesn't mean he's a good dancerat all! It simply means he spends part of hislife inhabiting a C3 floor.

Why is it that we as a dancing community seemto value progressing through levels more than

we value good dancing? Why do we value levelmovement more than qual i ty? I bel ieve the an-swer is ego, or status. We want others to thinkwell of us, and the most visible wa!, to dothat is by advancing through the levels. lvlanlthink the progression through levels is the only'means we have of showing our prowess. That'show we keep score. So much energy is put intolearning a new level. Feelings are irreparablthurt because someone wasn't invited into thatnext level workshop, or perhaps asked intoa star t ip. His l i fe is over. What a shame thatwe treat this wonderf ul act iv i ty that wa), . Justimagine how great i t could be i f this energ!were funneled into improving our performancerather than our egos.

On the other hand, u,ho are these people thatmany' think wi l l be impressed by their movement?I rea l l l don ' t know. They cer ta in ly 'a ren ' t thepeople who dance u' i1h them when the! ob' , ' iouslyaren' t prepared. The good dancers aren' t fooled.The cal lers aren' t . \ [ 'ho is? So much t ime andenergl goes into the charade, to u'hat end?\\rho's impressed? Honest f olks, nobody is! Thehonest to gosh real fact of the matter is thatnobodt' is.

What 's the ansuer? We as the chal lenge commun-i t5 ' need to clean up our act. We need to appre-c ia te the ac t iv i t t fo r what i t i s ra ther thanuse i t as a means to improve our sel f- image.We need to take harder iooks at ourselves,to more accuratel) ' and honest l l , evaluate ourab i l i t y 'be fore decrd ing to a t tend a dance. Weneed to understand that i t 's no disgrace tospend t ime at a level, to become good there,to become comfortable dancing the level, toenjoy i t , before moving on. We need to acceptthe commitment to the other dancers to bereasonably competent at a level before attendinga dance. We must understand and bel ieve thati t isn' t fair to impose ourselves on other dan-

cers who in many cases have spent considerablet ime and mone) to be there.

I guess what I 'm real l ) ' t ry ing to sa) ' is thatwe have to stop abusing this act iv i ty. I 'vealways felt that the most wonderful aspectof square dancing is that there's a place forevery level of abi l i t t and interest. Some peopleonly qant to dance once a month whi le othersenjo-r workshopping several times a week, ordissect ing the cal ls, or studying hours at at ime. There's a place for everyone. But dancinga higher level doesn't make you a better person.It simply means you know a few more stepsthan someone else.

In the grand scheme of things, how importantis that, real ly?

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H O W G O O D I S G O O D ?

bl Barry Clasper165 Kingslake Road

North York, Ontarro, Canada, iU2J 3C4

In a recent art ic le, Bi l l Heimann did an excei lentjob of del ineat ing the di f ference between highqual i t i ' and hieh level dancing. I would l ike totake the l ibert l of summarizing the main pointso f B i l l ' s a r t i c le (o r a t leas t what ! perce ivedto be the main oo in ts ) so tha t I can use themas a springboard for m."- own remarks. Bill madethe fol lowing points:

l . Good dancers are usual l l recognized assuch bl ' other dancers, and most dancers aspireto be in the group that is so recognized.

2 . B i l l d iscussed the c r i te r ia he uses in eva l -uat ing hou wel l or hou' poorl i a dancer per-forms. In point form, the5 were:

a . Number o f Mis takes : be t te r dancersmake feu 'e r mis takes .

b. Command of Fundamentals: better dancershare a superior g,r ip on cer lain fundamentalelements that form the basis of a largenumber of cal ls arrd concepts - examplesare c i rcu la te , ro ta te , t rade, l r inge , ro l l ,e t c .

c . Ab i l i t y to l le lp : be t te r dancers canass is t o thers .

d . Adaptab i l i t y : be t te r dancers can adaptto a s i tua t ion tha t represents a log ica lex t rapo la t ion o f known mater ia l w i thouthaving to be taught or walked through.

e . Ab i l i t l ' to Hand le D is to r t ions : be t te rdancers can handle distorted setups thatare legal at the level being danced.

f . Prec is ion : be t te r dancers make prec iselormations and adopt precise facing direct ions.

g . Ab i l i t y to Recogn ize the " l rn r igh t " :better dancers real ize when somethingdoes not make sense and therefore a mistakehas been made.

h . Ab i l i t f to Recorer : be t te r dancers tendto recover their own mistakes withoutassistance.

i . Conf idence: better dancers displa-v- conf i-dence that thet' know what they are about.

3. The above character ist ics are level- independent.They transcend the material associated with

ant ' given Cai ler iab program. Thus, i t doesnot fol iow that any given C4 dancer is neces-sarily a better dancer than any given A2dancer, s impl l ' b), v ir tue of their habitualdance leve1. l t i s en t i re l t 'poss ib le fo r anA2 dancer to be a better dancer than a C4dancer, despite the fact that the C4 dancerprobabl l ' knows more cal ls.

4. Because the square dance movement hasnot done a good job of art iculat ing the char-ac ter is t i cs tha t con t r ibu te to good danc ing ,a great man! people mistakeniy assume thatthere is a direct correlat ion between theleve I somebody dances and how wel l the- idance. Thel conciude that at tending a higherlevel dance makes someone a better dancer.

5 . S jnce ue a l l u ish to be we l l - rega, 'dedbl our peers, this mistaken idea that

-dance

ler ,e l i s s ) ,non lmous w i th danc ing ab i l i t y fos_ters an inappropr ia te compuls ion to ad , ,ancethrough the le re ls .

6 . The equat ion be tw,een dance- leve l andpres t ige has resu l ted in an un for tunate dec l inein the average danc ing sk i l l s exh ib i ted a tthe Advanced and Cha l lenge le le ls .

S ince ml purpose is no t to rev ieu ' B i l l ' s a r t i c le ,but rather to expand upon i t , I of fer these pointsmerely to refresh ) 'our memor) . I f y,ou have notl 'e t read B i l l He imann 's a r l i c le . I hear t i l v recom-mend that I 'ou do so.

I n r e a d i n g B i i l ' s a r t i c l e , t h e f i r s t t h i n g t h a ts t ruck me was tha t B i l l ' s l i s t o f "good dancer , 'c r i te r ia ac tua l l ) cons is ts o f a s ing le po in t , w i tha number of support ing elements. I think thatbetter dancers make fewer mistakes becausethey have a good grasp of fundamentats" ;.eadaptable, can deal with distorted setups, areprecise, recognize errors, and knou. how to reco-ver. Moreover, dancers u,ho make f eu,er mistakestend to be conf ident and are more l iable tobe able to help others. Therefore. I think thatB i l l ' s l i s t ac tua l l -v bo i l s down to a s ing le po in t :better dancers make feu'er mistakes.

Whi le I do no t u ish to a rgue tha t a lou , e r ro rrate represents the onit v ir tue a good dancerneed possess, i t seems clear that i t is far andawa5' the most important. l This being so, I thinki t might be instruct ive to examine dancer per-formance from this point of view. How man!,'mistakes is i t reasonable for a competent dancerto make in the course of an evening? How many'sequences out of a t ip is i t reasonable to expecta square to execute successful ly?

F i rs t , I need to de f ine "mis take" . I 'm no t ta lk ingabout momentary hesitat ions or false starts.

I 'm referr ing to those ki l ler mistakes that causesquares to crumble - the fatal errors. I definea fatal error as an incorrectfction (or inaction)which:

f . i f lef t uncorrected, would result ei therin the square breaking down or an incorrectresolut ion, and

2. is not recovered bl, the perpetrator beforei t damages the square.

So ml' question is, "Ho\L man!. such errors isi t acceptable for a competent dancer to make?"

l..rnderll ' ing our concern u,ith errors is the facttha t mis takes cont r ibu te d i rec t l t to b roken squareswhich, in turn, cause dancers to be transformedinto spectators who stand and watch the othersquares dance. Our problem is that we considerthe proport ion of t ime spent spectat ing to begrowing to unacceptab le leve ls . Th is i ine o fthought sp l i t s my or ig ina l ques t ion in to two:

l . For what por t ion o f the to ta l dance t imeis spec ta t ing acceptab le?

2. How do mis takes in f luence spec ta to r t ime?

The f i rst quest ion is a matter of personal judge-ment, but the second is open to analy 's is. Perhapsif we undertake the anal5, 's is we w.i l be better 'posi t ioned 1c make the judgsrnent required forthe f i rst quest ion. First we need to quant i f lour terms in a wal that makes analysis possible.

I th ink the most use fu l way to quant i f ) 'm is takesis to express them as a rate using the numberof sequences danced as a base. For instance.i f a dancer makes fatal errors at the rate ofi error every 5 sequences, i t fo l lows that heor she dances faul t lessly 4 out of 5 sequences.In other words, you could sa) ' that the dancerexecutes without error 80qo of the sequencescal led. This value can also serve to expressthe probabi l i ty of that dancer execut ing anygiven sequence successful ly. Henceforth, I u, i l lrefer to such a dancer as an 809o dancer.

Now let 's examine how wel l dancers u' i th var iousprobabi l i t ies for dancing error-free might beexpected to do. Let 's suppose that each of thedancers in the square dances 909o of the se-quences without f atal error. A mark of 900,o isusually considered pretty good in school. ln dan-cing terms that means that you blow one sequencein ten. We want to know the probabi l i ty of Edancers, each with a 90% probabi l i ty of dancingerror-free, making i t through a sequence withoutan), one of them making an error. Stat ist icstel ls us that the formula for this calculat ionis to take the produc t o f a l l the probab i l i t ies .Theref ore, a square composed ent i rel l of 900,odancers could expect to make:

. 9 x . 9 x . 9 x . 9 x . 9 x . 9 x . 9 x . 9 = 4 3 q o

LESS THAN H{LF of the sequences!! !

Or in o ther words , the- r wou ld be s tand ing id lemore than half of the trme. I do not think manlwould be prepared to argue that spectat ing formore than ha l f o f the t ime is sa t is fac to r ) . Le t ' slook at this from another angle. How s'el l dothe indrvidual dancers have to perform in orderfor the square as a whole to make 9090 of thesequences? We need a number N such that:

N x N x N x N x N x N x N x N = 0 . 9

l f tou uork i t ou t , i t tu rns ou t tha t N = 0 .98 ;or 98. loro.

This seems l ike a ver! high performance level!After al l , in school only ' genius- level studentsconsistent l) , g€t 96.79o. When you consider thatthe average 2\2 hour dance comprises 7 or 6t ips, each containing 10 or 12 sequences, then98.7o,o represents at most ONE mistake per night.Perhaps attempting to ach-]Ive a 90oo level ofsuccess for the square is shoot ing too high.Table I shou,s the dancer performance levelsthat are necessar! ' to achieve several di f ferentsuccess rat ing,s for the square. How much spec-ta t ing t ime are ) 'ou w i l l i ng to accept?

fuuare Succerel ' h o l c a l l e d s e o u e n ( e \ s u ( .cess fu l l l ' complered r - r thc

s q u r r e )

Dancer Rating( * o f c a l l e d s e q u e n c e s

danced u ' t thor r t e r ro r bv eachd a n c e r l

# of Dancer ErtproPer Dsnce

,(t0 .eequ.enceo)lnrunDer ot errors per

2 l t -hour dance rmplred b1 'dance r e r ro r ra te )

50? 9t.7q( t

60? 93.$Tc 570qc 95.6% 480To 97.2% 290% 98.77o I

Trble l.

Bl ' now, many of 5 'ou u' i l l be saying to yourselves,"But that doesn't make sense. I 've danced insquares u' i th total i l , incompetent dancers, dancerswho were performing at well below 50%, andwe st i l i got most of the sequences. These numberscan't be r ight." And, of course, they are not.\ \hat the above calculat ions overlook is the factthat man! ' mistakes are corrected before thesquare dissoives. In tact,-ffiIoancers knowone another wel l . man! mistakes are ant ic ipatedand prevented berore they are made. That is,there are dancers in the square who not onlydance their own parts f lawlessly, they also cor-rect at least some of the mistakes of others.

Another wa) ' of looking at this is to say thatdancers who correct others are, in effect, dancinghigher than 1000,o. Thet ' are dancing 1009; oftheir ou'n parts, plus some parts that shouldbe erecuted bf other dancers. For instance,a dancer performing at 1200,0 theoret ical ly couldcompensate for another dancing at 80o.6 ( i .e. ,10090 of their o\r 'n part plus the 209o that the80o,0- lev'el darrcer is missing). Therefore, thesquare could average out to 100o'o success, eventhough not ai l dancers are contr ibut ing to thatsuccess in equai measure.

Th is phenomenon is an in lesra l par l o f the dan-c rng , p rocess . More o l ten

- than no t , when one

dancer makes a mistake, another dancer is ableto cor rec t i t and avo id ,Jamage to the square .This process is essent ial to a healthl , squareand is a normal part of good dancing. We al lmake mistakes and require steering upon occasion.In a balanced square, the individual dancerspart ic ipate both as providers and receivers ofhelp. The dancer who fixes somebody else's mis_take during, one sequence receives help for theirown mistake during a later sequence - perhapsfrom the same dancer they had previousiy. aided.The process becomes pathological , however, whenthe help always f lows in a single direct ion: whenone person alwa! 's helps and another always receiveshe lp .

I f we appl) , t l r is v ieu' of square dynamics tothe more general square dancing scene, someinterest ing features emerge. I f we were to surveythe dancer populat ion at any given level, theski l ls of the dancers could be grouped into threecategories:

1. Dancers who are not ful ly competent atthe level. They would make few sequenceswere it not for the presence of other dancerswho correct their errors.

2. Dancers who can dance the level compe-tently. They can dance their own part withoutassistance, provided the other dancers in

the square do likewise. A square of suchdancers consistently should be abie to attainsuccess levels in excess of 9006.

3. Dancers who are not only' capable of dan-cing their own parts at the 1009" level butaiso are capable of helping others. Theseare the people who make it possible for thedancers in the first category to survive onthe f ioor.

At this point i t is important to understand thatthis mix of competence levels is not onl) ' un-avoidable, i t is necessar) ' . Some might thinkthat i f we dispense with the dancers in thef i rst categort , our problems are solved. Notso! \'ou can quickl"'. ' see why if you look backat the three categories and viev' ' them as threephases of growth that a dancer mo\ies throughas he or she gradual ly masters a dance level.

Therefore, in an ideal world, "phase 1r ' peoplewould be the novices at the level. They mightknow a l l the ca l l s and concepts on the " l i s t " ,but we cannot reasonabl l ' expect a novice tof lawlessly execute al l possible contort ions ofthe mater ial . Even after y-ou intel lectual l l under-stand Magic Diamonds, hou' many t imes do t 'ouhave to work in them before you can dance suchmater ial with any' panache?

So we cannot just dump these "phase 1" ciancers- they are the future. Since they require help,however, the! must be balanced by a corres-ponding number of "phase 3" dancers. Back inour ideal world, any given level would alway'sbe populated with dancers from al l three phasesin balanced proportions - for instance, 209o inphase l, 6096 in phase 2, and 20% in phase 3.

But the world is not ideal and therein l ies thecrux of our problem. Because of the pressureto advance f rom leve l to leve l , man) 'peop leare short-cutt ing the three phases. They'progressfrom phase I to phase 2 and then move up tothe next level (where they revert to phase l) .As this phenomenon becomes more common, theproportion of phase 3 dancers at all levels erodes,thereby diminishing the help that is avai lableto the new dancers. With less help avai lable,phase I dancers mature to phase 2 less rapidll- o r no t a t a l l "

Now comes the most insidious part of the process-New dancers arriving at a level find that thereare no phase 3 dancers available to help thernbecome competent. "Nobody at this level seemsto know what they're doing." But, of course,we all know that the better dancers all danceat some level higher than we do. Therefore,the answer is to read through the calls on thelist for the next level and move on up. This

process results in dancers who have yet to masterCl showing up on C3 f loors!

As Biil Heimann said towards the end of hisart ic le, i t is t ime to clean up our act. We mustacknowledge the fact that when we join otherdancers in a square, we incur an obligation.That obligation is to dance our fair share ofthe material. To the extent thafnv-frlffiit-&nceour fair share, we represent a burden on theother dancers, one which we impo-se upon themuni lateral ly by arr iv ing in their square. Whatis our fair share? I bel ier, 'e that i t var ies accord-ing to our experience at the level:

1. Phase 1 - When ue f i rst at tempt a level,our-Iair share wi l l be relat ively low, perhapsis?o to 80o,o. Our mistakes, however, shouidnot be due to ignorance of the documentedl ist mater ial . Thel should result onl t ' f roma lack of experience in execut ing the mater ialat dance speed - experience which can begained only- on a dance f loor.

2- Phase 2 - r* ' i th experience, our fair shareincreases to 1009o. Other dancers have a r ightto expect us to dance our own part v ir tual lyerror-free.

3. Phase 3 - With a great deal of experienceat the level, our fair share again increasesto something bey'ond 1009o. It is now ourresponsibi l i t l . to help those who are nov' icesat the level and compensate for their inexper-ience.

I t is important to recognize that whi le we arein the f i rst phase we are imposing on the strengthof others. The just i f icat ion for doing so l iesin the premise that, in t ime, we wi l l progressfrom phase 1 to phase 3 and, in effect, payback the help we were given.

I f we move on without repaying the help wewere accorded, we are short-changing the peoplewho fol lou' us into the level. l f we move onbefore we are competent at the level we currently'inhabit , then we are short-changing both thelevel we leave and the level to which we move.

But most important of al l , when we move pre-maturely, we short-change ourselves. There isno feel ing quite l ike the rush of exhi larat ionthat comes with the dawning real izat ion, "Hey,I can actual ly dance this stuff !"

II think that a discussion of the other char-

acteristics of a "good" dancer would make excel-lent fodder for a future article - or even aseries. Anyone interested in contributing?

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This art ic le is pr inted here with permission fromThe Call Sheet, the newsletter for the Gay' Callers'Associat ion.

S e > < r . a l I d e n t i t : z C r i s i s

by Jana Hollingsworth

One of the commonest causes of a square breakingdown is uhen someone discovers that, due toa previous rnistake, he,she is dancing the "wrong"part . I f you normal ly (standardl l '?) dance onltthe man's part and suddenly f ind yourself dancinggir l , don' t panic! Don't stop dead and say, " lcan' t do that, I 'm a bo5" ' . I f you freeze up there'sno quest ion about what wi l l happen: the squarewi l l break down. Instead, be wi ld and reckiess!Take your ne,tr , ident i ty and struggle with i tas best !ou can. That w?) ' , there's a chancethat your square wi l l f in ish the sequence, atwhich point ) ou can adjust and resume y'ourprevious ident i ty. ( i t might be useful to sat '" l am a gir l nou' !" so that others in the squareare aware that a sex change has taken place.)

Unt i l you reach Chal lenge, there are only a feucal ls where i t matters which sex role you aredancing (for example, Star thru, Sl ide thru, Cal i -fo rn ia Twi r l . . )

The vast major i ty of cal is are def ined withoutreference to gender role. Even though some cal lsare commonly cal led from a standard formation(e.g., Pass the Ocean from standard couples)thel can be called half-sashayed, from same-sex setups, and other var iat ions. The impl icat ionhere is for cal lers to teach this to their studentsas they' teach the cal ls. I t is cr i t ical that thecal ler teach students that a Recycle can be cal ledwith gir ls on the end of the wave. Boys canlead a Flutterwheel and girls can lead a Reversethe F lu t te r .

I f _"-ou do not teach this, you are not doing athorough job of teaching the cal l . In addit ion,you wi l i avoid the embarrassinS si tuat ion ofhaving a guest cal ler come in and cal l a half-sashayed Pass the Ocean (Recycle, etc.) andhave your dancers unable to do the cal l andf ind that you did not teach them as wel l asyou thought.

Cal lers often say that Cay clubs have some ofthe best dancers around, and part of the reasonfor this is that our dancers don't rigidly adhereto gender roles. Thus we can handle unorthodoxpositioning and we can keep dancing when oursquares get mixed up. So, if you unexpectedlyfind yourself dancing the gender role that youare not used to, be kinky and go with it. Youmight discover a whole new side of yourself.

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w H \ 1 A ' r c ' r

I S N O T G O O D E N O U G I {

by- Anna Damiani

\l:hen I f irst went to Angel Island on the Fourthof July, 1986, I met a group of peopie who openedtheir hearts and souls to me. i was try ing tolearn to dance the dances for the Gay' Gamesand was ver! ' nervous. I hadn't been dancingfor ver) long and r{,as ver} unsure ol' myself .That was 0.K. with them. They asked me i f Ineeded some l ie lp with the cal ls and i f the!,could help me. I kneu then that I would someda5l ike to be a part of that wonderful group ofpeop le ca l led Western Star Dancers .

Time passed and I went on to join Western Starand par t i c ipa te in as man l 'ac t i v i t ies as I cou ld .I found that I loved coming to Western Star.There uas always something going on! Sometimesrt u 'as a dance or a party ' or other fun act iv i ty.When I u ,en t on m) ' f i r s t re t rea t , I fe l t l i kea k id go ing o f f to camp fo r the f i rs t t ime.

I soon d iscovered tha t a l l these ac t iv i t ies hap-pened because there were people who put a lotof t ime and energy into the planning and execu-t ion. I marveled at the creat iv i t l ' involved. Onedal, I asked u'har I couid do to help. i wastold that there were plenty of things to choosefrom and that I could take my pick. I soon foundml,sel f deeply involved.

For the f i rst t ime in my' l i f e, I f el t as thoughthere were something to which I could contr ibutea part of m-"-self. I had become a part of a groupof exc i t ing , car ing ind iv idua ls .

As t ime went on, I fel t that there was morethat I could contr ibute. I began to offer ideasand suggest ions whenever talk turned towardplanning for new events. What a thr i l l ! I foundmyself involved in planning things to do whichwould be fun and exci t ing for people. I wantedver! much to share with others the fun andfr iendship which had been extended to me.

There came a time when I found myself doubtingwhether or not I was doing the r ight thing. Ibegan to think about whether I should cont inuespending so much t ime and energy try ing to giveto Western Star. I began to feel that I neededto stay away for a while in order to regaina better perspective and keep myselffrom becominguseless to a group which had become such amajor part of my life.

After staying away for several months, I foundthat m)' nature would not al low me to si t backand do nothing for a group that had becomeso important.

Now, what about my future with Western Star?lvly plans include running for the Board of Direc-tors and cont inuing to attempt to give the Clubm!, best ef forts in whatever projects I undertake.

\ou ma) wonder what makes me wish to cont inuespending t ime doing a lot of those things whichno one eise seems to want to take the t imeto do. The reason is simple: I cont inue to feela strong desire to attempt to give back to \ \ 'est-ern Star some of what i t has done for me.

I have heard i t asked wht an) 'one could feeli t is necessar) to u'ork hard for an organizat ionwhich is , a f te r a l l , on I ! vo lun tary . i th ink i tis v i tal that u 'hen ) ou do something, that ) ouare aiways careful to do the best ) 'ou can. Some-t imes that means working a l i t t le more. Sometimestha t means car ing a l i t t le more .

I am sure there were t imes in school uhen someof )ou fel t that you could "get by" simpl l bigett ing a "C" on your Geography test. Some ofyou may have done this with the knowledge that,u ' i th a l i t t le more rvork , you cou ld have go t tena "8" o r be t te r . Bu t , rea l l y , how o f ten cou ldthe capital of Hungar) ' come up in everydayconversat ion, r ight? I compare this ty 'pe of think-ing with that which wi l l make the di l ferencebetween Western Star 's cont inued success asa C lub and i t s u l t imate demise .

With Board elect ions coming up, we have anopportunit) ' to form a strong and loving coreof leadership which wi l l , wi th the help of manycaring, hard-working individuals, lead WesternStar in to the

'90s .

I strongly suggest to you that, i f t 'ou wish tohelp Western Star to cont inue to be successfui ,that you do so ui th al l the energ! and dedicat ionwhich i t takes to achieve an "A*". Any taskyou undertake, no matter how "smal l" ! 'ou malregard i t , should be completed u' i th the utmostcare and thoroughness. I f not, you are short-changing yourself and Western Star.

Don't let tourseif set t le for a "C" u'hereverWestern Star is concerned.

Love,

Anna D.

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B O A R D M E N 4 B E R . _ _S F { O L J L D I .

O R . S I - I O I J L D N ' T I 2

b! Freeman Stamper

In the June, i989 issue of THE WESTERN STAR,I mentioned that there are two issues whichare never broached direct ly but which are theunderpinnings for man) discussions at WesternStar. In the f i rst art ic le, I discussed my opinionof the social , 'dance club compl icat ions. Now Iwant to talk about running and vot ing for theBoard o f D i rec to rs .

Ever5'one knous a good Board member, but mostpeople don't know a bad one. \ \hy'? Because thebad ones are discussed behind closed doors forfear of of fending someone. Also, the Board oper-ates on an unwri t ten pol ic l ' of secrecy concerningthe actuaI discussions which transpire at Boardmeetings. Therefore, the offensive act ions ofbad Board members never come to the attent ionof the general membership. That 's good and bad.Pub l ic c r i t i c i sm is kept to a min imum, bu t incum-bents are reelected regardless of their worth.

I w a n t t o b e h o n e s t i n t h i s a r t i c l e . b u t n o tabusi ' , 'e. Therefore, I $,on' t use actual namesor sex ident i t ies in relat ing these events.

Some people bel ieve that being a Board membermeans being involved in the actual performanceof the myriad tasks required to keep WesternStar funct ioning. Some people bel ieve that beinga Board member means attending meetings, par-t i c ipa t ing in dec is ion-mak ing , bu t no t ac t i ve l ) 'be ing invo lved in o ther C lub tasks . So le t ' s goon from here.

During 1982 and i983, WSD didn' t have theseproblems. The Club was small, and you knewalmost everyone. E'u'er-,-one was invoived in almosteverything. Everything was new. I t was ratherobvious who was doing what. But the Club grerv,and new people wanted to get involved in makingdecisions. 0lder members started to dr i f t awayfrom act ive part ic ipat ion but maintained theirmemberships. Having learned to dance elsewhere,new members started to join WSD. Member-application processing became rote. So the pro-cess of electing Board members became a ratheruneducated system.

Let's take some examples. Two Club members(who were part of a faction which believedthat the "worker bees" in the Club were power-hungry because they did so much work) weresuccessful in being elected to the Board. Both

were physical ly attract ive and fun- loving. Theirclaim to fame was being in the majoritl ' voteto sell beer and wine at a WSD anniversarydance. Not only' did it create a turmoil on theBoard and in the Club, but the measure wasresoundingly defeated when proposed to thegeneral membership. Were they good Board mem-bers? I contend they were not because theydid not have the abi l i ty to look at the wholeneeds of Western Star. They' were looking onl!'at todal' and at their own personal needs.

One Board was almost successful in defeat inga motion to bring Paul i\{arcum from Tennesseeto cal l the WSD 6th Anniversary Dance. Becauseof Paul 's renown, there were l9 squares stuffedinto the YNICA. At that point in t ime, i t wasthe largest ga! square dance ever to be heldin the Bal Area, with the except ion of the1986 IACSDC Convent ion. Paul Iv larcum cal ledat the f i rst IAGSDC Convent ion in 1984, andagain in 1985, 19E6 and 1981. I t is widel l ' knownthat he is a croud-pleaser. Were the opposingBoard members good Board members? I contendthey were not because they' did not have theabi l i t -"- to understand the ent ire scope of gaysquare dancing.

WSD had no retreat in 1988 for one reasonand for one reason only. The majoritl of thethen-si t t ing Board fel t that, s ince the 198iretreat had a $2000 def ic i t , the Club couldhave no more retreats. There were 80 peoplewho paid $90 each to attend the 1987 retreat.The problem was not lack of interest, but fai lureto avoid the previous mistake - and i t wasn'ta mistake! The camp which had been selectedrequired a guarantee of 100 attendees. Dueto the growing popular i ty of the retreat andthe new location, the organizers had ever)'r ight to bel ieve 100 people would attend. Wedidn' t meet that guarantee in 1987, so we lostmoney. Were the Board members in 1988 goodBoard members? i contend thel,were not. They'were so concerned about the lost money thatthey couldn' t even create a f inancial plan forthe success of the next retreat.

These examples taken by themselves and spreadover severai y,ears may not seem to be cr i t ical .However, these examples have been chosen tounderscore the overall deficiencies of a signifi-cant number of Board members who have servedover the last several years. It is because ofthe cumulative effect of this ineffective leader-ship that Western Star almost died in December,1988. Don't let anyone tel l you otherwise.

And nou: Western Star Dancers is plagued witha Board-member mentality that says, "l was

elected to serve on the Board. I am not expectedto be act ive in the Club." Get real, people!WSD is made up of many people, with manypersonal i t ies, with man! ' concerns, with mant 'abi l i t ies, with many needs. The complexi ty ofthis mix is ver)' dynamic, because of the cons-stantly' changing membership. How in the worldcan a person ask to be a representative ofa bodl ' of peopie ui th u'hom he does not evenassociate? I f al l these Board members do isattend Board meetings (and an occasional danceabout ever) s ix to eight weeks), how can the) 'possibly make intei l igent decisions concerningthe de l i ca te ba lance o f cons tan t ly chang ingconcerns, abi l i t ies, and needs? I contend thatthel cannot, and therefore are not good Boardmembers.

\ lestern Star is an al l -volunteer organizat ion.Just because ure are a square dance club doesnot exempt us from the problems of volunteer-ism. Al l such clubs have a smal l number ofpeople who just natural l l are workers. Thefwork because theS l ike to work. The othersreap the reu'ards generated bl those who work.The committed workers just surface and f inda \r 'ay to do what thel ' l ike to do. Some peoplebel ieve that the) ' re workers, and make a lotof noise with no fol low-through. One thineis for certain - Western Star has no room forBoard members who uish to have authori ty todirect the efforts of others without being them-se lves ac t ive ly invo lved in a i l the ac t iv i t iesof the Club.

I f - ' -ou think you want to be a Board member.here are some thoughts:

l . There is l i t t le or no glory, in just beinga Board member. \ 'ou deal with a lot of bigissues r ight along with a lot of petty issues.Most members don't even know how manyhours y 'ou put into the decision-making process.I f i t 's fame and fortune you want, you shouldf ind some other job in Western Star thatwi l l br ing recognit ion for your star qual i t ies.And you can rest assured that, when someonedoes think to acknowledge the Board as agoverning body, the publ ic adulat ion is pol i tewithout much true depth of car ing.

2. l f you have an ax to gr ind, there areless stressful ways to grind your ax thanbeing a single- issue Board member. Try sol ic i-ting support for your issue from the generalmembership and bring the issue to a generalmeeting. You' l l get your pol i t ical stump, winor lose your campaign and not be saddledwith i4 months of issues f or which you haveno concern.

3. Asking to be an elected Board memberis asking for responsibi l i ty over and abovethe responsibi i i ty for being an act ive Clubmember. Board membership is not a replace-ment for attendance at Club events or forperforming some tasks that help move theClub along.

But - being a Board member can be rewarding:

1. I f !ou enjol working for the benef i t ofo thers , ' l ' e lcome aboard .

2. I f y 'ou have ideas for the future of WesternStar and f eei that sen, ing on the Board isthe best wa! to accomplish those goals, wel-come aboard.

3. I f 5ou're happt ' uhen you have been apart of the planning and execut ion of healthtdance and soc ia l ac t i v i t ies , we lcome aboard .

4. i f lou have the t ime and need for \ \ 'esternStar i ssues to consume a s ign i f i can t por t ionof l ,our l i fe, welcome aboard.

5. I f y 'ou want to f ind other work-ahol icsto add to r--our realm of f r iends, u,elcomeaboard.

So, what do tou do u 'hen you ' re g iven a ba l lo tto vote for those weird masochists who are askingto serve on the Board of Directors of \|esternStar Dancers? First of al l . th ink about al l thosewho are running. The Ciub needs a balance ofmatur i t l and youth in square dancing experiences.At th is s tage o f i t s l i fe , Western Star p robab l tneeds a l i t t le more matur i t l ' than youth .

lnvolvement in organizat ional tasks in just an) 'volunteer group may or mal not be helpful . I tcould show promise for square dancing, but squaredanc ing is a motor ac t i v i t y combined w i th menta lexercise - the combinat ion of which createsstrange bedfel lows when i t comes to a socialsett ing open to anlone who wishes to part ic ipate.

Ask the people who are running, n'hat ther thinkabout ideas or concerns that )'ou have. if ! ' 'oudon't see them regular l ! so that you can askthem, then that 's a good sign you may needto vote for someone else. I f you yourself donot attend regularl)' but are concerned aboutthe composition of the Board and health of theClub, cal l the nominees. They are al l l isted inyour Director! ' .

I f ) ,ou don't know whether someone is qual i f iedor not or whether an incumbent is good or l-.ad,

don't just vote for a name. Just because youcan vote for seven people doesn't mean thatyou must vote for seven. As awkward as someindividuals would have you bel ieve i t is to haverun-off elections because seven people did notall receive at least 50% of the votes cast, with-holding your vote is your right and responsibiiitywhen you believe you cannot make an informeddecision.

Western Star Dancers has seen good da)'s andbad days. The good dats happened because theClub had a major i ty ' of the Board dedicated tohard work and to planning f or the future whi leat the same t ime handl ing the affairs of today.The bad dal 's have been there when the Boardbecame idle and assumed the Board "chambers"were sacred grounds for the minds and left theact iv i t ies of the Club to happenstance. The baddat's have been there when the Board failedto look to the future and concerned i tsel f forhours with issues irrelevant everi for the present.

The Board of Directors is thre forefront of leader-ship for this Club, which is a legal ent i t l knownas a publ ic benef i t corporat ion u' i th both tax-exempt and non-prof i t status. Serving, on theBoard means you are accept ing, certain legairesponsibi l i t ies as wel l as certain social respons-ibi l i t ies. Exercising ) 'our r ight to vote means, 'ou have a responsibi l i t f to the corporat ionio eieci a i ioard oi i i i t ectors wlto can and wi i lwork cooperat ivell and progressi,,,el1, f or thebenef i t of al l those who wish to part ic ipatewi th the C lub .

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HO\v TO R.UN( O R N O T R . T J N )

A S Q I J A R E D A N C E C L I J B

by Scott Carey

It could be a simple matter to operate a squaredance club - get a hal l , hire a cal ler and dance-0h, and then apply a quick and easv phi losophv:it goes something like this:

1. Since square dancing is just dancing,you can l im i t the c lub 's ac t i v i t ies to s t r i c t l l 'dance-or iented events. In other words, don' tbother with social events (any'wal ' , that 's whatthe bars are for).

2. Since newer dancer classes can reduceyour dance time, hold it to just one class ayear - max! You do need to bring new bloodinto the activity, but it takes time and effortto promote new classes as well as to angel.Angelling means dancing at a program below

!'ours, being bumped from a square for a newerdancer and standing around a lot when neu,calls are being taught - in other words, angel_l ing isn' t real l l dancing.

3. T-shir ts, newsletters, director ies, f lyers,announcements, general meetings, videos, scrapbooks, talent shows, music libraries, potlucks,worksnops, retreats, picnics and such shouldbe eliminated or substantially reduced^ Thel.take work, lots of work, and the), have nothinlto do w i th a ha l l , a ca l le r and a dance _ wh ichis square dancing, r ight?

4. Teach the nevr class in as feu, weeksas possible so that t 'ou can move the quicklearners up to ! ,our program as soon as possible(never mind about the ones who don't catchon so fast, you don't need them anlwa!.) . Whenthe quick learners are at ! ,our program, thenyou can not only ' dance ui th them, but aisof ina l l t s ta r t to ge t to knou ' them.

These are some \ery real at t i tudes that I havefound in our square dancing community. Thebasic idea is a sel f ish one: contr ibute as l i t t leas possible and get back as much as you can.I t 's not uncommon to f ind i t among, our leader-ship as wel l as our dancers. I t af fects not onlS'our behavror on the dance f loor, but also thegoals and direct ions that r ' ,e set for cur club.

Running a club is not eas! ' i f you're lookingfor a club with some qual i t ) ' about i t , something)'ou can be proud to be a part of. To createthat requires good old hard work, dedicat ion,constant care and a commitment to pr inciples.there is jus t no qu ick and eas) 'subs t i tu te . Toprorr ide chal lenging dancing, create opportunit iesto enjol ' f r iendships and camaraderie, and givequal i ty ' instruct ion so ) 'ou can share the jof 'of square dancing u, i th newer dancers requireswork. Period.

Running a club could be made easier and morefun i f we could develop a program that encour-ages ever-v-one to 'p i tch in" that al lous us al lto share in the responsibi l i t ies and rewardsus for doing so. .but that 's something forthe nex t a r t i c le . ln the meant ime, we haveto decide what road we wish to travei - a 'no-

f r i l l s ' c lub , o r someth ing w i th some subs tanceand qual i t t ' .

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QUARTERLY SELECTIONSWINTER, 1989

In this rssue's feature article, Scott explores in deptha serious problem which the IAGSDC Communitymay now be facing. The sarne undertying factorscould be catsing the decline in membenhip in thelarger square dance community as well. . .

A QUESTION OF BAI-ANCEby

Scott Carey

When Western Star Dancers was formed someeight years ago, we set about to incorporate thetraditions and sensibilities of Square Dancing ingeneral. It's true that we did modify someparticular aspects to reflect our own Gay culture,eliminating the requirement for crinolines andlong-sleeved shirts in favor of jeans and T-shirts asone example; but the prevailing philosophy was'Vhy reinvent the wheel?" Hundreds of years ofsquire dance evolution had already proven thewisdom of standardized calls. the value ofconventions, and the need for a specific teachingorder as developed by Callerlab, to name a few.Adopting these time-proven principles andunderstanding the forces or reasonings behindthem has served us well.

We approach our second decade of operationwhile various "non-Callerlab" formats which sprangup in the early eighties (some of which wereextremely popular) are now extinct. By takingadvantage of the lessons already learned fromprevious battles, Western Star Dancers, as well asother Clubs of the IAGSDC, have been able tobuild a strong and viable foundation for ouractivity. This does not mean, however, that thereare no problems.

If you read the current literature, publicationssuch as IAGSDC Clubs'newsletters and AmericanSquare Dancer lou will basically find the sameissues being discussed. Gay and Straight squaredancers not only share in a common ground oftradition and experience but also in the current

problems of square dancing. What is oftenoverlooked in addressing these problems, however,are some of those same time-honored principlesand forces of square dancing - what makes squaredancing what it is and why - that have served allof us so well. One important recurring problem,and one that I would like to address in this light,is what I call the "balance between the programs"issue. First, some background.

When Callerlab set up the teaching order, itdivided the calls into successive groupings andreferred to them as "levels." I-ater, it dropped thedesignation "level" because it was promoting theunfortunate perception of a hierarchy of dancingability: that is, that a Challenge dancer was"better" than an Advanced dancer who was"better" than a Plus dancer and so forth.

Instead of "level", Callerlab began to use the term"program", which more correctly described theintegral units that have their own identities, valueand place in the whole square dance picture.These programs give square dancers choices onhow they wish to allocate their time, energy andinterest. Each successive program requiresadditional time to learn and master and offers anincreased degree of complexity. In a way, squaredancing as a whole is faced with the samedecisions that the individual dancer faces - how toallocate time and energy. With limited resources,and varied programs, how can we :rs a communitysupport and promote our entire activify?

There are no easy answers. Some call for theelimination of all upperJevel dancing, or theconsolidation of Basic, Mainstream and Plusprograms into one new master program of 75calls. Already, we have seen the consolidation ofPlus 1 and 2 into a single proganr, and A1 andA2 are for the most part treated as a singleAdvanced program. Whatever shape they may

(continued on page 2)

The Ouarterly Selections is a publication of the WesternStar Dancers, a Modern Western Square Dance Clubprimarily serving the San Francisco Gay and lrsbianQ6m6rrnigy. It is dedicated to discussion of those issueswhich face sguare dancers everywhere, especially Gaysquare dancers.

Because we are trying to address issues which concern usall, we hope that other Clubs will be interested in ourarticles; Club newsletter editors are free to repriat thismaterial. We ask that you credit the author and cite theOuarterl.v Selections.

All articles here are printed with permission fromthe authors (and publishers where applicable).

Our mailing address and hotlines:

Western Star Dancers584 Castro Street, Suite 480San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 8{4-6134(4r5) 62r-0862

The Ouarterly Selections is edited by Patty White andprinieci by Denise Young.

(continued from page 1)

take in the future, the basic nature of differingprograms is likely to stay with us because itreflects a principle or force of square dancing:dancers wish to have choices about the amount oftime and effort they put into the activity and whatthey desire out of it. The important thing, Ibelieve, is to maintain a healthy balance betweenthe programs so that they support each other andencourage the whole activity. And this balance, aswe shall see, is another principle or force ofsquare dancing.

Although we are always striving to keep as manynewer dancers as possible, we know from ourexperience with 13 classes under a variety ofconditions that we can expect to keep only 40 to60 percent of our students. Not surprisingly, thisretention percentage is experienced not only byother Gay clubs, but by the square dancingcommunity in general. After Mainstream and thenPlus graduation, we will continue to lose some

dancers from each class as they move to otheractivities, or move from the zuea, or become ill, orgo on to the upper programs of square dancing.Again, we try to keep as many dancers as possible,but as time goes by, many will move on. Thisprocess, of course, continues in a similar fashionwith Advanced and Challenge, so that the overallstructure of the activity can best be described asa "pyramid".

At the base of the pyramid, with the greatestnumbers, are the newer dancers; then Plus,Advanced, and tapering to the top (with thefewest dancers) are the Challenge programs. Asdancers move through the programs and up thepyramid, or out of the pyramid entirely, we musthave even more new recruits coming in in order tokeep our activity growing. The size of the basedirectly determines the proportionate size of allthe programs. If one of the upper programsbecomes temporarily larger than the base, itsignals that there will not be enough newerdancers coming in to sustain or increase thatprogram in the future. It signals that that program,as well as the entire activiiy, wiil be downsized.

WSD is a textbook case of the above scenario.After years of promoting new classes, we reacheda point, in about our fifth year, where we had asubstantial membership dancing at the Plusprogram. The resources of the Club were thenshifted in favor of activities for the Plus dancers.New classes were reduced to once a year while atthe same time we ran a weekly Club night with adifferent guest caller every week as well as fullPlus dancing on every other Friday night. Plus wasour biggest program, but only for a while.

Gradually, our Plus dancers moved on to otheractivities or to Advanced and then Challenge.Efforts were made to find out what we could doto keep them, but unfortunately, we didn'tunderstand at the time that there was nothing thatwas going to keep the majority of those dancers.Meantime, our neglected newer dancers' programwas not in a position to provide us with enoughnew dancers to stem the erosion. When we wokeup, our Club had downsized to a fourth of itsprevious numbers.

Western Star's near "collapse" is now ripplingthrough the upper programs of Midnight Squares.The falling-off of our numbers the past few yearshas, of course, reduced the population pool ofAdvanced and Challenge recruits that we, alongwith Foggy City Dancers and other Bay AreaClubs, provide. And Midnight Squares is now, inturn, actively looking for new students to revitalizetheir Club. Where will these new students comefrom?

One way out of this dilemma would be to rushnewer dancers through Mainstream and Plus andinto the upper programs as soon as possible. Thisquick fix, besides being unfair to newer dancerswho have the right to expect a learning experiencewith their best interests at heart, is doomed tofailure. Another way would be to "follow" thedancers by changing the primary dance level ofthe Club to the next level up. Again, thisprocedure begs the question of where will the newstudents come from?

There is one way to deal with this problem: it'sthe same way that helped Western Star out of itshole, anC it's the same way that wrl! help any clubwhere the balance between the programs is out ofkilter. Quite simply the answer, using the model ofthe pyramid, is to increase the size of the base. Bycontinually bringing in newer dancers andnurturing thcm, we build a steadily growing basethat will naturally provide new students for all thesuccessive programs. Nothing will be forced orstrained in this balanced state, and all programscan look forward to a healthy and prosperousfuture.

I believe that the IAGSDC could well be enteringa period where this balance between the programsis going astray. Many of the clubs are now intotheir third through fifth year, about the same timeperiod as the "life" of an average dancer. Somedancers are currently or will soon be leaving theactivity altogether. Others are moving on into theupper programs. If you look at conventionattendance, )ou do see an increasing number ofdancers each year, but the rate of growth isgetting slower and slower. You also see theincreasingly disproportionate popularity of upperprograms. The pyramid alarm signal is ringing.

So what do we do? Well, one answer to that is tolook at what not to do. For example, I recentlysaw some newsletter articles and flyers toutingAdvanced as the fastest growing and most popularprogram. First, this kind of advertising plays offprogram against program. The emphasis on beingin 'vogue' dismisses important considerations ofwhat competence is required to enter theprograrn, subtly negates the value of otherprograms, and strikes against the very reason thatwe have prograrns - namely, to give dancers theopportunity to choose a program that matchestheir own interests, time and energy. Secondly, itignores the consequences of that popularity. IfAdvanced does become the most popularprogram, then just where are the new studentsneeded to sustain that popularity going to comefrom in the years to come?

If we say, "Well, we'll just put a lot of effort intogetting newer dancers," then where will the timeand energy come from? Advanced and Challengedancers will need to and want to dance at theirprograms on a regular basis. kadership will bebusy pro..'iding fcr ha!!s and classes and Cances atthose popular programs. We cannot expectsubstantial additional energies to also promote thenewer dancers' programs. Where, then, will theseresources come from? And - particularly - wherewill these resources come from if the majoriry ofour population become upper program dancers?

So what can we do in a positive way? First, wecan understand the crucial role that the newerdancers play in our pyramid of programs. To keepthat base strong, a significant portion of oursquare dancing community's resources should bedevoted to promoting and maintaining our newerdancers. Second, we can change the attitude thatupper program dancing is "better" than otherprograms. We can get out there and dance andsocialize with dancers - whatever their program.Third, we can respect our dancers by offeringinstruction and programs that allow them to learnand progress at their own rate and according totheir own desires. rather than someone else'swishes or concerns. The specific action plans forthese ideas will vary from Club to Club and fromcity to city. Fundraisers at al! programs to raise

money for advertising newer dancers' classes,more tips at dances that are geared to a classlevel, socials and workshops for the new studentsare just a few possibilities.

Western Star Dancers has been moving along inthese directions for the pint year and a half, andthat effort will continue to develop and strengthenas we move towards our second decade. We do, ofcourse, run Basic, Mainstream and PIus classes atWSD; and our effort to restore the balancebetween those programs in our area has beeninstrumental, not only in our recovery as a viableClub, but also in developing a new spirit ofpurpose and care.

Getting back to the basics of what square dancingis all about and why, of appreciating some of theunderlying principles and forces of our activity,would be a worthwhile process for our wholecommunity. Imagine a year when all dancers,whatever their program, came together to activelyrecruit newer dancers, and then encouraged thosedancers with a spirit of patience and respect andsocial bonding. And imagine that many of thenewer Canccrs cams to the annual conveniion aridin fact made up the "most popular" program.Think of the exciting, promising future it wouldmean for all of us.

Ed. note: As Scott points out, we recognize thateach program has its own character and concepts.But even though we try to get away from this oldidea of "levels", there seems to be no adequatelanguage to use when we're talking about adancer's movement from one program to another.All our phrasing denotes the movement fromMainstream to Plus, from Plus to Advanced, as aprogressiort

The implication of the language we use, no matterhow hard we try to avoid the "levels concept", isthat one will narurally expect to move up to thenext program as soon as one gets "good enough"at one's current program. The unfortunateinference which may be made, of course, is thatif one is not moving up, one must not be "goodenough" to do so.

Students start picking this up from ourconversations very early. Worrying whether they'lleventually get good enough to make the grade justadds to the ego battering many beginnersexperience as it begins to be obvious which onesare learning faster.

HELP, CALLERI-AB! Please come up with someother way to refer to this, so we can stopperpetuating the "levels concept" just becausethere's no other way to talk about it!

THANK YOU, WESTERN STAR DANCERS!

The "Class of the Quake '89" would like to sendour many thanks to everyone involved with oureducation into the world of Square Dancing - totbe instructors, callers and angels. We've all hada great time with class, and met some wonderfulpeople. Thank you, Western Star Dancers!

- Class of the Quake '89

I FELT THE EARTH MOVE!by

Anna Damiani

It was Tuesday, October 17th at a couple ofminutes past 5 PM. I had just returned from awonderful weekend in Albuquerque. I was sittingin my living room looking over my mail andsipping a cool drink. It was unusually hot and theair was very still. I reached over to turn on theTV. Suddenly, the cats ran out of the room andthe walls began to shake. There was a noise asthough someone were standing on the roof aboveshaking the house. I ran for the doorway. Theshaking didn't stop. I grabbed a pair of shoes andran outside.

Neighbors I had never seen before were outsideasking if I was OK Some were obviously veryshaken. My heart was racing. After checking tosee that everyone in my building was well, Iwalked up the street to see friends. Some werenot home from work. I went to try to place a call

on the pay phone. This was not possible due tobusy circuits. I went back home to get my radio,stopping along the way to listen to reports ofdowned bridges and burning buildings. I wasbeginning to realize that this was far greater thanany of the previous earthquakes which had shakenus in the past.

I ran inside (I had left my door open withoutrealizing it), grabbed my radio, fed and wateredthe cats, grabbed my keys, and ran outside again.

The City was beginning to grow dark. People werereturning from downtown with stories of wherethey were when the 'quake hit. Thousands walkedhome in the dark. In the horizon, you could seethe glow of the fire burning in the Marina district.I started shaking. Thinking it was nerves, I soonrealized it was an aftershock.

Sitting out on the sidewalk, a group of us listenedto reports on the radio. Bob and Chris madefudge. Bill went and got the little TV. Only a fewstations were on the air.

Feeling very aruiious, I werr'u to Scoi^r and John's.Walking through the Castro was very eerie. It wasquiet. It was dark. Someone had a radio whichwas giving reports of damage in the City. Therewere citizens in the street directing traffic. Peoplewere incredibly polite.

When I arrived at Scott's, a few others began toarrive. Scott pulled some chicken out of thefreezer which needed to be cooked before itdefrosted. We lit the barbeque and sat backswapping 'Vhere were you" stories.

Shortly after 9 PM we heard a cheer. We lookedaround the City and saw some lights had come on.We continued listening to the radio. At about 12midnight, the lights came on. We turned on theTV and sat in stunned silence. We saw parts ofour City in ruins. However, I soon began to noticethat the scenes they were showing were the sameones over and over again.

I went home the next morning to rearrange thingswhich had been knocked over. Verv little was

broken, only a few glasses. The gas wasreconnected on Thursday.

Much of Wednesday was spent calling to check onfriends, cleaning up the mess, trylng to get thingsback in order. Slowly, life seemed to be gettingback to normal.

During this unsettling time, I saw some things thatmade me proud of my fellow human beings. Iwatched people pitching in to help when neededwithout being asked. Several of us received callsfrom fellow square dancers across the country.

Overall, we were very lucky. Most of us sustainedlittle or no physical damage. (We are still a littlejumpy.) The areas which were most severelydamaged are relatively small parts of the BayArea.

I am thankful to all my friends both here andaround the continent for all the care and concernwhich they have shown in this unsettled time.

l-otsa love and Yellowrocks!- Anna

THE RENT ATTENDANCE COMMITTEEby

Freeman Stamper

The Rent Attendance Committee exists tofacilitate recordkeeping for payment of our rent tothe Eureka Valley Recreation Center. WSD haslong abandoned the standard tradition ofindividuals signing an attendance roster (exceptfor our classes). To allow this area of freedom, theRent Attendance Committee keeps a record of alldancers present whenever we are at the EVRC.

Max Robb has served faithfully by recordingWednesday night attendance since theCommittee's inception, but he is now steppingaside to allow others to become involved in thelife of WSD and to concentrate on his duties asRed89 (Basics) Class Archangel and ClubTreasurer. Thank you, Ma:<, for your dedication tothis small but essential Committee.

l*e Chandler will continue his reliableresponsibleness for this recordkeeping on Mondaynights. Gary Gray is replacing Max for attendanceon Wednesday nights, and Pablo Candelaria isassuming the responsibility as first alternate. I willcontinue to serve as second alternate andCommittee Chair.

Thank you, ke, for continuing. Welcome, Garyand Pablo, and thanlis!

OFF TO THE WOODS!by

Lilac Wood

Well, the weekend at CAMPCAZ proved to be aswoodsy as I expected it to be. Trees everywhere!It was truly a heartwarming sight. There weremaple and pine and oak and even some willowtrees dotting the scenery. I knew then that thiswas going to be a truly wonderful weekend.

After settling into our room at the RedwoodI-odge (of course!), *,he res'r of the Wood familyand I hosted a reception featuring mulled wineand hot cider. This helped to take the chill off andwarm us down to our roots. This also gave a lot ofpeople a chance to stretch their limbs after thelong drive. After dinner, we cleared the tablesfrom the polished hardwood floor and got ready todance to calling by Bob "Natalie Wood" Bellvilleand Chris (Shirley I. Wood) Phillips. We whirledand wirled, scooted and swung. A few of ourSeptember class members were there, so we allhad a chance to brush up on our Basic dancing aswell as dance some very challenging Plus. Theevening's dancing was followed by sitting aroundthe fire in the Redwood Indge. The bonfire whichwas planned as an outdoor activity had to bemoved inside due to rain. It wils very cozy andwarm. Entertainment consisted of a game ofCharades such as never been played before. Ibelieve the game came to a screeching halt whenthe title "Oklahoma: Creature from the BlackI-agoon" was given.

Morning brought more rain and breaKast.Following breakfast, workshops helped dancers to

learn the other role and workshop some of theBasic calls. After lunch, workshops continuedwhile some of us were in the Redwood I-odgedancing to some of Chris' most challengingAdvanced calling.

The Margaritaville party hosted by Gold Rush wasthe scene of the "drink that levelled the camp". Itis my understanding that the bartenders werebecoming increasingly creative with the Margaritarecipe. At one point, Eddie was collecting limeslices in order to recycle them into new drinks.(Truly a creative group!) Terry was trying to bethe perfect host by not allowing anyone's drink toever be empty. I think he succeeded. Meanwhile,the "Hairdresser from Hell" was running amokthrough the festivities. (Check with Jim Rosevearof Miami for a recommendation. Fer sure!) TheBradley family was kind enough to donate somecranberry juice for the cause. (Yes, for Margaritas,sort of.)

Once the bar at Margaritaville closed for good, wewere ready for dinner and the evening's activities.Jim "Distressed Wood" went to throw Chris"Shirley I. Wood" into the shower so that he couldbe ready to call the evening dance. Upon hisarrival, Chris seemed to be concerned about thefact that squares were going around in circlesbefore he'd called "Circle I-eft". Soon, however, wewere all movin'and groovin'and dancin'the nightaway!

Ms. Pi I'd (Freeman "Holly Wood" Stamper) wasstunning in her role as emcee of the pie eatingcontest. This event was won by the "Bag-ettes"(Mike Hoban and Rod Morrell). Terry was ableto maintain a bit of dignity while introducing thecontestants in the Mr. and Ms. Cazadero contest.There was really no contest in this event whichwas handily won by Myrtle and Burl Wood (John"Myrtle" Conley and Scott "Burl" Carey). Burl waslooking lovely in her yellow petticoats and simplejewelry to match. Was that her own hair? Onlyher hairdresser (Holly Wood) knows for sure!

During all this, the judges for the cabin judgingcontest were busy tallying up their votes. Prizeswere awarded to several people for their attempts

6

to decorate. I must say, however, that thereseemed to be less effort than usual to dress upthose homey wood cabins. (Oh, yes, in the midstof all this frivolity there was a lot of dancing forall.)

The pajama party which followed the dancing waswarrn and cozy and friendly. By this point, manywere looking a little bleary-eyed, so things wererather low-keyed. Folks had an opportunity toexercise their creative spirits and set aboutdecorating some tiny pumpkins. Some of theresultant creations were simply wonderful. Otherswere something else (I'm not sure what!)

After breakfast on Sunday morning, the Bradleys(using the names of some of your favoritecharacters from "Mame") hosted a fox hunt.Mother Burnside* (also known as Steffany,Imogene Charlene', Holly Wood*, Ms Pi I 'd',Mama Jo Bradley, and sometimes Freeman')reigned as the quintessential matriatch in her goldlame' jodphurs and matching umbrella. It was aninteresting party in that, after Saturday'sMargaritas, Mother Burnside and the gang hadlots of alcohol left over. Another thing - I thoughtthe house which was known as Bradley Manor willmake a lovely place for the Wood family to callhome in years to come. (' Only these charactersmade an appearance this weekend.)

After lunch, we gathered for a "last chance todance". Afterwards, we packed up our belongingsand left the woods for another year.

For those of you who were unable to join us forthe good company, fun times, great dancin', goodfood and relaxing romp in the woods, you willhave another opportunity next year on September28-30th. This is when Western Star Dancers (andthe Wood family, of course) will return to CampCazadero. Remember the Wood Family Motto:

SOME FAMILIES CAN BE MADEBY ANY FOOI.S,

BUT ONLY GOD CAN MAKE A TREE!

In the last issue, Bill Heimartn and Bany Claspertalkcd about a dancer's obligation to be competentat his/her level before attending a dance. . . here,Iana offen some practical sugestioru on studying tohone your skilk. She kindty gcve perrnission for meto edit this for the QS.

SOMEBODY PULL ME THROUGH!by

Jana Hollingsworth

There's not a dancer among us who doesn't needhelp once in a while, but there's a differencebetween "once in a while" and "all the time." Ifyou've been dancing your present program formore than a year and you're still expecting to be"pulled through" or helped on a regular basis,something's wrong. No one minds helping anovice, but anyone who's not a fully competentdancer after dancing a program for a year needsto put in some extra work to get up to speed. It'snot fair to expect your fellow dancers to do thework for you by constantly pulling you through.

How can you bring yourself uD to speed? C)neway is to repeat a class as a student, not an angel.That means coming to class every week, dancingevery tip and paying close attention to theinstruction. For most people who are still being"pulled through" after a year's dancing experience,however, some serious study will probably helpmore. That doesn't mean a lot of studying - fifteenminutes every two or three days is plenty. . . butit does mean a slight, temporary change ofattitude. In order to square dance well, one mustoccasionally - and temporarily - get serious aboutit.

First, get a list of definitions. Then makeflashcards. On one side of a card, write the callname. On the other, write the starting formation,definition, and ending formation. Set aside fifteenminutes every couple of days for studying thedefinitions. tnok at the front of the card and(without peeking) recite the definition on theback. Don't just say, "Yes, I know that." Actuallyrecite it. When I'm having particular trouble witha call, I find it helps to recite it out loud(preferably in private). Don't say, "I can't

love, Lilac

memorize." That's just an excuse. Memorizing issurprisingly easy once you get the hang of it.

Then when a difficult call comes up in the square,recite it to yourself as you dance it, either silentlyor out loud. In a square (unlike, say, on a bus),people will not think you're weird if you do this.They may find it useful if they've forgotten thedefinition themselves. You'll be changing from aheloee to a heloer!

Besides getting your definitions down pat, theother most important thing is to learn to identifyyour formations as you dance them. Your studyingwill help, since along with definitions, you'll belearning the usual starting and ending formations.Most calls, however, can be performed fromunexpected formations, so you should not considerthe starting and ending formations to be chiseledin stone. Crossfire, for example, usually begins intwo-faced lines and finishes in columns, but it canbe performed from outfacing lines, in which caseit will finish in a quarter-tag.

A better way to learn your formations isconsciously to note the formations as you dance,watching how they change from call to call. Asyou get good at it, you'll be able to predict whatthe ending formation will be as soon as you hearthe call. Next, begin to notice consciously whereyou are in the formation. Are you a center or anend? lrad or trailer? When you get so youalways know not only what the formation is, butexactly where you are in it, then you'll really bedancing!

When that happens, and you get in a square withseven other people who are equally competent,you have the makings of square dance nirvana.Nothing in the square dance world compares tothe feeling that comes from all eight dancersworking together and getting it right, with no onehaving to be dragged along like dead weight. Ifyou're still having to be helped through every tip,you're missing out on a real high!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!by

Anna Damiani

A couple of weekends ago, Marie and I had theexperience of going to Albuquerque for theirBalloon Fiesta - it was a first for both of us!

After our flight, we met landr4 our hostess, andoff we went to see a bit of the city before gettingready for the evening's dance and potluck.

At the Albuquerque Social Club (ASC), we (andabout 125 other dancers) registered for theweekend and wandered over to check out thesumptuous buffet table loaded with New Mexicotreats. (The cuisine of New Mexico is influencedby Mexican cuisine but it is not one and thesame!) After eating, we danced to the tunes ofour two callers for the weekend - Bill Eyler andShelby Dawson. Both helped to get the weekendoff to a great start.

Saturday morning found us up at 4 AM so that wecould meet the rest of the folks at the ASC. Weleft there at 5:30 AM to catch the buses for theBalloon Ascension. This was truly a remarkableexperience. There were literally hundreds ofballoons waiting to take off. Shortly after watchingthe most spectacular moon setting I had ever seen,the balloons began to rise. They were beautiful -brightly colored - and some had very uniquedesigns! In the basket of the Carmen Mirandaballoon, a couple was getting married. After theceremony, they threw small helium balloonsinstead of rice. The Pepsi Can, the Burger KingWhopper, and the Champagne Bucket weresurrounded by other balloons of all colors of therainbow. A sad note was watching the clown comeapart at the seams (literally!)

Saturday afternoon was spent at workshops, sight-seeing and shopping. The evening dance was anight to be remembered. Shelby and Bill kept ushopping till midnight. One number which we willnever forget was Shelby and a band of cohortsdoing a very unique lipsynch of "Old MacDonald'sFarm." It was truly stunning (at least I wasstunned!)

On Sunday morning we played "turista" and wentout for brunch before heading to Los AmigosStables for an afternoon barn dance.

While at the ranch, we went on horse-back rides(I felt so Western!), danced, and rela;<ed in thewoods. Shelby and Bill continued to dazzle us withtheir calling. This was truly a Western adventurewhich many of us city folk don't often have theopporfunity to experience. After dinner at I-aPinta, a local restaurant with a Southwesternflavor, we went off to the ASC for more dancing.We diehards continued dancing to Bill's livelycalling until our feet gave up in agony.

Monday morning dawned clear and cool. Wepacked up the car and joined a group of dancerson a "Slice of New Mexico" tour. We stopped atthe top of the Sandia Crest (11,000 feet) for aview of Albuquerque and a quick dance (gasp!)After riding along the Turquoise Trail (an areawhere lots of turquoise is mined) we foundourselves in Madrid. This used to be a ghost townand is now an artists' colony with an almost eerieair to it. Our tour took us on a quick ride aroundCarillo (another former ghost town) and on toSanta Fe. This is a shopper's Heaven! If you everhappen to stop there, hang on to your chargecards, kids! Rugs, pottery, jewelry, and all kindsof trinkets can be found in this southwestern town.While we were there, we toured the church wherea truly miraculous freestanding spiral staircase isfound. It is definitely something worth going outof your way to see.

After some shopping and browsing, Marie and Isaid good-bye to the rest of the group and headedfor Taos. This town sits up in the mountains nearsome of the finest ski areas in New Mexico. Westayed at a truly charming Bed'n BreaKast called'The Ruby Slipper." It is owned by two womenwho left Brooklyn about a year and a half ago.They have a wonderful hot tub and provide all theamenities of home (breaKast is great, too!) Taosis a charming town with many shops and a bit of"small town" charm. I highly recorlmend it toanyone travelling in the area.

Tuesday morning, we headed to the airport just intime to return the car and catch our flight home.

I want to thank all of the members of the WildeBunch for all their work in helping to make this atruly memorable weekend.

Yellow Rock News. Few Gay dancerc laow that bi-dancuality (is this a word?) is not at all uncommonin the larger sEtare dance community, especially inthe Bay Area Dorothy Peeler, who has called for usin the past, gwes her own caller's perspective ondancing the other role. . .

ROLE REVERSALby

Dorothy Peeler

Starting this summer, I have been calling for agroup of retirees who have been a square danceclub for the past nine years. The distinguishingfeature about this group is that it consists of allladies. From the start, as new dancers, some ladieshave elected to learn just the man's part. Many ofthem learn both parts. At first, there werebetween eight and nine squares in the club, but inrecent years they have lost members. Anci, like allof us, their beginner classes have been smaller.Now we dance about four squares each week, butthey have had to change their byJaws to include -(ready?) men.

During the 1960's, the biggest growth time ofsquare dancing, we took it for granted that acouple consisted of a man and a lady. In the timesince then, singles groups have found themselvesmore and more top-heavy with ladies, causingsome ladies to pinch-hit as men. Youth groupsattract more girls than boys. Callers' wives havealways known they could be asked to do the man'spart. Two recent phenomena are the gay squaredance groups and the retirees groups, where theaccepted idea of a "couple" can vary. And, oftenthrough the years, I have seen a whole square ofpeople reverse roles, just for fun. I am notquestioning whether this should be acceptable ordesirable for square dancing. I am observing it asfact. I am personally glad to see people enjoyingsquare dancing, whoever they are.

Those who "take the other part" do causeproblems for regular couples dancers in somecases. The most obvious place is at an open danceor festival. I do not think the fact of two ladies ortwo gentlemen dancing together bothers most ofus, it is the confusion it causes in the square.Simple commands like "Boys Trade" or "Girls U-turn Back" could give the other three couples theimpression that there was a mistake and result injust enough pause to miss the next words from thecaller. Dancers in their first year or two of squaredancing could be thrown by this more than thoseof us [who are] old-timers. We are all taught to begood sports about boo-boos, but more than onesuch tip a night would take the edge off theevening for most of us. So, I would say a group ofladies or gentlemen used to dancing with eachother would be better off to plan to have apartner of the opposite sex for open dances. Or, inthe case of the ladies who do not know the lady'spart, take your own square to the dance.

It may be interesting to those of you who have nottried to do the opposite part that there are just afew basic calls that require retraining. In thesedays of dancing by definition and A-1, A-2, mostof our calls are done from any position. One ofthe biggest grabbers is Allemande lrft, Right andkft Grand. A lady taking the gentleman's part forthe first time would tend to face right instead ofleft to find a corner. Box the Gnat means thebeau does a right-faced turn, the belle a left-faced turn. The same is true of Star Thru, SlideThru, California Twirl. Roll a Half-sashay andFluttenvheel require learning a new direction anda new starting hand if you are doing the oppositepart. Dixie Style to an Ocean Wave also wouldtake some practice. For new dancers, Pass theOcean and Recycle seem completely foreign whendone half-sashayed. My husband, who is requiredto fill in as a girl more often than you mightexpect, says he has never learned to do a decentswing in the girl's position, so he just signals "noswing". And he definitely does not want to berwirled just before a promenade.

Same sex dancing can cause problems for callers,too. For a large group, all the caller has to do isswitch attention to another square if a mixed-bagsquare is confusing. But in a small group where

the caller is keeping track of all the squaresduring the calling, any help the dancers can giveis appreciated. In our ladies' group, those whoalways do the boy's part wear slacks and the ladieswear square dance dresses. Those who can danceeither part wear slacks, and there is a supply ofelastic-top skirts on hand each time for them toput on if they are switching parts. It also helps thecaller if a couple will partner up several times ina row rather than change partners every tip.

During our plus workshops my husband hardlyever needs to sub as a lady. But the past two yearsin our beginner classes and advanced classes hehas been needed as a girl more than half the time.He would much prefer a pretty girl by his side (hethinks all girls are pretty) than another guy. Well,he got his wish the other day - our ladies' groupneeded one more to fill a square. But - youguessed it - he was needed for the girl's part!

The Chicken Ranch(FaI I Manor of the225 Sanchez S tSan Francisco, CA

October 3, l -989

Bradleys)

94LLA

Albuquerque t92c/o Yl r . Terence Wi lderB0O Buck T ra i l SEAlbuquerque, NM 87 ) ,23

Dear Mr. Wi lder ( I know, proper bus iness correspondence et iquet ted ic tates that the sa lutat ion should berrDear Si r ' r or Madame or Gent lemen orGent leperson or Gent lereader or adnauseum, but we are trying to accom-modate the PostaL Serv ice a lso whi le atthe same tirne atternpting to set agent ler , personal tone) :

We (or a t least some of us) suppor ted Albuguerque's b id to be theL992 IAGSDC Convent ion host . We are ext rernely concerned that , d tthe present t i rne, Do theme has been set for your convent ion.

We know that our concerns are not shared by a l l those who wi l la t tend the Convent ion, but we are most anx ious to begin shoppingfor the fabr ic for our l -992 dresses. You may not be aware thatthere are many deta i ls to creat ing an appropr ia te image at theseConvent ions, and se lect ing appropr ia te accessor ies takes addi t ionalt ime. For your in for rnat ion, our 1990 Vancouver rnater ia l waspurchased in Oc tobe r , 1988 , no l ess than 3 r000 rn i l es away . The L991Flor ida preparat ions are wel l underway.

W€, therefore, ask that you a l low the Bradley Farn i ly to shop forfabr ic we l ike and fee l appropr ia te, and then we n i l l suggest anappropriate theme for the ?-992 Albuquerque Convention.

":, t?rLwours,

h'*/Ya/ , /Mama Jo"Bradley

cc : Ms . Mar i l yn Mar t i nyakMr. Kar I JaeckelAI I o f the Bradleys ind iv idual ly

P.S. The tone of th is le t ter could have been much more gent le i fyou and others in your ej*+rcaC arid gang had but subscribed toBRADLEY BELL. Mr. Ric Gonzalez is a f ine t r ibute to The Wi ldeBunch.

11

Here's a short article which will ako appear in thenewsletter that Marilyn Martinyak does for all theIAGSDC Representatives. . .

THERE ISN'T A PROBLEM YET, BUT. . .by

Freeman Stamper

Can we talk? As we are all very aware, the 1990Convention is an "early" convention - only ninemonths after New York. All of us probablystarted Basic/Mainstream classes in September.Western Star Dancers is committed to introducingall-position dancing very early in its classes. Wetake just a little longer (maybe a few weeks) tograduate students, but we believe they are, as awhole, a better group of dancers. Most of uscannot comfortably complete Mainstream byVancouver and have provided any "floor time."

We are all also aware that the Basics hall closedearly (and never opened again) in New York, andthat was probably a good decision for New York.However, precedence sometimes sets precedentsthat are not necessarily accurate all the time. Itwould be easy to slip into the syndrome thatbecause Basic was not "popular" in this year thenit won't be popular in that year. We, the homeclubs, therefore, can be convinced that we mustrace to complete our classes because there willnot be enough Basic dancing at Convention.(Actually, "Basic" is a synonym for "less than fullmainstream.")

If you are faced with this situation, Western StarDancers would like for you to encourage yourBoard of Directors to take it easy with yourclasses and to let the scheduling committee inVancouver know that you can "comfortably"provide "X" number of dancers at call "number so-and-so."

My mind keeps going back to the DenverConvention in 1985. Several years later, a dancerwho currently dances Advanced commented to methat he was impressed that so many "Mainstream"dancers (that was about as advanced as we wereback then) came and danced with them eventhough they hardly knew how to dance.

Basic has to be fun to those who are dancing theprogam; otherwise, why should anyone believethat there will be fun by going to other programs?

Freeman Stamper,Alternate DelegateWestern Star Dancers.San Francisco

FROM THE EDITOR

The Ouarterly Selections started out to be justopinion essays about issues we're dealing with; butthere's more to this edition.

Originally, I thought the QS would be a way wecould put a foot forward to create a goodimpression for WSD and our Community in thelarger square dance world. My feeling aboutcreating goodwill outside your own group is thatyou have to gently emphasize common ground,and simultaneously avoid causing rejectionreactions in the people you're trying to be friendswith. It's clear to other dancers that we all havefun dancing (even though some might not wish todance with us!)

Stepping-stones may also be laid along intellectualpaths; particularly, I see philosophical issues beingaddressed by Advanced and Challenge dancers.The QS is a means for us to let other peopleknow that we also have the same problems ariseand that we are putting thought and action intosolving them.

Now I've found that WSD folks would like to seehumor incorporated into the QS - so here we havea lighter touch in Mama Jo's letter, and more willbe in future issues. With humor, there is lesscommon ground to emphasize; to an extent, whatis funny to us may be alien to many dancers in thelarger SD community.

As we incorporate humor, the QS will becomeperhaps more relevant for us and definitely lessrelevant for the larger dance community. I haveno objection to this emphasis - the QS should befirst for the entertainment and enjoyment of WSD

t2

members - but / need feedback from you to makeit the publicuion we want.

Please contribute anicles! I'll try for Marchpublication for the Spring '90 issue, so thedeadline for subrnissions is Februarv 15.

TWO CENTS'WORTHby

Party White

The compensation for being an editor is that youget to read everybody else's contributions beforeyou write your own article. Nobody sees it till it'sin print, and then it's too late for opposition! Forsomeone who always likes to get a word inedgewise (preferably the last word), this is great!

My two cents' worth this time is about teachingnew dancers, a subject already addressed here byboth Scott and Freeman.

As a'public non-profit benefit corporation,' WSDhas a responsibility to provide some type ofcommunity service. One way we do that is byproducing quality dancers. We spend a lot of classtime on APD and DBD drill.

Actually, this is a double service - first to thedancer, who gets a strong foundation for his futuredancing activity, whatever program he chooses todance; and second, to the Square Dancecommunity, because our dancers are prepared toenter the advanced programs with a solid grasp ofAPD and DBD.

A consequence of spending so much class timethis way is that we don't get as many calls taughtin a given amount of time. Eventually, as ourstudents broaden their dancing horizons and startmaking friends in other Clubs' classes (a processwe encourage), they discover that they don't knowas many calls as their new friends do. Of course,their friends are anxious to show off theirexpertise in calls our students haven't even heardof yet!Our students start doubting their own ability. Eventhough few of them bring it up, they wonder,

"'What's wrong with us, why aren't we'getting it' :Nfast as everyone else?" This self-doubt feeds backto impede their learning process.They also beginto question the quality of instruction they'rereceiving.

This starts at a critical time, about six weeks intoa class, when they're just beginning to have aconception of the larger world square danceworld. This, just when we're starting to try todevelop their loyalties towards WSD. This, just atthe time when the faster students are reallypulling ahead and the gap benreen them and theslower ones is beginning to be all too clear,especially to the slower ones. This, just at a timewhen they're realizing that this learning survemight not be all fun, when they're especiallywlnerable to discouragement, when ego problemsare cropping up and confidence needs bolstering.This is the time when class attrition really getsgoing.

It's too early for the students to understand ourstrong philosophical justifications and practicalreasons for doing it this way. What they want todo is dance, not discuss some sociological value tothe Gay square dancing subculture or debate therelative merits of various teaching methods. Theycertainly don't want to think of themselves asguinea pigs in a scheme to enhance thecapabilities of 'upper-level' dancers.

How can we deal with this? It happens every time,and the problem does not go away.

Some of us are FANATIC about square dancing.And some of us choose to devote our energy tobringing new people into this wonderful hobbyrather than commit ourselves to dancing at theAdvanced and Challenge programs.

What we want to do is provide our students a realgrounding in APD and DBD so that they canexperience all the challenge and enjoyment theMainstream and Plus programs can offer.

And when our dancers choose to move on to theother programs, we want them to enhance thefloor level at Advanced and Challenge, not drag itdown.

13

But it's tough to hold the line in the face ofincreasing peer pressure to "get'em through Plusand into Advanced as fast as possible." I thinkthat the only way we can stop this tendency is formany Clubs to unite in an effort to teach qualitydancers, at whatever speed happens to work for agiven class.

Freeman asked other IAGSDC Clubs in ourposition to let the Vancouver ConventionCommittee know so that we can have a BasicHall. I go farther than that: I ask all Clubs toactively fight this pressure to rush studentsthrough - not only so that we'll have danceopportunities for our newer dancers in Vancouver,but so that we can maintain the qualiry of dancingat all programs.

After all, even though we dance at differentprograms, we are one square dancing community.

, r r ' * r LosT AND FOUND t r r * *

BEIGE DOWN JACKET: Found after the danceat St. Paulus church on November 25. Call Patty,(4ls) 681-2970.

. r r r r DOODLES r r r ' r r

t t r t : r DOODLES ar r r r

l 4

-1gt*"t-

D QTJARTERLY SELECTIONSsPRlNG, 1990

One of the issues we've been addressing in WSDpublications for the past several months is thetendency for dancerc to rush (or be rushed) on toadditional programs before they're competent attlrcir current progroms.

Here is a very clear statement by Walt Cole, anationally respected caller and teacher. Directed toother callerc, Walt's comments ort pushing stu.dentdancerc too fast appeared in the October, 1989issue of Ameican Squaredance. reprinted therefrom Lead Rigltt Notes.

TEACHING - THOROUGHAND EXPLICIT

byWalt Cole

Your first reaction is - not again!Broaching thissubject is like trying to do a dancerimprovement session. No one attends because"no one needs improvement." Or as one womantold me, "I have my own styling."

We callers/instructors are teaching people tosquare dance, not teaching square dance.(Follow me?)

When I say teach thoroughly and explicitly, thisis not to mean talking dancers' heads off withlong and windy discourses. Teach with clear,concise language that they understand. Teach allthe points of the movement, including stylingand timing. This does not mean to use thatmovement from all positions during thatparticular teaching session.

Take time to smell the roses! Once a movementis taught, let the dancers dance it (over andover again). What's the rush? Teaching by

definition should not be something we have toadvertise. It should be done from the very first.Even though the Callerlab recommendation forteaching the entire MS program is 41 weeks at2 U2 hours per session weekly, no one said youcouldn't take longer.

In our rush to get Mainstream dancers intoPlus movement, we sometimes confuse beingpopular with the regular club members and thenew dancers as one who can really get youthrough .in a hurry. Are you also popular withthose folks you have driven out of square dancewith this haste? Haste makes waste, and youhave probably wasted folks you could havecontributed to square dance for longer thanthose brilliant folks to whom you catered withthe big rush. Why not be a hero to many ratherthan a few?

There are ample aids for teaching in a thoroughand explicit manner. The previous Callerlabcommittees on Styling, Timing, Definitions werecomposed of callers with earnest intent toproduce good usable information and correctproducts. I, for one, was always in a quandaryas to teaching order, styling, timing anddefinitions, and now I am pleased to acceptwhat has been done by these committees inorder to save my time and effort.

From where I sit in the winter, calling/ teachingin RV parks, I see a lot of poor instructiongoing on, just to get folks through the programsbefore they return home. Consequently, manyare returning home with a very weak S/D base.

One could almost think of thorough and explicitteaching as a branding iron. We all "brand" the

(continued on page 2)

folks we teach in one way or another. Whatkind of "branding iron" do you want to use?One that says to other callers and dancers -"stay clear of that caller's students for they areweak dancers," or, '!ou can sure tell theylearned under that caller by the way theystyle, time and dance the movements."

It takes discipline on your part as a teacher,but the rewards are more and better dancersstaying longer in the activity. Economicallyspeaking, would you rather have 20 squares'fees for two vears or for 20 vears?

The Quarterly Selections is apublication of the Western StarDancers, a Modern Western SquareDance Club primarily sewing the SanFranc isco Gay and Lesb ianCommunity. It is dedicated rodiscussion of those issues which facesquare dancers everywhere, especiallyGay square dancers.

Because we are trying to address issueswhich concern us all, we hope thatother Clubs will be interested in ourarticles. Club newsletter editors arefre€ to reprint WSD material; we askthat you credit the author and cite theQuarterlv Selections.

All articles which have been selectedfrom other publications appear here bypermission of the appropriate editors.If you want to reprint any of these,please write them for pcrmission.

Our address and hotlincs:

Western Star Dancers584 Castro St., Suite 480San Francisco, CA 94114

(41s) W-6134(41s) 62r-0862

The Quarterly Selections is edited byPatty White and printed by DeniseYoung.

IS THERE DANCING AFTER ATRIPLE ARTHRODESIS?

HELP! I have a bum left foot, no arch and atendon is missing; consequently, the wholestructure of the foot has shifted towards theinstep. With age (53) and activity, the situationgets worse, and my orthopedist hasrecommended a triple arthrodesis (I thinkthat's spelled correctly), where they take bonefrom your hip and insert it into your ankle,thereby wedging your foot in a more "correct"position.

My doctor says it's a relatively common andgenerally successful operation. He also saysthat the moventent of the foot should bealmost normal but that there will be some lossof motion side to side.

What he cannot tell me, however, is whetherthis is going to affect my dancing, or whetherI am going to be able to dance at allafterwards. Is there anyone among the readerswho has experience with this operation or hashad it performed? I hesitate to do anythinguntil I've heard from someone who has hadthe operation and is satisfied with the results.Can you help? Thank you for your assistance.

- Luis Torres

If you can help, Luis' address b 9757 EarlySping Way, Columbia, MD 21046, or see himin Vancouver!

When you give blood, you giveAnother birthday,Another anniversary,Another day at the beach,Another night under the stars,Another talk willt a fiend,Another laugh,Another hug,Another chance.

- from a Red Cross poster on Califuntia Street

WSD's Board of Directorc deah with sintadons, sometimes controversial, that come up in thecourse of our dancingu teaching and Communiry acdvities. From time to rtmq WSD's actiorton an rssae n so important that the Board formulates a Policy Statement to guide futureBoards when it comes up again. The Poliry Statements give a picrure of how we actually tryto operate in accordance with our philosophy.

Although some of these no longer apply in quite the same way they were oiginally intended,otherc are still imponant to the way WSD worl<s today. The current Board is witing new PolicyStatements to set down our cunent philosoplry and operating procedures; we recently decidedto publish these, one or two at a time, in the QUARTERLY SELECTIONS. Here are thelatest two:

WESTERN STAR DANCERS, INC.Poliry Statement No. 13

PUBLICATIONS

GENERAL

The purpose of WSD's publications is toimprove communications (1) within WSDand (2) between WSD and the IAGSDCCommunity. The content of eachpublication is directed specifically towardsthe audience which reads it. The selectionof material is the prerogative of the Editorand is directed by the purpose of theparticular publication.

Opinions expressed are those of the authorof any given article and reflect theopinions of WSD or the Board ofDirectors only when specifically noted.

ADVERTISING

WSD will not advertise any event, productor service which discriminates against anyperson or group on the basis of race,religion, ethnic background, age, gender orsexual orientation.

THE WESTERN STAR

1. The purpose of THE WESTERNSTAR is to disseminateinformation of a time-sensitivenature to all members. It ismailed monthly to all members,

WESTERN STAR DANCERS, INC.Policy Statement No. 12

REPEAT STUDENT CLASS FEES

GENERAL

Any paid-in-full class member may repeatthat same level of class within the sameyear at no additional cost.

DISCUSSION

Western Star Dancers has no policy ofrefund of class fees paid. Some studentsfind it necessary to drop out before theend of a particular class, and somestudents miss significant amounts of class.Some students have gained inadequateproficiency in that particular program, andthe Club may wish to suggest that thestudent repeat the class. In all instances, itis best for the dancer and the Club for thestudent to repeat that class; however, theClub does not wish to cause a financialburden.

For purposes of this policy, "same year" isgenerally defined as a 12-month periodfrom the beginning date of the student'soriginal class.

ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OFDIRECTORSAugust 8, 1989

2.

and as a courtesy to all IAGSDC clubs.

The categories of information whichmay be included have the followingpriority:

a. Calendar and time-sensitiveannouncements of WSDevents

b . Members ' pe rsona ladvertisements - these arecomplimentary

c. Announcements of otherIAGSDC club events at theBasic, Mainstream and Plusprograms

d. Announcements of othersquare dance events at theBasic, Mainstrearn and Plusprograms, or other eventswhich may appeal to themajority of our membership

e. Other advertisements forevents, goods or serviceswhich may appeal to WSD'smembers. Charges for thesewill be according to aschedule published in THEWESTERN STAR. Copy forthese ads must be providedin camera-ready form for thesize ad being purchased.

Editing is directed solely towardsachieving accuracy of schedulinginformation at press time; errors incontributed material are theresponsibility of the contributor.Schedule changes which occur afterpress time will be noted in WSDTODAY! or, if time allows, insubsequent editions of THEWESTERN STAR.

WSD TODAY!

1. The purpose of WSD TODAY! isto provide information of particularinterest to people who participateon Dance and Class nights. It isalso intended to rnaximize theevening's activity time by reducingthe time spent making verbalannouncements -ameans toconvey information quickly withoutdetracting from the program.Therefore, it is normally limited toone page.

2. Because it is written and printedon the day of distribution, WSDTODAY! can contain last-minutescheduling changes and late-breaking news which cannot beincluded in THE WESTERNSTAR. Priorities for the limitedspace are:

a. Calendar information of a time-sensitive nature

b. Members' or Class members'advertisements

c. Reminders and future-eventannouncements.

3. Paid advertising will not beincluded because it is inconsistentwith the purpose of WSDTODAY!.

4. Authorship of any given issue ofWSD TODAY! is by invitation ofthe Editor. Content and style arethe prerogative of the author ofthat particular issue.

OUARTERLY SELECTIONS

1. The purpose of this publication isto provide thought-provoking

J .

articles of an editorial nature and othermaterial of general interest or entertainmentvalue for WSD members. The emphasis of

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS is on relevanceto square dance issues, philosophicalsubstance, and literary quality.

Because the content is not time-sensitive, QUARTERLY SELECTIONSis published quarterly on a flexibleschedule. It is mailed to all WSDmembers, and as a courtesy to allIAGSDC clubs.

2. There is no limit on the size of anyi ssue o f t he QUARTERLYSELECTIONS (except that which maybe imposed by Board restrictions onprinting and mailing costs). Accordingly,articles submitted by the members maybe any length the author considersnecessary to cover the subject; also,each member may submit as manyarticles as s(he) wishes.

3. In addition to members' articles. theEditor may include material from otherClubs' newsletters or square dancepublications. Reprinting will be donewith permission only.

4. The article content, presentation qualityand style are determined by theauthors. All authors will be credited.

5. Editorial changes will be at thediscretion of the Editor.

ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OFDIRECfORSNovember 28, 1989

EDITOR POSITION AVAILABLEby

Patty White

issue as editor of the QuarterlyFebruarv was mv last issue of

This is my lastSelections. and

The Western Star (Scott did the March oneand will do April's). After Vancouver, I'll begoing into seclusion to work on a videoenhancement project for our workshops (sqexciting!) So the position of Editor will beavailable right after Convention.

Everyone who's watched me bitch about thisjob for the last year and a half thinks it's ahorrible job and wouldn't even consider takingover, so I want to explain that the problemI've had doing this job is not because of theactual work of editing the publications.

The difficulty I have had in doing this editinghas to do with rne. I simply do not havewhatever personality trait it takes to motivatepeople to contribute articles and meetdeadlines. (I guess I just never learned to dothat since my work doesn't require me to havethat kind of motivational ability.) If you havethat ability, and enjoy detail stuff, you mightfind the editorship easy and fun. Listen to theadvantages:

1. The guidelines are laid out for you already.The Publications Policy above reflects whatWSD needs. The Board will support you indoing your own thing, within these guidelines.

2. This is a high-profile job. The Western Starand the Quarterly Selections go to all WSDmembers and all IAGSDC Clubs. ! think ourpublications are the finest in the IAGSDC (ofcourse, I am prejudiced, but still...) You'llhave fans all over!

3. You get to be in the center of what's goingon in the Club (you actually lmve to be, inorder to coordinate everything).

4. You can split it up and only edit onepublication if that fits your situation.

5. You get to champion your own causes toyour heart's content.

6. I'll help you. Call me!

WSD SPECIAL ELECTION COMING UP

A WSD special election is coming up - afterVancouver. Watch for details, dates, etc., inTHE WESTERN STAR.

The election committee is Eddie Smith, lreChandler and Piers Greenhill, with Eddie asChair. Nominations are open now, althoughthe official two-week nomination period won'tstart till after Convention.

If you'd like to run, let Eddie, Ire or Piersknow; if you'd like to nominate someone else,tell one of them and they'll check with theperson to ensure that he or she is available.

The six current Board members are AnnaDamiani, Freeman Stamper, Gary Gray, MaxRobb, Rod Morrell and Scott Carey.

TRUE CONFESSIONS:AN EX-BOARD MEMBER TELIS ALL!

byPatty White

Actually, there's no scandal - I .;ust wanted toget maximum attention, because this isimportant.

We're about to go through our second specialelection this year to fill a vacancy on theBoard. For most members, this is just anadministrative exercise, but for the Boardmembers, it's always a trauma.

WSD is a large club, and we have a veryactive, high-quality program; running this clubtakes more work than you can even imagineunless you've done it. We need all sevenBoard members to direct it all. Whenever oneresigns, it means there's a long time - weeksor months - before someone else is availableto take over his share on the Board. Also,

're's usually a period before the departingrmber resigns during which he is having

difficulty handling all the responsibilities.

During all this time, the other Board membersare doing all the things the departing onewould have been doing, and there is simplytoo much to do! The result is BMB (BoardMember Burnout). BMB victims forget things,neglect their jobs and personal administrativeaffairs, and miss meetings. As BMB pro-gresses, victims become less and less effectiveat getting things done, both for WSD and forthemselves. The other Board members try tocompensate, when they already have their ownBMB to deal with, so thq get more stressed.

Another thing that happens is that the stressof BMB lowers resistance; the BMB victim islucky if all he gets is a cold that lasts forweeks and weeks instead of something serious.

WSD has survived this before, sometimes justbarely. Board members have remainedemployed, despite the negative effect on theirjob performance. And victims have beenknown to regain their health.

But there is another effect which doesn'tnecessarily go away as easily, and that is whatBMB does to people's personal relationships.BMB victims are people on the edge - theyneglect their lovers and they're short-temperedwith their lovers and friends. I-overs can onlytake so much; the threat of impending divorceadds to the stress on the BMB victim. Andfriends vary in their ability to withstandcontinual grouchiness and still remain friends.

It's not uncommon for people to resign fromthe Board - sometimes it's unavoidable, forhealth reasons or some unexpected personaldisaster. But I believe that this happens moreoften because people really do not knowahead of time what is required of a Boardmember - they run for the Board, are elected,and then discover that it takes far more of acommitment than they are able to make. I'mdefinitely not suggesting that any Boardmember has run with anything other than thebest intentions. lt isn't anyone's fault, it's justthat people do not know what is involved.

Here is why it happens: In addition to themany details involved in handling theadministrative affairs of a large club, WSD'sBoard often has to deal with thorny issues -like incidents of dishonesty, misunderstandingsbetween Clubs, legal things - that would createeven more hurt feelings or legal problems orwhatever if they were openly discussed, out ofcontext, with the rest of the Club. To allow allBoard members to speak freely in Boardmeetings about these things, so as to get themost representative possible solution, WSD'sBoard has always had a poliry ofconfidentiality about this type of Boardbusiness. I agree with this poliry, which allowsthese things to be handled informally.

Unfortunately, the confidentiality policy, whichis intended to protect people, also tends toinsulate the rest of the Club from all the othertypes of Board business - so that mostmembers don't realize how much emotionaland physical energy the Board puts intorunning WSD.

Board members have a tendency to downplaythe work involved, especially before elections,so as not to discourage others from running.

My own feeling is that it would be better foreveryone to know ahead of time, so peoplecan be prepared. Sure, it would mean thatfewer people would run, but it would alsomean that we wouldn't keep going throughthis every year, because folks would knowwhat they're getting into. It would also meanthat people wouldn't innocently run for theBoard not knowing what's involved and thenbe traumatized and maybe leave squaredancing because of it.

This year's Board is working on a long-termsolution - a whole new way of managingWSD's teaching and dance and socialprograms. There will be more opportunity foreveryone to participate to whatever degreethey're comfortable, and the structure of theBoard will be determined by the jobs thatneed to be done to carry out our activities.The project has been in the works for a year,

and is almost ready for a preliminary proposalto the general membership.

So our entire way of operating may be totallydifferent within a very few months, and rightnow we have an available Board position. Anew Board member coming in now will beable to help influence the very fundamentalsof how we operate in the Nineties! So this isa very good time to join the Board.

Much is erpected of WSD Board members; ifyou're able to make the commitment, pleaserun for the Board.

'M t)'L wu *uepy up)

mfts T7*e

:lu,_:;s. ' L ' -

TW{I'Kx

DOODLES

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE?by

Pattv Wltite

Often I sense that people in WSD are sick todeath of hearing me harp on teaching thecourtesies to our students. Sometimes mydetermination to get the point across waversin the face of apathy from other members,and even from officers. It's lonesome to carryon a crusade when you feel like you're allalone (or worse yet when you feel like peopleare laughing at your efforts), even when youknow you're right.

But my enthusiasm for the task is renewedwhen I hear about incidents on the dancefloor like the one recounted by Dot Schmidt(American Squaredance, December, 1989).She was having a good time at a StateConvention until five squares of Advanceddancers walked onto the floor during a tip,squared up, and just stood there until thecaller finished the tip, so they'd have goodplaces on the floor for the next caller.

I think Dot was remarkably reserved in hercomments about this rudeness. I would placethose people in a private hall somewhere andlet them do only the right-and-left-thru for alleternity. They definitely are not suitable tohave on a dance floor with the rest of us.

Surely all 40 of the most discourteous peoplein the recreation did not by some monstrouscoincidence show up on the same floor at thesame time - there must be more of them outthere. Where did they come from? How didthey get to be that way?

The source, I think, is the Clubs who didn'tteach them to behave properly in the firstplace, and who didn't require a standard ofbehavior at Club level dances. These dancenare educationally dbadvantaged! Not that thatexcuses them one whit for doing somethingthat plain common sense would haveprevented - but the responsibility forproducing dancers like that rests squarelyupon their Club officers and callers.

Walt Cole, speaking to other callers, said "Weall "brand' the folks we teach in one way oranother. What kind of 'branding iron' do youwant to use?" (American Squaredance.October. 1989). H" was speaking of dancers'technical competence, but the same ideaapplies to other attributes of good dancing,like demeanor on the dance floor.

Clubs also have reputations, not just for howgood their dancers are technically, but also forhow comfortable visitors and callers feel withthem. I'll bet the other people on that floorknew which Clubs those 40 dancers camefrom. How embarrassing for the others inthose Clubs! Still. it's their own fault. . .

In almost every issue of AmericanSquaredance, and in almost every Clubnewsletter, there's at least one article or letterlamenting the decreasing popularity of ourwonderful recreation, pleading for people tobe less impatient with slow learners,recounting a rude encounter on the floor,wondering why students drop out, orfrenetically exhorting everyone to "have fun!'There is an awareness that not everyone rshaving fun, or it wouldn't be necessary toconstantly tell people to do it!

Everybody wonders why we just can't seem toattract lots of new people. But when newpeople join a class or even come to a danceto 'check out' the activity, they can see thatthere's tension along with the fun. They cansee that it's only fun if you're a fast learner,only fun if you're fleet-footed enough to avoidthe squares with the rude people. Why wouldnew folks voluntarily get involved, when theycan see others being embarrassed or ridiculedand they know they may be next if they joina class?

The basis for the wonderful square dancecameraderie that seems to be disappearing iseveryone's willingness to adopt a cooperative,friendly demeanor on the floor. This squaredance esprit d' corps is what makes dancingenjoyable for most of us - all the personal,

professional, even national differences don'tmatter at all when you're dancing in a set thatworks for everyone in it. All that's requiredfor this to happen is for everyone to be half-way decent dancers and follow the few simplerules of square dance courtesy, but dancerccan't know how to behave unless they're taught!

Club officers aren't asking callers toemphasize the courtesies in teaching newdancers, Club members aren't showing thestudents by example, and nobody is censuringdancers who behave like boors.

Dot hoped this was not "a pattern to come inthe A/C levels of dancing." I'm afraid this maybe the wave of the future in all programs - wecan expect more and more rudeness toimpinge on our dancing untjl we begin to turnthings around by teaching the courtesies andrequiring our dancers to observe them!

CRINOLINE!

Remember two years ago when the Bay AreaClubs had the Giant Crinoline float in theParade. Scott and John made a lovely video ofthe Giant Crinoline Sewing Bee and all thefestivities.

Well, the Crinoline is anxiously awaitingresurrection - either as a float in this year'sParade or as a dance decoration or whatever.It is stored at my house, all cleaned and readyto be used again.

The Crinoline actually belongs to all the BayArea Clubs, not just WSD, so if anyone hasideas, please call me and we can plan''CRINOLINE - THE RETURN''.

Patty(415) 681-2e70

The Canadian Consulate in San Francisco told me that tlrcse are the conect words to the CanadianNational Anthem, but they didn't sound very sure about it. . .

With- g low i ng hea r t s

r i se , The- True North strong and free;

t hee ,

thy 30ns

O CANADA

h o m e a n dt ro i t - I ove

we_

free I -

f o r -dal We stand on guard

Here are some thoughts about Angels - the

frnt rr excerpted from lrisgay Civellai'sletter ht the December 1989 issue ofAmeican Sauaredance (repinted there fromIl'here & Wten, Houstott, Texas).

...But what makes a good angel? The bestangels know when to keep their mouthshut. (OK! I'm working on this!) They donot give directions or show the classmembers how to do moves while the calleris trying to teach. An angel is friendly andnever puts a student down for making amistake. Angels never dance while a classmember sits out.

...An angel never pushes, shoves or dragsa new dancer through a move. Angels donot group together talking and laughingwhile the caller tries to teach over theirchatter. Angels save their twirls, kicks andfancy footwork for more experienceddancers...The very best angels follow therules of square dancing and pass them onto the new class members by example.They also follow the golden rule...

The very, very best angels become goodfriends!

Artd tlis is a beginner's perspective by KenicBrown, from tlte Capilal City Capers, Marclt1990.

This beginner is very appreciative of theAngels that hover over us, while we'relearning many, sometimes complex calls.They are invaluable in putting what welearn into practice.

But at the same time they can alsobecome devils - from a beginner'sperspective. There's so much to remember,and so much happening at the same time.

When an Angel gets off into excessflourishing and distractions, it becomesharmful to the beginner, to the square,to everyone.

If you are dancing Basic, dance Basic. Ifyou are dancing with hands up, keepthem up.

If you know what the next call is goingto be, please wait for the call witheveryone else in the square.

In the long run, we'll all be dancing thesame soon enough. Again, I'm veryappreciative of all our Angels. I just wantto relay what many beginning dancers haveexpressed to me.

And we all know that an Angel is therefor the beginners' benefit.

About three yean ago, I was blithely iporing the whole idea of getting educated about AIDS; Ifigured it all didn't really apply to me. Then an article in The Westem Star raised my consciousness.Though I now try to keep informed about the progress of cunent AIDS research, I haven't been ableto figure out how and why blood test results are intrepeted the way thq are. Freeman showed methis article, which really helps to claify the meaning of these tests.

Some readers may question inclusion of this article here because it's not a dancing issue, and itcertainly doesn't quahfy for inclusion as entertainment. But since probably nothing has a moreprofound effect on our thoughts than this disease, this anicle is here because it's relevant.

This is from BETA, which is published four times yea$ by the San Francbco AIDS Foundation.The November, 1989 issue also contained articles about Compound Q, hevention of PCP, and anAZT update. This excellent publication is available by subsciption: 863-AIDS (SF' residents), or 1-800-327-9893 full otlrcrc).

TESTS TO HELP PREDICTHIV DISEASE PROGRESSION

Most people who are HlV-positive remainhealthy for long periods before developing thesevere immune dysfunction and opportunisticinfections which define an AIDS diagnosis.Although many people appear healthy duringthis first phase, some show changes inlaboratory values before progressing to ARCor AIDS. Interpreting certain laboratory testresults as well as the appearance of anyclinical symptoms may make it possible topredict HIV disease progression. Recently, thequestion of whether and when a person willprogress to AIDS has become especiallycritical because drugs are now available totreat HIV and HlV-related infections.Anticipating disease progression may givepeople time to intervene and possiblypostpone the onset of serious disease.

A series of blood tests is the most useful toolfor helping to determine who is more likely toprogress to AIDS. Some of these tests areintended to determine the health of theimmune system. Other tests seek to determinewhether HIV is actively replicating. Takentogether, they can help people make informedtreatment decisions.

The decision of when to begin treatmentshould be based not on any one test, butrather on the results of a varietv of tests. The

presence or absence of clinical symptoms isalso an important consideration in makingtreatment decisions. Because no single test canaccurately predict disease progression, peopleshould not feel frightened by the results ofany one tests.

Since certain treatments may affect testresults, caution must be used in interpretingtests while taking any treatment. Monitoringtest results over time may be useful inpredicting illness, giving people theopportunity to begin preventative treatmentbefore symptoms appear. Many doctorsrecommend repeating the following tests every3 to 6 months, especially if initial results areabnormal or the individual has symptoms ofHIV infection.

T-HELPER CELL COUNT

T-helper cells*, a qrpe of white blood cell, arecritical for a healthy immune system. T-helpercell counts are routinely used to monitorimmune status in people who are HIV-positive. In people who are HlV-negative, thenormal number of T-helper cells rangesbetween approximately 480 and 1800 cells perffiffi3, although the number may vary fromlaboratory to laboratory. This number is alsofrequently reported as a percentage of all

T-lymphocytes*, with normal counts generallyabove 40Vo. A rapid decrease (more than 100or 1.0Vo in three months) in T-helper cellnumber is strongly correlated with anincreased risk of severe opportunistic infection.

Because T-helper cell counts vary widely fromday to day and from laboratory to laboratory,the number of T-helper cells should always beconsidered in the context of previous tests. Tominimize variations, tests should be taken atthe same time of day and by the same labeach time. The percentage of T-helper cellshas been associated with less day-to-dayvariation than the absolute number. For thisreason, many physicians consider thepercentage more reliable.

Some physicians now recommend AZTtherapy for people with fewer than 500 T-helper cells. A few physicians also urge PCPprophylaxis for people with a T-helper cellcount below 400, especially if the number ofT-helper cells is falling rapidly. Mostphysicians recommend both AZT and PCPprophylaxis to those with either fewer than200 or less than 20Vo T-helper cells.

BETA-2 MICROGLOBULIN

Beta-Z microglobulin is a protein* particlefound on the surface of most cells, which isreleased into the bloodstream as the cells die.HIV and other infections, such as CMV*, cancause increased beta-Z microglobulin levels. Inpeople who are HlV-positive, an increase mayindicate that HIV is destroying T-helper cells,macrophages*, and/or other cells that the virusinfects. Some researchers consider high levelsof beta-2 microglobulin the best singlepredictor of progression to AIDS.

Beta-2 microglobulin is measured in milligramsper liter of blood (*dl). lrvels below 3 mglare considered normal in healthy individuals.When the amount of beta-2 microglobulinrises above 3 mgA, there is greater risk ofdisease progression. Irvels above 5 m$indicate a very high risk for progression toAIDS. In a recent San Francisco studv. 69Vo

of those with greater than 5 mdl developedAIDS within three years, while only 12Vo withless than 3 mg/l progressed to AIDS withinthe same period.

p24 ANTIGEN

This test measures the amount of a protein,commonly called p24 antigen, that is a part ofHIV. The presence of p24 antigen may reflectactive HIV replication. The test is usuallyreported as either positive or negative. Somedoctors recommend beginning antiviraltreatment, such as AZT, for people who testpositive for p24 antigen. In the San FranciscoGeneral Hospital study, 59% of asymptomaticseropositives* testing positive for p24 antigendeveloped AIDS within three years. Only I5Voof those testing negative progressed to AIDSin the same period. However, 47Vo of thosetesting positive did not progress to AIDS.

p24 ANTIBODY

The p24 antibody test measures the amount ofantibody the body has produced againsl theHIY p24 antigen. Asymptomatic seropositiveindividuals usually have high levels of p24antibody in their blood. High levels ofantibody without detectable antigen seem toindicate that the immune system is successfullysuppressing the virus. A decrease in p24antibody may indicate a drop in the body'sdefenses against HIV or a significant increasein the level of p24 antigen.

The test may be particularly useful inpredicting the appearance of free (unbound)p24 antigen. In some people the p24 antigentest becomes positive following a drop indetectable free p24 antibody. Consequently,the p24 antibody test may be useful for earlierdetection ofdisease progression than the p24antigen test. Currently this test is not routinelydone, although it is available at certainlaboratories. This test may eventually becomemore useful than the p24 antigen test inpredicting disease progression.

NEOPTERIN

Neopterin is produced from macrophages andenters the blood as part of the body's immuneresponse to a foreign agent. Neopterin levelshave been used to predict HIV diseaseprogression much in the same way as thebeta-Z microglobulin test. However, neopterinlevels do not have independent predictivevalue in regard to disease progression. Inuninfected people, the neopterin level isapproximately 5.4 nanomoles* p". liter ofblood (nmolfl). lrvels between 20 and 50nmol/l have been reported in PWA. Like thebeta-2 microglobulin test, neopterin levels area general indication of immune function. Theyare not specific to HIV infection.

HEMOGLOBIN

This protein is responsible for transportingoxygen throughout the body, and gives theblood its characteristic red color. Normallevels are generally above 13.5 grams perdeciliter. A drop in heloglobin is a generalindicator of declining health, and in peoplewho are HlV-positive, it may indicate that thevirus is destroying red cells that are forming inthe bone marrow. However, hemoglobin levelmay change for various reasons that are notrelated to HIV infection. For this reason, thetest should not be used by itself to determinedisease progression.

HEMATOCRIT

This test measures the percentage of red cellsin the blood. Normal values range from 40-54Vo in men and from 37-47Vo in women. Aswith the heloglobin test, a drop in hematorcritlevel may ineicate that HIV is destroying redcells in the bone marrow. However, a drop inhematocrit level may not be related to HIVand should not be used by itself as anindicator of disease progression.

OTHER TESTS

Abnormal findings on certain tests are oftenseen just before clinical symptoms of HIV

infection appear.

These include low white blood cell count,elevated sedimentation rate, elevated globulin,abnormally low serum cholesterol, andabnormal liver enzymes.

GLOSSARY

T-helper cell: A type of white blood cell (also knownas a 'I{ cell) which helps the body fight off certaininfections. HIV invades these cells and weakens ordestrop them. Regular monitoring of T-helper cellcounts in HlV-infected individuals helps provide anidea of the progression of HIV infection. The "normal'range for T-helper cells in people who are HIV-negative is 480-18fi1, but this may vary, depending onthe laboratory where the test is given. The lower the T-helper cell count, the greater the risk for opportunisticinfections.

mm3: Cubic millimeter

Lvmphoc.vte: A type of white blood cell. T-helper cellsare lymphorytes.

Protein: A group of compounds which occurs naturallyin plants and animals and other organisms. Proteinsprovide the structures essential for the growth andrepair of animal tissue.

CYtomesalovirus (CMV): A herpes virus. CMVinfection can occur without causing any symptoms. InPWA however, it can cause blindness, pneumonia,colitis, and/or death.

Macrophaqe: A large scavenger cell which ingestsdegeneratcd cells, blood tissue, and foreign particles.Macrophages exist in large numbers throughout thcbody, and are key to the development of immunity toa variety of organisms. They may be a major reservoirof HIV infection.

Seropositive: Infected with HIV, or a person infectedwith HIV. Asymptomatic seropositives are people whoare HlV-positive but who have no symptoms.

Nanomole: One bill ionth (10'e) of a mole (molecularweight).

A QUARTBRLYt I Cl sELEcTToNSv w\D'vv

WESTERN STAR DANCERS

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 480SAN FRANCISCO. CA 941l-4

SUMMER 1990 . JULY

DOING IT WITHOUT SEX

The June 1990 edi t ion of Amer ican Square Dancecon ta ined "A Ca1 l f o r He lp " f r om a gen t l eman i nRoswel l , NM. He \^ tas consider ing forming agroup of square dancers which would bepredominant ly women, and he was seeking adviceand suggest ions on handl ing the ident i typroblems which would ar ise. FREEMAN STMPERresponded to h im w i th t he f o l l ow ing l e t t e r ,send ing a copy to 30 na t i ona l and l oca lca l l e r s - -a lmos t a l l o f whom you have danced to .

D e a r M r . S n o d g r a s s ,

Your cal l for help in the June I99O Aner icanSquare Dance caugh t my a t t en t i on . I s i nce re l yhope tha t you w i l l " come ou t o f r e t i r emen t " andb r i ng the j oy o f squa re danc ing to (o r maybeback to ) t hose Iove l y women i n Roswe1 l , NewM e x i c o .

Th i s response to you r ca l l f o r he lp w i l l beleng thy , so p lease bea r w i t h me un t i l t he end .Cop ies o f t h i s l e t t e r a re be ing sen t t o manyinternat ional ca l lers whom you probably knowand have danced or worked wi th because Ibe l i eve my adv i ce t o you i s a b reak - th rough i n+ L i - l - : - -L l I r I r K r r r 6 .

F i r s t o f a l l , I e t m e c a l l y o u r a t t e n t i o n t o athought on page 83 of the very same issue ofA S D i n t h e a r t i c l e " K e e p Y o u r B r a i n Y o u n g ( a n d S m a r t ) . " " [ P ] e o p l e . . a t a g e 8 0 , o n

ave rage , showed amaz ing men ta l ab i l i t i es . . tA ] con t ro l l ed t emperamen t i s one ab i l i t y

t ha t seems to he lp keep the b ra in young , and tha t , a l ong w i th b ra in exe rc i ses such as .

. . squa re danc ing , can keep the b ra in t h r i v i ng and engaged . " Th i s "new" concep t w i l l

r equ i re yo t ' and those you teach o r ca l l f o r t o exe rc i se you r b ra ins by wo rk ing w i th a new

c o n c e p c .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS iS Apub l i ca t i on o f L l es te rn S ta r Dance rs ,I nc . , a modern wes te rn squa re danceclub serv ing pr imar i ly theSan Francisco Bay Area gay andlesb ian commun i t y . ' i he pu rpose o ft h i s pub l i ca t i on i s t o p rov idethough t -p rovok ing a r t i c l es o f aned i t o r i a l na tu re and o the r ma te r i a lo f gene ra l i n te res t o r enEer ta inmen tva lue fo r WSD members . The emphas i so f Qua r te rTy Se lec t i ons i s onre levance to squa re dance i ssues ,p h i l o s o p h i c a l s u b s t a n c e ,l i t e r a r y q u a l i t y .

a n d

O r i g i n a l a r t i c l e s i n t h i spub l i ca t i on a re copy r i gh ted bu t maybe rep r i n ted w i th app rop r i a te c red i tf o t he au tho r and c i t a t i on o f

Q u a r t e r i y S e t e c c i o n s .

E d i t o r : Freeman Stamper(41s ) 43 r -6272

OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DONOT NECESSAR]LY RETLECT THE OPINIONS AND POLICIESOF 9ESTERN STAR DANCERS. INC. , NOR ITS MEMBERS.

MENTION OF A PERSON'S NAXE IN THIS PUBLICATION INNO I . IAY INDICATES HIS/HER SEXUAT ORIENTATION.

A11 of the "problems" you have indicated arebased upon two assumpt ions: (1 ) squa redancing is rnain ly for permanent ly coupledpairs and (2) pai rs must a lways be of theo p p o s i t e s e x . Both assumpt ions arecornplete ly fa lse. Square daneing is fore igh t peop le t o pe r fo rm geomet r i c pa t te rnsdev i sed by a ca l l e r .

From an h is tor ica l perspect ive square dancingis done as opposi te sex par tners because thetradi t ional concept of dancing is as opposi tesex pa r tne rs . T rad i t i ona l l y , oppos i t e sexeswear d i f f e ren t t ypes o f c l o th ing .T rad i t i ona l l y , t he ca l l e r and dance rs f a l lp rey t o t he easy i den t i f i e r o f pan ts andd resses . P robab l y , a woman j us t one d "ythought that she and her par tner dressed inma tc i i i ng cos i -L imes wo . i l d Le 1 . r re i t y , so shemade them. The fad caught on. A11 of thati s j us t t r ad i t i ona l l y easy s tu f f .

Bu t , you a re t r y i ng t o reso l ve a non -t rad i t i ona l s i t ua t i on w i th a t r ad i t i ona lso lu t i on . Tha t i s imposs ib le f o r anyone todo . You mus t use a non - t rad i t i ona l so lu t i onf o r t h e n o n - t r a d i t i o n a t s i t u a t i o n .

Look a t t he f o l l ow ing i l l us t ra t i on . I t i sj u s t a p 1 a i n , o r d i n a r y o l d s q u a r e i s n ' t i t ?

Bu t , do you see any sex l abe l s o r co lo rsa s s o c i a t e d w i t h i c ? Y e t , y o u r e a l i z e d t h a ti t i s a t r ad i t i ona l squa re . Wha t makes i tt r a d i t i o n a l ? T h e d a n c e r s ' r e l a t i o n s h i p s t ot h e c a l l e r , t h a t ' s w h a E . Y o u s e e c o u p l e s ,d o n ' t y o u ? Y o u a l s o s e e h e a d s a n d s i d e s .You see r i gh t -hand dance rs and l e f t - handdance rs . You see pa r tne rs , and you seeco rne rs as we l l as oppos i t es . Tha t a l ls o u n c i s t r a d i t i o n a l d o e s n ' t i t ? B u t y o u s t i 1 1h a v e n ' t i d e n t i f i e d a n v s e x .

Now no t i ce t ha t t he l e f t - hand dance r i n each

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

couptre which is the t radi t ional posi t ion forthe man is an odd number. Correspondingly,the r ight-hand dancer which is thetradi t ional posi t ion for the woman is an evennumber. There is the solut ion to your non-t rad i t i ona l s i t ua t i on . Numbered dance rs , no tsexua l dance rs .

Try these on for s ize:-

Heads to the centerSides promenade hal fEvens chain across the setOdds put the evens back to back and promenadeou ts ide the se tAl lemande your cornerSides do a r ight and lef t thruHeads star thru

. and we could go on and on through all4 0 0 0 + c a l l s i n B u r l e s o n ' s . N o w , y o u d e s c r i b ethe p rocess o f execu t i ng pass the ocean us ingonly the words "odd" and "even" and numbers1 through 8. Whi l -e seemingly awkward atf i r s t , i t w i l l d e v e l o p . A n d a f t e r a I 1 , i fthat is the only concept your dancers know,how are they to know the d i f ference?

Why , Mr . Snodg rass , you r peop le cou ld be nudeand th i s concep t wou ld wo rk ; bu t be ing nudei n p u b l i c i s n ' t v e r y a t t r a c t i v e a n d t h a tconcep t w i l l t ake l onge r t o i nco rpo ra te i n tot radi t ional square dancing than numberedd a n c e r s w i 1 1 .

The facE tha t Ca l l e r l ab has s tanda rd i zedde f i n i t i ons and p rog rams w i l l f u r t he r enhanceyou r ab i l i t y t o t r ans fe r you r f o rmerknow ledge to you r new concep t . I f you don ' tca l l men "men t ' and women "women , " wha td i f ference does i t make whether a woman or arnan i s an odd o r an even . I f you don ' t ca l lthe r ight-hand dancer a vroman, a manshou ldn ' t f ee l e f f em ina te be ing i n t hacpos i t i on . The l abe l o f "woman" i s t he on l ya t t ack on h i s mascu l i n i t y . So , why no t go tothe l oca l ve te rans ' home and have an a1 l -male square dance c lub? Why not le t a loneman come into your c lub and learn the evenpa r t i f t ha t ' s t he on l y spo t open? h t l : o ca reswhe the r you r members a re w idowed , neve r -m a r r i e d , o r m a r r i e d ? T h e y a r e a I l j u s tnumbered dancers in your squares who learnto love each other as human beings and getg rea t j oy f r om work ing toge the r t o make thesquare work and resolve the pat terns youc a l 1 .

trtr

L E R

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t 6 lt - l

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C A

tr

SUMMER 1990

But , we a l l nan t t o nake i t a l l t t l e eas ie rfor the cal ler (especia l ly) and the dancers(who p robab l y won ' t ca re ) . So r 1 rou cou ldhave fabr ic "sandwich boards" made that s l ipover the head and hang to about the waist onwhich a number has been at tached to the f rontand back. And, to rnake i t even easier , 1 and2 could be the same color , 3 and 4 the samec o l o r , e t c .

However, there is a major advantage to nottak ing the easy way out wi th obvious numbersbe ing worn and be ing co lo r coded . You rdancers must learn to look at the otherdancers ' faces and make mental notes thatJane , Lo i s , Ann , and Be t t y a re odds and Sue ,C l a i r e , A l i c e , a n d I a r e e v e n s . T h a t j u s tfur ther enhances the c lose personal feel ingssqua re danc ing engende rs . And as f o r you ,the ca l l e r , you r men ta l o r w r i t t en no tes a rethe faces i n t he pos i t i ons o f coup les one androu r (wh i ch , I be l i eve , a re t he p i l o t dance rsu s e d i n a p i l o t s q u a r e ) . T h e n y o u c o u l d u s ethose unnecessary "cue cards" when you havegues t ca l l e r s who a re so t rad i t i ona l t ha tt h e y n e e d h e 1 p .

Do no t wo r r y abou t pu t t i ng peop le t oge the ras coup les . Jus t beg in t he mus i c and l e tindiv iduals walk onto the f loor and formcoup les and squa res . Some w i l l f o rm coup lesb e f o r e , b u t t h a t ' s t r a d i t i o n a l a n d n o tnecessa ry f o r you r non - t rad i t i ona l s i t ua t i on .

T r y i t . I c w i l l b e e x c i t i n g t o t e a c h w i t h anew concepE . "Teach" i s t he key wo rd . You rs ing ing ca l l s can use the t rad i t i ona l wo rdso f t tman , " t 'woman , t t " gen t , " " pex , " e t c . Thgsedance rs a re us ing the i r b ra ins , and thoseb ra ins a re young because they a re ac t i ve .You th doesn ' t know bounda r i es . You te11 themto subsE i tu te i n t he i r m inds the concepc o fodds when you say "men , " and they w i I I do i t .I ' m c e r t a i n t h e y w i l l .For at least 15 years the gay comrnuni ty hasbeen us ing th i s concep t t o t each a t l eas tf ive to s ix thousand lesbians and gay men tosqua re dance . No one eve r wo r r i es abou t sexo r c l o th ing i den r i f i ca t i on . They j us t l ea rnto square dance and have fun. MosE of thosepeop le a re t he mos t p ro f i c i en t dance rs youcan f i nd . They dance a l l p rog ra rns f r om Bas i cth rough Cha I l enge .

This concept of numbered dancers wi th oddsand evens may be new to you. But , so wasa l l e rnande l e f c once upon a t ime . I app laudyou r des i re t o b r i ng l i f e back to t hose tha t

OI 'ARTERLY SELECTIONS

t radi t ional square dancing would leavebehind. There is no need to be a lone justbecause t radi t ion says you should.

AND MR. SNODGRASS RESPONDED

Your . . ca l l . . ask ing fo r my ma i l i ngaddress in order that you might supplyinformat ion on Ia l l g i r ls square dancing] wasindeed a p leasant surpr ise. I had neverthought of get t ing such quick act ion in rh isday o f pass the buck . I shou ld have rea l i zedtha t squa re dance rs I a re ] a d i f f e ren t b reed .

Thanks for your in terest and concern for someo f squa re danc ings fo rgo t ten peop le as we l las you r he lo fu l sugges t i ons . Pe rhaps somenon- t rad i t i ona l i deas wou ld be o f g reax he lp .Once I had g iven some thought to odd and evennumbers but had not pursued the thought- -poss ib l y because I en joy l ook ing i n to t hosefaces and v i sua l i z i ng t he i r pe rsona la t t r i bu tes . I f ea r t ha t , we re t hey nude , t hedance would never even get s tar ted.

That reminds me of what a bal l room dancej -ns t ruc to r sa id i n c l ass one day , "Neve r t akea l roman in your arms unt i l you know whats teps you a re go ing to t ake . " T t hough t ," B o ) , h e d o n ' t k n o w m u c h a b o u t n a t u r e . "

I am no t ave rse co b reak ing w i th t r ad i t i on ,e s p e c i a l l y i f i t s e e m s t o b e t h e e a s y w a you t . I do wonde r i f pe rhaps che o lde rdance rs espec ia l l y wou ld p re fe r t o a t l eas tfantas ize that they are dancing wi th thei rformer par tners of whom Chey hold some veryfond memor ies . I ce r ta in l y wou ld no t wan tto f o rge t some o f t he l ove l y l ad ies I havehe ld i n my a rms wh i l e we d id t he two s tep .I t ake | ' l r . Webs te r ' s oe f i n i t i on o f danc i nes e r i o u s l y .

Your s tatement that the ! /ord " teach" is a keyword b r i ngs back a s ta temen t rnade a sho r t f ewyea rs ago ( I t h i nk by D i ck Lege r ) i n wh i ch hes ta ted tha t . un less v /e re tu rned to t hep r a c t i c e o f u s i n g t i m i n g - - a s i n m u s i c - - i n t oou r squa re danc ing i ns tead o f see ing how manynumbers ( f i gu res ) cou ld be o f f e red to t hef l oo r be fo re t he mus i c ran ou t , we no l onge rcouLd ho ld I squa re danc ing ] up to t he pub l i ca s b e i n g a d a n c e ( o r w o r d s t o t h a t e f f e c c ) .The re a re f ewer ca l l e r s who can make a pa t te rcal l sound l ike a song than Ehere are whoc a n ' t .

SUMMER I99O

Thanks again for your helpfulness. I shal lgive your suggest ions much thought.

IilHAT'S IN A NAI'IE?OR A PET IS A GIRL

IS A FOLLOI.I IS A BELLE

ROBIN ALPENGLOW, Sacramento, CA

Nevs Organ( r e p r i n c e d f r o oo f t h e C a p l t a l

, J m e , 1 9 9 0 ,C l r y S q u a r e s , S a c r m e n t o , C A )

IEd. ROBIN ALPENGLOW graduated in Ju1y,1 9 8 6 . f r o m W e s t e r n S t a r ' s M a i n s t r e a m c l a s s .Wh i l e s t i l l a WSD member , she made he r debu tca l l i ng . I l r as p resen t t ha t n igh t andremember she showed exci t ing f la i r forcha l l eng ing hash . She now l i ves i n t he Sac -a - t o n l a t o e s a r e a w i c h h e r l o v e r F a v e , I

At the Vancouver convent ion. a number of ourc lub members were assaul ted by v io lent squaredance lex icographers who procla imed that" p e t " i s a d o g , c a c , b i r d , o r r e p t i l e , b u tnot a square dance par tner . And there ares t ra igh t c l ubs tha t dance by de f i n i t i on whoe s c h e w t h e t e r m s " b o y , " " g i r l s , " " g e n t , " a n d" p e t . " S h o u l d w e f o 1 1 o w t h e i r l e a d ( p u nin tended? ) and the H i t l e r i an d i c ta tes o fo the r IAGSDC c lub members i n a ( I t h i nk ) va ina t temp t t o de -sex sgua re danc ing? ( I oncea t tended a squa re dance where the re we re"eag les " and "hawks " - - t ha t was rea l l yc o n f u s i n g ! ) [ E d . T h a t w a s p r o b a b l y a W S Dclub n ight when Pam McEver f rom Albuquerquew a s t h e g u e s L c a l 1 e r . l

L e t ' s g e t o u r p r i o r i t i e s s t r a i g h t ( p u nd e f i n i t e l y i n t e n d e d ! ) . C l a r i c y , n o t p o l i t i c so r seman t i cs , shou ld be the mos t impor tan tth ing i n sqL ia re dance te rm ino logy . "Beau"and "be l l e " hawe l he - same in i - t i a l consonan tsound and can be con fused . "Lead" and" f o l L o w " d o n ' t s o u n d a l i k e . b u t " l e a d " a n d"head" a re s i r n i l a r enough to cause somec o n f u s i o n . A n d " f o l l o w " i s j u s t p l a i n h a r dt o s a y . B e s i d e s , t h e r e a r e n o " I e a d s " o r

" f o l l ows" i n squa re danc ing .

The eas ies t t o say and d i f f e ren t i a te be tweeni s " b o y " a n d " g i r 1 . " A n d I h o p e t h o s e o f u sw h o ' v e h a d t o s u b s t i t u t e " s i g n i f i c a n t o L h e r "and " f r i end " and "pa r tne r " f o r " spouse" o r"g i r l f r i end " o r "boy f r i end " won ' t ge t hung upon the idea that the terrns are juveni le ordeg rad ing . Somewhere i n be tween a re "gen t "and "pe t " t ha t a re c l ea r and l ess emo t i ona l l y

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

charged.

I f we change our terminology, what wi l lhappen i f someday we are welcomed at s t ra ightsquare dances where the "gent" or "boy" and"pe t " o r "g i r l s " t e rm ino logy i s used , and webreak down the square because we can' t makethe t ranslat ion? Let 's use whatever termsare c learest and easiest , and hang the hangu p s ! C ' m o n , l e t ' s d a n c e !

THE RANTINGS OF A HONKY TONK QUEEN

Gree t i ngs , g ree t i ngs , l ove and k i sses to a l lmy se r f s , peasanEs , and peons . Th i s i s p . ! { r

Queen. How can I ever repay you, my J- i t t lepeop le , f o r c rown ing me? Bu t aga in , I guessyou a l l know a B ig Queen when you see one .Thank goodness !

I n o rde r t o re ign i n good consc ious , andspread my love of smal l animals and chi ldren(as I am soon to become, l i ke a l l beau typagean t w inne rs , e i t he r a ve te r i na r i an o r an u r s e ) , I w o u l d b e t e r r i b l y r e m i s s i f I d i dnot throw a crumb of credi t for my successfu lentry in the 1990/9I Honky tonk Queen conl -estt o m y s i s t e r S h e - D e v i l s . Y e s , y e s , t h e y m a yhave he lped sway the j udges a t ad , I adm i t .. . so l e t me i n t roduce you to t hem up c losea n d t o o o o p e r s o n a l :

The f i r s t o f my s i s te rs whom you saw s t rew ingcon fe t t i f o r my Grand En te rance I s i c (andE h a t ' s f o r s u r e , E a . ) ] i n t h e c o n t e s t ( w h i c hI won I might add! ) was the funny andp o p u l a r , L f L B I D D Y D I C K . L I L i s a S h e - D e v i lf ound l i ng . By tha t I mean , she was one o fche o r i g i na l r nembers , l i ke F lo rence Ba l Ja rdwas and C indy B i rdsong wasn ' t . L IL i s knownf o r h e r l o v e I y e y e g l a s s e s , h a r d c o r eeyeb rows , and Ann Lande rs ha i r . Fo r ana t to rney , she does a mean comb-ou t on a l l t heS h e - D e v i 1 s .

Fo l l ow ing L i1 i n my en tou rage , was LOTTARECKONWITH undulat ing a fan to keep my make-up f rom runn ing . .more . LOTTA i s qu i t e ag i r l ! Eve ryone ag rees on th i s ! She i s t heS h e - D e v i l w i t h t h e m o s t d r e s s e s i n h e rc l o s e t , r u n n i n g t h e g a m e t e I s i c ( l o o k t h a to n e u p , r e a d e r s , f o r a r e a l I y f u n n ym i s s p e l l i n g , E d . ) ] f r o m l a c e t o l e a t h e r . A n ypicture of LOTTA wi l l show you her own uniquet rademark . . head th rown back w i th eyespo in t i ng heavenward . W ish fu l t h i nk ing on he r

sul,lMER 1990

par t , no doub t .

Quiet ly t reading a few steps behind, whi legent ly carry ing rny lovely red net t ra in onthat Triumphal Entry in Vancouver, were LoANNBEHOLD, and the newest She-Devi l , IMADEVERAUX. LoANN became a square dancing She-Dev i l j us t t h i s pas t yea r , and has shown he rd i ve rs i t y no t on l y i ns ide a squa re , bu t a l soins ide Son ia ' s Squa re Dance A t t i r e shoppewhere she can snatch a crinoline dat'rgling at12 feet ! LoANN is a lso one of the few She-Devi ls who can actual ly dance in heels !Certa in ly something to laude over the others.

S e v e r a l o f t h e S h e - D e v i l s , w h o m I ' 1 1 m e n t i o na b i t l a te r , we re no t ab le t o accompany me onthe t r i p t o Vancouve r . Fo r tuna te l y f o r me ,a last minute replacement was found in IMADEVERAUX (her name shows her spi r i tua la f f i n i cy w i t h Go lden G i r l , B lanche ) . To havebecome a She -Dev i I , en te r t he Honky Tonk

Queen con tes t , and be a member o f che w inn ingcou r t a l l ax t he same t ime has s imp lyt rans fo rmed he r du l l l i f e , and i nc reased he rdance pa r tne rs by t he th rongs .

My two s is ters, LUCIE ANNA PURCHASE & LaBELIADaBALL, were unable to f ravel to Canada lastA p r i l ( s o m e t h i n g t o d o w i t h p a s s p o r t p h o t om i s - i d e n t i f i c a t i o n ) . T u t t u t , g i r l s , i t ' st ime to s top the mourn ing and ge t on w i thl i f e . I a m t h e Q u e e n , a n d t h a t ' s a n o r d e r .LUCIE ANNA has endea red he rse l f w i t h nea r l ya l l t he She -Dev i l s eve r s i nce i t wasinnocen t l y d i scove red tha t she can make he rown sk i r ts ! And have we had her make sk i r ts !and sk i r t s ! and sk i r t s ! He r o the r t e l l i ngf e a t u r e i s h e r p a s s i o n a t e o b s e s s i o n w i t h" L o v e t h a t R e d " l i p s t i c k .

And what can I say about LaBELI-A?S o p h i s c i c a t e d , s t y l i s h , a n d t r a s h y a l l a to n c e , a n d t h e S h e - D e v i l w i t h t h e b e s t b l u s hyou ever brushed. LaBELI-A is not one tof o l l o w t r e n d s . . D O , s h e h a s b e c o m e q u i t efamous fo r he r t r ad i t i ona l L i l ' Abne r b louseo f b ig ye11ow po l ka do ts and p lung ingc l e a v a g e . S h e i s p r o u d t o s a y s h e d o e s n ' to \ ^ rn a pa i r o f pumps ! LaBELLA has ba l l s .

As one wou ld expec t , on t he hee l s o f myv i c t o r y ( a n d t h a t ' s 4 - I / 2 " h e e l s I m i g h t a d d )came an ons laugh t o f ne \4 r , wou ld -be She -

Dev i l s . Seve ra l have been named , bu t haven o t , a s o f y e t , m a d e t h e i r o f f i c i a l f i r s tappea rance . She -Dev i l s t o l ook f o rwa rd toare LOIS CARI-IEN DENOMINATOR and HOPE LIZ

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

ROMANTIC.

K i ss k i ss t o a l l my s i s te rs , and to you , myeve ry l oya l sub jec t l i ngs . ' T i I nex t t ime ,this is your Queen, LAYONNA DAVENPORT,inv i t ing you to sEop by Chicago and v is i t theShe-Dev i l Schoo l f o r t he Cosmec ica l l yIncon t i nen t .

( S P R E A D & C I R C U L A T E , V o L I I I , N o . X , J m e 1 9 9 0 . N e w s l e r t e rfo r CHI -TOWN SQUARES.)

I E d . T h i s a r t i c l e c a u s e d a s e r i o u s s t r a i non WordPer fec t spe1 l check . And , wh i ch She -Dev i l do you Ch ink i s WSD 's owr r SADIE ' s tw ins i s t e r ? ]

FLAi'i iNGO FOLLYFESTIVE FLORIDA FUND-RAISER

FALLS FI.AT

Mia rn i , FL - -A t a p ress con fe rence l a te Tuesdayn igh t l { ay 22 , 1990 , rep resen ta t i ves o f t heCAST A SHADOW IN THE SUN commit tee announcedthe mys te r i ous d i sappea rance o f " . . onesma l l wh i t e bag " a l l eged l y con ta in ing ra f f l et i cke ts . These s tubs a re repo r ted to be thed r a w i n g p o r t i o n o f t i c k e t s s o l d a t t h e N o r t l rS ta r P romenade i n Vancouve r as a f und ra i se rfor CAST A SHADOW IN THE SUN.

Of f i c i a l s i n fo rmed us t ha t p r i zes f o r t h i sr a f f l e a r e t o b e :

1 ) Reg i s t ra t i on f ee fo r t he I 99 l IAGSDCConvent ion

2 ) 1 9 9 1 C o n v e n t i o n p o l o s h i r t3 ) 1991 Fun Badge Tou r

When ques t i oned as t o how th i s d i sappea rancec o u l d o c c u r , c h e f o l l o w i n g p o s s i b l e s c e n a r i o sl . ' e re o f f e red :1 ) T i c k e t s w e r e s e i z e d d u r i n g c u s t o m s b o r d e r

i nspec t i on l eav ing Canada .2 ) T i c k e t s a n d b " g w e r e o f e x p e r i m e n t a l

b i o d e g r a d a b l e m a t e r i a l a n dd i s i n c e g r a t e d .

3 ) W a y n e P a u l l h a s t h e m . [ E d . Y o u ' d h a v eto have been around a few years toc a t c h t h a t , b u t o 1 d - t i m e r s w i l L b e g l a dt o t e 1 1 . l

4 ) Raged l ove r f i nds bag and depos i t s i t a tthe Dania dumo.

R e g a r d l e s s a s t o t h e m e t h o d o f d i s a p p e a r a n c e ,i t i s n o t l i k e l y t h a t t h e s e t a r n i s h e d t i c k e t sw i l l t u r n u p . D e s p i t e t h i s e m o t i o n a l l y

SUMMER 1990

shat ter ing setback, CAST A SLIADOW of f ic ia lsannounced. "THE RAFFLE SHALL GO ON!"

In order that those peeved people who havepreviously purchased t ickets may proper lypa r t i c i pa te and poss ib l y pa r take o f p r i zes ,the fo l lowing p lan has been painstak ingly puti n p l a c e :

The ICBWLTT ( I Can ' t Be l i eve We LosE TheT icke ts ) HOT L INE has been es tab l i shed .P1ease c: r l l one of the fo l lowing numbers andprovide our operators wi th your Name, PhoneNumber, Club af f i l ia t ion, and number oft i c ke t s p rev ious l y pu rchased .

K E N ( 3 0 s ) 8 9 9 - 1 7 1 0JERRr (30s )920 -7627

The Comrni t tee assures a l l those r"ho cal - l thatt h e y w i l l a g a i n b e e l i g i b l e .

HISTORY IN THE I , IAKING(AND YOU'RE IN IT)

LUIS TORRES, a member o f Chesapeake Squa resin Ba l t imo re , Mary land , i s a h i s to r i an byp ro fess ion and made a p roposa l t o t he IAGSDCExecut ive Board in Vancouver to prepare ah i s to ry o f gay squa re danc ing . The p roposa lwas adop ted , and the ta rge ted pub l i ca t i onda te i s t he Ten th IAGSDC Conven t i on i n 1993 .Inc luded i n t h i s ed i t i on o f Qua r te rTySeLec t i ons a re two memos wh ich he has wr i t t enexp la in ing the p ro jec t and so l i c i c i ng w idepa r t i c i pa t i on . WSD s t rong l y encou rages a l1o f i t s m e m b e r s t o p a r t i c i p a t e . P l e a s erespond to Lu i s . I f one o f you wan ts t o wo rkc l o s e l y w i t h h i m a n d a c t a s a l i a i s o n f o rWes te rn S ta r Dance rs , you a re ce r ta in t o f i ndthe p ro jec t r eward ing . Whe the r you makefr iends or enemies wi 11 depend upon what youhave the ga l l t o pub l i sh ( ce r ta in l y t hes o r d i d t a l e s o f W S D c o u l d f i l l a b o o kt h e m s e l v e s ) .

}.IHAT DOES BEING A SQUARE DANCER MEAN?

WALTER JONES, C rescen t C i t y , CA

( repr in ted f rom Qg!5 !g ! !ggg, Vo l . XVI I I Spr lng 1990, Nevs le t te rf o r m e m b e r s , s u b s c r l b e r s a n d a f f l l l a t e o r g a n l z a t l o n s o fCa l Ie r I ab )

How many of us can remember when \ re s tar tedou r squa r :e dance l i f e? Yes , I mean l i f e !

Square dancing is not only an act iv i ty or ahobby. . [but a lso] a way of l i fe and needsl i fe breathed into i t just as any l iv ingth ing does. I . IHAT or WHO is the l i feb lood ofsquare dancing? Of course, i t is the dancersthemselves who are the breath of l i fe insquare dancing.

How many people can remember thei r very f i rs tn ight of beginning square dance c lass?Hopefu l ly , most everyone can because of howmuch fun was had and how welcomed they weremade to feel . Who were the people who madethe c lass fun and made the students feelwe l comed? Was i t t he ca l l e r? Was i t t hec a l l e r ' s w i f e ? l E d . I n t he non -gaycommun i t y , t he ca l l e r ' s t aw , o r w i f e , i s ani n t e g r a l p a r t o f h i s a c t i v i t i e s . I N o trea l , l y ! Mos t l y i t was the peop le who weredancing wi th the students and help ing them tol -earn the square dance f igures. Just who arethese people who are there to help thestudents learn? In square dancing we cal lthem "Angels. " And Lrhy do ! /e cal l themAnge ls? Acco rd ing ro LEGACY, IEd . LEGACY i san en t i t y rep resen t i ng a l l f ace ts o f squa redanc ing . ] an Ange l i s de f i ned as anexpe r i enced dance r who a t t ends c lasses tof i l l ou t t he squa res and he lp t he ca l l e rdemonstrate the proper way to per form var iousmovemen ts .

Ange Is , t he b rea th o f I i f e f o r squa redancing, are most important fo our way of1 i f e . W i thou t t hem, squa re danc ing wou ldsu re l y d ie ! Ange l s who a t t end c lasses andhe lp ca l l e r s t each a t ANY leve l no t on l y he lpthose who a re l ea rn ing bu t a l so he lp t heact iv i ty to cont inue growing and improving.

As expe r i enced squa re dance rs , t he b rea th o fl i fe for square dancing as a whole is you andm e ! A s w e h a v e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i n l i f e , w ea l so have respons ib i l i t i es i n ou r squa red a n c e l i v e s . T h e s e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a r e t op romo te squa re dane ing , t o p rese rve the l i f eof square dancing and to procure new members.I n o rde r t o b rea the new l i f e i n to squa rel ^ - ^ i - . -u o r r L r r r b r w E m u s t C a f f y O U E o u f

respons ib i l i t i es ! Th i s means ge t t i ng i nt h e r e a n d d o i n g . . n o t s i t t i n g a n dcomp la in ing abou t poo r a t t endance a t c l assesand dances or eompla in ing about the lack ofi n te res t and dec reased membersh ip i n squa redance c lubs . New dance rs a re t he l i f eb loodo f ou r ac t i v i t y ! On l y w i t h t he i r en thus iasmand ideas can square dancing cont inue tof l o u r i s h .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS SUMMER 1990

Do you want to see square dancing breathe anew l i fe and cont inue to f lour ish? Do youfeel that being a square dancer is somethingspec ia l? I f so , make i t a p r i o r i t y i n you rsqua re dance l i f e t o ge t ou t t o a c l ass ..br ing a f r iend and be an Angel . Helpsomeone e lse enjoy the fun and fe l lowshipthat square dancing has to of fer . Helpsquare dancing LM! ! !

(contrlbutcd by ANNA DAXIANI)

L'AI.IARD du SLUT

EDNA LOUISE. San F ranc i sco . CA

A t radi t ion was begun at the North StarPromenade Convent ion, Vancouver, BC, i990.In honor ing the Golden Boot Award, the GoIdenS lu t Award was s ta r ted . Cong ra tu la t i ons a rej .n order for LEE CHANDLER, th is year 's

rec ip ien t o f che GSA fo r 1990 !

The award r^ras actual ly scar ted at the Peelt he App le Conven t i on , New York C i t y , 1989 .I t v /as wel l noted that PHILIP STOVER wasmiss ing f rom a l o t o f t he squa re danceac t i v i t i es i n New York . He v ras accep t i ngsome na t i ve New Yorke rs ' hosp i t a l i t y awayf rom the Conven t i on s i t e . Names s ta r tedf l y i ng a t h im e i t he r i n j ea lousy o r en \ r y .He became the top i c o f many a conve rsa t i on --even we l l a f ce r t he app le had been pee led .Hence , t he Go lden S lu t Award was begun . I tnrust a lso be noted that ERNIE CASTELLO madea ve ry c l ose runne r -up !

Dur ing No r th S ta r P romenade ' s f i r sc n igh t ,LEE CHANDLER was miss ing. He turned up twodays l a f , e r w i t h many a l i f e - chang ing s to ryto sha re abou t t he nen o f Vancouve r . " I ' 11never have sex again af ter last n ight wich

Iwha teve r t he i r names were ] , " LEE exc la imedw i th a f unny sm i r k on h i s f ace . I t was soonrea l i zed tha t he d idn ' t f i n i sh t he sen tence ,which should have ended wi th "unt i l the nextt ime . "

On the l as t day o f t he Conven t i on , LEE wasawarded (amaz ing l y , he was the re ) t he f i r s to f f i c i a l Go lden S lu t Award , a No r th S ta rco f fee mug . I t mus t a l so be no ted tha r ERNIECASTELLO came in ls t Runner-up! I t waspassed on by PHIL IP to LEE, who w i l l pass i ton a t Cas t a Shadow in t he Sun , M iam i , I 99L .PHILIP thought of LEE ( for obvious reasons)and a l so s i nce LEE was one o f t he b igges t

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

s to ry t e l l e r s o f PH IL IP ' s g rea t New Yorkadventures. (ERNIE was a very c lose 2nd ins t o r y t e l l i n g a l s o . )

Cong ra tu la t i ons , LEE! ! We know you w i l luphold the t i t le , and \ . re look forward toseeing who you hand the Golden Slut Award toat Cast a Shadow in uhe Sun. Also, good luckgoes out to ERNIE. Keep i t up; we know youc a n d o i t .

A LETTER FROI'I HOME( or , You' re l ' lo ther ' s Cal l ing)

MARTHA WEYAND, Cincinnati, OH

IEd. Mrs . Weyand has at tended t \ , roAssoc la t i on Conven t i ons . He r f i r s t was Pee Ithe App le whe re he r son , M ichae l Weyand , i sa member o f T imes Squa res . Boch yea rs shehas escor ted l , l ickey Pear l in the Honky Tonk

Queen Con tes t . ]

D e a r I . A . G . S . D . C F r i e n d s ,

He l l o f r om C inc inna t i ! Once aga in I havebeen w i th t he bes t g roup o f squa re dance rsth i s s i de o f heaven . Wha t a j oy t o be sowe lcomed i n to you r g roup . Open ing n igh t waseve r so spec ia l ; one cou ld f ee l t he l ove andsee the happy faces of t rue joy. My thoughtswere , i f on l y eve ry mo the r and fa the r cou ldbe w i th you , t hey wou ld be so p roud .

T h e w o r l d i s m i s s i n g o n e o f G o d ' s g r e a t e s tg i f t s b y r e f u s i n g t o a c c e p t a I 1 p e o p l e j u s tthey way they are. So much t ime is spent ontry ing to d ig in to the unknown to f ind newways to ha te i ns tead o f f r ee l y l ov ing .

Back i o bas i cs - -e ' ha t can I say anC rghe re CoI s tar t? The North Star Promenade in thebeaut i fu l c i ty of Vancouver was t ru ly afabu lous expe r i ence . Hav ing been to Pee l t heApp le l as t yea r , I was ove r j oyed to know howmany of you remembered me and gave me a hugto we l come me back . How b lessed I am to hAvea gay son tha t i s w i l l i ng t o pu t up w i thM o t h e r .

To desc r i be my fee l i ngs o f be ing the re i simposs ib le . The Honky Tonk Queen con tes t i sa shee r de l i gh t . The banque t and mee t i ng the

Queen o f Eng land - - f un , f un , f un ! The GrandMarch in your e legant costumes ending wi ththe beaut i fu l gay voices s inging brought

SUMMER 1990

tears of joy and sorrow. The Fun Badge Tour [Ed. RON DOUCIASS is one of the f ivewas a very good t ime to rest the toots ies and founding members of Western Star and issee the sights to remember where we have currently an Honorary Member by declarationbeen - -and to dance and show o f f you r pos i t i ve o f t he Boa rd o f D i rec to rs . ]s ide to the wor ld at large ! How can werefuse to a l low one chi ld to be f ree andanother s t r iv ing for f reedorn? Equal i ty . We PERSQNALITY PRQFILEmust make i t happen! i , lSD,S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

I 'm st i l l on c loud n ine and thank each and pATf i CAKES, San Francisco, CAevery one of you for the wonderfu l t ime Ishared wi th you. Unt i l Miarn i , keep on A nubi le young dancer named ANNAdancing. I love you just the eray you are. Got locked wi th Mar ie in the sauna.- -Mama Pear l To escape , i t i s t r ue

That she knew what to do;Bu t when que r i ed , she sa id , " I don ' t wanna ! "

GARAGE SALESED TO DEATH!A desperate dancer named BIL

Word i s ou t . The ga rage sa le on J tne 16 and Cr ied ou t i n a vo i ce somewha t sh r i l l ,17 b rough t i n $970 . Sa tu rday a lone saw sa les " I p l ayed hooky f rom danc ing ,o f $700+ , and scopp ing the re wou ld have been ( t oo busy romanc ing ! )a reco rd -b reak ing amoun t . The mos t common Now my know ledge o f Ma ins t ream i s n i l ! "rernark among the workers was, "What d id wese l l t o make a l l t h i s money?" Th i s cou ld A Gay exh ib i t i on i s t named FREEUANeasi ly turn in to a subsid iary business for Once fought wi th the cops l ike a demon.WSD- -ga taEe sa les ba rk ing . I t mus t be con fessed

H e r e s i s t e d a r r e s t ,I t ' s dange rous to t r y t o men t i on peop le by And was ca r r i ed o f f k i ck in ' and sc reamin ' .name, but a few people spent numerous hoursor energy to make th is a success: RON An int repid dancer named GARYDOUGfA ,SS fo r mak ing the f ron t s toop o f h i s Rep l i ed , when they ca l l ed h im a f a i r y ,home avai lable and h is f r iend DAVE for "You know per fect ly wel l- " + + : - - . ' : * h R o n ' s i n v o l v e m e n t , A N N A T h a t I ' 1 1 n e v e r t e l l ,P u L L r r r S u P w r L

DMIANI , BIL BI ,A.DES , ED ZEIGLER, EDDIE But the t ruth is - - I l ike my men hai ry ! "I IAIGHT-SMITH, FREEMAN STAMPER, JOHN CONLEY,KENT HANSEN, MARIE MOHR, MAX ROBB, PATTY There was an archangel named MAXir t l ITE, RONALD BOZEI" IEN, SCOTT CAREY, TIM Whose angel per formance was lax.McKENNA, and TODD TRYON. The re i s no reco rd When God sa id , "Wha t ' s t he ma t te r? "o f a l l t h o s e w h o d o n a t e d i t e m s , b u t h e r e ' s a H e e x c u s e d i t w i t h p a t t e r ,b i g k i s s e r - r o o f o r y o u ! S a y i n g , " I s u f f e r m y s t e r i o u s a t t a c k s . . . "

I f there are indiv iduals who have been An exuberant dancer named ROD.i n a d v e r t e n t l y o v e r l o o k e d i n y o u r T h e o t h e r s c o n s i d e r e d q u i t e o d d .con t r i bu t i ons , p lease l e t i t be known , and Though he though t i t a b lunde r ,you '11 ce r ta in l y ge t you r acknow ledgmen t i n They ren t h im asunde r .a l a t e r i s s u e . H e c o m p l a i n e d , " T h i s i s h a r d o n t h e b o d ! "

Pa r t o f t h i s money i s be ing a l l ocaced to t he The re once was a dance r named SCOTTpurchase of a t ranscr ib ing machine so that lnrhose adrnin is t rat ion was sure ly a b loct ransc r i b i ng tapes and reco rds f o r On h i s repu ta t i on .i ns t ruc t i ona l pu rposes w i l l be more (Though he was a sensa t i on ,e f f i c i e n t . A d d i t i o n a l l y , k e e p i n g t h e H e i n s i s t e d , " I c a r e n o t a j o t ! " )t r easu ry hea l t hy a11ows the Boa rd o fD i rec to rs t o keep members ' f ees as l ow asposs ib le wh i l e p rov id ing qua l i t y dancesw i thou t t he f ea r o f quan t i t y i n a t t endance .

QUARTERLY SEI,ECTIONS IS YOURPUBLICATION !

USE IT TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS & TALENTS

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS ST'MMER 1990

THE CIRCLE FOR SHAIRE

SHAIRE ALLOTE, Albuquerque, NM

[reprlnt.ed fror !@Jlf&llggE, nevslett€r of The lltldeBmch, Albuquerque, NHI

As you recal1 in ny last ht r i t ing, thediscussion focused on the s igns of squaredancing addiction and some of the conmonsymptoms of wi thdrawal . I promised to passthrough t ips to you for recycl ing some oldh a b i t s .

Many square dancers have come to me and said,

"Sha i re ! Where can we go? Wha t can we do ! "On the i r knees ; c r y i ng , c r y i ng , begg ing ,p lead ing fo r he lp . I am he re t o t e l I you ,recovery f rom square dance addi t ion is nos i m p l e p r o c e s s .

In L965 , on a co ld Feb rua ry even ing i nM i lwaukee , I , l i s cons in , two men , Ly le and Ken ,and one v roman , Be th , me t i n Be th ' s l i v i ngroom, sma l l as i t was . The i r pu rpose? Tosuppo r t each o the r i n t he e f f o r t t o b reakf ree f rom the add i t i on . They ca l l edthemse lves "Squa re Dance rs Un i t ed InD e f e c t i n g " ( S Q U I D ) . W o r d o f m o u t h p a s s e dthrough the grapevine about SQUID and soono the r add i c t s came fo rward . By the end o fMarch of that same year, there \ rere e ights teady members and , on March 28 , one moregen t l eman , W i l l Be i l e r , came i n to t he fo ld .He l r as a ca l l e r . H i s s to ry was qu i t etouch ing . Too l ong to t e l l he re , bu t he wasup to ca l l i ng f o r twe l ve c lubs pe r week .Each week !

A f te r t e l l i ng h i s mos t pa in fu l and expos ings to ry , t he re was no t a d ry eye i n t ha tc rowded l i v i ng room. Then , w i t h i n t he hudd leo f sobb ing , recove r i ng squa re dance ac i c i i c t s ,a s i f b y m a g i c , W i l l c r i e d o u t , " C i r c I eI e f t ! ! ! " T h a t w a s t h e l a s t m e e t i n g o f S Q U I D ,as i t was known i n March . 1965

They have kept thei r name, but the meaninghas changed. I t is now known as SQUID(Square Dance rs Unde r t he I n f l uence o fDanc ing ) . The re a re SQUID chap te rs i n 39s ta tes and 4 coun t r i es . ou t s ide the Un i tedS t a t e s t o d a y . T h e r e a r e o v e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 m e m b e r s ,danc ing up to seven l eve l s , seven days pe rw e e k .

S o , y o u m a y a s k , " S o , S h a i r e , S a y , S o r r y , b u tt ha t ' s no t t he answer I r van ted to hea r ! "

Wel l , you are r ight . Unt i l more research isdone in the f ie ld of square dance addicc ion,you are going to have to enjoy ic as much asyou can .

Nex t t ime we '11 take a l ook a t ano the rimpor tan t i ssue i n squa re danc ing . We '11ta l k abou t t hose g r i e f i s sues re la ted toIos ing you r pa r tne r i n a s i ng ing ca l1 . Un t i lt hen , "Work , wo rk , wo rk , and don ' t f o rge t t heturn through! "

FROM OUR SIDE OF THE MIKE

HERB EGENDER, Aurora, CO

( r c p r l n t e d f r o m G u l d e l ! r e , V o I . X V I I I S p r l n g 1 9 9 0 , N e v s l e t t e ri o r a e m b e = s , c a b ; c = ! b : ; s a n C : f f ! 1 l a c e c r g , a n l z a t L = n s o fC a l l e r l a b )

Recen t l y I had a ca l l ' f r om a dance r w i t h ap rob lem: Some fam i l y members t ook squa redance l essons i n ano the r s ta te . The . ca l l e rtaught a l l or most of the Plus program butl i t t l e , i f any , o f t he Bas i c and Ma ins t reamprograms. When the graduates went to danceexpect ing the fun promised them, they heardmany ca l l s t hey had no t been taugh t . O fcou rse they we re con fused and d i scou raged .The phone ca l l was to see i f I was aware o fa v i deo tape tha t cou ld be pu rchased to he l -pthese dance rs l ea rn t he ca l l s o f t he Bas i cand Ma ins t ream p rog rams .

Th i s i s an examp le o f a ca l l e r who ,appa ren t l y , knew l i t t l e abou t good teach ingp r a c t i c e s a n d l e t h i s e g o a n d d e s i r e t o w o r ka t a "h ighe r " l eve l s tand i n t he way o f h i sr e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o t h e c l a s s . I t i s as i t ua t i on t ha t ' s much too common andcon t r i bu tes t o t he h igh d ropou t ra tes . Myreact ion and comment to the dancer who phonedwas tha t t h i s ca l l e r shou ld be ho rse -wh ipped .

Good teache rs know tha t i t i s bes t t o p roceedf rom the s imp le t o t he comp lex , f r om theknown to the unknown, and to use success andenj oyment as a mot ivator for fur therIea rn ing . I t i s common know ledge tha t peop lep re fe r t o do tha t wh i ch they do we l l . NobodyI i k e s t o l o o k f o o l i s h o r i n e p t . I f n e wdance rs know the bas i cs , can dance we l l , andhave fun , t hey s t i ck a round . I f t hey a recon fused , unab le t o f o l l ow the ca l l s , andunhappy, they look for another act iv i tyw i thou t t he s t ress and where they can en joythemse lves . An exa rn ina t i on o f d i f f e ren t

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS SUMMER 1990

areas around the country shows clearly thatthose where new dancers are wel l - taught havethe lower dropout rates and st ronger c lubs.Areas wi th caLLer/xeachers l ike the o4e inth i s case have p rob lems . Th i s i s f ac t , no top in ion .

I hope I was able to help the dancer whoca l l ed t o some ex ten t , bu t i sn ' t i t a shamethat graduates of a square dance c lass, whopa id good money fo r p rope r i ns t ruc t i on , a reseeking a v ideo tape to learn the Basic andMa ins t ream ca l l s?

(con t r ibu ted by ANNA DAI IANI )

POLICY STATEI'IENT NO. 15

CI^A,SS FEES FOR CURRENT & PRIOR CLUB MEMBERS

GENERAL

WSD uses ange l s t o comp le te squa res i n i t sc lasses . Many o f t he C lub members l i ke t oange l t o l ea rn t he o the r ro le o r t o re in fo rcep r i o r i ns t ruc t i on . Howeve r , t he C lub i scommit ted to having the beginning studentsdance a t a l l t imes , and i t i s f r equen t l ynecessa ry f o r ange l s t o be asked to s tep ou to f a squa re t o be rep laced w i th a beg inn ings tuden t i n t he p rog ram be ing taugh t .

Add i t i ona l l y , t he C Iub usua l l y has cu r ren tmembers who fo r va r i ous reasons have pe r i odso f i nac t i v i t y and w ish to a t t end c lass t or e g a i n l o s t p r o f i c i e n c y . A l s o , f r o m t i m e t ot ime , f o rmer C Iub members w i sh to re jo in t heC lub bu t f ee l t hey need to go th rough c lassaga in because o f t he amoun t o f t ime l apseds ince the i r l as t r egu la r danc ing .

PURPOSE

The pu rpose o f t h i s po l i cy s ta temen t i s t oe s t a b l i s h t h e c r i t e r i a , f e e s t r u c t u r e , a n drespons ib i l i t i es o f cu r ren t and p r i o r C lubmembers who w ish to be cons ide red s tuden tsin cu r ren t c l asses . Th rough th i s po l i cy , t heC lub be l i eves i t w i l l encou rage i t s membersto s tay w i t h squa re danc ing fo r l onge rpe r i ods o f E ime and , a t t he same t ime ,ma in ta in a h ighe r p ro f i c i ency i n i t s regu la rdance p rog rams .

POLICY

1. Any square dancer who is or ever hasbeen a dues-paying member of WesternStar Dancers may enrol l in any WesternStar c lass for which they have hadp r i o r i ns t ruc t i on as an o f f i c i a ls tudent . "Dues-paying member, , are theoperat ive words. Having cornpleted aWSD class but never becoming a Clubmember i s no t app l i cab le .

2 . The c lass f ee to any s tuden t en ro l l i ngunde r t he p rov i s i ons o f t h i s po l i cy i sone-hal f the adver t ised fee for thatc lass. Members who may have taken a

' c l ass bu t now w ish to l ea rn t he

fo l l ow ing p rog ram, w i l l be expec ted topay the fu l l c l ass f ee . Fo r examp le , adancer who became a member af ter theMa ins t ream c lass bu t now w ishes tolearn the Plus program would pay thefu l l c l ass f ee fo r P lus .

3 . S tuden ts unde r t h i s po l i cy w i l l beg i ven an i den t i f y i ng marke r f o r t he i rregular Club badge and wi l I receive thesame p r i v i l eges and i ns t ruc t i ona la t t en t i on as regu la r s tuden ts . Theyw i l l no t be cons ide red ange l s and besub jec t t o remova l f r om a squa re i nfavo r o f newer dance rs .

4 . S tuden ts unde r t h i s po l i cy w i l I beexpec ted to adhe re t o t he expec ta t i onso f r e g u l a r s t u d e n t s , e s p e c i a l l y a sc o n c e r n s r e g u l a r a t t e n d a n c e ,punc tua l i t y , and a t t en t i veness to t heins t ruc to r . These s tuden ts a re no t t ocons ide r t hemse lves ange l s and shou lda s s i s t i n c o r r e c t i n g p r o b l e m s i n t h e i rsqua re on l y i f t hey a re ce r ta in t he i rass i s tance i s accu ra te and can be doneunobtrus ive lv .

APPROVED: BOARD OF D IRECTORS, Ap r i l 29 , 1990

CONTRIBUTING TO

QUARTERLY SELECTIONSIS PUBLICITY FOR YOURSELF!

ZSA. ZSA SAYS, "THE ONLY BAD PUBLICITYIS NO PUBLICITY. "

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 1 0 SU},IMER 1990

DANNY DEECOIJNTRY-WESTERN ADVICE COLUMN

FOR GAY URBAN COWBOYS LIKE MYSELFEVERY LETTER

GUARANTEED GENUINEI

Dear Danny Dee,

I need you r he lp . At our graduat ionce remon ies f r om Ma ins t ream c lasses l as t yea r ,I became a Prom Queen in the Gay & Lesbiansqua re dance wor ld . Howeve r , I r ecen t l y l os tmy crown to a new Prom Queen.

I need to know what to do now that I ,m notopen ing squa re dance shops , rna l l s f o rch i l d ren , and be ing rega l a t a l l t imes . Howcan I hold my head up at af fa i rs when I haveno crowrr to wear? I read your advice columnand know you have a l l the answers. Pleasehe lp !

Love & K i ssesAnonymous

Dear Anonlamous,

Swee thea r t , t h i s l e t t e r o f you rs has warmedt h e c o c k l e s . f t ' s a p l e a t o a f e l l o wcompadre who has a l so f a l l en f r omg r a c e . T h a t ' s r i g h t . H o l d m y h a n d , h o n e y .O u r p r o b l e m s a r e p a r a l l e l .

I ' l l e x p l a i n .

"Danny Dee , why hasn ' t you r co lumn appea redin t he l as t two i ssues o f T imes Squa red? , ,many peop le have asked me . Ac tua l l y , twopeopJ .e have asked me . My ed i t o r . And thesan i t a r y eng inee r who found me i n t he men ' sroom a t Grand Cen t ra l c r y i ng , " I AM NOT ANANIMAL! I ' } ,1 A COLUMNIST ! "

I ' 1 1 b e t e r s e , A n o n y m o u s . N o b o d y w r i t e sI e t t e r s t o D a n n y D e e a n y m o r e . T h a t , s r i g h t .N o w I ' m n o t w a l l o w i n ' i n s e l f - p i t y . A m Iw a l l o w i n ' ? N o . B u t I m a d e a s p l a s h o n c e ,and now f i ck le pub l i c We l l , youand I have j o i ned the ranks o f Ga le S to rm andKa te Smi th . I ^ l e ' r e yes te rday ' s ga rden ias .

L e t ' s y o u a n d I g e t t o g e t h e r s o m e t i m e . I , 1 Ihau l - ou t t he o1 ' l e t t e r s ; you hau l ou t t heo l d p r o m d r e s s . A n d w e ' 1 1 s h o w e a c h o t h e r ,and do "Remember when . " and dr ink andlaugh raucous l y - - un t i l f i na l l y one o f usl o s e s i t c o m p l e t e l y a n d e o l l a p s e s , s o b b i n g

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

and red faced , i n to t he o the r , s a rms .

Hold your head h igh! And remernber--you havea n€rme, Anonlmous! ACT l ike you,re st i l lP rom Queen ! We '11 two -s tep toge the r , sad l yand beaut i fu l ly . And when people ask, "Whoa r e t h e y ? " I ' 1 I g e t t h i s l o o k o n m y f a c e - -l ike Jul ie Andrews doing , 'Cl imb EveryMountain." And you can do Shir ley Macla inecr ink ly- sn i le - through- tears .

And years f rom now, when one more star-eyedyoung thing finds herself di,zzy wirh rheexci tement of being crowned the new prom

Queen, and the press f inds you a lone in amerc i fu l ly darkened corner , and they ask youin a hushed whisper , , 'What was i t l ike? "Talk to them l ike Glor ia Swanson in , ,Sunset

Bou ieva rc i " ! "Po rk o f f , news hound ! I 'mS T I L L a b i g s t a r ! T h e d r e s s e s g o t s m a l l e r ! , ,

I l ove you , Anon .

F o n d e s t j o y ,D . D .

IEd . Th i s i s an e rne rgency . Wr i t e Danny Dee !P i ck up a penc i l a t t he nex t dance and j o tsomething, AIryTHING down on the back of af l ye r and send i c t o h im . The man i s a mess .H i s a d d r e s s i s : D a n n y D e e , 4 8 4 W 4 3 d S t# 2 9 G , N e w Y o r k , N Y 1 0 0 3 6 . l

YOU TOO CAN BE A STAR!

The nex t i ssue o f Qua r te rTy SeTec t i ons shou ldbe ou t a round the f i r s t o f Sep tember . Anyl i t e r a r y a n d a r t i s t i c o f f e r i n g s w i l l g l a d l ybe cons ide red fo r pub l i ca t i on . Abou t t heon l y t h i ng one cou ld o f f e r f o r pub l i ca t i ontha t wou ld be ques t i oned wou ld be someth ingdeemed d i s tas te fu l by t he membersh ip o f WSD.

Jus t g i ve you r t yped o r handwr i t t en ma te r i a lt o t h e e d i t o r o r s e n d i t . t o t h e C l u b , sadd ress to t he a t t en t i on o f t he ed i t o r . I fyou r re a compu te r ne rd , you can send you rr n a t e r i a l i n W o r d P e r f e c r 5 . 0 o n 3 6 0 K S - L / 4d i s k o r 7 2 0 K o r I . 4 4 3 - I / 2 d i s k .

CLOSE ENCOUNTERSOF AN ELECTRONIC KIND

W e ' r e t r y i n g r e a l l y h a r d t o s i m p l i f y l i f e i nthe admin i s t ra t i on o f Wes te rn S ta r - -

1 1 SUMMER 1990

espec ia l l y i n t hese pub l i ca t i ons . Fori ns tance , t he mas thead o f t h i s ed i t i on o f

Quar te rTy SeTec t i ons i s en t i r e l y e lec t ron i c .IREEI'IAN STAI,IPER had the QS logo scanned intoa g raph i cs f i l e compa t i b l e w i t h WordPer fec t ,and JOHN CONLEY created the WSD logo in PCPaintbrush+ and "grabbed" i t in to aWordPerfeet graphics format .

I ' m s o - o - o - o e x c i t e d ! I k n o w , I k n o w , Ik n o w , I l i k e i t ! - - E d i t o r

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS L2 SUMMER 1990

To: A11 Nor ths tar Promenade Par t i c ipants and member c lubs o f the I .A .G.S.D.c .

From: Luis TorresChesapeake Sguares, Baltimore

Shortly after PeeL the Apple, our nationaL convention in New York lastJuIy 1988, I presented to the IAGSDC board a proposal for an ORAL IIISTORY OFC'AY SOUARE DAI|CING (preliminary working title) to be released in celebrationof the 10th AnniveraarA, conventlon ln Seattle ln 1994. The board welcomed theproposal and has authorized me to proceed with some initial work on thepro jec t .

BACKGROUITD

During the convention in New York, i in'"erviewed severai people for anarticle on the convention and on gay sguare dancing in general that I plannedto submit to The Advocate. I also had a Iengthy interview with Mike de Sistoand John Preston ( later on also with Dayle Hodge) in order to get some insightinto their views and their experiences in working with Gay square dancers.

Although the Advocate art ic le didnrt mater ial ize, the mater ial that cameout of these interviews turned out to be so interest ing that I startedsearching around for a way to preserve i t , to f ind and col lect addit ionalrelated mater ial , and, f inal ly, to devise a way to make i t avai labl , : to thosewho are interested in Gay sguare dancing and would Iike to find out more abouti +

Drawing on my experience as a trained historian and as someone who haspursued oral history ( the preservat ion of peoplers e><periences throughinterviews) in var ious forms over the years, I suggested to the board putt ingtogether a volume that would cover various aspects of the history of gaysguare danci.ng, with release or publ icat ion t imed to coincj .de with the 10thanniversary convent ion in Seatt le.

Listed here are some of the kinds of mater ial that could be included insuch a volume:

EDITED TRN{SCRIPTIONS OF INIERVfEHSj

I think that as many as possible of the people who have played key rolesin establ ishing square dancing within the Gay cornrnunity should be interviewed.This would include the people who organized the f i rst c lubs, the Gay peoplewho surfaced early on as cal lers in our conununity, the straight cal lers whoeventually became involved, and the people who have been instrumental inkeeping sguare dancing going in the corununity and in helping to spread itspopular i ty. At this point in the development of the project, I would be hardput to give any sort of exhaust ive l ist of the people who should be includedin any of these groups. I expect that as the project develops, the names wiI Ibecome evident.

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS SUM}',IER 1990

PRESS COVERAGE OF GAY SOUARE DANCING

With the help of the individual c lubs, I would l ike to col lect copies ofarticles from local gay or straight newspapers and magazines that have dealtwith sguare dancing. Al though certainly not aI I of these wiI I be worthincluding in their ent i rety, I think that i t would be interest ing to at Ieasthave select ions included.

IOCAL HISTORTES

This sect ion would include short histor ies of al l the gay sguare danceclubs act ive up to the closing press t ime of the book, as weII as histor icalvignettes of c lubs that were organized, developed, and, for one reason oranother, langruished or disappeared. I would I ike to include in thishistor icai overview of the clubs as accuratb as possible an est imate of thelocal strength of each club. I think it should be possible to collect andinclude information on such things as:

- total membership- part ic ipat ion by women, ethnic minori t ies and/or other special

minori ty groups (for example, the deaf)- Ievels of dancing- recurr ing special act iv i t j -es or events, etc.

This would also gi.ve us an overview of the strength of sguare dancing as anact iv i ty in the conrnunity.

TIIE HII.fAlt AIIGLE

Nothing makes gay sguare dancing as at t ract ive as the people one meetsthrough i t . I am sure there are a hundred funny, i l luminat ing, sent imenta l ,outrageous, or touching storj.es out there arnong our dancers, and I would Iiketo col -Lect and preserve them throuqh th is vol -ume.

I th ink th is could be done at two level -s . At the f i rs t level , I wouldI ike to ask people to s i t down and wr i te down thei r favor i te sguare dancingexper iences or s tor j .es, which would then be edi ted for publ icat ion. There arealways people who are not comfortable putting their thoughts on paper, and forthose, I would l lke to of fer the oppcr tuni ty to caI I me or s i t down wi th me tote lL me the i r s to ry o ra l l y . I wou ld t hen t ransc r i be t he i r s to r i es f o ri nc lus ion i n t he pub l i ca t i on -

At the second level , I woLld I ike to of fer people the opportuni ty toprovi .de us wi th shor t i tems, perhaps one to three l ines in length. Thesecould be inc luded under a heading such as "Short Takes," and could inc lude aw i d e v a r i e t y o f i t e m s : t t I t I I n e v e r f o r g e t . . . , t t r t a G a y s g u a r e d a n c e r s h o u l dneve r be w i thou t . . . , " e t c . We cou ld open th i s sec t i on t o t he p roveninvent iveness and humor of our dancers.

PHOTO AI,BI]I'I

This would seem a natural category to include, but i t j .s the one that isI i -kely to be the most problematical . I t should be possible to coLlectphotographs that i l lustrate the development of sguare dancing in the

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS l 4 su}&lnR 1990

10 th Ann ive rsa ry H is to ry P ro jec tMemo *2

May L , 1990 .

To: IAGSDC Members

From: Luis Torres

I hope that by now a l l the members of our IAGSDC indiv idualc lubs have been made aware that the board and the genera lmembership meet ing at the "Nor thstar Promenade" convent ion inVancouver adopted the prcposal for a history of square dancing inttre qav conu',runitv to be piepared fothe 1993 conven t ion , t he 10 th ann ive rsa ry conven t ion o f t heT Lr :qnr -

Each reqis tered par t ic ipant a t Vancouver received the merno( fo r pu rposes o f t he p ro j ec t , we '11 ca l l t ha t one I 'Memo #1 ) i nwhich f descr ibed the or ig in of the pro ject and the contentsenv i s ioned fo r t ha t pub l i ca t i on .

I hope that we wi l l not be lu l led bv that far -awav soundinqda te - -1993- - i n to th ink inq tha t we have a l l t he t ime in the wor ld

ed. i t inqtex t , l avou t , rep roduc t i on , and , f i na l l v . b ind i -nq , w i I I a l l t aket ime, and we need to s tar t work ing on th is r iqht awav.

Here are some th inqs that need doinq now:

1. T{HO ARE THE K.gY PEOPLE !{HO SHOIILD BE IMIERVIEI{ED FOR ITIISPIIBLaanEma, so I need the input of those of you who have been aroundf rom the beg inn ing , o r a t l eas t f o r seve ra l yea rs . A t t hemoment , I would l ike to create a d i rectory of these keyinCividual-s. The directory would include the fol lowing:

- F"ULL NAIITE OF TIIE INDIVIDUAL- Address, zi-p, phone ntrmber. I f not available, is there

anyone else who might know?- If the person has passed away, please indicate when, and,

if you can, names of those closest to him/her, who may provideinsight into the personr6 involvement in square dancing.

- A SHORT PARAGRAPH OR OITILTNE DESCRIBTNG WITY THE TNDIVTDUAI.SHOIILD BE TMIERVTEWED OR C'THERWISE TNCLIJDED IN TI{E PTIBLTCATION.

2 . I t w i l l be imposs ib le fo r me to ta l k i nd i v idua l l y t o a l - l t hepersons I hope th is d i rectory wi l l u l t imate ly i -nc1ude. WE NEEDVOLU}TTEERS WHO CA}I TAKE ON TIIE TN:rERVTSWING A}TD TRANSCRTBING.

eaware of some techniques for conduct ing the in terv iew.

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 1 5 sulo{ER 1990

Transcr ib ing is a b i t more d i f f icu l t and t ime-consuming, but isa l so no t an imposs ib le task .

T{Ifi{IN A SHORT TTUE, I HOPE TO HAVE fidO SEPARATE MET{OS , ONEON IMTERVIET{ING A}ID THE OTHER ON TRANSCRIBTNG WHTCH SHOTJI,D MAKETHE JOB A LOT ER AITD ![UCH MORE EFFECTIVE FOR OT'R PURPOSES.

Ln anv case, I am alwavs willinq to answer anv specific questionsiou mav have about the iob. Just qive me a caII or drop a l ine.

3. FROttl fHE LAWYERS O(JI[ THERE: We need some help in f ormulatinga re v iewees to s ign , so tha t t heedi tor , the in terv iewer, and IAGSDC can be protected f romun fo reseen lega1 l i ab i l i t i es . I wou ld l i ke to hea r f rom you a l soabout any rami f icat ions f rom the pro ject you may see.

4. A}IYONE OIJIT THBRE INVOTVED TN PRTNTTNG OR PTJBLTSHING? Beforewe g t whatthe publishing costs are t ikely to be, what options are availablefor format, etc. IF YOU HAVE EKPERIENCE IN THAT AREA, PLEASECONTACT ME AS SMW .

5. A}IYONE OIIT THERE WITTI EKPERTE}ICE IN EDITTNG? TN LAYOUT? TNDESIGN? We cer ta in fv coul -d use r rou ! Let me know who vou are.

6. FROM SQUARE DANCERS AT LARGE:

- fs there anythinq else ya pubfor the material f proposed in the Vancouver memo?

For ex Would there be interest in a section oncal lers w ve been ved in our conventions a o andbio of each? Should there be a sr,ec a1 section ntroducinqav callers _in each_convent ion 's ca l l inq

ocal cIuD. evens ta f f?

thev have not

7 . ARE THERE ANY CARTOONISTS OT'II THERE? GET Ot':T YOUR PEI{ AI{DPAP

DONELAN? COT'LD WE GET HITIT TO CONTRIBI.ITE A CARTOON?

Ia

ouon

As you can see, there is a lo t weLe t me hea r f rom you . Do i t NOW; don ' tTHATIS AN ORDERI

Luis Torres9757 Ear ly Spr ing WayColumbia, MD 2L046

H.3OL /498 -1189

could and should be doing.l eave i t f o r l a t e r . . .AND

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS1 a

wk .202 /B2B-5484

SUMMER 1990

comrnunity. These could be included in the volume either all in one place, ora few pages at a time as a break between one section and another.

The problems f foresee begin with the cost of photo reproduction and endwith the variety of photo material that is likely to be available (prints fromf i lm o f vary ing s izes and t1pes , s l ides , e tc . ) . In be tween there is theguest ion of the photographic gual i ty of individual i tems. St i l l , I th ink thatthis could add a great deal to the volume and make it more attractive.

HOII CA}I YOU IIELP?

1- Get in touch wi th me and let me know the names. addresses, phones, ofpeople you think should be interviewed for this project. TeIl me briefly whatyou know about them and why you thlnk they _should be included. I i possible,give their address and phone number.

2. Suggest ways in which you think you could help with this project.to interview any individuals in your homeG8T IMIOLVEDI For example, offer

club who seem likely subjects, to transcri-be the interrrier, and to submit itfor considerat ion. f f you cannot do this yourself , coordinate l -ocal ef fortsto get 1t done.

f,OTE: Before vou undertal<q such a pl.oiect, qet ln totrch with rc so thatwe can talk about guidelinee for protectinq privacv, qettlnq releases for themateri.al trou collect, etc.

3. Try to ver i fy the existence local ly of mater ial related to your club,to f ly- ins, or to nat ional gatherings that could be included in the volume.and let nre know about it.

4. ARE YOU EIPERIENCED IN I,AYOUT, EDITING. ITORD PROCESSING, OR PRINTING?COT'I.D EI' CONTRIBUTE ARTNORK? CA}t YOU HEI,P fiITH PHCITO REPRODUCTION? I{AKCyourseJ- f known, and let us know how you can help- This wi I I be a b ig pro ject ,and no one indiv idual can carry i t out .

Above aI I , we need the help of people who can look in to or of fera l ternat ives for reproducinq, b indinq, and d is t r ibut ing the work, AND_NEO EANGfVE US SO!{E IDEA OF ilItAT THE FII{AL COST HOULD BE. After ail, we have to ber e a l i s t i c .

I wi l l be at Northstar pr 'ornenade. I f the project sounds rnterest ing toyou, let the board know and let me know.

r+ After the convent ion, you can reach me at theaddress . l - r isted below.

Lu is Tor resAddress: 9757 Early Spring Way

Colurnbia, W 21046

H : 3 0 1 / 4 9 8 - 1 1 8 9wk: 202/828-5484

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS L 1 stDo'LER 1990

N QUARTERTYt f -C sELEcTIoNsI t IUIL. ht , l L r t lrtK IY lul L . l l

lv

IYESTERN STAR DANCERS

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 480SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94TI4

FALL 1990 _ SEPTEMBER

A NIGHT TO REI' IEMBER

RUSS KING

On Sa tu rday , Augus t 18 , i t was t ime to "Squa reUp and F igh t A . 1 . D . S . " as t he No r the rnC a l i f o r n i a C a l l e r s A s s o c i a t i o n s p o n s o r e d abene f i t dance ac S t . Pau lus Lu the ran Church .A t o t a l o f $ 1 , 3 1 2 w a s r a i s e d , t o b e s h a r e d b ythe AIDS Food Bank and che ATDS Ernergency Fund.Dance rs f r om a l l ove r t he Bay A rea had a un iqueoppo r tun i t y t o see o ld f r i ends and sha rem e m o r i e s o f t h e f r i e n d s w e ' v e 1 o s t .

A few days ea r l i e r , I t a l ked w i t -h one o f t hep r ime move rs o f t he even t , B ILL HANZEL . B i l l\ r a s W e s t e r n S t a r D a n c e r s ' p r i m a r y c a l l e r /i n s t r u c t o r f r o m 1 9 8 3 t o I 9 8 l : . h i s w i f e J A N I C Ei s t h e t e a c h e r a n d a r t i s t i c d i r e c t o r f o rB a r b a r y C o a s t C l o g g e r s . B i l l i s a l s o a p a s tp res i c i enc o f t he No r the rn Ca l i f o rn ia Ca l l e r sA s s o c i a t i o n . I t w a s B i l l w h o h e l p e d g u i d e B O BBELLVILLE th rough the p rocess o f j o i n i ng theC a l l e r s A s s o c i a t i o n a n d , i n c h e p r o c e s s ,becoming the i r f i r s t r nember f r om a gay c lub .

R K : B i I l , I b e l i e v e y o u w e r e t h e f i r s t o p e n l ys t r a i g h t c a l l e r t o c a l l f o r a g a y c l u b .

BH: As fa r as I know. veah .

RK: L rhen d id t he i dea fo r t he dance f i r s t comearound?

B H : W e I l , t o t e l 1 y o u t h e t r u t h , a t B o b ' s f u n e r a l . I t h a d b e e n s o m e t h i n g I ' d b e e n! L : - r - " - ^ ^ L r u t ; a n d , a t t h e m o r t u a r y , B E N G O L D B E R G a n d I a c t u a l l y s t a r t e d t a l k i n gL l l I r l N t r 1 6 d u L

a b o u t i t . B o b w a s a m e m b e r o f o u r C a l l e r s A s s o c i a t i o n , a n d w e f e l t t h a t , a s a f e l l o wca11e r and as a member o f Wes te rn S ta r Dance rs . a c l ub fo r whom we ca l l e r s have

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS iS ap u b l i c a t i o n o f W e s t e r n S t a r D a n c e r s ,I n c . , a m o d e r n w e s t e r n s q u a r e d a n c ec lub se rv ing p r imar i l y t heSan F ranc i sco B^y A rea gay andlesb ian commun i t y . The pu rpose o ft h i s p u b l i c a t i o n i s t o p r o v i d ethough t -p rovok ing a r t i c l es o f ane d i t o r i a l n a t u r e a n d o t h e r m a t e r i a lo f gene ra l i n te res t o r en te r ta inmen tva lue fo r WSD members . The emphas i so f Qua r te r l y Se lecc ions i s onr e l e v a n c e t o s q u a r e d a n c e i s s u e s ,p h i l o s o p h i c a l s u b s t a n c e ,I i t e r a r y q u a l i t y .

a n d

^ - : - : - ^ ' r ^ " * i c l e sv t r S l l r a t a t L - i n t h i sp u b l i c a t i o n a r e c o p y r i g h t e d b u t m a yb e r e p r i n c e d w i t h a p p r o p r i a t e c r e d i tt o t he au tho r and c i t a t i on o fO u a r t e r l v S e l e c t i o n s .

E d i t o r : F reeman S tamper( 41s ) 43L -62 t2

OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DONOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINIONS AND POLICIESO F W E S T E R N S T A R D A N C E R S , I N C . , N O R I T S M E M B E R S .

M E N T I O N O F A P E R S O N ' S N A M E I N T H I S P U B L I C A T I O N I NN O W A Y I N D I C A T E S H I S / H E R S E X U A L O R I E N T A T I O N ,

ca l l ed , we cou ld pu t t oge the r somekind of event where l , re could ra i -sesome money anddonate i t to an AIDSorgan i za t i on t ha t t he g roup dec idedo n .

The ca l l e r s t ha t a re go ing i n to t h i sknow i t ' s a cha r i t ab le dance , knowwha t t he cha r i t i es a re f o r , andthey ' re more than w i l l i ng t o dona tet h e i r t i m e . A n d I t h i n k i t ' s g r e a cthat the church has donated the spaceto us . so we can tu rn ove re v e r y t h i n g , b a s i c a l l y , t o t h ec h a r i t i e s . I t h i n k i t ' s j u s t al i t t l e some th ing we cou ld do fo r Boband fo r a l l t he pe rsons w i th A IDS inB o b ' s n a m e .

The other th ing that drove me to dosometh ing was I hea r names o fp e o p l e t h a t I h a v e t a u g h t , a n d I t r yto pu t a f ace on tha t name. I pu l l edou t t he g radua t i on p i c tu re o f a c l assf r o rn I 'm no t even su re wha t :y e a r . I I t w a s J u l y , 1 9 8 4 . R K ] B o bw a s a n a n g e l i n t h a t c l a s s , a n d h ew a s u p o n s t a g e a t t h e m i k e , a n deve rybody e l se was on s tage ge t t i ngt h e i r p i c t u r e t a k e n - - w e h a d t o d o i ti n two sho ts because the g roup was sob i g - - a n d I w a s l o o k i n g a x t h a tp i c t u r e , a n d I r e c o g n i z e d s o m e f a c e st h a t a r e n ' t w i t h u s t o d a y A n dtha t was ano the r reason to \ r an t t opu t on th i s dance . So , I asked ANNAto do someth ing abou t hav ing aco l l age o r mon tage - t ype th ing the rew i t h t h e p i c t u r e s o f t h e p e o p l e t h a twe knew, and the i r names .

P.K: TIRP.Y |RDSLEY is cooi :d i r rat ins thep h o t o e x h i b i t i o n .

P , l l : One th ing I f ee l bad abou t Iknew a l o t o f names , and I knew a l o to f f a c e s , b u t I c o u l d n ' t a l w a y s p u tthem toge the r , so many many peop leca rne th rough the c lasses i n t he f i veo r s i x yea rs t ha t f was down he ret e a c h i n g . W h e n I h e a r , " O h , b y t h ew a y , d i d y o u k n o w . ? , " I ' mt r y i ng to pu t two and two toge the r .

T h e b i g k i c k e r w a s s e e i n g t h e Q u i l tand recogn i z i ng some o f t he names onthe Qu i l t f r om l ^ l es te rn S ta r . Tha tge ts t o you , and I had to do

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

- ^ - . ^ + r ^ i * - T h i s i s i t . I d o n ' t> v l l t E L r r r r r S .

\ d a n t t o c a l l a l o t ; I ' 1 1 M . C . a n dca l l f o r t he beg inne rs ; bu t t he o the rca l l e r s w i l l ge t up the re and do' L ^ : - ' L ; - - a n d l e t t h e d a n c e r s h a v eL l t E r t L r r r r r S

a g o o d t i m e . I w a n t t o s e e i t , a n dI t h i nk i t ' s go ing to be a f un dance .

RK: 8 i11 , do you th ink t he re ' s any th ingtha t you and the s t ra igh t ca l l i ngcommuni ty may have learned f rom Bob?I know you taugh t h im a g rea t dea l -- you were h i s f i r s t t eache r , and youhe lped h im th rough the p rocess o fL ^ ^ ^ - : - - ^ m e r n b e r o f t h e N o r t h e r nu g L U i l r r r 1 6 d

C a l i f o r n i a C a l l e r s A s s o c i a t i o n .

B H : H e j o i n e d . I t h i n k h e b e c a m e as p o n g e . He soaked up as rnuchin fo rma t i on as he cou ld . andI ' 1 1 a l w a y s r e m e m b e r B o b f o r " R o c kt h e B o a t . " F o r a c a l l e r t h a t h a d n ' tbeen a round bu t a coup le o f mon ths ,and he comes up w i th a ca l l t ha t i sa # 1 e x p e r i m e n t a l f o r I d o n ' trernember how many months, and was aP lus Quar te r l y f o r a f u l l yea r

Tha t ' s an accomp l i shmen t .H e t a l k e d t o m a n y c a l l e r s a tC a l l e r l a b i n R e n o t h e f i r s t y e a r h ew e n t u p t h e r e , a n d t h e y w e r ec o m p l i m e n t a r y - - I m e a n , i t ' s a s m o o t h -r r ^ . . : - - ^ ^ 1 1 T r L : - - I . i F a t h et I U W t r t 6 L d r r . I L t l r l t N t l d r r J u r

c a l l e r s l e a r n e d a n y t h i n g f r o m B o b ,t h e y l e a r n e d t h a t " H e y , h e c a n d o i t ,why can ' t Vg?"

B u t h e l p i n g B o b g e t h i s w h i t eb a d g e w a s s o m e t h i n g e l s e . A t t h eC a l l e r s A s s o c i a t i o n . w e h a v e t \ d oc a l l e r s b a d g e s . T h e b l a c k b a d g e i sf o r t h e s u b s c r i b e r o r a s s o c i a t emember , wh i ch i s wha t Bob was when hef i r s t j o i n e d ; a f t e r d o i n g a y e a r o fc a l l i n g f o r a g r o u p , a n d a f e w o t h e rr e q u i r e m e n t s - - c a l I i n g b e f o r e t h eA s s o c i a t i o n a n d g e t t i n g a p p r o v e d b yt h e A s s o c i a t i o n B o a r d - - B o b w a s v o t e di n a s a f u l l - c a l l e r m e m b e r .

U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e B o a r d k i n d o fd r a g g e d i t s f e e t a n d d i d n ' t g e t h i sbadge made , and the San F ranc i scoConven t i on was coming a round I i nA u g u s t , 1 9 8 6 - - R K l , s o I t o o k i t u p o nmyse l f t o ge t t he badge made . W i ththe cooperacion of BERT SWERER, r . reg o t i t t o g e t h e r a n d p r e s e n t e d b o b h i s

F A L L 1 9 9 0

badge at the d inner that n ight .The re we ren ' t a who le l o t o f d r y eyesin the room, and CHRIS [ANDERSON whow a s p r e s e n t a t t h i s i n t e r v i e w - - E d . ]can a t t es t t o t ha t .

RK: When Bob was going through theCa l l e r s Assoc ia t i on , how much suppo r td i d h e i n i t i a l l y g e t ?

BH: We1 l , Bob was l i ke any o the r newca1 le r i n t he Assoc ia t i on , shy andre t i r i ng , bu t he wan ted to ge tinvolved, so he found out what therequ i remen ts \ r e re . He go t up and hed i d h i s t i p - - h e w a s w e l l r e c e i v e d , h ehad some f igures ouc there that theg r o u p f o u n d i n t e r e s t i n g . B o b w a s n ' ta g o o d s i n g i n g - c a l l c a 1 l e r , b u t t h e nno t eve rvbodv i s . He cou ld pu tt o g e t h e r s o m e g o o d p a t t e r n s , s o m ei n t e r e s t i n g p a t t e r , a n d h e h a d n oproblems that d"y going through h isa u d i t i o n .

H e v o l u n t e e r e d c o h e l p i n l i t t l ed i f f e r e n t w a y s , a n d h e w a s a c c e p t e d ,j u s t l i k e a n y o t h e r c a l l e r . A t R e n ohe go t i nvo l ved i n as many c l i n i cs ash e c o u l d . H e t a l k e d w i t h a 1 o t o ft r ave l l i ng ca l l e r s up the re , t he guyst h a t h a v e g o t t h e b i g n a m e s , y o uknow, t he ones tha t ge t pa id beaucoupbucks ; I t h i nk he sucked up a l o t o fi n fo rma t i on f rom them, and he wasl e a r n i n g . I t t a k e s a l o n g t i m e t ob e c o m e a c a l l e r ; i t t a k e s e v e n l o n g e rt o b e c o m e a g o o d c a l l e r , a n d B o b w a sw o r k i n g o n b e i n g a g o o d c a l l e r . H ewas l ea rn ing . Un fo r tuna te l y , hed i d n ' t h a v e a w h o l e 1 o t o f t i r n e t o1 e a r n .

R K : W i t l t h e c a l l e r s t h a t a r e c a l l i n gSa tu rday be peop le t ha t Bob knewt h r o u g h t h e C a l l e r s A s s o c i a t i o n ?

B H : W e l 1 , I d o n ' t k n o w t h a t h e k n e w t h e mth rough the Assoc ia t i on , bu t I knowBob knew them to dance to. I knowh e ' s d a n c e d w i t h E r i c a n d V a n y a .

* * * *

put together a moving t r ibute wi th thenarnes and photographs of the many f r iendsw e ' v e l o s t .

FRED McENROE and other members of FoggyC i t y Dance rs coo rd ina ted beve rages fo r t heevening; ELLIOT SCHNECK (munchies) , PATTYh t l ITE (deco ra t i ons ) , GORDEN DREYER, DONGRECO, FREEMAN STAMPER, and ANNA DMIANIwere among the many other dancers a lsoh e l p i n g o u t . I n add i t i on t o t heSan F ranc i sco c l . r bs , t he Cap i ta l C i t ySqua res and the E l Camino Ree le rs he lpedmake the event a success through thew i l l i ngness o f l a rge numbers o f t he i rmembers t o t r ave l qu i t e a d i s tance to

: r> U P P U ! L r u .

One dance r who was noc ab le t o a t t end wasANDY SHORE. Du r i ng the f i na l b reak o f t hee v e n i n g , B i I t r e a d A n d y ' s l e t t e r o fr e g r e t :

" D e a r B i l l :

"Thanks ve ry much fo r you r i nv i t a t i on t oc a l l a t t h e M e m o r i a l D a n c e o n A u g u s t 1 8 .U n f o r t u n a t e l y , I w i l l b e o u t o f t o w na t t e n d i n g ' S u p e r s c h o o l ' C a l l e r C o l l e g e i nPennsy l van ia . How i ronic that my owni n t e r e s t i n c a l l i n g p r e v e n t s m e f r o mt a k i n g p a r t i n t h i s i m p o r t a n t o c c a s i o n .

" B o b B e l l v i l l e w a s a n i n s p i r a t i o n t o aw h o l e c o l l e c t i o n o f n e w g a y a n d l e s b i a nc a l l e r s , m y s e l f i n c l u d e d . I k n o w t h a t B o bwou ld be p leased to l ea rn t ha t I amp u r s u i n g c a l l i n g i n t h i s m a n n e r . M ywarmes t rega rds t o you and eve ryone a t t hem e n o r i a l h o e - d o w n .

" V e r y t r u i y y o u r s , A n d y s h o r e . "

ADDENDUM: L IST OF RAFFLE PRIZES (comp i l edb y S t e f f a n y S t a m p e r )

T h e g e n e r o s i t y o f t h e r a f f l e p r i z econ t r i bu t o r s / a r r ange rs added s i gn i f i c an t l yt o r e a c h t h e t o t a l c o n t r i b u t i o n o f $ 1 , 3 1 2 .

T w o 2 - h o u r b l o c k s o f t i m e o f C o m p u t e rS o f t w a r e a n d / o r H a r d w a r e T r a i n i n gc o n t r i b u t e d b y K E I T H B T S H O P

P O D E S T A B A L D O C C H I G i f I C e r t i f i c a t earranged by l " ' lAX ROBB

C O W B O Y C O U N T R Y G i f t C e r t i f i c a t ec o n t r i b u t e d b y t h e o w n e r s : D o n ,T e r r y , C h r i s , a n d L e e

I th ink the dance wentB i l l h o p e d . B i 1 1 , E R I CLEIGHTON, and JILL MARCIth rough some l i ve l y paces

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^ r ^ f t s r r - , ' - l -P L Y L L j l l r u L r r < 1 5

HENERI/,U, VANYApu t t he dance rs

T e r r y P r e s l e y

F A I L 1 9 9 0

CHINA COURT dinner for 2 arranged byGORDEN DREYER

1a MEDITERRANEE lunch for 2 arranged byFRED McENROE

Gi f t Ce r t i f i ca te t o No rds t rom con t r i bu tedby ANNA DA}{IANI

Dance Passes to I , ISD October 12 and 13dances contributed by FREEI'IAN STAMPER

3 sepa ra te Co l l ec t i ons o f V ideoscontr ibuted bv JIM SNEED and DAVIDEVANS

A 1 1 4 E p i s o d e s o f " C r o s s f i r e " c o n t r i b u t e dby C&C STUDIOS, SCOTT CAREY & JOHNCONLEY

Brad ley Be l l 1990 Subsc r i p t i on con t r i bu tedby THE BMDLEY FA.T{ILY (MAMA JO, SUZIEJO, JANIE JO, I ^M{ONNA JO, INA JO, andBLANCHIE JO)

2 s e p a r a t e C e r t i f i c a t e s f o r H a i r c u t a n dBeard T r i r r r conCr ibu ted by PHIL IPSTOVER

2 se ts o f 2 Boa rd ing Passes aboa rdHornb lower D in ing Yach ts con t r i bu tedby JAMES FOWLE

Be your own PR agent .

Vo lun tee r a con t r i bu t i ont o

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

ANGEL ISLAND PICNIC

ED ZE IGLER

I t was l ook ing to be a beau t i f u l day , andi t d i d t u r n o u t t o b e s o . I t w a s t h e 4 t ho f J u l y , a n d m e m b e r s o f W e s t e r n S t a r w e r el o o k i n g f o r G R E G O S M O N , o u r t o u r g u i d e ,and the C lub f l ag be ing ca r r i ed by SCOTTCAREY as we were ge t t i ng ready to boa rdthe fe r r y t o t ake us t o Ange l I s l and .

A f t e r w e a r r i v e d o n t h e I s l a n d . w e m a d esu re we had eve ryone toge the r and s ta r tedo f f on ou r l ong h i ke up wha t seemed to bea t l e a s t 4 0 0 s t e p s ! T h e l a s t e o u p l e o fsteps r , rere murder ; PATTY WHITE had toc r a w l u p t h e f i n a l o n e s . A f t e r t h e s t e p s ,we had a much eas ie r wa l k down a roadv ;h i ch t ook us t o one o f Ange l I s l and ' s owntou r gu ides who rega led us w i t h h i s to ry o f

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

t he nea r l y demo l i shed hosp i t a l and seve ra lo the r bu i l d i ngs i n t he v i c i n i t y .

F inal ly , we got to what was to be ourp i cn i c a rea , whe reupon seve ra l o f usp i cn i cke rs changed i n to sho r t s - - i nc lud ing

MAX ROBB 's good - l ook ing f r i end (who , a las ,was w i th h i s w i f e ) . Then i t \ ^ ras l uncht i rne. ROD MORRELL got out h is importedFrench tab le c l o th , and the res t o f us go tou t ou r g rea t sp reads o f f ood and p lacedt h e m o n l e s s - g r a n d t a b l e l i n e n s .

A f te r l unch , i t was t ime to dance , so ANNADAI ' I IANI got out some tapes. We star ted onthe b lacktop and taught some of the newc lass members how to sw ing so tha t wecou ld do more than the eve r -d readed" B a r n a c l e B i l l . " O n w e w e n t t o t h e b e a c hfo r a pe r fo rmance co an aud ience o f bo ths u n b a t h e r s a n d s a i l b o a t s . A f t e r d a n c i n gin t he sand , we t i pped i n t he wa te r whe reTIM McKENNA, TODD TRYON, TOM SHAW, GORDENDREYER (w i th h i s f r i end DON f romV a n c o u v e r ) , [ E d . D o n i s n o w a n H o n o r a r ymembers o f WSD th rough ou r S i s te r C i t yC lub Po l i " y . l SA-1 . { KOHLER, and ED ZE IGLERearned ou r do lph in f un badges . We werej o i n e d b y s e v e r a l B a s i c s c l a s s m e m b e r s :STUART COHEN, KEN EVERETT, FEL IX FORNINO,BOB LESL IE , DAVID ELK INS, RON JABLONSKI ,and ALMA PRINS and he r l ove r who ' s no t am e m b e r o f t h e c l a s s .

R e t u r n i n g t o t h e p i c n i c a r e a , w e s a i d s o m efa rewe l l s t o GRETCHEN MESSELT who wasmov ing to Sea t t l e t he ve ry nex t day . Tor r < d n ] n h i n c ' - " r ^ r i - ^ r ] . ' os u l P I I S e , L n e r e w e r ei n t e r l o p e r s a t t h e t a b l e s i n t h e f o r m o fl a t e - c o m e r s w h o r n i s s e d t h e f i r s t f e r r y - -name ly , GARY GRAY and h i s l ove r JESSIE andRAY POULIN , ano the r Bas i cs c l ass member .The rema inde r o f t he a f t e rnoon wasd e d i c a t e d t o s i t t i n g , s u n n i n g , a n d t o s s i n ga f r i s b e e - - a l l t h e t h i n g s n e c e s s a r y f o rm i g h t y a t h l e t i c t r a i n i n g .

I t w a s t i m e t o s t a r t t h e s e e m i n g l y m u c hs h o r t e r j o u r n e y b a c k t o t h e d o c k s . O n t h eway , MNDY SCHOESLER took Bas i cs RAY inh a n d t o m a k e s u r e h e d i d n ' t m i s s a n y t h i n ge l s e - - m o s t p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e f e r r y h o m e .L T l ^ i l ^ , , ^ i + , ' ' . - F ^ - | 1 - ^ l - ^ ^ t s + 1 - ,h n r r e w a r L r r r g I o r L n e o o a E , c n e r e w a s awee more danc ing , and FREEMAN d id ano u t s t a n d i n g j o b d i r e c t i n g t r a f f i c . H ei n s t r u c t e d p e o p l e t o , " M o v e G A Y - I y f o r w a r dt o t h e T i b e r o n b o a t . " I n t h e h u s t l e a n dh a s s l e t o b o a r : d , w e n o t i c e d a f e w p e o p l e

FA] ,L 1990

too far back in the crowd to make thef i r s t boa t . Le f t wa i t i ng was ou r eve r -so- fa i th fu l cameraman JOHN CONLEY, whotaped us leaving h i rn behind. Once on thefe r r y and headed to Oz , we squeezed i n asqua re o r two .

I know I don ' t speak fo r myse l f on l y i nth i s ma t te r , bu t I w i sh I cou ld f i nd eve rycopy o f "Ba rnac le B i l l " and des t roy t hemd I I .

I f you v/ant to reach the h ighests t a r , b e g i n a t t h e l o w e s t "

- -Quote of the WeekBurge r K ing , Sac ramen to , CA

DANCIN' & CHANCIN'1n

LAS VEGAS

W e l l , i t ' s a r r i v e d . A n o - h o s t f I y - i n .A t t a c h e d t o t h i s e d i t i o n o f Q u a r t e r l vSe lec t i ons i s a copy o f t he f l ye r f o r t hef i r s t Sands In te rna t i ona l Squa re DanceF e s t i v a l t o b e h e l d i n L a s V e g a sD e c e m b e r 3 , 4 & 5 . I t ' s e x t r e m e l y c h e a p ,bu t w i t h some fabu lous ca l l e r s . How doesPau l l " l a r cu rn , E lmer She f f i e l d , and Ve rnWeese gxab ya?

Y o u ' 1 1 n o t e t h a t s i n g l e s a r e w e l c o m e .I t ' s b e i n g c o - s p o n s o r e d b y a n i n d e p e n d e n tconven t i on p lann ing g roup ca l l ed TheIn te r face Group and the Na t i ona l Sg r ra reDance D i rec to ry . Fo r t hose o f you who dono t know, t he Na t i onaL Squa re DanceD i rec to ry i s pub l i shed by Gordon Coss ou to f M i s s i s s i p p i . W e s t e r n S t a r w a s t h e€ i - ^ + ^ t u b t o l i s t i n t h er a L > L 6 4 J L r

i n te rna t i ona l d i r ec to ry , and Gordon Gosss a i d , " W h a t t h e h e c k , " a n d t o o k c h e r i s kt o a n n o t a t e o u r e n t r y a s " g a y . " W e L l , h eg o t a l o t o f f l a k , b u t h e a n d h i sp u b l i c a t i o n a r e s t i l l a l i v e a n d s t r o n g .

The re a re seve ra l WSD members who a rea l r e a d y r e g i s t e r e d , a n d D e s e r t V a 1 1 e ySquares i n Phoen i x repo r t s t ha t t he re w i l lbe t en o r no re o f t he i r members a t t end ing .VERN WEESE. who was a f ea tu red ca l l e r i nPhoen i x [Ed . who we expec ted to be the

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f i r s t s t ra igh t ca l l e r t o be seen i n d ragin a Honky Tonk Queen Con tes t - -bu t M IKEBESSIE MAE MUCHO DeSISTO bea t h im l hasbeen adv i sed tha t a l a rge con t i ngency o fgay dancers is going to be encouraged.H e ' s e x c i t e d , o f c o u r s e . T E D O A K E S , f r o mDeser t Va l l ey Squa res and fo rmer l y o fSan F ranc i sco , has vo lun tee red to a r rangeto have the IAGSDC banner hung in theconven t i on ha l1 i n Las Vegas .

I f you tve go t a f ew ex t ra penn ies i n you rpocke t and a f e r ^ / ex t ra vaca t i on o r s i ckdays [Ed . See Sce f fany fo r makeup h in t st o c r e a t e t h e i l l u s i o n o f i l l n e s s . Lcons ide r t h i s Las Vegas ex t ravaganza .

He took a mernory ccurse andmemor i zed one hund red phonen u m b e r s . N o w h e c a n ' t r e m e m b e rthe names tha t p ,o w i t h t hem.

SKI P-A-LUNCHFOR

PROJECT OPEN HAND

A t t h e A u g u s t 2 8 m e e t i n g o f t h e B o a r d o fD i rec to rs , MAX ROBB sugges ted tha t WSDp a r t i c i p a t e i n t h i s p r o j e c E . I t \ ^ r a su n a n i m o u s l y a g r e e d , a n d t h e B o a r d ' ss e c r e t a r y , K E N T H A N S E N , v o l u n t e e r e d t oc o o r d i n a t e t h e p r o j e c t f o r t h e C l u b . I ti s t h e e d i t o r ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h a t t h e S FAIDS Founda t i on Food Bank i s t o be mergedw i th P ro j ec t Open Hand the f i r s t o fS e p t e m b e r .

I r e p r i n t e d f r o m M E A L T I M E S , t h e q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r o fP : . j i : i C p e r . I l a n d , N c . t r S w n e r 1 9 9 C 1

FIRST ANNUAL FUNDMISERKICKS OFF IN SEPTEMBER

l ^ r h o ' s t h a t h i g h - s t e p p i n g w a i t r e s s w i t h t h ea i r b o r n e l u n c h b o x ? t E d . T h e r e ' s ag r a p h i c i n t h e a r t i c l e . ] l " t h y , i t ' s S a l l yS k i p - A - L u n c h - s y m b o l o f P r o j e c t O p e nH a n d ' s u p c o m i n g c i t y w i d e f u n d r a i s e r .Y o u ' 1 1 s e e h e r p o p p i n g u p a l } o v e r t o w nf rom now un t i l t he end o f Sep te rnbe r .

Sa l l y l san ts you r l unch money . Tha t i s ,she wan ts you and a1 I you r f r i ends toS k i p - A - L u n c h - - o r s e v e r a l l u n c h e s - - o n c e aw e e k - - o r m o r e t h a n o n c e - - d u r i n g S e p t e m b e r

F A L L 1 9 9 0

and send the money to Open Hand. $10wou ld f eed one o f Open Hand ' s c l i en t s f o rtwo days ; $35 wou ld f eed one fo r a who lew e e k .

" I t ' s t h e b e s t l u n c h y o u n e v e r a t e , " s a y sfounder RUTH BRINKER. "The campaign wi l lhe lp us keep turn ing out 2000 meals a dayfo r peop le whose l i ves depend on no tsk ipp ing g4y mea ls . "

To be l aunched on Sep tember 10 w i th a ga lanoon t ime show wh ich ACT 's KEN SONKiN i sp roduc ing i n Jus t i n He rman P laza , Sk ip -A -Lunch i s che f i r sc pub l i c campa ign tha tOpen Hand has eve r moun ted . I t i nv i t esthe who le San F ranc i sco commun i t y t o j o i ni n , wh i l e pa r t i cu la r l y t a rge t i ng emp loyeeso f c o r p o r a t i o n s a n d b u s i n e s s e s .

Corpo ra te sponso rsh ip i s be ing sough t t ohe lp unde rwr i t e i t , and "Top Bananas " a rebe ing rec ru i t ed t o se rve as l eade rs w i t h i nc o m p a n i e s . " T o p B a n a n a s " I E d . T h a t ' syou , Ken t . ] d i s t r i bu te dona t i on enve lopesa n d p o s t e r s , or ganize i n - h o u s ecompe t i t i ons and p rov ide i n fo rma t i on .

Look fo r " Jus t Say No To Lunch" i n ads andon b i l l boa rds ; "We Don ' t Know You Bu t WeWan t You r Lunch Money " on bus she l t e r s ;"Lunch , Smunch" on the s ides o f buses .

Bay a rea rad io and TV shows , ma1az ines andnewspapers a re wo rk ing w i th Sk ip -A -Lunchto sp read the word . Supe rmarke ts , r e ta i ls to res and thea te rs a re d i s t r i bu t i nge n v e l o p e s a n d d i s p l a y i n g p o s t e r s .

J o i n i n g i n i s r e a l s i m p l e . S k i p - A - L u n c h .Conv ince a f r i end . Grab an enve lope .Wr i t e a check . Or ca l l I t he WSI )c o o r d i n a t o r K e n t a t 8 6 3 - 2 3 8 3 . ] .

I E d . I t s e e m s t o m e t h a t i c w o u l d b eq u i t e e a s y f o r e a c h o f u s t o s e n d m o n e y .B u t - - e q u a l l y i m p o r t a n t i s t h e a c t o fsk ipp ing 1unch . You r f ood dep r i va t i on( d o e s n ' t t h a t s o u n d C a t h o l i c l e n t ) w i l lenhance the impor tance o f ou r i nd i v i dua lsac r i f i ces o f such a sma l l amoun t o fnoney - - t he re a re f r i ends and fe11ow squa redance rs who wou ld have sus ta ined pe r i odso f f ood dep r i va t i on we re i t no t f o r t heca r i ng hands o f P ro jec t Open Hand . ]

He bough t h i s w i f e some f i nech ina so she wou ldn ' t t r us t h imto wash the d i shes .

A G. L.O. E. ING EXPERIENCE

ANNA DAI,TIANI

Las t sp r i ng WSD sen t ou t a ma i l i ng t oseveral hundred non-prof i t organizat ionsadvis ing them that the Club would bew i l l i n g t o a s s i s t t h e m b y m e a n s o f al e a r n - t o - s q u a r e - d a n c e e v e n t f o r t h e i rg roups . One response reques t i ng a s t rongwoman 's p resence p rov ided me w i th anoppo r tun i t y t o ca l l f o r t he women o f GLOE(Gay /Lesb ian Ou t reach to E lde rs ) . I n t hep a s t , I h a d a t t e n d e d a n d a s s i s t e d w i t hmany such even ts , bu t t h i s was my f i r s tt i m e c a l l i n g / t e a c h i n g s o l o . N e e d l e s s t osay I was ne rvous as I kep t f o rge t t i ng t ob rea the . [Ed . WSD has p rov ided Sundayrec rea t i on f o r t he l a rge r GLOE g roupb e f o r e a l s o . ]

l ^hen I a r r i ved a t t he ha l l a ha l f hou re a r l y a n d n o o n e e l s e w a s t h e r e , I w a sc e r t a i n n o o n e w o u l d s h o w u p . B u t , i tw A S n ' t l o n s . b e f o r e s o m e o f t h e w o m e ns t a r t e d s h o w i n g u p . They v/ere veryf r i e n d l y a n d e x c i t e d a b o u t l e a r n i n g t osqua re dance ; many recoun ted memor ies o fs q u a r e d a n c i n g i n s c h o o l a n d c o u l d n ' f w a i tt o t r y aga in . I soon began to re lax andb r e a t h e n o r m a l l y .

Lr leen the t ime came, everyone in the roomwas i ns t ruc ted to g rab a pa r tne r and fo rma b i g c i r c l e . T h e y d i d n ' t k n o w i t , b u t Ir , ^ , . F ' ^ . . _ - , ) + L : _ - ^ i n t w i t hw u J r l L L u l l L L r r r g u d L L I I I J P v

whe the r o r no t t he re ! / e re enough dance rsfo r an even number o f squa res . They weret a u g h t s e v e r a l c a l l s s u c h a s h o n o r s , d o -s i - d o , a n d c i r c l e s . A f t e r a c a l l w a sF ^ " - L + ^ r ; + + r : b i t o f h a s h w a s d o n e t oL d u 6 r l L , d t a L u r E

r e i n f o r c e t h e l - e a r n i n g o f t h a t c a I 1 .A f t e r t h e r e i n f o r c e m e n t h a s h , a l o n g e r b i co f hash was g i ven wh ich i nc luded a l l t hep r e v i o u s c a 1 1 s .

B r e a k l B u t a s h o r t o n e . W e r e f o r m e d t h eb i g c i r c l e t o i n c o r p o r a t e s o m e l a t e c o m e r s .Eve ry th ing was rev iewed , and a f ew ca l l sw e r e a d d e d . F r o m h e r e , s m a l 1 c i r c l e s w e r efo rmed and a l l t he ma te r i a l p resen ted thus

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS FALL 1990

f a r w a s r e v i e w e d - - a d d i n g , o f c o u r s e , j u s t

a l i t t l e more . The t rans i t i on f r om theb ig c i r c l e t o t he sma l l e r ones mean t t ha tsome of the women would become spectatorsfo r awh i l e . I assu red them tha t eve ryonewould have an equal chance to dance, andseve ra l w i l l i ng l y vo lun tee red to s i t ou tas we had been work ing rea l l y ha rd .

A f te r l ea rn ing a f ew more ca l1s , I p l ayedt h e f i r s t s i n g i n g c a l l . ( N o , I d i d n o ta t t emp t t o s i ng . I a l l owed the reco rd t odo tha t f o r r ne . ) [Ed . I i ] eew ! I wasp resen t t he one and on l y t ime , I be l i eve ,the a t t emp t was made . Bu t I mus t t e1 lyou , gen t l e reade rs , Anna i s be t te r t hanLes l i e C la rk . ] Eve ryone was g igg l i ng andhav ing a b las t danc ing to t he I i kes o fB a r n a c l - e B i l l I E d . O h , m y g o d ! N o ta g a i n ! ] a n d o t h e r s i l i y s o n g s . C o n t i n u i n gw i t h a f e w m o r e c a l l s a n d s i n g e r s ,eve ry th ing was done tw i ce t o ensu re a I lhad a chance to dance .

By the end o f t he a f t e rnoon , I was rea l l yg lad they had asked me to come . Theexpe r i ence was a l o t o f f un f o r me , andthe ene rgy and en thus iasm in t he i r f aceswas g rea t f ood fo r my sou1 . The dance rswere ve ry g ra te fu l and exp ressed thed e s i r e t o d o i t a g a i n - - s o o n . I ' d l o v e t odo i t aga in f o r t hese wonder fu l women w i thj o y i n t h e i r f a c e s a n d s p i r i t s a s t h e ydanced and p layed . They focused myr e a l i z a t i o n o n t h e e x c i t e m e n t o f h a v i n g aroom fu l l o f new dance rs who a re hav ing af e s t i v e e x p e r i e n c e b e c a u s e o f s o m e t h i n g Iwas hav ing so much fun do ing . My god , Iwas hav ing fun ! I s t h i s rea l?

SHE LIKES US.SHE REALLY, REALLY

LIKES US.

l repr in ted f to r l1 !g j - - !g !g lgd , news le t te r o f The T imesS q u a r e s , V o l . 5 , N o . 1 2 , A u g u s t 1 9 9 0 ]

D e a r T i m e s S q u a r e s D a n c e r s ,

I don' t know how I can ever thank you fora l l you have done fo r me . You havec h a n g e d m y w h o l e l i f e - - f o r t h e b e t t e r .

I have l ea rned how to hug and k i ss - -w i t hrnean ing . I have l ea rned how to l ove - -w i t h s i nce r i t y and f rue mean ing . I l oveyou a l l f r om the bo t tom o f my hea r t - -w i t h

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

n o r e s e r v a E l o n s .

I have , i n t he p rocess , l ea rned how tolove mysel f . I am no longer a know-no th ing l i t t l e o ld l ady . I am aworthwhi le person. I am important andloved and whole. ldhat I say and do ismean ing fu l . My body i s pe r fec t , mydanc ing i s pe r fec t , and I en joy i t , andwha t I say i s i n te l l i gen t .

1 owe i t a l l t o you . I c wasn ' t any th ings p e c i a l t h a t y o u s a i d o r d i d ; i t w a s j u s tb e i n g y o u . Y o u n e v e r c r i t i c i z e m e . Y o ualways t reat me as though I am someonespec ia l . You make me p roud to bea s s o c i a t e d w i t h y o u .

I ' rhen I wore my beaut i fu l new dress yougave me to a dance , I f e l t l oved andc h e r i s h e d . I t h o u g h t t o m y s e l f , " T h e ywou ld be p roud o f me i f t hey cou ld seerne . tt

Thank you so much for everyth ingy o u . - - D O R I S

I l o v e

I E d . A w o r d o f b a c k g r o u n d . F o r t h o s e o fyou who have a t t ended an IAGSDC Conven t i onbeg inn ing w i th Phoen i x i n 1988 , you mayr e m e m b e r D o r i s a s t h e s h o r t . w h i t e - h a i r e dg randmothe r l y - l ook ing ! / oman i nvo l ved up toh e r e y e b a l l s w i t h T h e T i m e s S q u a r e s .W e l l , s h e i s a g r a n d m o t h e r . T h e s t o r y , a sI u n d e r s t a n d i t . i s t h a t D o r i s i s are t i r ed t eache r who moved to NYC to l i vew i th he r son . She once announced to he rs o n , w h e n r e q u e s t e d t o s t a y w i t h t h e^ - ^ - ^ r ^ 1 - i 1 r - ^ - t h a t s h e h a d a d a n c e t oS r a r r u u r r r r u ! s l l , I

^ ' F ^ - ^ r ^ L ^ n o t a b a b y s i t t e r . I d od L L C I t U - _ 5 t l g W d 5

no t know why , bu t Do r i s has re tu rned coSou the rn Ca l i f o rn ia - -whe re she was l i v i ngp r i o r t o mov ing to New York .

As a squa re dance r , i f you do no t pu tf o r t h a n e f f o r t t o b e f r i - e n d o r a c c e p td a n c e r s o r p u t f o r t h a t l e a s t a f e w s i m p l ewords o f encou ragemen t t o ano the r dance r ,s o m e t h i n g i s m i s s i n g . S q u a r e d a n c i n g i sa c o o p e r a t i v e e f f o r t , n o t a n a c t i v i t y t op r o m o t e o u r n a t u r a l s e l f i s h n e s s . A si m p o r t a n t a s b e i n g a c o m p e t e n t s q u a r ed a n c e r i s t h e a b i l i t y t o a s s i s t a n de n c o u r a g e o t h e r s . ]

FA-LL 1990

He pins badges on f rankfur tersand se l l s t hem as po l i ce dogs .

PROBLEI-IS I,IE HAVE OBSERVED

BILL WHEELER, DeRidder, LA

( r e p r l n t e d f r o m G u t d e l l n e s , V o I . X \ r M t m e r 1 9 9 0 ,N e v s l e t t e r f o r m e m b e r s , s u b s c r l b e r s a n d a f f i l l a t eo r g a n i z a t l o n s o f C a l l e r l a b )

I am \ , i r i t ing th is to express ourobse rva t i ons o f squa re danc ing i n ou r a reaand on our tours through Oklahoma,F l o r i d a , T e n n e s s e e , L o u i s i a n a , a n d T e x a s .We got in to square dancing for theexe rc i se and to mee t peop le when we f i r s tmoved to Lou i s i ana f rom Ind iana .

We found tha t squa re danc ing takes ace r ta in amoun t o f ded i ca t i on and regu la rp a r t i c i p a t i o n t o m a i n t a i n p r o f i c i e n c y . I tseems that many people do not \ tant to putfo r th t he e f f o r t . I f ee l even tua l l y a l ldance rs and ca l l e r s w i l l have to bec e r t i f i e d b y a n o r g a n i z a t i o n .

The p rob lems we encoun te red i n ou r l essonswere dancers who del ighted in turn ing neu/dancers r^ / rong or confus ing them ; andc a l l e r s w h o d i d n ' t t e a c h b y d e f i n i t i o n b u tb y u s i n g s i m i l a r c a l l s t o e x p l a i n t h ep a t t e r n ( i . e . , s t a r t h r o u g h , C a l i f o r n i atw i r l , pass t h rough fo r t he cen te rs pa r to f l o a d t h e b o a t ) . l E d . N o w t h a t ' sd i f f e ren t . Works i f you happen to be i nt h e c o r r e c t " s e x u a l " p o s i t i o n . A n d g a yp e o p l e a r e s u p p o s e d t o b e q u e e r . ] T h ec a 1 1 s , i f t a u g h t b y d e f i n i t i o n , m a k e agood founda t i on f o r con t i nued danc ing . I ft hey a re no t t augh t by de f i n i t i on f r o rneve ry imag inab le pos i t i on , t he dance rs a rege t t i ng sho r t changed .

We found dancers who only go to one or twospec ia l dances a yea r and th ink t hey candance as we l l as dance rs who dance th reeand fou r t imes a week . We found dance rswho do not th ink they need to work shopeven though they only dance once or twicea mon th . We found c lubs and ca l l e r s whowan t t he who le Bas i c , Ma ins t ream, and P lusl isLs taught in the three months of summervaca t i on (when schoo l i s ou t ) o r w i t h i n at ime convenient for a c lub to have i tsc lass ready to dance a t t he ann i ve rsa ry

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

dance or another specia l dance. We foundca l l e r s who teach ca l1s acco rd ing to wha tf igure is in the song they want to do. Wehave gone Eo a " greenie" dance ( for newlyg radua ted dance rs o r new dance rs ) , and thecal lers were t ry ing to impress the crowdinstead of t ry ing to keep the dance at theleve1 o f t he new dance rs .

We have , on many occas ions , had dance rs i nour square, 3t a dance featur ing ana t i ona l ca l l e r . and had no t known un t i lthe square broke down, or af ter the t iptha t a coup le o r a dance r has no t ye tg radua ted o r has no t been to l essons fo rtha t 1eve1 o f dance , o r a re new dance rs .I am w i l l i ng t o he lp new dance rs , bu t Icanno t he lp i f I do no t know they a re newd a n c e r s .

We have found ca l l e r s who p r i de t hemse lvesin breaking the f loor down or t ry ing toshow the dance rs t hey can ca l l be t t e r t hanthe dance rs can dance . We have v i s i t edc l -ubs where the ca l l e r wo rkshoppedadvanced f i gu res o r ca l l s , and the c lubthey a re ca l l i ng f o r canno t dance theBas i c p rog ram p rope r l y . We have run i n toexpe r i enced c lubs tha t a re se lec t i ve i nthe members t hey wan t t o a t t end the i rc l a s s e s o r c l u b d a n c e s . S o m e d a n c e r s a n dc lubs a re so "hung up " on wha t l eve l al ^ ^ ^ ^ + t r - ^ . , ^ - l ^ ^ ^ i t i ^ l ^ - ^ ^ lu d r r L E L r r s J d ! c L r d > 5 r ! r c u d 5 r d S u u u

ca l l e r can make any l eve l dance fun i ft hey do the i r homework . Any ca l l e r canc h a l l e n g e a f l o o r j u s t d o i n g b a s i c s i ft hey do the i r homework . A re t he c lubc a l l e r s l a z y , n o t w a n t i n g t o w o r k a t t h e i rp ro fess ion , o r a re t he dance rs wan t i ng t hev a r i e t y t h a t w i l l p r e s e n t a c h a l l e n g e ? It h i n k i t a l l c a n b e d e f i n e d a s E G O . I f w ec a n e l i m i n a t e e g o i s m f r o m t h e c 1 u b s , t h ed a n c e r s , a n d t h e c a l l e r s , w e w i l L h a v e al o t o f t h e p r o b l e m l i c k e d .

W e a l s o h a v e t h e p o l i t i c s ; t h e b i c k e r i n gw i t h i n t h e c 1 u b s , t h e c l i q u e s , t h eb i cke r i ng be tween the c lubs . Many c lubsa re no t run by Robe r t s Ru les o f O rde r bu tby one o r two peop le who a re e i t he r t hemos t popu la r o r a re w i l l i ng t o t ake ano f f i c e . I n m a n y c l u b s a n d a s s o c i a t i o n s ,t h e l a d d e r o f p r o g r e s s i o n i s m e r e l yg e t t i n g v o t e d i n t o t h e s e c r e t a r y ' s j o b ,a n d 5 o r J y e a r s l a t e r t h e y a r e p r e s i d e n t ,and the same th ink ing i s pe rpe tua ted .Some o f t hese o rgan i za t i ons t r y t o t akethe fun ou t o f squa re danc ing . I n some

FAIL 1990

areas i t seems to be the round dancers whowant the square dancers to be pr im andp rope r , l i ke t hey seem to v /an t t o be . Fo rthe mos t pa r t , t he bes t c l ubs I have seena r e c a l l e r - r u n c l u b s . [ E d . T h i s i s n o tthe trend in the gay comrnunity, but isprevalent outs ide the gay communi ty . ]

We have been asked by a group of dancersi f l^ te could do anyth ing, throughCa l l e r l ab , abou t a ca l l e r who fo l l ows h i sov;n ru les. We to ld them that theorganizaXion is not a governing body, buca n a s s o c i a t i o n o f c a l l e r s t r y i n g t os tanda rd i ze squa re danc ing so tha t peop lein one s ta te o r coun t r y cou ld go toano the r s ta te o r coun t r y and dance . SomeCa l l e r l ab gu ide l i nes a re no t be ing adhe redt o , b u t t h e n , n o t a l l c a l l e r s b e l o n g t oC a l l e r l a b .

W i th respec t t o t he younge r gene ra t i on ,the problem I have run in to is they learnqu i ck l y and gec bo red when the ove r -21g roup does no t ca t ch on as qu i ck l y . I nthe future I wi l l on ly teach youngerpeop le i n t he i r own age g roup so I do no tl o s e t h e m .

you r dances . Wha t a cha rge i t i s t o be ap a r t o f i t !

I a lways appreciate the opportuni ty to bean i nv i t ed gues t i n you r c i t y , t o gec toknow you a l l be t t e r , and to l ea rn a l i t t l emore abou t a d i f f e ren t pe rspec t i ve onI i f e . f ' m s u r e i t ' s n o s e c r e t t h a t Ithoroughly enjoy mysel f whenever I 'm intown, and the constant banter ing betweena l l o f t he "g i r l s " and me does addimmeasu rab l y . Bes ides , whe re e l se cou ldI go and be able to return home wi thstor ies about how I went to a dance andfound myse l f be ing tL re Be fLe o f t he Ba l7 r .(Ask Anna o r B lanche . )

A 1 1 k i d d i n g a s i d e , i t w a s , a s a l w a y s , ao l - e a s u r e t o s e e a 1 l o f y o u . I l o o kfo rward to see ing you aga in l a te r t h i sy e a r .

S i n c e r e l y ,Pau l Wa te rs

P . S . T h e r u m o r s t h a t I w a s a u c t i o n e d o f ff o r Sa tu rday n igh t a re t o ta l l y un founded

. t he m in imum b id was neve r reached .

I E d . Pau l w i l l be ca l l i ng t he WSDn L - ; - + - ^ ^ n ^ . - ^ ^ D e c e m b e r

- / . lv r l ! ! J L U I o J u d l t u g ,

I f he shou ld eve r change h i sf a i t h , i t ' 1 1 b e b e c a u s e h e n oI o n s e r t h i n k s h e ' s G o d .

VAILED VAGARIES(0R BIRTHIN' ,BABIES)

FREEMAN STA.I.{PER

ZOOM to t he Rock ies , t he Rocky Moun ta inR a i n b e a u s ' f 1 y - i n J u l y 2 0 t h r o u g h 2 2 ,marked the i r s i x th ann i ve rsa ry . I t wasmuch l i ke any o the r f l y - i n excep t f o r t heb i r t h t h a t o c c u r r e d . R e a d o n t o l e a r n o ft he announcemen t o f t h i s i n te rna t i ona lb i r t h . I t w a s t r u l v a w e s o m e .

As I have been to many IAGSDC conven t i ons -- i nc lud ing the f i r s t , I have been to many€ 1 . , - i ^ - T L ^ t ' ^ f ^ r ^ T L ^ , , ^ l ^ ^ l + t - ^ - e ^ ^ rr r ) - r r l > . r r r c r c r u l c , l - I I d v c t l a u L I l e B . L e < l L

f o r t une o f be ing w i th dance rs as t heye x p e r i e n c e t h e i r f i r s t w h a t e v e r . A l l o f

No, I do not have any answersknow some of the problems

I j u s tI have

encoun te red . I don ' t know how to ge tanyone or any c lub to change. Maybe i ft h e c l u b s w o u l d s u b s c r i b e t o C a l l e r l a b ' sgu ide l i nes and e th i cs , t he dance rs cou ldbe assu red o f t he l eve l o f danceadve r t i sed . and the assoc ia t i on wou ld havesome con t ro l ove r t he ca l l e r . Th i s wou ldbe s im i l a r t o t he Good Sa rn C lub fo rRV 'e rs ; no t eve ry campground i s endo rsedo r l i s ced i n t he i r campground gu ide bu ryou can res t assu red , i f t he Good Sam Logoi s o n t h e s i g n , t h e r a t i n g i s c o r r e c t .

(con t . r lbu ted by ANNA DAMIANI )

SUPER CHARGED t . l ITHPAUL WATERS

D e a r W e s t e r n S t a r D a n c e r s :

Thank you fo r a l l ow ing me to be a pa r t o fyou r P r i de Weekend fes t i v i t i es . Asa lways , ca l l i ng you r dance was exhaus t i ngand i nv igo ra t i ng - -bo th a t t he same t ime .I t never ceases to amaze me how muchene rgy and e lec t r i c i t y can be gene ra ted a t

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS F A L L 1 9 9 0

these events have a s imi lar format in thatthey provide dancing, d in ing, andd i ve r t i ng s i de t r i ps . I t i s w i t h g rea tre l ie f that I repor t that ZOOI4 had noworkshop sess ions . Workshops j us t seemo u t o f p l a c e a t a f l y - i n , s i n c e t h ep r imary emphas i s seems to be i n te rpe rsona lexpe r i ences i n an ac t i v i t y -packeds c h e d u l e . ( N o w I ' 1 1 s t e p o f f m y s o a p b o x . )

A r r i v i ng a t S tap le ton A i rpo r t v /as w re t chedfo r mos t f l y i ng f 1y - i ne rs . Wea the r wasno t g lamorous so f l i gh t s \ { e re de layed .The l as t t h i ng I sa id t o myse l f be fo releav ing home was , "Shou ld I pack myumbre l l a? Nah ! Not Denver in thesummer. "

BJ , one o f i ny hos ts (h i s l ove r i sGUENTHER) , p i cked me up a t t he a i rpo r t anddepos i t ed me a t a used reco rd s to re whe remy ob jec t i ve was to pe rsuade an emp loyeeto a l l ow me to t ake one o f t he i r r e fe renceb o o k s a n d c o p y i t . ( I h a d d i s c o v e r e d i tt he re a yea r ago . ) You see , t he book i sou t o f p r i n t and two p ro fess iona l booksea rches have no t been success fu l i nl o c a t i n g i t . S u c c e s s ! D o d g i n g t n / a t e r

d rops w i th no umbre l l a , I f ound a copy ingf a c i l i t y . T h e n i t w a s o f f f o r a v i s i cw i th my l onges t - s tand ing f r i end , KAREN.She and I we re p raye r pa r tne rs a t t heB a p t i s t S t u d e n t C e n t e r a t N o r t h e a s tL o u i s i a n a U n i v e r s i t y ( t h e n a S t a t eCo l l ege ) du r i ng ou r f r eshman yea r i n 1963 .She has he r 1aw p rac t i ce i n a wonde r fu lo 1 d h o u s e . O u r c o n v e r s a t i o n n e c e s s a r i l yh a d t o l e a p f r o g f r o m t o p i c t o t o p i c .

Then i t was o f f t o t he Hay lo f c f o r F r i dayn igh t po t l uck and danc ing . The food wasd e l l c i c u s a r . C . r a r i e C a s c n e r . r o u l - d e x p e c t -- e x c e p t f o r t h o s e p e a c e f u l l i t t l e w h i t eb e a n s w i t h u n p r e t e n t i o u s g r e e n p a r t i c l e sm ixed i n . Ja lapenos a re no t n i ce f o reas te rn pa la tes ! SAUNDRA BRYANT (and i t ' sSaund ra o r Sand ie [ bu t I don ' t know fo rc e r t a i n w h e t h e r i t ' s w i t h " i e " o r " y " ) ,but never Sandra) and BILL EYLER( s o m e t i m e s B i l l y B o b ) d i d a f i n e j o bc a 1 l i n g .

Now one th ing was d i f f e ren t . Th i s pa r t yh a d a 4 t h o f J u l y t h e m e . R e d , w h i t e , a n db lue deco r , Unc le Sam and Mo l l y B rown , anda p i a n o s i n g - a - l o n g o f p a t r i o t i c s o n g s .You see , each even t was a d i f f e ren th o l i d a y t h e m e .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

Ear ly Saturday morning, a whole busload ofu s s e t o u t f o r V a i l . C o f f e e , j u i c e , a n dmuf f i ns we re se rved en rou te . We s toppedat Che Eisenhower Tunnel to square up inthe park ing lo t . The p lan was thaE DENNISwould br ing the equipment in the car andthen return to Denver. DENNIS was thereas we l l as t he equ ipmen t , bu t one i t t yb i t t y co rd was ove r l ooked tha t was neededto connec t i t a l l t oge the r . No p rob lem.Just form squares, put ANDY SHORE in them idd le ca l l i ng some hash , and a good t imewas had by a l l . I d id hear KATHY ask thed r i ve r i f we cou ld s top the re com ing back .L ihen que r i ed why , she s imp ly s ta ted tha tshe d id no t t r us t a t o i l e t on a mov ing buso c c u p i e d m o s t l y b y m e n . T h e t o i l e t d i d n ' ts e e m s o i l e d t o m e , b u t i t c e r t a i n l y w a suncomfo r tab le . Y o u s e e . i t h a d t h epo r t i on w i t h chemica l s ove r t he eng ine ,and chugging up the mounta ins createsl ^ ^ ^ + I t ' s t h e o n l y t i m e i n m yreco l l ec t i on o f peop le bu rn ing the i rbo t toms wh i l e hav ine f ros t b i t e on the i rn o s e s .

O h , t h e s e a s o n ? C h r i s t m a s . Y e p , c o m p l e t er , r i t h S a n t a h a t s , c a r o l i n g b o o k s , a n dC h r i s t m a s c o o k i e s . W e d i d s i n g o n e J e w i s hsong to rnake i t koshe r . Ge t t i ng Lo Va i land dec id ing wha t t o do was no p rob lem.Each pe rson chose wha t t hey wan ted to dow i th t he t h ree hou rs we were the re . Bu t .t h e s t o r y g o e s o n .

B e i n g d u l y c a u t i o n e d b y t h e t i c k e t s e l l e r ,16 o f us dec ided to cake the gondo las upt h e m o u n t a i n t o E a g l e ' s N e s t . R o u n d - t r i pfa re was $9 w i th no re funds fo r anyreason . Shou ld t he gondo la sys ten bec l o s e d , t h e a l t e r n a t i v e s w e r e : w a i t u n t i li t r e o p e n e d . w a l k d o w n t h e 7 - m i l e r o a d ,w a l k d o w n t h e 2 0 0 0 - f o o c s l o p e a t 4 5 " , o rbe suburbaned down. Suburbaned down?T h a t ' s r i d i n g i n a v a n f o r o n l y 8 p e o p l ea t a t i m e . A n d , o f c o u r s e , n o s e l f -r e s p e c t i n g p e r s o n f r o m S a n F r a n c i s c o o rNew York i s go ing to do any th ing subu rban !

The sun was ou t w i t h a f ew ques t i onab lec l o u d s a t a d i s t a n c e . N o p r o b l e m . W e ' 1 1i u s t r i d e u D . l o o k a r o u n d f o r a m i n u t eJ * " " _ r ,

(How long does i t t ake to l ook a tm o u n t a i n s w h e n t h a t ' s t h e o n l y s c e n e r y ? ) ,and turn around and r ide r ight back downf o r a d e l i c i o u s l u n c h i n V a i l V i l l a g e .Wrong ! l , Je d id t he f i r s t two , bu t , when wewere nex t i n l i ne t o boa rd t he re tu rn

1 0 FALL 1990

gondola, the system was shut down becauseo f l i gh tn ing . No es t ima te o f how long i twould be shut down, so we decided weshould have lunch at the outdoor barbecuein case we d idn ' t have t ime when we gotback to Va i l V i l l age . By the t ime wef i n i s h e d , i t ' s l o o k i n g w o r s e , a n d t h efurn i ture and food is being covered inp l a s t i c .

ADULT -4-

a>\,hit:cflurrrrner

Flourrtalrr^Fldven rre

| 1zso< , JUL 21s'O

W e 1 1 , i t ' s L 2 : 3 0 a n d t h e b u s l e a v e s a t2 p . * . The road wa lk t akes abou t twoh o u r s , t h e y w o n ' t r e n t b i k e s d u r i n ginc lemen t wea the r , and the queue fo r t hesubu rban duds i s a l ready p re t t y l ong .Take a deep b rea th because we d id i t !Y " p , 2 0 0 0 - f o o t d e s c e n t a t 4 5 " o r m o r e .Eve ryone was i n sneake rs excep t me , and Iw a s w e a r i n g m y b o o t s . T a l l w e t g r a s s ,r o c k s , r o u g h t e r r a i n , s o f t d i r t - - w e a l lt ook ou r t u rn a t f a l l s and s tumb l -es -Mak ing i t down i n t h ree waves o f peop le ,w e a r r i v e d a t t h e b u s s a f e l y b u t s o r e . Iwas ex t reme ly g ra te fu l f o r a l l t ha tp r a c t i c e I ' v e h a d i n h e e l s , a n d w e a l ldec ided tha t "C l imb Eve ry Moun ta in " was ananach ron i sm.

Thus , t he von T ramps were bo rn .I n t roduc ing the fam i l y bo rn on a moun ta int o p ( n o t i n T e n n e s s e e ) :

A N D Y S H O R E , S a n J o s e , C a l i f o r n i aB O B B E C K I N G , L o s A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i aBOB L INN, New York C i t yCHUCK NOVAK, Grand Rap ids , M ich iganCI-AY LYMAN, Pueblo, ColoradoDOUG ELDRIDGE, San F ranc i sco , Ca l i f o rn iaFREEMAN STMPER, San F ranc i sco , Ca l i f o rn iaKAREN F IELDS, Denve r , Co lo radoKARL JAECKEL, Denver, Col-oradoK I M N A G E L E , L o s A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i aMEL GARCIA , Denve r , Co lo radoM I K E S T A P L E S , S a n F r a n c i s c o , C a l i f o r n i aMONICA HAYWARD, Vancouver BC & Denver, CORANDY C IARKE, San Jose , Ca l i f o rn iaR IC GONZALEZ, A lbuque rque , New Mex i coR ICK PETTERSEN, Vancouve r , BC

The t r i p home was re f resh ing w i th co ld

eUARTERLY sELEcrroNS 11

l i ba t i ons , good naps , and fun cha t te r .

We were at the Cont inenta l Hote l for theSaturday evening meal and dancing.Ho l i day? Thanksg i v i r g - - comp le te w i t htu rkey , d ress ing , and c ranbe r r y sauce .The food was sat is fy ing but not verye legan t l y d i sp layed on the bu f fe t t ab les .The desse r t s we re d i sp layed nex t t o t hep la tes wh i ch , I was i n fo rmed , was supposedco rem ind you to save room fo r desse r t .What i t d id do was make the wai t longerfo r f ood a t t he o the r end o f t he l i ne .How cou ld anyone fo rge t desse r t?

Dancing star ted, and the BRYANT-EYLER teamk e p t u s o n o u r t o e s u n t i l 1 1 p . m . I a mcons tan t l y re f reshed emo t i ona l l y t o seef r i ends new and o ld ac t i ng so c i v i l l y andkind and t ru ly enj oy ing the energy of eacho t h e r . I w a s a s k e d t o a s s i s t w i t h t h e5 0 / 5 0 r a f f l e , a n d I ' m h a p p y t o r e p o r t t h a t$300 was ga the red i n abou t an hou r . Oncethe po t was up to $200 , t he add i t i ona l$ 1 0 0 w a s r a i s e d b y s e l l i n g d o u b l e - i n s e a m -l e n g t h s o f t i c k e t s f o r $ 5 . I t v r a s ag lo r i ous s igh t f o r wh i ch I was on my kneesin t hanks . The w inne r was J IM GUITTEREZ,fo rmer l y o f A lbuque rque bu t now o f Denve rs i n c e h a v i n g h i s h e a r t s t o l e n b yRa inbeau /be l l e M ITCH B .

Sunday brought a brunch at the gorgeous,sp raw l i ng home o f D ICK R IEDEL . Sunnywea the r and sc rump t i ous food fea tu r i ng ANNHOWARD's spec ia l wa f f l es . The qu i che andf r u i t s a l a d s w e r e n ' t b o m b e r s e i t h e r .H o l i d a y ? E a s t e r . Y e p , t h e r e w a s e g gdy ing , and che Eas te r Bunny appea red toh e l p c e l e b r a r e D E N N I S C O S S E Y ' s b i r r h d a yw i th a su rp r i se cake and ca rds . .

O f f t o t he Con t i nen ta l aga in f o r moredanc ing i n t he a f t e rnoon , dance rs seemeda l i t t l e s l u g g i s h b u t a n x i o u s t o g o . B U DBENNETT, a l oca l ca l l e r who has workedw i th t he Ra inbeaus , s topped by and b rough tt w o o t h e r c a l l e r s . S o r r y , I f o r g e t t h e i rn a m e s , b u t t h e y a r e w e l l r e s p e c t e d c a l l e r sa r o u n d t h e U . S . I t w a s t h e i r f i r s t t i m et o c a l l f o r a g a y g r o u p , s o I h o p p e d u pl i ke a bunny to ge t a chance to be amongt h e i r f i r s t .

I t was d inner on your own and then threem o r e h o u r s o f d a n c i n g a t B u d d i e s , a b a rwhere the Rainbeaus dance regular ly . ANDYSHORE d id an ou ts tand ing j ob hand l i ng t h i s

F A I L 1 9 9 0

dance. Exhausted, the dancers said goodbye and wen t home to co l l apse .

RUMOR MILL: According ro HARI-AND JYLHA,S a n A n t o n i o ' s c l a s s ( A 1 a m o C i t y W r a n g l e r s )should star t September 10. SAUNDRA BRYANTis no t hav ing a l o t o f comp l i ca t i ons w i thher pregnancy. MARLIN CRIDDLE, former lyo f T inse l t own and now o f Sa l t Lake C i t y ,wi l l probably have a group going th is fa l1(TEMPLE SQUARES?) . A New York dance r wast r y i ng fo r a Ch i cago dance r , bu t l os t ou tto a Los Angeles dancer (who ear l ier inthe day had become a von Tramp). HOLLYW00D, spen t qu i t e a l i t t l e t ime i n a t ax it r y i ng t o f i nd a seedy mo te l on Sa tu rdayn igh t . SYBIL PRESLEY 's name was men t i onedin va in even though she ' s so poo r shewasn ' t t he re . TOM TRIPP found choco la tesby S tephany ( t oo c lose fo r comfo r t ;S t e f f a n y ' s c o n s i d e r i n g a c o p y r i g h ti n f r i ngemen t su i t . )

H e s a y s i f i t h a d n ' t b e e n f o rT h o m a s E d i s o n w e ' d a l l b ewa tch ing TV by cand le l i gh t .

FROM THE DESK OF CRICKET

CRICKET MATHESON. San An ton io . TX

S ince the " cha l l enge" i n Vancouve r t o ge ta Eay c lub s ta r ted i n Texas was sog r a c i o u s l y e x p r e s s e d , i t h a s b e e n b e c o m i n ga r e a l i t y . F a t h e r s ' D a y w e e k e n d ,S a n A n t o n i o h a d a " m i n i f l y - i n . " T h e r evJere two squares of dancers who came f romA l b u q u e r q u e , D e n v e r , B a l t i m o r e , S e a t t l e ,a n d P o r t l a n d . W e h a d a f a n t a s t i c t i m e .

The Names P ro jecc was a l so i n t own , and wewen t t o see tha t . The re was a l so muchb a l l y h o o w i t h a l l o f t h e o t h e r t o u r i s t yth ings peop le do . And yep , pawdners , wed i d a f i r s t . B I L L E Y L E R c a l l e d t h e f i r s te v e r g a y t i p i n f r o n t o f t h e A l a m o . [ E d .Mr . Ey le r i s f r om A lbuque rque and i s t heg u e s t c a l l e r f o r W S D ' s C a z a d e r o R e t r e a t . l

The peop le o f San An ton io seemed to en joythe dancing, and I have had a decentresponse . I have been so busy tha t Imanaged to ge t a ca l l e r t o s ta r t t each ingc l a s s e s o n S e p t e m b e r 1 0 . I t h i n k h e i s

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

t he bes t ca l l e r i n t he c i t y ; he i s a l soca l l i ng f o r t he Ba l l oon F ies ta i nA lbuque rque . IEd . H i s name i s Rus tyFenne1l , and Amer ican Square Dance feelsh e h a s t h e c l e a r e s t i l l u s t r a t i o n s i n h i sc a l l e r s n o t e s . ] S o , y a ' I l g o o n o u t t oABQ and support the ALAMO CITY WRANGLERS,and hopefu l ly I can get h im as a permanentc a 1 1 e r .

Fa l l sess ion shou ld be rea l f un . Ihave found out that one of my inst ructorsi s a J e s u s f r e a k , w h i c h i s f i n e . I j u s th a v e t o t e l l h i m I a c c e p t J e s u s a n d i t ' sa n a u t o m a t i c " A . " L i t t l e d o e s h e r e a l i z etha t I 'm more o f a Tammv Fae Bakke r .

I wen t ou t t o t he ba r whe re we w i l lconduc t c l - asses and was asked to do ane x h i b i t i o n i n t w o w e e k s . t l e t t e r w a sda ted Ju l y 10 ] I t w i l l have to be a t \ , / o -c o u p l e s q u a r e s i n c e w e ' r e s h o r t 2 p e o p l efo r a f u11 squa re . We w i l l have to makei t l ook good and fun . The ba r i s hav ingcoun t r y & wes te rn dance compe t i t i on f i na l st h a t n i g h t , a n d w e w e r e a s k e d t o b e t h ee n t e r t a i n m e n t . F r e e p u b l i c i t v - - I ' 1 1 t a k e

I E d . A s a p o s t s c r i p t t o t h i s a r t i c l e ,SCOTT CAREY te l l , s me tha t Tammy Bakke r i sso conce rned abou t f ounda t i ons c rack ing i nCa l i f o rn ia ea r thquakes tha t she i s wo rk ingon a f ounda t i on c ream tha t w i l l no tc r a c k . ]

PAMPERING MYSELF

THE THREE R 's OF CHANGE:RECOVER, REFOCUS , REGENEMTE

I r e p r i n t e d f r o mS u m r e r 1 9 9 0 l

C U R R E N T S , B a y P a c i f i c ' s M e m b e r N e v s l e t t e r ,

As we a I I know, change i s t he on l yc o n s t a n t i n t h e l i v e s w e l e a d . B o t hp o s i t i v e a n d n e g a t i v e c h a n g e s h a p p e n t o u sa l l t h e t i m e . P r o m o t i o n s , r e l o c a t i o n s ,d i v o r c e , p a r e n t h o o d , a n d n u m e r o u s o t h e re v e n L s I E d . i n c l u d i n g u n e m p l o y m e n t ] c a nand do a f f ec t eve ryone . Lea rn ing how to^ ^ ^ ^ - ' i t s r - ̂ L ^ - ^ 1 e n a b l e s u s t o d e a l w i t hL U f ' r w r L r l L l l d r l S r

t h e s t r e s s t h e s e c h a n g e s b r i n g . T a k i n gthe t ime to recove r , r e focus , andregene ra te f o l l ow ing f - i f e changes can he lpus su rv i ve and even th r i ve .

L2 FAIL 1990

Recover. Af ter a l i fe changer 1rou need torega in you r sense o f ba lance and rou t i ne .You r s i t ua t i on r i gh t now may be s t ress fu l ,and your body may react by developingphysical s) rmptoms such as headaches oremo t i ona l ones l i ke dep ress ion . You needto take a step back and get " in touch"w i th you rse l f . P lan a weekend ge t -away .Take t ime fo r you rse l f . I t ' s necessa ryr i gh t now. Exe rc i se and ta l k i ng w i tho the rs a re exce l l en t s t ress reduce rs wh i chcan he lp you ge t back on t rack .

Re focus . You r f ee l i ngs a re m ixed andyou ' re no t t h i nk ing ve ry c l ea r l y . Bu t i fy o u a c c e p t t h a t , i t ' s o n e s t e p c l o s e r L ounde rs tand ing eve ry th ing tha t i s go ing onw i th you and you r new s i t ua t i on . Taket ime to t h i nk abou t wha t has happened ,rhy , and wha t i t m ighc mean .

Fo r examp le , i f you have recen t l y moved toa new c i t y , you may be exc i t ed abou t a ne r4 /j ob , bu t f ee l a b i t sca red abou t mov ing toa n e w l o c a t i o n , l e a v i n g f a m i l y a n df r i e n d s . L r i t h t i r n e , t h e s e f e e l i n g s w i l lc h a n g e . T a I k t o f r i e n d s , f a m i l y m e m b e r s ,o r a counse lo r o r human resou rcesp r o f e s s i o n a l .

Regene ra te . You r body reac ts t o changea n d s t r e s s . I t ' s i m p o r t a n t t o t a k e e x t r ag o o d c a r e o f y o u r s e l f a t t h i s t i m e . G e tp r o p e r r e s t , e a t c o r r e c t l y , a n d a v o i dunnecessa ry a l coho l / d rug and c iga re t t ei n t a k e . M e e t n e w p e o p l e o r r e e s t a b l i s ho ld acqua in tances By do ing so , you rc i r c l e o f s u p p o r t w i l l g r o \ . r , a n d y o u ' 1 1f e e l s t r o n g e r a n d b e t t e r .

C h a n g e i s n o t e a s y c o d e a l w i t h - - i t t a k e st i m e . B u t y o u w i l l g e t t h r o u g h i t , a n dthe change m igh t make you a be t te r pe rson .Accep t i ng t he fac t t ha t change has takenp lace i s impor tan t . When you take s tepst o r e c o v e r , r e f o c u s , a n d r e g e n e r a t e , y o umay f i nd t ha t you ' re rno re con ten t t han youw e r e b e f o r e .

A squa re l i ke h im they cou ldbu i l d a t o \ rn a round .

PETTICOATS ON WHEELS

I repr inted f ror ! !9I4{ l_!4I , September 1990]

The mounta ins may be rugged, the r iversw i d e , b u t f r o m t h e d r i v e r ' s s e a t o f h e r60 - foo t r i g , JUNE SCHLOSSER makes su re rhepe t t i coa ts a lways ge t t h rough . l n l s

pe t i ce , 64 -yea r -o ld g randmothe r f r omB r o w n s v i l l e , O r e g o n , s e l l s h a r d - t o - f i n dsqua re -dance appa re l f r om he r ro l l i ngs t o r e .

J u n e d r i v e s 2 0 , 0 0 0 m i l e s a y e a r w i t h h e rr a c k s o f t h e c o l o r f u l , f u l 1 - s k i r t e dd r e s s e s a n d l a c e - r u f f l e d b l o o m e r s f a v o r e db y s q u a r e d a n c e r s . B o u f f a n t p e t t i c o a t s i nmore than 40 co lo rs sway f rom ce i l i ngh o o k s . B e C e c k e d w i t h d e l i c a t e l a c e o rsmoo th sa t i n , t hese go rgeous ch i f f on andt a f f e t a c r e a t i o n s s e l l f o r $ 3 0 t o $ 2 5 0 o rm o r e .

Spend ing weekends a t dance fes t i va l sth roughou t t he No r thwes t , June has no ret h a n 5 , 0 0 0 r e g u l a r c u s t o m e r s a n d i s b o o k e dyea rs i n advance . Du r i ng the week , he rh u s b a n d , R o b e r t , h e l p s w i t h p a p e r w o r k a n ds h i p p i n g . M a r r i e d 2 6 y e a r s a n d p a r e n t s o fs i x g r o w n c h i l d r e n , t h e S c h l o s s e r s h a v eb e e n s q u a r e d a n c i n g s i n c e t h e ' 5 0 s . J u n es t a r t e d h e r b u s i n e s s i n I 9 l B a n d h o p e st h a t R o b e r t w i l l b e h e r p a r t n e r o n t h er o a d a s s o o n a s h e r e t i r e s .

" T h i s i s n ' c j u s t a j o b , I f e e l l i k e I ' m as p e c i a l p a r t o f s q u a r e d a n c i n g , " s h e s a y s .

c o n t r ! b u t e d b y P H I L I P S T O V E R w ! t h a n a b l e a s s i s t f r o m E D N AL O U T S E I

PLUCKED FRO},I THEGRAPEVINE

TAI ' ,1 I WYNOTTE [Ed. I pray to someone thati t ' s s p e l l e d c o r r e c t l y . S h e c a n b e s u c h^ L : r ^ L t - ^ - ^ - l - r t h a t t h e F i r e I s l a n dd u l L L r r , I r Y P v !

dances th i s summer we re a smash ings u c c e s s . M o s t s u c c e s s f u l w a s t h e m a k i n go f c o n t a c t s t o g e t a C & W b a r g o i n g i n N Y C .K E N N E T H V O L K , t h e e v e r - e b u l l i e n t S A T B ' e rr e p o r t s c h a t D R . M . R E C O R T , f r o m t h eM i n i s t r y o f H e a l t h f o r t h e P r o v i n c e o fB r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , n a s r e s p o n s i b l e f o rsupp l y i ng 1000 condoms to t he No r th S ta rPromenade Convent ion. A\L 'CI .NL\" KLEINand MITCH MER]" IEL of The Times Squares

QUARTERIY SELECTIONS 1 3 FALL 1990

proudly announce the b i r th of thei radopted son MICI IAEL JOSEPH KLEIN onApr i l 4 , 1990 . The K le in -Merme ls havebeen a t t emp t i ng to adop t a ch i l d f o rseve ra l yea rs and have j us t ce leb ra tedthe i r 14 th ann i ve rsa ry on Ap r i l 1 [Ed . Nof o o l i n g . ] . ' T i s r e p o r t e d t h a t M i c h a e lJoseph w i l l be i n d rag i n M iam i .

have on only one earr ing. ]would have the chance ofi n fe rence as 90 i n 100

. Thus , wea c o r r e c t

I e x e e r p t e d f r o m L E G A C Y L O G , S l " l m e r f s s u e 1 9 9 0 , n e w s l e i t e ro f t h e I n t e r n a t l o n a l A s s e m b l y o f " T r u s t e e s " o f t h e S q u a r eD a n c e A c t l v l t y l

I E d . L e g a c y i s a n o n - p r o f i t b o d y o fs q u a r e d a n c e r s o r " T r u s t e e s " r e p r e s e n t i n ga l l f ace ts o f squa re danc ing i nc lud ingd a n c e r s , c a l L e r s , r o u n d d a n c e c u e r s ,s u p p l i e r s , p u b l i s h e r s , a n d s p e c i a li n t e r e s t g r o u p s . L e g a c y h a s b e e n d e f i n e da s a l e a d e r s h i p - c o m m u n i c a t i o n s e c e n t e r .T rus tees mee t eve ry t " ro yea rs t o exchangeideas and to f o rmu la te p roposa l s andgu ide l i nes f o r t he good o f t he ove ra l lsqua re dance ac t i v i t y . The ed i t o r i s nowa n A f f i l i a t e M e m b e r - - o n e s t e p a t a t i m e .Th i s i s an i t em o f i n te res t i n LegacyL o g . )

The 1990 squa re dance popu la t i on census" d a t a p o s t c a r d s " r e c e i v e d t h r u J u n e 2 1 ,1 9 9 0 , h a v e b e e n a n a l y z e < l , a n d t h ef o l l o w i n g a r e p o i n t s f o r t h e r e a d e r ' si n fo rma t i on :

. 2 . C a r d s w e r e m a i l e d t o t h o s er a n d o m l y s e l e c t e d f r o m c o n t a c t s l i s t e d i nt h e N a c i o n a l S q u a r e D a n c e D i r e c t o r y .

4 . Resu l t s a re exo ressed as means(ave rage ) and s tanda rd e r ro r o f t he mean(SME) and pe rcen t e r ro r (SME d i v i ded bythe rnean ) . The SME was ad jus ted to a 90 tcon f i dence i n te rva l . I Ed . Can someonet e l 1 m e w h a t t h e h - - - t h a t m e a n s ? 9 O Zconf idence interval to me means that I

QUARTERLY SELEcTIoNs T4

Some survey highl ights :

U . S . S / D p o p u l a t i o n ! / a s 3 7 3 , 2 3 2 + / - 8 , 8 5 7 .C a n a d i a n S / D p o p u l a t i o n w a s 3 0 , 8 9 8 + / -2 . 0 I 7 .

P o p u l a t i o n f o r C a l i f o r n i a w a s 4 3 , 6 1 8 w i t h1 . 4 9 1 e r r o r .P o p u l a t i o n f o r B C , C a n a d a , w a s 9 , 3 I 7 .

A n e s t i m a c e d 3 . 8 5 t o f t h e U . S . a n d 7 . 4 6 to f t he Canad ian c lubs fo lded du r i ng1 9 8 9 - 9 0 .

A n e s t i n a t e d 3 3 . 5 2 t o f t h e U S a n d 3 5 . 4 8 to f t he Canad ian c lubs d id no t sponso r anyc f a s s r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e p r o g r a m d a n c e d .

Ave rage c lub membersh ip was s l i gh t l yg rea te r f o r t hose c lubs o f f e r i ng bo thsquare and round dance programs than thoseo f f e r i n g s q u a r e d a n c e p r o g r a m s o n l y ;howeve r , t he d i f f e rence \ , r as no ts i g n i f i c a n t .

M o r c s r r r w p v r c q l r l ! ^ - ' i I I ' - i n f u t u r gr r u r L r u L v E _ ! r r r u I U > W t L L d P P C d L

e<l i t ions of QUARTERLY SELECTIONS.

NO-SHOt.lS

R e p o r t s w e r e r e q u e s t e d , b u t n o t r e c e i v e d ,abou t t he S t rawber ry Dance and the C lub ' s. - ^ - # : ^ { - ^ } i ^ - . ' - r t h e A I D S W a l k .P O r U r L r y d L I U r r r l

T h e r e ' s a r u m o r s h e ' s p r e g n a n t- i t ' s a m i s s - c o n c e D t i o n .

FA] .L 1990

Pol icy Sta tement No. 14

INSTRUCTION PHILOSOPHYCONCERNING CLASS STRUCTURE

GENEML

Wes te rn S ta r Dance rs pe r i od i ca l l y o f f e r s c l asses i n t he Bas i c , l ' l a i ns t ream, and P lusp rog rams as de f i nedby Ca l l e r1ab . The pu rpose o f t hese c lasses i s t o p repa re t he s tuden tsto be ab le t o en joy squa re danc ing ac t i v i t i es a t t he i r cu r ren t l eve l s o f p ro f i c i encyo r r t s i de t he i r c l ass bo th w i t h in and ou ts ide the C1ub .

PURPOSE

The pu rpose o f t h i s po l i cy i s t o es tab l i sh gu ide l i nes by wh i ch the s tuden ts and the C lubcan a t t emp t t o measu re t he accomp l i shmen t o f t he i ns t ruc t i ona l goa l s . Add i t i ona l l y , t h i spo l i c . r ou t l i nes a ph i l osophy by wh i ch s tuden ts may make cho i ces among o the r ava i l ab les o c i a l a n d r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s .

A. INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS & PRIMARY PHILOSOPHIES

W S D p r o v i d e s i n s t r u c t i o n t h a t i s p a c e ds tuden t t o a s tanda rd o f p ro f i c i ency a th i m s e l f o r h e r s e l f i n a s q u a r e .

W S D e x p o s e s s t u d e n t s i n i t s c l a s s e s f o rp o s i t i o n s . T h i s i s r e f e r r e d t o a s D B Dd a n c i n g ) .

i n a p a r t i c u l a r p r o g r a m t o b r i n g a n a v e r a g ewh ich the dance r may i ndependen t l y suppo r t

a l l p rog rams Co non -s tanda rd dance r /pa r tne r( d a n c e b y d e f i n i t i o n ) a n d A P D ( a 1 I - p o s i t i o n

In add i t i on t o squa re dance i ns t ruc t i on , t he C lub p rov ides su f f i c i en t non -danc ings o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s s o t h a t t h e s t u d e n t s h a v e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o d e v e l o p f r i e n d s h i p so u t s i d e o f c 1 a s s .

4 . Wes te rn Sca r Dance rs subsc r i bes to and emphas i zes the e t i que t te s tanda rds asp resc r i bed by Ca l l e r I ab o r wh i ch a re gene ra l l y accep ted by t he g rea te r squa re dancecommun i t y .

A l 1 c l a s s a n d C l u b - r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s w h i c h a r e c o n s i d e r e d n e c e s s a r y f o r i n s t r u c t i o no r a r e p r i m a r i l y f o r s q u a r e C a n c i n g a r e s u b s t a n c e f r e e .

T e a c h i n g s t y l i n g w h i c h i m p e d e s a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f c a l l s o ra l l o w i n g s t y l i n g w h i c h i s l e a r n e d o u t s i d e o f W e s t e r n S t a r ' s c l a s s i s n o t e n c o u r a g e d .S t y l i n g m a y b e i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t h e i n s t r u c t i o n a t t h e d i s c r e c i o n o f t h ec a l l e r / i n s t r u c t o r ( s ) .

WSD encou rages a I1 s tuden ts t o dance w i th many d i f f e ren t dance rs .

I t i s E h e p o l i c y o f t h i s C l u b t o h a v e t h e g r e a t e s t d e g r e e o f l a t i t u d e p o s s i b l e i nrecommend ing g radua t i on f r om a pa r t i cu la r p rog ram. Gradua t i on f r om the Bas i c ,Ma ins t ream, and P lus p rog rams i s no t cons ide red to be au toma t i c . A consensus o f t heins t ruc to r ( s ) and C lub members respons ib le f o r t he coo rd ina t i on o f t he c l ass i sde r i ved f rom an eva lua t i on o f cu r ren t know ledge , demons t ra ted p rog ress , and thea b i l i t y t o c o n t i n u e t o p r o g r e s s .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 1 5 FALL 1990

B . D I S C U S S I O N S

Dura t i on & Fee

The fee announced fo r a pa r t i cu la r c l ass i si n t ha t p rog ram, no t a spec i f i c number o f

a ' The l eng th o f a c l ass i s s ta ted i n number o f weeks bu t i s no t t o be cons ide redan abso lu te . The gene ra l pe rsona l i t y o f each c lass and the admin i s t ra t i vede ta i l s f o r t he C Iub , as we l l as o the r f ac to rs , may i nc rease o r dec rease thed u r a t i o n o f t h e c 1 a s s .

b .

I f comp le t i on da tes a re ex tended , o the r t ypes o f c l ub dance ac t i v i t i es maya l ready have been schedu led on n igh ts wh i ch a re new ly -des igna ted as c l assn igh ts . A t t emp ts w i l l be made to p rov ide c lass - l eve I d " r , . . Jppo r tun i t i es onthose da tes ; howeve r , a supp lemen ta l dance fee may b .

" r . " " s . i . A t t endance

a t t hese non -c lass even ings i s op t i ona l t o s tuden ts .

DBDIAPD Concep ts

cons ide red to cove r a l l t he ca l l sw e e k s .

n o t f u n . C l a s s e s r e q u i r e aach ievemen t by t he ma jo r i t y

A11 p rog rams taugh t w i l l emphas rze the Ca l l e r l ab concep ts o f DBD (dance byd e f i n i t i o n ) a n d A P D ( a I 1 p o s i t i o n d a n c i . g ) . T o a c h i e v e a v e r a g e p r o f i c i e n c yrequ i res an unde rs tand ing o f t hese concepcs .

T e a c h i n g n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l , o r n o n - s t a n d a r d , p o s i t i o n i n g i s p a r t i c u l a r l yimpor tan t i n a l l ow ing the C lub to p rov ide dance oppo r tun i t i es wh i ch a re bo thfun and cha l l eng ing . Th i s "doub le exposu re " may necess i t a te ex tend ing ac lass beyond the no rma l , o r s tanda rd , du ra t i on . I nco rpo ra t i ng t he ApD/DBDc o n c e p t f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g b u i l d s s t r o n g e r , m o r e f l e x i b l e d a n c e r s .

3 .

c ' The C lub recommends tha t a s tuden t dance on l y one pa r tne r pos i t i on t h roughou tthe en t i r e i ns t ruc t i on f o r a pa r t i cu la r p rog ram. rn t he gay squa re dancecommun i t y ex i s t s t he wo rd "b idancua l " - -mean ing a dance r i s capab le o f danc inge i t h e r t h e l e f t - o r r i g h t - h a n d p o s i t i o n w i t h e n o u g h p r o f i c i e n c y t o s u p p o r tt h a t p o s i t i o n i n t h e s q u a r e . l n } i t h e x p e r i e n c e , s t u d e n t s a s w e L l a s C l u bmembers a re encou raged to become b idancua l . Th i s i s encou raged , no t requ i red .

Workshops

b .

D u r i n g i n s t r u c t i o n a l p e r i o d s , t h e C l u b a t t e m p t s t o p r o v i d e w o r k s h o p s f o rwh ich a t t endance i s op t i ona l . The pu rpose o f wo rkshops i s t o p rov idei n s t r u c t i o n f o r t h o s e w h o h a v e m l s s e d a c l a s s , n e e d a d d i t i o n a l e x p o s u r e c op a r t i c u r a r c a l l s , o r s i m p l y w i s h t o h a v e a d d i t i o n a l d a n c e e x p e r i e n c e .

F rom t ime to t ime , t he consensus o f t he i ns t ruc to rs and the c lass a rchange lmay resu l t i n t he recommenda t i on to a s tuden t ( s ) t ha t a t t endance a t wo rkshopsi s b e n e f i c i a l t o h i s o r h e r b e s t i n t e r e s t , a s w e l l a s t h a t o f t h e o t h e rs t u d e n t s .

4 S q u a r e D a n c i n g A s S o c i a l A c t i v i t y

S q u a r e d a n c i n g i s f u n , a s w e l l a s p h y s i c a l l y a n d m e n t a l l y s t i m u l a t i n g .Squa re danc ing i s a coope ra t i ve ac t i v i t y and requ i res dance rs t o deve lop thea b i l i t y t o i n t e r a c t w i t h m a n y d i f f e r e n t p " r . o n . i i t i e s .

b . A s w i t h a n y e d u c a t i o n p r o c e s s ,ba lance o f f un i n l ea rn ine ando f t h e s t u d e n t s .

a I l l e a r n i n gs a t i s f ac t i on

L 6

; ^

o f

QUARTERLY SELECTIONSFALL ] .990

b .

Students are encouraged to at tend as many act iv l t ies as possib le which aresoc ia l l y , no t i ns t ruc t i on , o r i en ted . I t i s be l i eved tha t t hese soc ia lac t i v i t i es ou ts ide the c lass env i ronmen t w i l l he lp t o m in im ize the need o fsome s tuden ts t o use the c lass so le l y as a f un soc ia l expe r i ence .

E t i que t te

a . E t i que t te i s cons ide red as v i t a l t o squa re dance educa t i on as l ea rn ing ca l l s .Wi th a few except ions which are c losely a l igned wi th the gay square dancecommun i t y , WSD p rac t i ces t he e t i que t te s tanda rds as p resc r i bed by Ca l l e r l abor which are general ly accepted by the greater square dance communi ty .

The spee i f i c po in t s wh i ch a re add ressed be low a re no t a l l t he aspec ts o fe t i que t te wh i ch a re pa r t o f t he C lub ' s p rog ram, bu t t hey a re o f pa ramoun timportance and need to be emphasized ear ly in the c lass envi ronment .

Punc tua l i t y a l l ows c lass t o beg in on t ime . O the r s tuden ts a re no t d i s rup tedby rea r rang ing pa r tne rs and /o r squa res once the t i p has begun .

d . T h e c a l 1 e r / i n s t r u c t o r ( s ) a r e s u p r e m e d u r i n g t h e t i p . I f m i s t a k e s i ni ns t ruc t i on a re made , con t i nue w i th t he t i p and c la r i f y t he s i t ua t i on du r i ngthe b reak . Co r rec t i ons by t he ca l -Te r / i ns t ruc to r ( s ) can be made a t t hebeg inn ing o f t he nex t t i p .

Rough / rude danc ing w i l l no t be to le ra ted as i t i s no t on l y impo l i t e bu t a l sounsa fe . O the rs can be i n j u red by unexpec ted fo rce fu l movemen ts . A f o r ce fu ldance r cou ld be wrong i n a t t emp t i ng to co r rec t o the r dance rs .

Once a squa re has fo rmed o r t he t i p has begun , i t i s ex t reme ly d i scou r teousto l eave a squa re f o r any reason o the r t han an emergency . Lea rn t o hang i nt h e r e a n d d o y o u r b e s t . T h e r e c a n a l w a y s b e a d i f f e r e n t s q u a r e n e x t t i m e .

U s e o f a l c o h o l a n d o t h e r s u b s t a n c e s i s n o t p a r t o f s t a n d a r d s q u a r e d a n c i n g .The en joymen t o f t hose i n a squa re depends upon eve ryone pe r fo rm ing h i s /he rpa r t i ndependen t l y and accu ra te l y . A l l peop le ( s tuden ts and C lub members )who a r r i ve a t c l ass i n tox i ca ted o r unde r t he i n f l uence o f o the r subs tancesw i l l b e a s k e d n o t t o p a r t i c i p a t e t h a t e v e n i n g . T h e r e a r e s o m e a c t i v i t i e ssponso red by t he C lub a t wh i ch the consumpt ion o f a l coho l i s pe rm i t t ed .Howeve r , whe re the p r imary pu rpose o f a C lub -sponso red even t i s squa red a n c i n g , a l c o h o l i s n o t p e r m i t t e d . T h e p r e s e n c e o f a l c o h o l w o u l d p r o h i b i tp a r t i c i p a t i o n b y t h o s e d a n c e r s w h o d e s i r e n o t t o a s s o c i a t e w i t h t h e s esubs tances . I t i s impo r tan t t o remember t ha t t he p r imary pu rpose o f ou r c l ubb e i n g a s q u a r e d a n c e c l u b i s t o s q u a r e d a n c e .

o '

I n s t a n c e s o f b e h a v i o r . o r p e r f o r m a n c e w h i c hb e a d d r e s s e d b y t h e c a l l e r / i n s t r u c t o r ( s ) ,B o a r d ' s d e s i g n e e o n a n i n d i v i d u a l b a s i s .

i s d i s r u p t i v e t o t h e c l a s s w i l lt h e B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s . o r t h e

S ty l i ng can be fun , bu t i t i s ex t reme ly d i s rupc i ve when no t execu ted the samew a y b y a l l d a n c e r s . S t u d e n t s a r e t a u g h t t h e b a s i c c a l l s w i t h o u t s t y l i n g i no rde r t o bu i l d a s t rong , f l ex ib le dance r i n t he DBD/APD concep ts . One o f t hec a r d i n a l r u l e s o f e t i q u e t t e i s t h a t s t y l i n g i s d r o p p e d c o m p l e t e l y f o r t h e t i pwhen the s t y l i ng becomes d i s rup t i ve t o any o f t he members o f t he squa re .T h e r e f o r e , t h e b a s i c d e f i n i t i o n s o f a l l c a l l s m u s t b e u n d e r s t o o d a n d p r a c t i c e dw i t h o u t s t y l i n g .

L 1QUARTERLY SELECTIONS F A I L 1 9 9 0

6 . Prearranged SBrares

b

I t i s s tanda rd cou r tesy f o r a l l s tuden ts t o dance w i th each o the r , no t j us ta se lee t f ew . S tuden ts shou ld t ake the i n i t i a t i ve t o ask someone to danceo r move immed ia te l y t o t he f l oo r t o t he nea res t ex i s t i ng uncomp le ted squa reo r t o f o rm a new squa re and wa i t f o r someone to j o i n t hem as a pa r tne r .

Wes te rn S ta r Dance rs i s cons ide red a s i ng les c l ub i n bo th t he gay and non -gay square dance comrnuni ty . The Club recognizes the importance of couplere la t i onsh ips , whe the r as domes t i c pa r tne rs o r f r i ends . Coup les a re no td i scou raged f rom cons i s ten t l y danc ing toge the r . Howeve r , g roups o f s tuden tsshou ld no t cons i s ten t l y f o rm squa res so tha t t hey do no t have the oppo r tun i t yo f danc ing f requen t l y w i t h o the r members o f t he c l ass .

F rom t ime to E ime , i t may be necessa ry f o r t he ca l l e r / i ns t rucco r t o ro ta tecoup les o r i nd i v i dua l s f r om squa re to squa re i n o rde r t o d ip loma t i ca l l y a l l owless -p ro f i c i en t dance rs t he oppo r tun i t y t o dance w i th more -p ro f i c i en t ones .I t may a l so be necessa ry t o ro ta te en t i r e squa res i n t he ha l l t o ensu re t ha tthe ca l l e r / i ns t ruc to r ( s ) has the oppo r tun i t y t o obse rve a l l s tuden ts as t heydance i n t he f r on t o f t he ha l l .

Ange l s

a . A c lub member who i s no t t he i ns t ruc to r w i l l be des igna ted as t he a rchange lt o s e r v e a s a L i a i s o n b e t w e e n t h e s t u d e n t s a n d c h e i n s t r u c t o r ( s ) , t h e a n g e l s ,t he Boa rd o f D i rec to rs , and the C l -ub . The a rchange l ac t s as t he s tuden ts 'c o n f i d a n t ( e ) a n d a d v o c a t e s h o u l d i s s u e s a r i s e .

C lub members who have a l ready comp le ted the c lass p rog ram a re ava i l ab le t oa s s i s t i n t h e o r d e r l y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f c l a s s a c t i v i t i e s a n d a r e c a l l e d" a n g e l s . " A n g e l s a r e p r e s e n t t o h e l p s t u d e n t s , n o t i m p e d e t h e m . I f a n a n g e li s d i s r u p t i v e , s t u d e n t s s h o u l d d i s c u s s t h e m a t t e r w i t h t h e a r c h a n g e l .

S tuden ts may ask spec i f i c ange l s t o be a pa r tne r o r ange l s rnay f ro rn t ime tot i m e c h o o s e s p e c i f i c s t u d e n t s a s p a r t n e r s i n o r d e r t o r e i n f o r c e i n s t r u c t i o n ,Howeve r , i t i s t he po l i cy o f t h i s C lub tha t s tuden ts shou ld ge t as much t imeas poss ib le . Ange l s w i l l be asked to w i t hd raw f rom a squa re i n o rde r co geca ] I s t u d e n t s o n t h e f l o o r . T h i s i s t r u e e v e n f o r o c c a s i o n a l t a r d i n e s s .

Gradua t i on

Tbe re a re no spec i f i c : : l easu remen ts by wh i ch to de te rm ine p ro f i c i ency i n ag i v e n p r o g r a m . A s s e s s i n g p r o f i c i e n c y i s a h i g h l y s u b j e c t i v e p r o c e s s , a n d t h erecommenda t i ons va ry acco rd ing to t - he i nd i v i dua l . Be ing a good dance r i sr e l a t e d t o e x p e r i e n c e - - h o w o f t e n o n e d a n c e s w h i l e l e a r n i n g a n d h o w c o n s i d e r a c eo n e i s o f o t h e r d a n c e r s i n c h e s o u a r e .

D a n c e r s a r e n o t e x p e c t e d t o b e o f e q u a l p r o f i c i e n c y . T h e u l t i r n a t econs ide ra t i on i s whe the r o r no t a s tuden t can have en joyab le danc ingexPer iences a f t e r g raduaE ion and whe the r o r no t o the r dance rs w i l l en joyd a n c i n g w i t h t h e s t u d e n L a t h i s / h e r c u r r e n t l e v e l o f p r o f i c i e n c y .

The fo l l ow ingconc lus i ve :

p o i n t s a r e p a r t o f t he eva lua t i on p rocess bu t a re no t

Command of fundamentals such as cornerst u r n t h r o u g h , a n d f a c i n g 1 i n e s .

o p p o s i t e s , c i r c u l a t e , t r a d e

a

b

QUARTERLY SELECT]ONS 1 8 FAIL 1990

2 . F requency o f m is takes and repe t i t i veness o f ce r ta in m is takes .

3 . Deg ree o f ass i s tance wh ich the s tuden t can p rov ide to a t l eas t h i s /he rpa r tne r o r co rne r .

4 . Ab i l i t y t o adap t a f am i l i a r ca l l t o a nev r f o rma t i on .

5 . P rec i s i on i n f i n i sh ing ca l l s such as c i r cu lac ing exac t l y once and aha l f and a l i gn ing w i th wa l l s f o r l i nea r movemen ts .

6 . Ab i l i t y t o recogn i ze the need fo r recove ry ass i s tance and w i l l i ngnesst o a c c e p t a s s i s t a n c e .

7 . Demeanor when danc i rg - -one o f con f i dence and con t ro l o r one o f con fus iona n d f r u s t r a t i o n .

9 . B e s i n n i n s S u c c e s s i v e P r o s r a m s

a . The po l i cy o f ' v Jes te rn S ta r Dance rs i s no t t o encou rage a s tuden t t o beg in

ano the r p rog ram un t i l he / she has an adequa te unde rs tand ing o f t he ca l l s i nthe p rog ram he /she i s cu r ren r l y danc ing .

b . S i n c e l e a r n i n g m o r e s q u a r e d a n c e c a 1 l s i s a b u i l d i n g - b l o c k p r o c e s s , i t i sun fa i r t o t he s tuden ts f o r t he C lub to i n t roduce new p rog rams too qu i ck l y .Add i t i ona l l y , i t i s d i s rup t i ve t o o the r dance rs f o r s tuden ts co i nco r rec t l ya s s e s s t h e i r p r o f i c i e n c y a n d b e g i n a n o t h e r p r o g r a m p r e m a t u r e l y .

c . I t i s t h e p o l i c y o f W e s t e r n S t a r D a n c e r s t o p r o v i d e a d e q u a t e e x p e r i e n c e t oimprove response t i r ne i n execu t i ng ca l I s so t ha t s tuden ts beg inn ing ano the rp r o g r a m w i l l b e s t r o n g , f l e x i b l e d a n c e r s .

APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSA u g u s t 2 8 , 1 9 9 0

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 1 9 F A L L 1 9 9 0

Dqncin' & Chcncin'ln

LcskgqsSands Internqtional Squcre Dance Festivqlsponsored by the NATIONAL SQUARE DANCE DIREcroRy

December 3, 4 & 5, 1990

l0 Nqtional Cqllers. Mcrshall Flippo (TX). Kip Garvey (CA). Jon Jones (TX). Lqffy Letson (IN-TX). Tom Manning (IA). Pcul Mqrcum (TN). Dqn Nordbye (NE). Joe Scltel (CAy. Elmer Sheffield (FL). Vern Weese (NV-CA)

3 Round Dqnce Couples. Rod & Susqn Andersonlfs). Jim & Bonnie Bqhr (CO). Richqrd & JoAnn Lawson (AL)

Cloqqinq. ChErtie-gurns (Ky). Jeff Driggs (WV). Steve Smith (KY)

Country & Western. Lindq Goldstein (CA). Ron Miller (CA)

Squcre Dqncing: Mainstreqm, plus & MvoncedRound Dqncing: Bosic, Intermedicrte & Mvqnced

Clogging & Western Dancing

Rooms lrom only S39 per night

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 2 0

RV hook-ups qvqilqble

DANCERS'DREAMS

DO COME TRUE!hlee full doTs ol ercitement,lellovrship qnd irsl plcin fun oreyou$ ql the SAI.{DS INITRNAIIONAISOUAX.E DAI{CE TESTTVAL ANDHOLIDAY GIFT FNRE...held in oneol the most erciting cibes in theworld, las Vegas.llemorles lo lasl q llletlme.

Come to las Vegos lor one ol thegrect dancing events of the yecu.Cosporsored by the NotionolSgucne Dcnce Dhectory.lt qll tqkesploce ot the brcnd-spcnking newSarrds Erpo ond Convenbon Cen-ter qnd will lesture:. l0 nqtlonolly known callers:

Lorrl Lcbon, Elmer Shellield, JonJones, Tom Maruring, VemWeese, Joe Scllel, Dcn Nordbye,Paul Mcrcrm, Klp Gcruey andlla$hqll Fllppo

. 3 nstlonqlly known round dqnceorers: Jim cnd Bonnie Bohr,Echqrd ond JoAnn Lcrurson andDod qnd Suson Anderson

. 3 exPed cloggt.ing lnslruclors: JeffDriggs, Slerc Smtih qnd ChcrUeBums

Ple-register bfSeptember lstctnd receive

$80 worth ol lood,bevercge cmd

gcnning coupoDsFREE al the Scnds.

oScrve $ when you

register ectrly$20 per persoD

(S25 qt the gqte)o

Rooms from $39o

Singles welcome

Ssnds Expo cndConventlon Center

December 3-5, 1990lcs Vegcs, IVerrodc U.S.A.

r 2 Count{ & Weslern dsncelnstrudors: Ion Mlller snd LlndqGoldsteln

. 5 hqlls lor dcndng snd rvork-strops (Mdnslrecun, Plts, Ad-wnced, Pound cnd OogglngDPlus, get teduced clrlore cmd

hotel rales...cmd there wiI b€plenty ol convenient RV hookups.tleod lo Vegss tor lhe enpnlol the yecr!

br qddition to doncing, theSANDS INTERNANONAI, SOUAREDA}ICE TESWAL AI'ID HOTIDAYGIFT FAIRE will contain q lqbuloLLserposition leqhuing the tinest insg\rare dorce crrd westem attire,crts qnd acdls, jevrelrf crnd much,much more.

Meet new friends, congregatewith deql ones, and have q bqllkicking up yolx heelsl

Produced by

ETHE INTERFACE GROUPWolld s l€oding Indep€nd€ot hoducerol Conletences (md f,rpoGr[ons

YES!Get meinto theswmg

REGISMANON FORM

1-elpleceptut)

Citf PICw. or Stste

CIub or Affilistio

ACCOr{UODAnONS

Plecse scnd me lnlormstion regcrdlng:

D Sands HotelD Cucru Cucus PV PqrkC Hociendo RV FcnkI Scvrngs on olricne

Amvql Dcie

Time (cppror

PNEFENNf,D DANff LNTEL

Squcse lvts O Plus I

Blli my I VISAD A-Bencqn fpress

CcEd No

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Expues-

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A l !

Int. O

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A d v I

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Rouod SD D

Preregnsbction s S20 @ per peEon (LDcludes qll events-

925 0 per p€lson qi the door)

Pleose prs re€dstel rDe.I (D enclosing o check lor S-

of things!

BetJrn io:S@ds Intemotionqlfiuqe Dqrce [estivol16055 Vesturq BlvdSurte $2Encno, Cl,91436o' coI: (EIE) 9tr?-779E

QUi{RTERLY SELECTIoNS

fgt collers cnd orers only:

I Squcre f Round I Cloggnng

Or, ll you con't mqhe [...

I We cqnnot qttend

! I would bke to receive the fiucne Dqnce NewslettelC I wottd llke urlormqion on bufing d vldeotope ol the Evenl

- I would like udorro(Ihon on buyrng qn qud.lotspe ol the EventDeportue Dcte

2T FALL 1990

N QUARTERLYt I O sELECrroNsx1 w\D'vv

WESTERN STAR DANCERS

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 480SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114

}IINTER 1990 - JANUARY, I99T

}IIA CULPA, CRIES EDITOR

You know how somet jmes I i fe 's I i t t l e vagar i esget you down? We11, I don ' t know exac t ly whatthey were , bu t they d jd . I ' l l b lame ' i t onwai t jng to ge t my new computer , bu t tha t ' s no trea l 1y t rue . (However , I do have a newcompute r , and I 'm t i red o f p lay ing so l i ta i re inl ,J ' i ndows 3.0. )

Th j s edi t ' ion of Quorter ly Select i .ons j ste r r i b1y 1a te . I w i l I , however , p re tend tha tj t j s no t la te and jus t go on w j th j t .

QUARTERLY SELECTI0NS is apub l i ca t i on o f Western Star Dancers ,Inc . , a modern western square dancec l ub serv i ng pr imar i 1y theSan Francj sco Bay Area gay andI esbi an conmun' i ty. The purpose ofth i s publ i cat j on i s to provi dethought-provoki ng art i c l es of aned i to r ia l na ture and o ther mater ia lof general ' interest or entertainmentval ue for WSD members. The emphasi sof Quarter ly Select ions i s onre levance to square dance issues ,ph i 1 osoph i ca1 subs tance , and1 i te ra ry qua l i t y .

Or i g i na1 a r t j c l es i n th i spubl i cat i on are copyr l ghted but maybe repr i nted w j th appropr i ate cred' i tto the au thor and c i ta t i on o fQuorter ly Select ions.

Edj tor : Freeman Stamper(415) 43r-6272

OPINIONS EXPRESSID ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORSAND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINIONSAND POLICIES OF I IESTERN STAR DANCERS, INC.,NOR ITS MEMBERS.

MENTION OF A PERSOI{ 'S NAIIE IN THISPUBLICATION IN I {O I . IAY I I {DICATES HIS/HIRSEXUAL ORIENTATION.

spec ia l des ignat ion on l . lo r ld A IDSto the epi demi c and the powerto cont r i bu te and f i gh t aga i ns t

BUSH HONORS P}IA AS.POINT OF LIGHT'

KEITH CLARK

[ repr inted f rom Bay Area Reporter , l2 l6/90, p. 4.have seen th is ar t ic le , but you may not have knownhonoree is a member of l ' lestern Star Dancers. l

You maythat the

As par t o f Pres ' iden t Bush 's "Dd i 1y Po i n t o fL igh t " p rogram, recogn iz ing Amer icans who haveenr j ched the j r conmuni t i es, the l , lh j te Houseannounced December 1 that San Franci scores ident ELLIOT SCHNECK had been des ignated the315th honoree ' in the program for hi s work i nAI DS educat ' i on and serv i ce .

Accordi ng to l . lh i te House press spokeswomanTracey Tay lo r , Schneck , a 44-year -o1d open lygay man who was d iagnosed jn 1982, was se lec ted fo r theDay by the Pres' ident to "draw even more at tent joni nd i v i dua l s - -even ' ind i v ' idua l s w i th the d i sease- -haveAIDS. "

Schneck , a fo rmer employee o f the Un i tedtJay of the Bay Area, cont inues to dovo lun teer work w j th the agency 's SpeakersBureau. He a l so vo l un teers w i th theSan Franc i sco AIDS Foundat j on 's Hot l j ne ;the Peop le w i th A IDS Sw' i t chboard ; the NewConserva tory Ch j I d ren 's Theat re ; theCenter fo r A t t i tud i na l Hea l j ng i n T i buron ;and regu la r ly addresses med ' ica l s tudentsa t the Un ive rs j t y o f Ca l i fo rn ia ' s Med jca lCenter .

Schneck to ld the Boy Area Repor te r , " I t ' sa rea l honor , and rea l l y spec ia l . When Iv{as di agnosed w' i th AI DS, my feel i ngs atthat t ime were that my I j fe was over.Th is rea f f i rms fo r me tha t my l i fe on lyrea l l y began w i th my new pr i o r i t j es . I ' vehad these wonder fu l oppor tun i t ies tha twere there a l l the t ' ime, bu t un t i l I go tmy p r io r i t j es reorgan ized I guess I i us td i dn ' t see i t . I t ' s a shame tha t i t tookthis s ledgehanmer on my head to make mesee i t and to make me re focus my 1 i fe . Ifee l I j ke I 'm I j v ing in a s ta te o f g race . "

As an open ly gay man, Schneck a lso sa id hehopes h is work , espec ia l l y h is work w j thk ids , he lped peop le see a more accura teand comple te p ic tu re o f gays and lesb ' ians .

"The fac t tha t I 'm gay , I hope , w i11 he lpk i ds who are s t rugg l i ng w i th the i riden t j t ies and see tha t every th ing theyhear about gays in a negat ive v iew ' i s no tthe who l e p i c tu re , tha t there 's more .That gays are a very important part in theconmun i ty - - tha t I 'm no t jus t an ac t i vemember o f the gay conmuni ty , bu t I 'm anac t ive member o f the conmuni ty , per iod . "

Hi s vol unteer work wi th the NewConserva tory Ch i ' l d ren 's Theat re , wh i ch hasworked wi th school s al I over the Bay Areaand as fa r a f ie ld as Qu jncy and Susanv i l l ei n the Northern Si erra, ' i s c1 ear l ySchneck 's hear t ' s j oy .

" I ' ve go t ten no th ing bu t wonder fu l , warmsuppor t f rom a l I the k i ds , " he sa j d ." I ' ve never had much exposure to ch j 1 d ren ,I ' ve a lways been a f ra id o f k ids and neverreal 1y understood them very we1 1 , butthey 've taught me so much. These k ids a reso open , they ' re so compass iona te . I t ' sjus t a joy . "

Schneck a l so remai ns

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

op t im i s t i c and pos i t i ve abou t h i s ownhea l t h f r om h i s e i gh t yea rs o f l ' i v i ng w i t hA IDS. " I have my sha re o f hea l t hp rob l ems , and I rea l ' i ze I 'm l ucky and I 'm

probab ly one o f t he excep t i ons . Bu t t he reare more and more except i ons a l I thet i me . "

TI,IO "FRIENDS" AWARDED}|SD MEMBERSHIP

KAORI FUJITANI and MICHAELHEALY were awarded l. lSDmembersh ips as a "Fr jend"by the Board of Di rectorsat i ts November 1990 meet i ng. Thej rbadges were presented at the December 7dance a t S t . Pau l us Lu theran Church .A l though Michae l was unab le to a t tend,Kaor i was grea t ly surpr ised and acceptedthe honor fo r bo th . Obv ious ly succeed ing ,Scott Carey had accepted the task ofcreat i ng a decoy reason for the honoreesto a t tend the dance. [Ed. What? Scot tl j e? I don ' t be l ieve i t ! ]

As you may reca11, there are two spec ia ltypes o f membersh ip in the C lub wh jch canbe awarded by the Board of Dj rectors.Accordi ng to Po1 i cy Statement No. 7 ,"persons who are no t square dancers andprov ide s ign i f i can t se rv ices to Wes te rnStar Dancers may be awarded thedes igna t ion o f 'F r iend o f Wes te rn S ta rDancers . ' " "S i gn i f i can t " i s cons j dered tobe "sus ta ined, exemplary o r ex t raord inaryperformance of servj ce. " The Po1 i cySta tement fu r ther ment ions tha t " the C lubj s the reci p i ent of servi ces f romind iv idua ls who a re no t square dancers bu tthej r ef for ts add inmeasurably to theovera l l o rgan iza t ' ion o f the C lub and therewards i nure to the membershi p asi nd j v i dua l s . " A Fr i end badge " ' i s arepl i ca of the standard Cl ub badge i nreserve co lo rs , comple te w i th rh ines toneds ta r po in ts , w i th the add j t j on o f the word'Fr j end ' i n the upper I e f t corner . "

Mjchae l and Kaor i jo in on ly two o therpeopl e to have been awarded Fr i endmembershi ps s i nce the po1 i cy wasestabl ' i shed i n Apr i I 1985. They came tol . les te rn Star th rough the i r p ro fess iona lre l a t j onsh i ps w i th Scot t Carey and JohnCon ley . Kaor i and Michae l have a t tended

unabashed l y

} l INTER i99O

numerous soc ia l func t ions and re t rea ts fo rmany years and have contr i buted anextraordi nary amount of behi nd-the-sceneswork to add to the joy and f r iendsh ips o fthe members o f the C lub . They are t ru lyexemplary f r iends not only to l . lSD but alsoto the gay conmuni ty as a who le .

The two other Fr i ends of Western Star areMark Carey and Demian Quesne l .

YOU, AND ONLY YOUCAN FILL THESE SHOES

You do no t have to be a regu la r ' l y ac t i vemember to hel p the Cl ub. There arei rmed j ate openi ngs i n the fo l I owi ng areas :

Adm' in i strat i onI nstruct ' i onPubl ' i cat i onsPub l ' i c Re l a t i onsEventsF i nance

At a genera l membersh ip meet ing in 1990,the Board presented i t s p rogram o f iobdescr ip t ions . The en t i re "work ings" o fthe C l ub have been s t ruc tu red i n tospec i f i c j obs , some o f wh ich a re on-go ingand some, short- term. For example, thereis a need for an equipment manager. Thatdoesn ' t mean you mus t take possess ion o fthe equ' ipment, but you do need to bewi 1 1 i ng to I earn how the equi pmentfunc t ions , connects to o ther equ ipment ,and where and how to coord ' ina te repa i rsand genera l ma in tenance.

Even ' i f you have been " away f rom the1 igh ts " o f l . lSD and " in to a purp le haze , "there just may be a way to reacquaintyourse l f w i th the C lub w i thou t a la rgecormi tment o f t ime. Jus t to ge t th ingss tar ted , ca1 ' l MAX ROBB, the admi n j s t ra to r ,a t 431-6238. He w ' i l I d i scuss youri n te res ts and coord i na te your ge t t i ngi nvo l ved .

He 's smar te r " than heI ooks . Thof atI eas t i s reassur i ng .

CAZADEROr.990

Ed. The Cazadero Retreat was September 28through 30, 1990, and was coordinated byANNA DAMIANI and GARY GRAY. The weatherwas gorgeous for th i s event and the ai rwas f i l l ed w i th the mag ic o f goodwi l l andabandonment i n whol esome fun. Theart i c l es whi ch fo l I ow report var i ousaspects of the Retreat and are wr i t ten bymembers of the Cl ub and the Orange 90Class (wh ich was in Bas ics a t tha t t ime) .

FIRST-TIMER REVEALS IT ALL

MMONA MICHAELS

I eager ly s jgned up fo r the Ret rea t a t theend of September. My expectat ions were todance, and d id we ever dance. However ,in te rspersed w i th the danc ing were o therfun thi ngs I ' i ke part i es and games,especi a l I y the Fam' i I y Feud. After danci n 'a l l day , I cou ld bare ly s tay up fo r th i sfamous on-go ing feud . Bu t I 'm g lad I d id ,for j t was great fun meeti ng the l, lood andBradl ey fami

' l i es. [Ed. Fam' i I y Feud was

a game? I t ' s my unders tand ing tha t theexper i ence was more I j ke the Mi d-Eastshe l I i ngs . ] Bu t , I 'm ge t t i ng ahead o fmyse l f . Le t me s ta r t a t the beg inn ing .

l , le I ef t San Franci sco about 6 p.m. wi thROD ODGERS dr i v i ng and MNDY SCHOESLER,LARRY KELLEHER, SAM KOHLER, and me gett ingbet te r acqua in ted . Hunger took over a tGuernev i l le , and I succumbed to the greasyburger and f r ies fo r wh ich I su f fe red we l l' into the night. Some others ' in the partywere more sens ib le and a te " I i t e . " A f te rdi nner we cont ' i nued towards Cazadero.(Next t ime, we leave ear l ie r because theroad ' into the Camp was DARK--spel led d-a-r -k ! ) l , Je f ina l 1y made i t and sawSTEFFANY, who g rac ious ly (a1be i t ,sway ' ing ly ) d i rec ted us to a park ing spot .The guys went one way, and I went anotherto my cab' i n whi ch was decorated w' i thChr is tmas t r inmjngs- -snowba l ls even- 'andChr is tmas mus ic (L0TS o f i t ! ) . FELIXF0RNIN0 and B0B LESLIE were responsi b ' lefor the decorat i ons, and they werebeaut i fu l .

QUARTIRLY SELECTIONS I. I INTER I990

I qu ick ly th rew my th jngs on the top bunk(another reason I 'm ge t t ing there ear lynex t t ime) and went to dance. The s ize o fthe crowd kind of threw me, but the energyv{as contagi ous. Thi s was my f i rstexposure to "s ty l i ng" in such a la rgegroup . I mean- -you jus t don ' t s imp lyweave here--someone was comi n ' at me al ' la rms and legs and God knows what e lse !After a few mi nutes of pani c I set t l eddown and real ' ized that maybe someday Iw i l l be k i ck in 'up a lso . Good danc in 'andgood peop le .

And so to bed and I thought to s leep, bu t' i t wasn ' t to be in th i s cab in w i th abou t12 peop le . I was bunk ing w i th LANDRAWHITE and MIMI MUELLER. They were qu ie t ,but ' in the next rooms there was muchta lk ing and laugh ing and rus t l i ng o f paperas they opened th ings to ea t . [Ed . Jus twhat k ind o f paper was rus t l i ng and jus twhat were they ea t ing?] I th jnk Landraand i read the same pages j n our booksabout th ree t imes be fore we dec ided to pu tthe books down and eavesdrop. Theconversa t ion in the nex t room was fa r morei n te res t i ng and sc ' in t i 1 l a t i ng (a l though,a t one po in t , I was go ing to c l imb downand wash someone 's mouth ou t w i th soap) .} lhen Fe l j x , Bob, JEFF JUDD, and PHI LSCHREUR knew we were 1 i steni ng, theyteased us unmerc j fu l l y . I t was qu i te awh i le be fo re we go t to s1eep . 0 f course ,the nex t day a t b reak fas t the guys to ldwhoever wou l d I ' i s ten tha t the women i n thecab in kep t them up a l l n igh t .

Speak ing o fb reak fas t , thef ood waswonder fu I andp len ty o f i t . i tseemed to me TODDTRYON was foreverse t t i nq thetabl e, bu-t we al I

hel ped i n the c1 ean-up. Met theSacramento bunch dur ing the mea ls and hada chance to do some smal I ta l k .

Saturday brought more danc ' ing- -c logg ingeven ( fo r wh i ch I d ' idn ' t have the energydue to lack o f s leep because some peop lewou ldn ' t s top ta lk ing ) . I took a b reak a tthe pool . Some peopl e even squared up i nthe poo l w j th ANNA DAMIANI do ing a goodjob ca l l i ng . An ocean wave takes on a new

OUARTERLY SELECTIONS

meaning in a sw inrn ' ing Poo l .

A party was hel d I ate Saturday af ternoons ta r t ing w i th a march w i th wh is t les andother noi se makers and I ed by WYNONNA J0BRADLEY as drum major (e t te ) - - (s )he doesgreat work w i th tha t ba ton . [Ed . Th isparade ac tua l 1y fo l I owed the end o fanother par ty , bu t th is i s Ramona 's s to ryof her s ' i gn i f i cant events . l ' lhen th i soversi ght t . {as quer i ed of BLANCHIE J0,JANIE J0 , AND SUZIE J0 BRADLEY, the i rresponse was, "Who are we to compla in?" ]l . le wh is t led , sang, and marched to Brad leyManor ; d rank ; ta lked ; and watched as somevery ta len ted peop le parod ied show tunes .

Af te r a l I th i s and more danc i ng , theeven ing was topped o f f by a Fami ly Feudgame between the Bradl eys and the t loods Iwas j n a quandary as to whom to root for .I t seemed the Bradleys were the favor i tes.Bu t I l i ked the Woods ( I ' ve a lways lovedt rash) , so I th ink I cheered everyone ontry i ng not to have favor i tes. As j f therewere no t enough en ter ta inment , there wasa grea t fash i on show dur i ng thenom' ina t ions fo r Mr . and Mz. Cazadero wh ' i chwas hosted by WELLA BALSAM di rect f romVancouver , BC. Scar le t t 0 'Hara l i ves asROD MORRELL not only tore the drapes andcurtai ns f rom hi s room but al so h ' isbedc l o thes , too I A s i gh t to beho l d .However, h i s ef for" t was ' in vai n as thecurrent Mr. and Mz. Cazadero are f romStock ton . I t was a we l I -deservedcoronat ion ; I never saw so many ou t f i tchanges in my l l f e ! I be l ' i eve there i s av ideo o f th is Masterp iece Show somewhere .CHECK IT OUT! [Ed. The v ' ideo is ca l led"Heros and Fr iends" and i s ava i Iab le anyweek ly c lass and dance n igh ts fo r f reeren ta l . l

Af ter breakfast on Sunday, there t , las ah igh hee l race ( l ^ lhere do you ge t a l l thoseshoes?) won by RICHARD C0PtLAND, thefas tes t fee t in the }Jes t g iven the odds .Next, the group from Sacramento hosted apar ty and B ILL EYLER, our g rea t ca l le rf rom A lbuquerque (who d jd an ou ts tand ingjob a l l weekend and j s to be espec ia l l yconmended for hj s pat i ence wj th the 0range90 c l ass ) (and he ' s good-1 ook i ng , too ! ) ,d i d an impromptu ca '11- -a cappe l I a ye t - -r igh t the re on the deck o f the ma in 1odge .0 ther th ings were a lso done r igh t there onthe deck o f the lodge wh jch I won ' t go

I . I INTER 1990

' i n to r jgh t now--ge t the v ' ideo !

Ser ious ly , i t was a l1 g rea t fun- -more thanI expected and then some. Bei ng anewcomer and somewhat-older person, th isl i ve ly bunch has re juvenated f r€ , and II ook forward to next year and next yearand so on . Square danc ing has g iven me achance to get that heart rate up and achance to meet some love ly new f r iends o fwarmth and I ove. I I ove i t and al

' l of

those new- found f r iends ! [Ed . Ramona hasa very young sou l ; she jus t needs a newmakeup job on the ex ter jo r . Nex t year ,Tanmy Faye w' i11 be at Cazadero conduct inga workshop to spec i f i ca1 ly addressRamona 's on ly need . ]

You t ru ly a re Hestern Stars !

PARTIES! PARTIES! PARTIES!

BY: NOSEE KNOCKENLOCKER

Even though the whol e weekend seemed I i keone huge party, there were three veryspec ia l pa r t ies a t Camp Caz .

MARGARITAVILLT was hosted by G0LD RUSHwj th MARC, EDDI t , and MAX serv ing thetas ty margar i tas . SAM jnappropr ia te ly wasin charge o f m ix ing the v i rg ins . Thegroup from Sacramento made a dazz) i ngent rance,

' led by CANDI BARR and GREG.

MAMA J0, the matr iarch of the BradleyFami ly , a r r i ved a t the par ty w i th a packof s t ree t u rch ' ins , B ILL jn a smar t s t r ingo f pear l s , and a huge boom box . Luck i l y ,the new WSD rad ica l g roup ACT RiGHT d jdnot show up. They had embarrassed theBMDLEYS w i th the l r p ro tes t o f "Ac t R igh t !Dress Down! " a t a p rev ious ga ther ing .

The Margani tavi I I e group proved to be area11y s ty l i sh lo t f rom MARIE w i th herCuervo Gol d T-shi r t to IMOGENE wi th herneon-p i nk bo l e ro . MICHAEL was qu i te smar tjn h is " t . l ho K i I Ied Laura Pa lmer " sh i r t ;and , jus t i n case someone d jdn ' t ge t i t ,he was car ry ing the "Twin Peaks" sc r ip t .M ichae l a lmos t go t h imse l f k i l l ed when hepl ayed the soundtrack CD. M' i chael , ' i t ' sbeaut i fu l bu t no t exac t ly par ty mus jc .CANDI returned in an opera gown. TheBradleys caused tongues to vrag when thewho le fami ly appeared w1thout hos ie ry .

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Shame ! Shame ! SHAME !

Captur i ng the f es t i v ' i t i es fo r pos ten i tywere ANNA w"i th her" camera and, of course,J0HN v ideotap ing every th ing .

As Margari tavi I I e was wani ng, PROMENA0E T0A PARADE began when the BRADLEY BUNCH[Ed. "Bunch?" Excuse me, "Faml ly " ! ] i nband unj forms marched the ent' i re party twoby two to Bradley Manor. The Manor wasdecora ted in a t ra in theme wi th show mus icb la r ing . The show mus ic ce r ta in ly go t thecrowd into the r ight mood. RANDY andMARIE were qu i te dash ' ing do ing the i r F red-and-Ginger rout ine. WELLA made a SweetChar i ty w i th her vers ' ion o f " I f My Fr iendsCou ld See Me Now." The love ly WYN0NNA J0devas ta ted the on lookers w i th her dazz l ingba ton tw i r l i ng . I s the re any th ing shecan ' t do?

The age o1d ques t ' ion "Can a lesb ian becomea drag queen?" was f ina l l y answered whenELIZABETH donned a fabu lous w jg and rea11y' le t go . I 'm sure Ethe l Merman ro l led overin her g rave .

As the party progressed, Cand' i changeddresses aga i n ! F r i endsh i p b l ossomed,goss i p was wh i spered, and r ' t wasdi scovered that mean ol d GREG and hi sbro thers used to to r tu re poor I i t t l eBLANCHIE J0 when they were chj I dren 1 i v i ngjn the same neighborhood many, many yearsago. Such is the smal l wor ld o f squaredanc ing . The beer f lowed, popcorn v {asmicrowaved, and the party ended with ak ' i ck I i ne / rub sess ' i on i nvo l v i ng RANDY,GE0RGE, ANDY, SAM, BILL , and lo ts more .

The Sunday Sacramento Soj ree began wi ththe new' ly crowned Mr. and Mz. Camp Caz,STUD MUFFIN and CANDI , and the i r a ide -de-camp, DICK, servi ng Bl oody Marys andscrewdr ivers . Th i s was a very c lv i I ' i zedgather ing w i th evenyone t ry ing to f igureout who had done what and to whom theprev ious even ing . Some o f the idea lcoup les inc luded: ROD and RON, MAX andGREG, KENT and BIL, GARY and JESSE, thef1 igh ty B ILLY danc ing w i th MARIE, andTAMMY and WELLA.

I w j I I c l ose th i s a r t i c l e w j th a quotef rom RAM0NA, " I l oved thepar t i es . . I ' ve met so many i n te res t i ngpeop l e . "

} , INTER 1990

S/he ' s Vogue on the ou ts ide and vague

MR. & MZ. CAMP CAZ

JEFF JUDD and PHiL SCHREUR

Miss l . lELLA BALSAM (aka BILL HOUGHT0N)began the contest for the enthronement ofthe new Mr. & Mz. Camp Caz by introducinga g1 i t te r ing a r ray o f con tes tan ts .

The f i rs t en t ran t was MISS VANILLA CREAM,escorted by the dapper FREET'{AN STAMPER.M1ss Cream wore a 1ove1y gown o f redta f fe ta w i th a snug ly f i t t i ng pa i r o fmatch i ng br i e fs . Her choreograph i centrance accompan' ied by graceful pelv icgyrat i ons served to expose thosede1 i gh t fu l 1y we1 I - fo rmed br i e fs , e1 i c i t i ngmany-an-appreci at i ve s i gh f rom theaud ience . Dur ing the in te rv iew sess ion ,Miss Cream was asked to imag ine what i temshou ld be taxed wh ich cur ren t ly i s no t .Th i nk i ng a i ong the I i nes o f I uxury /s ' intaxes , M iss Cream qu ick ly responded , "Myunderl.{ear. "

Contestant number two was MISS RH0NDA LADOUCHE, escor ted by hunky RON JABLONSKi .Miss La Douche was wrapped jn an e legantdrapeau wh' i pped up f rom near l y al I thedecora t ive mater ia l f rom the S-Sheets - to -the-t l i nd Cabi n. A matchi ng set ofrecyc l eab l e D i e t Peps i i i ng l ebobscompleted the ensenbl"e. When asked dur ingthe jn te rv jew j f a g i r l shou ld do th ingsfor herse l f o r re ly on the k indness o fs t rangers , Miss La Douche responded, "A l lo f the above , " g i v ing a spec ia l l y warmglance to the no longer s t ranger HunkyRon.

The f inal contestant was a MISS CANDI BARof S tock ton , escor ted by GREG (aka STUDi '1UFFIN) . M iss Bar was s imp ly s tunn ing ina b lack , c r jno l ined gown o rnamented w i tha dramat j c s ' i I ver f l ami ngo and dazzl i ngrhi nestone jewel ry. l , lhen asked whi ch wasthe f jnes t U-Hau l serv ice ' in the count ry ,l4 iss Bar p rompt ly responded, "My husband,Honey" - -a s ta tement no one cou ld doubthav ing w i tnessed the fan tas t j c va r ie ty o feven ing wear M iss Bar had d isp layed overthe course o f the weekend.

At I ast the moment arr i ved for theaud ience to choose the nex t Mr . and Mz .Cg*p Caz by a round of applause. In ac l ose dec i s i on , M ISS CANDI BAR and STUDMUFFIN were e lected. The now-dethronedKing and Queen, BURL and MYTRLE l , I000, gavethe i r l oya l sub jec ts a f i na l roya l wave( t i t s , t ee th , t i a ra ) as they c rowned thenew Camp Caz royal ty. Long I ' i ve theQueens !

CABIN AT.IARDS

PHIL SCHREUR andJEFF JUDD

Tens i on ran h i ghas the Camp Cazteam o f j udges - -GARY GRAY, JESSE,and KA0RI FUJITANI- -made the rounds inth i s year ' s cab i n decora t ' ing contes t .Surpr ised by a mid-a f te rnoon ' inspec t ' ion ,a number of cabi ns had not yet compl etedthe j r f i na l p repara t ions as the judgesswept in , score ca rds jn hand .

Dur i ng the even i ng ' s fes t i v ' i t j es , thelove1y and loquac ious MISS l . lELLA BALSAMpresented the awards . In a surpr ise moveby the judges , the re was no s ing le w innertha t even ing , bu t every cab in was s ' ing ledout f rom some spec' i a l decorat i ng stroke ofgen ius . An uncontes ted "Most Queen ly "award went to the Nurse ' s Cab' i n. "MostPo l i t j ca l l y Incor rec t and Proud 0 f I t "went to the down-home fol ks i n theReynol ds Cab j n. Ko j nani a Cabi n rece' i vedthe we l l -deserved "St re tch ing the Seasonthe Furthest" award for, among otherth i ngs , ' i t s dazz l i ng ro ta t i ng Chr i s tmasI i ght show and breathtaki ng al umj numChr i s tmas t ree .

The "Ear ly Ha l Ioween" award went to theArmstrong Cabj n for the' i r f r i ghteni ngd isp lay o f A l l -Ha l lows Eve memorab j l i a .The d ramat i c d isp lay o f the ra inbow f lagearned the Rainbow Room the "Most ProudlyGay" award. The bol d, forward- l ooki ngdes ign concept o f the F jve-Sheets - to - the-f , l i nd Room earned them the coveted, yetsel dom deserved, " I Don ' t Know Anyth' ingAbout Art" award. They were given a runfor the i r money, however , by the MinersCab in who , in the end , had to se t t l e fo r

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS }I INTER I99O

t he "Needs Deco ra t i ng He lp /Too Ec lec t i c "aVr,afd.

Due a lmost s i ng1 ehanded ly to thedecora t ing savvy o f Miss Cand i Bar , theGrey Cabi n snatched the "Most Cr i nol j nesIn One Room" award. This award for thestunni ng array of women's accoutrement wasn ice ly ba lanced by the s tud ly "Neates tBoots and Ful I Bar" award gi ven to theRe j f f Cab in . A f i na l , we l l deserved awardwas gi ven to Bradl ey Manor for i tsrecrea t i on o f a 1960 's Ca l i fo rn i a suburbandream home.

Impress ive t roph ies su i tab le fo r engrav ingwere awarded to each cab in , together w i tha fan tas t i c p r i ze se lec ted jus t fo r them.

FAI4ILY FEUD

JEFF-BOB

The h igh l jgh t o f the weekend was the long-awai ted showdown between the Bradl eys, thebourgeo i s [Ed. These new k ' ids on theb lock have go t nerve ! ] b lue b loods o f thecamp, and the Woods, the fami ly o f thepeop le- - the famj ly o f the workers ! (So,I sound as i f I used to wr j te a goss ipcolumn for Provdo.) Anyway, on with thegame.

The MC fo r the even ' ing was the love ' l y andta len ted LARRY KELLOGG, smar t l y a t t i red jnb ra and c r ino l ines . Tak ing care o f thegame board j n a pai r of very-we1 l - f i t tedjeans (check the back) was our own KEVINLARSON. CHRIS ANDERS0N, tha t dash ing ,master fu l man ' in b lack , was bo th the iudgeand game master fo r the even ing .

The fee l ing in the ha l l was e lec t r i c p r io rto the entrance of the contestants. Therewas a I arge cont ' i ngency of vocal Woodsuppor te rs and a smal le r bu t equa l ly voca lg roup o f Brad ley suppor te rs . The Brad leysen te red f i r s t , and the c rowd went w i ld .Playing for the Bradleys were MAMA J0( Freeman Stamper) wi th her I ovel ydaughters : JANiE J0 (Tom Tr i pp) , BLANCHIEJ0 (James Ozan i ch) , SUZIE J0 (SueS ieg f r ied ) , and WYNONNA J0 (Edd ie Smi th ) .Rumor has j t tha t Wynonna Jo is jn rea l j t yMama Jo 's s is te r , no t her daughter - -bu ttha t ' s another s to ry . The Brad leys were

QUARTERLY S€LECTIONS

met by a barrage of pro-l,Jood senti mentswh ich they responded to in a t yp ica l l yBradl ey fashi on (yel I ed r j ght back) .

Next the t lOODS entered; they, too,recei ved a wi I d recept i on. The teamcons ' i s ted o f f i ve members o f the ex tens iveand expansi ve l , lood Fami 1y. The pl ayerswere: COTTON (Cap Moran), LAVENDER (AnnaDami ani ) , UNDERMI LK (Russ Ki ng) , MANZANETA(Me1 i nda Napi er) , and RETEAK (ArtMcDermot t ) . The squeak o f a gerb i Ip ie rced the a ' i r , and the game was a foo t .

The Woods were obv ious ly in th is fo rb lood. Cot ton went fo r the jugu la r ve inwi th h is response to the second ques t ion ,"[, lhat does Mama Jo Bradl ey not carry i nher purse?" H is response , "A mi r ro r . "Mama Jo 's jaw h i t the tab le , and the c rowdwent wi I d. Mama Jo was v ' ind j cated,however, by the fact that the answer didnot make the survey. The Woods tookcontrol of the game ear ly and the Bradleyswere never ab le to ca tch up . Th is mayhave been due to the Bradl eys' strategy of' imb jb jng heav i l y , t r i ck ing the Woods in toanswer ing a l l the ques t ions , and thentry i ng to steal a l I the po' ints i f theWoods mjssed a response. Unfortunateiyfo r the Brad l eys , th i s d i d no t workbecause the l , loods rarel y mi ssed aques t ' i on , and , fo r the ones they d id m iss ,the Brad leys were unab le to answer .

The game was an absol ute orgy ofques t i ons , ge rb i 1 squeaks , i nnuendos ,insu l ts , and raucous ou tburs ts f rom thefans . One o f the longer pauses occur redwhen B lanch ie Jo go t Lar ry in a i i p lockand no one cou ld ge t her o f f the tab le .The game was down to the last quest ion andi t looked b leak fo r the Brad leys . One o fthe fami I i es had to I eave the area so asnot to hear the o ther fami ly 's responses ,so the tJoods were to ld to go to the woods.In the l , lSD Todoy! dated 0ctober 10, 1990,a Bradl ey Famj 1y representat ' ive i nsi nuatedthat the Woods may not have gone farenough j nto the woods and stol e some ofthe i r answers f rom the Brad leys . However ,w j th as poor l y as the Bnad ley d id , thetruth i s ' i r re l evant. As the smokec leared , the Woods were v ic to r ious w i th ascore of 985 to 480, and the Bradleys wento f f to I ' i ck the i r and somebody e l se 'swounds.

lr l t{TER 1990

Toot les fo r now.o f f f rom h ighh i l l .

Th i s i s Je f f -Boba top the Sanchez

Mz H i qh Hee l s

CONFESSIONS OF A CHAMPION(o r a H igh H i l l H igh Hee l Race)

RICHARD COPELAND

The a i r was c r i sp and c1ear , w i th tha tfa in t smel l o f redwood on the breeze. Myhead was wheel i ng around wj th theexci tement of Camp Caz. Good fr i ends,parades , so i rees , game shows, beautypagean ts , aqua-duck ing , and lo ts o f squaredanc ing . In the f l ush o f the moment , i ti s no t su rp r i s ing tha t , when I heard theBrad ley Fami ly ca l l fo r con tes tan ts fo rthe H ' igh Hee l Race, my mind s l ipped thec lu tch and I dec ided to en te r . Boys run ,g i r l s run , oh what fun !

Now, le t me te l l you , i t had been yearss jnce the one and on ly t jme tha t i everwore hee l s . (Yes , I ' ve been soc i a1 1ydepr ived . ) But I p roceeded w i th fe ignedconf idence and ac tua l t rep ida t jon to thes tar t ing i ' i ne , where the o ther contes tan tswere c j rc f i ng a round a p i le o f o ld scu f fedup shoes , wh i le Maw Brad ley made a fussand le t the ru les be known. I looked a tthe o ther contes tan ts . Some o f these guyshad obv ious ly been around the b lock a fewt jmes- - in hee1s , no less .

They 'd be hard to bea t . Espec ia l l y thosered s t ' i l e t tos . See, hand i caps were g i venbased on the he i gh t o f the hee l - - theh igher the hee l , the b igger the hand icap .Those red s t j le t tos were pre t ty h igh andthe legs above them were muscu lar andIean . "Runner ' s 1egs , " I though t , t r y ingto concent ra te . So i p icked ou t the pa i rw i th the h i ghes t hee l s , the b i gges thand i cap (mi nus 40 seconds) , and thefewes t s i zes too sma l l . I knew tha t , i fI were to have a ghos t o f a chance, i twou ld be tha t -40 hand icap tha t wou ldshoot my s ta r to v j c to ry - - tha t -40 and the

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

words - that recycl ed through my head I i kea comfortabl e ol d mantra, , ,0nt dae ops tae , on t dae ow s lae own dae. , ,

Now a l l the ru les had been la id ou t andthe course marked. A p i le o f shoes laybefore us. Thei r mates were pi I ed aboutthi r ty feet away. The onl ookers andm' i scel I aneous hangers-on promenaded tothe i r van tage po in t a t the f i n i sh l i nea top H igh H i l l and wa ' i ted expec tan t ly .The f i ve contestants c i rc l ed to a I i ne andhel d our col I ect i ve breaths for thes ' igna1 . "0n your mark , 9€ t se t , G0! "

We swung in to ac t ion , d i v ing th rough thep i le o f shoes to f j nd our own. One shoeoi , one shoe of f , I lurched toward mywa j t ing shoe . A l l was a f l u t te rwhee l o fhee ls and runners and grass and sky . Nowrun, now veer 1e f t , now wa lk and dodge,now zoom. "Th is i s a s l i de th rough , " Ithought to myse l f . "No sweat . " But as Iapproached deadly Courtesy Turn and mysecond shoe, I caught a f lash o f those reds t i l e t tos tak ing a fa r l ead to the le f t ."Hur ry , hur ry , " I mut te red to myse l f . Bu tthe others were catchi ng up and now I hadto f ind my o ther shoe.

As we f ran t i ca l l y searched a l l a round theI e f t hand shoe p i 1 e , the s t ra j n o fcompet i t ion began to show. Out o f thecorner of my eye I could see someonethrowing a r igh t and le f t g rand, someonecountered w j th a swing th rough or two,someone even went so far as to spl i t anou ts jde pa i r . I t r i ed to ignore thehubbub and concent ra te on f ind ' ing my o thershoe, wh ' i ch un for tunate ly was s ta r t ' i ng tolook a lo t l i ke a l l the o ther shoes in thep i1e . A f te r a coup le wrong way thars andsubsequent t rade bys , I managed no t on lyto f j nd the r igh t shoe bu t a lso to somehow h inge j t on to my foo t . "Don ' t youtu rn back now, " I sa id to myse l f as Iveered 1eft , separated from the crowd andextended my two heels in a mad dash forthe f i n i sh I i ne .

The s i ght of those red heel s a ' l readysweep ing a quar te r o f the way up H igh H i l ltoward the r ibbon only spurred me to runfas te r . "Th is i s easy , " I mused . " I ' l lj us t run on the ba l l s o f my fee t , asMr . Schus ter taught me in f i f th g rade. Iwon ' t even le t those -40 hand icap hee lstouch the g round . I ' l l be zooming l i ke a

s r gnr ngStreet

i I INTER I99O

s ta r th rough the ga laxy . Yeah , I ' ve go ti t nov, / ! " Sure. But ' i n the rush ofoverconf idence, I sudden ly fe l t my le f thee l h i t the ground. I veered to ther igh t , ha l f -sashayed, and went ou t o fcontrol , arms f

' lyi ng everywhere. I f el t

as though I were do ing a Ca l i fo rn ia tw i r lon top o f a see-saw. As I s t rugg l ed toregai n my natural poi se and grace, tv.locontestants passed through toward thef in i sh l i ne .

I cou ld see tha t my chance to be in thes tar f ami 1y was qu ' i ck i y f ad ' i ng . But j us tas qu ick ly as I had fa l te red , I to ld mymjnd to pass the ocean o f fear to a waveof ba lance. And once aga in I was zoomingtoward the f i n i sh 1 i ne , perhaps a b i tda in t je r and no t qu i te in such a hur ry .I coul d hear the roar of the crowd as Iscu t t l ed up H i gh H i 1 1 , ac ross the t ra i 1 ,through the f j n i sh l ' i ne. I had made i t !Ank les ' in tac t and a l l !

I t h ,as then tha t I rea l i zed tha t I haddone someth ing more impor tan t than s imp lypart i c i pat i ng and gi v i ng my ai 1 , somethi ngmore impor tan t than w jnn ing . Yes , I hadsurv ived! And tha t was pr ize enough fo rme. l ,Je1 I , at I east unt i I I ater thatmorni ng at the cocktaj 1 party when thewinner was to be announced.

In the mean t ime, I cas t o f f those to r tu redevi ces and gave my abused feet a wel I -deserved res t , w ish jng on ly tha t I cou lds imp ly ro11 away , ha l f sashay o r no . Bu tthe pain was al l forgotten v{hen, somewhatto my surpr ise (and somewhat no t ) , j t wasla te r announced tha t I had ac tua l l y wonthe race! To much applause and merry-mak ing , a l l the en t ran ts (and some tha ty{eren' t ) recei ved thej r l .Jel 1 s Fargo Wagonmeri t badges from Maw Bradley. I t was afu l f i 1 1 i ng end to a cha l 1 eng i ng andenr i ch ing o rdea l - - jus t one o f the manyde l igh ts had by a1 l a t Camp Caz .

EVEN QUEENS GET THE CLAP

L ' td i to i re

Quorter ly SeLect i .ons at tempts to coverthoroughly major events of l , lestern Star.However , some cont r ibu t ions are no t eventsbut a re jus t good o ld hard work . Much

QUARTERLY STLECTIONS

c lapp ing in apprec ia t ion go to these no tment ioned in the p reced ing a r t i c les :

B ILL EYLER was superb a l1 weekend as ourgues t ca l I e r f rom a s i s te r c l ub ' inA' l buquerque, The [ . l i I de Bunch.

ANDY SHORE ca l led the Las t Gasp Dance byand in the pool on Sunday af ternoon.

B iLL I . IH ITEFIELD, EDDIE SMITH, and ANNADAMIANI hand l ed var i ous square danceworkshops, whi 1 e CAP MOMN presented anjn t roduc t ' ion to c logg ing workshop. Capand RUSS KING conducted the Learn the0ther Ro l I workshop.

The l, l00D FAMILY hosted a reception onFr iday even ' ing a f te r the danc ' ing ended a t10 :30 .

CONFUSED CHERUB

I repr inted f rom Rainbeau Connect ion, September 1990,newslet ter of the Rocky Mounta in Rainbeaus, Denver,c0 . l

Let te r to the Ed i to r

I t has been ca l led to my a t ten t jon by acer ta jn Be l le [Ed . A "be l ]e " i s a memberof a campy performance group cal 1 ed "TheRa inbe l les . " ] - whose name I won ' t ment jon(bu t who j s a lways la te ! ) - tha t I shou ldwr i te a I i t t l e a r t j c l e concern i ng myconfus i on sur round i ng ange l e t i quet te .Be ing one o f tha t heaven ly body (no punin tended) myse l f , there are t imes I amconfused as to what i s p roper e t iquet te .In fac t , I have been danc ing 19 months ,and I am s t i I I con fused a t t jmes byd i f fe ren t s ty l i ng techn i ques . In myopi n i on, premature use of sty l i ng andshortcuts by angel s i s a good way to I osenew members who get confused and don' tcome back. I t ' is somethi ng to pondercons ider ing we w i l l be s ta r t ing a newc lass in a few weeks . Example : I know o fa t l eas t two ways to do c i rc le to a l i ne .Whi ch i s the correct way? For a dancerwi th some exper jence, j t m jgh t be easy tob l u f f one 's way th rough. 8u t fo r anewcomer , i t jus t adds to the confus jon .Any feedback concern ing th js wou ld begreat ly apprec ia ted . As the o ld say inggoes , "You can d raw more f l i es w i th sugarthan wj th v j negar. " [ t4EL

I . I INTER I99O

Ed ' i t o r ' s Response

I t ' s t rue , beg inn ing square dancers o f tendo get confused and frustrated when theyare try' i ng to I earn basi c moves [whi I e]ange l s add ' i n s l aps , c ' laps , tw i r l s , bumps,k i cks , and the I j ke . The "confus i on"probl em j s prec' i sel y the reason thatange is need to unders tand and exerc ise"ange l i c e t i quet te" wh i I e danc i ng w i thbeginners (or any dancers ' in the processo f lea rn ing new square dance ca11s) . Whati t bo i l s down to i s tha t ange ls shou ldn ' tdo any th ing wh i le danc ing w i th lea rnersthat the ' i nstructor has not yet taught to

Thi s means goi ng back to basj cs anddanc i ng every ca l I by de f j n i t i on- -noshor tcu ts and no s ty l i ng un t i ' l c l assmembers have been taught such moves. I fan angef i s unsure what the Iearners inthe square are famj I i ar wi th, then no" f ancy s tu f f " shou ' l d be used. More1 i ke1y , the p rob l em ' i s tha t ange ' l s don ' ta lways real ly know what the "proper" wayto per fo rm a ca l l j s ! They may have beentaught d1 f ferent ly or forgotten theof f i c i a1

' ly correct way and grown

accus tomed to our "un ique adap ta t ions . "Thus "ange' l i ng " can be a great v{ay toimprove one 's fundamenta l danc j ng sk i 1 1 sand a rea l cha l lenge to dance w i thou tdo ing the " fancy s tu f f " tha t has becomeingra ined . DON l ^ l . , ed i to r

[QS Ed i to r . Th is ph i losophy i s the exac tphi 1 osophy of | . lestern Star Dancers,beg inn ing w i th the f i r s t ca l I i n Bas ic andcon t inu ing th rough the las t ca l l o f P lus .Any f lSD students who are concerned aboutange l i c behav io r a re s t rong ly encouragedto d i scuss the i r concerns w i th the c ' lassArchangel or any member of the Board ofD i rec to rs . l

THE }IILDE BUNCH, AIRED

LE0N DuB0IS

I used to v ' is i t f r iends i n Port l and forlong weekends th ree or four t imes a year ,but they moved to San Franc' i sco i n theSpr ing o f 1990. By September , I was

QUARTERLY sEltcnoNs 10

fee l ing t rave l depr i ved , so I dec ided toWhee l and Dea l in A lbuquerque in October .

The fes t i v i t jes began on Fr iday even ing a tthe A lbuquerque Soc ' ia l C lub w i th a po t luckd inner sponsored by our hos ts , The W' i ldeBunch . I t was a lav ish and de l i c iousspread; I espec ia1 ' l y f i ked the green ch i Iestew. Soci a l ' i zat i on v ' ras spi r i ted wi thabout 200 dancers in a t tendance. Ta lkabou t sp i r i ted l The square danc ing wh ichfol I owed d' i nner was as enthus i ast i c and' in tense as a t convent ions . RUSTY FENNELLfrom San Antonio was our pr imary ca11er,and he pu t us th rough our paces a t a l Il eve ls o f dance .

0n Saturday morn ing , a l l those who daredgathered i n the Soc' i a1 C1 ub parki ng 1ot at5:30 (yep, a . m. ) . l , le were dr i ven to ashopping center where we transferred tobusses to go to the ho t -a i r ba l I oonf i esta. Havi ng I ' i ved for many years ' inthe New York-Phi I adel phi a corr i dor and j nSan Franc jsco fo r 14 years , I wondered how600 ho t -a i r ba l loons cou ld maneuver in ametropol i tan area. I had forgotten howmuch space there i s between the East andHest Coasts. As we drove on and on to theascens i on f i e l d , I thought we mi gh td i sembark at Phoen' i x.

A br i I I ' iant d i spl ay of f i reworks was goi ngon as we approached the f i e1 d. A fewba l ' loons had a l ready been I o f ted i n thepre-dawn darkness . When the gas je ts were1 i ghted, the bal I oons appeared asbeaut j fu l la rge ornaments in the dark sky .The a tmosphere a t the f ie ld was th jck w i thant i c ' ipat i on. There was a country fa i rfeel wi th hawkers se1 1 i ng programs, T-sh j r ts , etc, , and booths se' l 1 i ng foodrang ing f rom co f fee and s t i cky buns tobreak fas t bur r i tos .

At dawn the crews began prepar i ng to sendthe ba l ioons up . They ( the ba l loons) werela id on the i r s ides and f i l l ed w i th a i rb lown in to them by la rge fans- -qu i te astrange and somewhat erot jc s ight . Af terthe ba l loons are r jgh ted , the chosen fewget in to the gondo las and the ba l loons arel aunched. Sj x hundred bal l oons r i s i ngi nto the s ky was an awesome s'i ght.Bes jdes the normal -shaped ba l loons , therewere spec i a l l y shaped ones a l so . Myfavor i tes were the Eng l ish co t tage and thecow j umpi ng over the moon whi ch was

' i ns t ruc ted .

I.IINTER 1990

suspended f rom the gondo la . For a t ru lyun ique exper ience, I suggest tha t youat tend the nex t A lbuquerque f l y - jn a t ho t -a i r ba l Ioon f ies ta t ' ime .

Back to square danc ing . Saturday even ingwe danced a f te r a de l ' i c ious banquet in theba l l room a t the love ly o1d La Posada Hote lin downtown A lbuquerque. Rusty and BILLEYLER prov i ded the aga i n sp i r i ted ca l 1 i ng .0n Sunday af ternoon, w€ enjoyed thecal I j ng of many IAGSDC cal 1 ers, i ncl ud' ingour own ANDY SHORE and ED CONLEY.

0n Sunday even ing , we were chauf feured tothe Bel I a Vi sta Restaurant i n themounta ins to the eas t o f the c i ty fo r acho les te ro l - f i l l ed mea l tha t my doc to rwou ld have s lapped my hands fo r ea t ing .Aga in , the r ide to and f rom the res taurantand the fami l y -s ty le d jn ing a t d inner gaveus t ime to become bet te r acqua in ted and toshare our weekend exper iences . Westerndanc i ng and soc ia l ' i za t j on were en joyedaf te r we re tu rned to the Soc ' ia l C lub .

The members of The [. l i I de Bunch are to beh igh ly conmended fo r o rgan iz ing anin te res t ing and fun weekend. They weremost g rac ious hos ts and hos tesses . Th ish ,as my f i rs t ou t -o f - town f1y- in , and II ook forward to at tendi ng one agai n--maybenot be fore Miami , however . And thenthere 's the convent ' ion ' in A l buouerque ' in

19921

THE CIRCLE FOR SHAIRE

SHAIRE ALOTTE

[ r e p r i n t e d w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m T h e l l i l d e T i m e s ,Septenber 1990, news le t te r o f The |J i lde Bunch,A l b u q u e r q u e . t d . D o n ' t t a k e S h a i r e a l o t f o rg r a n t e d . T h i s i s h u m a n e m o t i o n v e i l e d w i t h t o n g u ei n c h e e k . l

I I ove square danci ng ! l ,J i th each andevery new ca l l I l ea rn , I l ove i t a l l t t l emore . But , there is one component o fsquare danc jng tha t d is tu rbs me g rea t l y .I t has f rom the very beg inn ing , and I knowthat i t bothers some other dancers aswe l l .

your dreams and i t comes t ime to do thes i ng i ng ca1 I ? I t goes a1 r i gh t there fo ra b i t , then you f ind yourse l f s tand ing inf ron t o f your corner , and you hean, "Swingand promenade home!" I hate i t when thathappens ! !

There are t imes when you wanted to meettha t spec i a1 person and th i s i s theperfect oppor"tuni ty. This is the t ' ime tos l ide your a rm around the i r wa is t , fee lthe touch of thei r hand and determi newhether o r no t there ' i s rea l mag ic . Evenj f there is someth ing spec ia l there , youon ly ge t to do i t once be fore you have tomove on to the nex t corner . But , j f th isspec ia l person is your par tner , how do youcope w i th the loss you fee l as they aref1ung, s1ung, and swung f rom par tner tobru ta l par tner a1 i a round the square?

One way to manage your fee l ings ' i s to takea pos i t ' i ve a t t i tude . Look a t th i s as anoppor tun i ty to meet , g ree t , be sweet to ,and dance w i th n ice new peop le . Bu t then ,o f course , i f I had wanted to meet a l lthese n ice peop le , I wou ld have asked themto dance i n the f i rs t p l ace ! ! !

Another p1 an that has come to mi nd i s top re tend to fa in t , o r "pass ou t " ; bu t th i son ly causes too much conmot ion and wou ldon ly work once anyway, as peop le wou ldsoon catch on to your I j t t l e game.Another i dea j s to dance wi th your 1 eastf avor j te partner, as s um' i ng there i s one ,so when j t comes t ime to pass them on, i tfee ls good . Th is on ly works i f you knowfor sure the cal I er w' i I I cal I a s i ngi ngca11 , and i t j s m is lead ing to theunfavorab l e par tner , wh j ch causes a l Ik j nds o f p rob l ems.

Probably the most ef fect i ve and sel f -respec t ing way to dea l w i th th is mostcompl ex i ssue ' i s to ST0P. Take a DEEPBREATH and RELAX. DEEP BREATH and RELAX.DEEP BREATH and RELAX. Close your eyes(on ly momentar i 1y ) and v i sua l i ze yourse l frece i v i ng p1 easure and pass i ng a1 ongwarmth and I ove to al I the other partnersin your square . Know, deep ins ide yourhear t , tha t th j s i s the pure and s imp leessence of the conmuni ty of squaredanc i ng .

I f th i s method fa j ' l s you , and i t s t i l lbo thers you, then jus t say , "See ya ' round

i I INTER I99O

I am ta lk ing abou t s ing ingknow how i t i s , when you aretha t rea l l y spec ia l fe l l a o r

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

ca l I s . Youdanc ing wi ththe woman of

i 1t t

t he squa re , honey , " pass ' em on , and keepon danc i ng .

A STRANGE INCIDENTON SAN FRANCISCO BAY

ANNA DAMIANI

I t was a dreary Sunday morni ng ' inNovember. San Francisco Bay was shroudedin a g rey m js t . E igh t o f us se t ou t onboard the DAMIEN. Our in ten t was tha t o fgo ing ou t to sea to sca t te r the ashes o four dear f r iend Edd ie , who d ied o f A IDSth ' i s pas t Labor Day. l . le pu l led ou t o f thedock ' i n Sausa l i to and began our jou rney .The co ld , wa i l i ng w ind and the heavy mis tseemed to emphas i ze the s l ' i gh t l ymelancho ly mood o f those on board .

f , {e motored past the house boats andwatched as the dock d isappeared in to theweather . As we approached the Go lden GateBr i dge, I I ooked up to admi re th i ss t ruc tu re tha t has , to me, a lways been asymbol of the beauty of San Francjsco.What I saw wj l l rema' in in my memory for along t jme to come. l sa id , " I s tha t abody?" I knew tha t j t was even as theques t ion le f t my l i ps . I wa tched as i tfe l I f rom the br i dge and entered the waterw i th a la rge sp lash . I a t tempted to focuson the land ing spo t and shou ted d j rec t ionsas to the loca t jon . Pau l was s teer ing .He jnmed ia te ly inc reased the power andheaded toward the spot tha t I ind ica ted .Everyone on board seemed to wonder i f whatwas happen ing was rea l o r imag ined.

l . le c ' i rc l ed around to where I thought I hadseen the body I and. tde came up next toh jm on the f i rs t t ry . When hre were c loseenough, Dar ry l , E11 io t , and Ed began toca lm ly g ive us ins t ruc t ions such as , "Handme the boat hook , " and, "Contac t the CoastGuard. " l i lh' i I e they worked to pu1 I th j sman on board, Stoner proceeded to contactthe Coas t Guard and exp la jn the s j tua t ion' in wh i ch v re had found ourse l ves .Meanwhi le , Max, Freeman, and I look a teach other as though quest ' ioning what wewere see ing . As they s t rugg led to pu l lth is s t ranger aboard the boat , I caught ag l impse o f h j s face as j t momenta r i l yp ressed aga ins t one o f the por tho les . Ishuddered j nvo l un tar i 1y a t the pa1 e ,s l i gh t l y b lu ish face wh1ch met my gaze .

QUARTERLY STLECIIONS

As soon as they p laced h im secure ly on topof the boat, Oarry ' l began emergencyresusc ' i ta t jon procedurus . He cont inuedh ' i s hero i c a t tempt to save th i s man 's I i feunt i I wel I af ter we docked at the CoastGuard I andi ng under the north end of theGo lden Gate Br idge . Upon land ing , weexchanged a l l the necessary in fo rmat ionwi th the Coast Guard , the Sher i f f , andother o f f i c ia ls . We then headed back ou tto sea to accompl i sh the m iss jon on wh ichwe had o r ig ina l l y se t ou t .

We reached a po in t jus t ou ts ide the Go ldenGate and proceeded w i th our p l an toscatter Eddi e ' s ashes. El I ' i ot read as imp le , ye t mov ' ing p iece o f poet ry as wescattered f l owers and rhi nestones i n honoror our f r iend . Jus t as we were about totu rn back , the sun made a br je f appearancei n the grey skies. l , le knew then thatEdd je was watch ing and tha t he was smi l i ngdown on us .

What seemed to str i ke al I of us most aboutthe ent i re day was the i rony of thes i tua t ion in wh ich we had found ourse lves .We had managed to perform an exempl aryrescue a t sea in an a t tempt to save thel i fe o f a man who d id no t want to cont ' inueto l i ve ' i n th i s wor l d. Meanwhi l e, we werethere to say "good bye" to a f r iend whowanted nothl ng more than cont j nue I i v i ng.I sn ' t l i f e s t range?

[Ed . Fo l low ing i s the poem read by E l l i o taboard the boat . I t i s by Conn ie Hunt andi s f rom the book Reaching.f

I.IEMORIES

Noth jng is ever the sameEach encoun te r i s p rec ious , un ique .My hear t i s f j l l ed w i th pa inTo th ink o f shared moments so sweet .

How poi gnant to knowThey have ended.How consol i ng to knowThey can ' t change .

Al I our shared momentsAre suspendedIn our memor iesl . lhere they cannot change.

I I } I INTER I99O

CIDER SWING THRU

BIL BLADES and KENT HANSEN

A s imp ly sumptuous C jder Swing Thru squaredance was had by one and a l l a t S t . Pau lusLutheran Church on Saturday , 0c tober 13 .Cute STEVE EDLUND, ou l i n te rna t ' i ona lca' l

' ler f rom Vancouver, BC, had everyone

swing ing f rom the ra f te rs , wh i le h is w i fe ,LYNETTE, sat pat i ent l y on the s ' i del ' i nesdo ing her need lepo in t .

Our thanks to TODD TRYON and T IM McKENNA,the Event Coord jna tors , who brought th isen t i re fun even ' ing together . C l ass 1eve1 ,Ma i ns t ream, and P l us t i ps were ca) I ed ,w i th S teve add ing some fun var ja t jons toh j s ca l I s . The 0range 90 c l ass was we l Irepresented a t the i r f i r s t dance, whereseven squares v{ere danci ng at one t ' ime.They even showed the o ld t imers tha t Bas icsquare danc jng can rea l l y be fun .

De l i c ' i ous c i de r , donu ts , and app l es , aswe l l as so f t d r inks , were se rved by T im,FELIX FORNIN0, and B0B LESLIE. The 50 /50t ' i cke t sa ' les were once aga i n a rous i ngsuccess w j th GREG 0SM0N and MAX R0BB do ingan ou ts tand ing job . A t leas t ROD 0DGERS,who he ld the w inn jng t i cke t , though t so .SC0TT CAREY and JOHN CONLEY hel ped w' i ththe se t -up , PATTY l ,JHITE wi th the c lean-up,and R0NALD BOZEMAN wi th the decora t ions .

After three hours of everyone ki cki ng upthei r heel s, many moved on to the Corralfo r a f r i end ly ge t toge ther to f j n i sh o f fthe even ing .

PS: Was that Rhonda La Douche everyonesaw wi th her new beau? Do we hear wedd ingbe l I s?

OUT AND ABOUT

t , lh i I e there are not speci f i c ar t j c l esabout a l I the ac t i v i t ' i es i n wh ' i ch I ,JSD'ershave par t i c ipa ted , you shou ld know tha tl , lestern Star was represented at :

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

The Great Chi cago Crossf l re I I ,September 7 -9 , w j th Saundra Bryant , Pau lin fan t i , and the Spros ty Twjns (Don &Doug) ,Foggy Clty Annlversary Dance, October 20,w i th Anne Uebe lacker .Golden State Squares regular dance,November L0 , (ca l le r name fo rgo t ten)El Camlno Reelers 5th Annlversary Dance,November 17 , w j th Roger Loney , p lus thepre-dance pot-1 uck at the home of RandyClarke & Andy Shore .Dancln ' & Chancln ' In Las Vegas, December3-5 , w j th , among o thers , l , lSD- loveab lesPau l Marcum, E lmer Shef f ie ld , and VernWeese. Al so ca1

' l i ng were: Marshal I

Fl i ppo, Ki p Garvey, Jon Jones, LarryLetson, Tom Mann' ing, Dan Nordbye, and JoeSal te l . Understand that Mary Ann and Lynwi th Sequo ' ia '0cean Waves dance regu la r lyw' i th Joe Sal te l i n the Redwood j ungl es .Swl ng Thru Arl zona, Phoen'i x f I y- j 0 ,January 18-20, w i th Ml ke DeS i s to .

FAKING IT?(0R SQUARE DANCENoT LrKE oRGASM)

FREEMAN STAMPER

How many t jmes have you heard someone say,"0h , tha t ' s okay . I ' l l pu1 1 you th roughi t . " Maybe you have thought to yourse l fas you en te red a square , "Phew! I 'm g ladtha t person 's i n the square becausethey '11 ge t me th rough i t . " No one shou ldever shy away from a square just becausethe j r square dance sk i l l s a re no t the bes ton the f loo r . P rac t j ce , p rac t i ce , andmore pract ' ice is the only way to master apar t i cu la r p rogram and be ab le to dance i twj th unbr i d l ed abandon, dl 1 owi ng theforces o f mus ic , dance, exerc ise , energy ,1ove, respec t , and inner peace to takecont ro l o f your sou l wh j le knowing tha tyou are danc jng accura te ly . That fee l ingof abandon is a square dance orgasm.

0h , j t j s p robab ly eas ie r and maybei n i t i a1 1y more exci t i ng to forget thede f in i t j ons and go fo r the f l u f f . Bu tdon ' t I e t anyone foo l you tha t you canfake a square dance--not even your fe l 1 owdancers- - l e t a l one a ca l I e r . Thefol lowing excerpt demonstrates thetechn i que o f ca l I e rs j n assess i ng the

0n on Indiuno shopping moIImorquee: Archery tournament.Ears p i e rced.

13 I . I INTER 1990

pro f i c iency o f the f l oo r . The a r t i c le i swr i t ten w i th a s lan t towards the Advancedprogram, but ' i t does demonstrate therequi rement for a sol i d Basi c/Mai nstreameducat i on. [ , {h i I e l . lestern Star does notprov ide an Advanced program, the C lub iscormi t ted to provi d i ng a dance programwhi ch wi I I promote good square danci ngonce i t s membens dec ide to learn theprograms a f te r P lus .

I repr in ted f rom Amer ican 5quaredance, 0c tober 1990,pp . 59-601

HOl.l AN ADVANCED CALLERJUDGES THE ABIL ITY OF THE FLOOR

AS A GUEST CALLER

Ed Foote

Here are combi nat i ons th ' i s cal I er wi I I usei n the f i rs t t i p as a gues t ca l I e r a t anAdvanced dance, and what thesecombi nat i ons reveal about the ab' i I i tv ofthe dancers .

1. From an elght chaln thru format ion:Centers in, cost off 314, oll eightcirculote, oll eight circulote ogoin.Th is combina t ion shows whether the dancersunders tand the Ma ' ins t ream bas ic o f A l le ight c i . rculote, whi ch can be used as abenchmark to eval uate whether the dancersunders tand a l I the Mai ns t ream ca l I s . I fthe dancers can c i rcu lo te f rom the' i nverted I i nes ( format i on used j n th ' i sexampl e) , th i s j s a good j ndi cat i on thef I oor has a so l i d background ' in thefundamenta l ca l l s o f square danc ing . I fthe dancers I ook shaky doi ng thec i rcu lo te , the i r founda t ion knowledge i sprobab ly shaky . I f the dancers b reakdown, j t means they are top heavy , hav ingp i 1 ed the Advanced ca l I s on top o f afoundat ion o f sand, wh ich means the en t i res t ruc tu re can c rumble a t any t ime.

2. From normal (boy-gir l ) r lght-hand two-faced llnes: Couples hlnge, girls hinge,dionond circulote, flip the disnond. Thiscombi nat ' ion i l l ustrates whether thedancers unders tand fo rmat ions in genera land d iamonds i n par t i cu l a r . The dancersare ' in a po in t - to -po in t d iamond when to ldto f l tp the di .onond. I f the dancersf jn j sh in a t i da l wave , 1 t means theyunders tand fo rmat ions ; i f they f i n i sh inpara i 1e1 waves , fo rmat i on awareness ' i s

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

1 ack i ng .

3. From fac' lrrg I lnes: Squore thru 3/4,wheel & deol . Thi s comb'i nati on showswhether the dancers know to take handsins tan t l y a f t e r eve ry ca l l . I f t hedancers do not take hands af ter the sguorethru 3/4, they wj l l never do the wheel anddeol . I f the dancers do the wheel onddeol but look shaky, i t means they do nott ake hands a l l t he t ime , bu t w i l l on l yt ake t hem occas iona l l y .

Note that so far no Advanced cal I s havebeen used. [emphasi s added]

The ar t i c l e cont i nues w i th o thercombi na t i ons us i ng Advanced ca l ' l s . Thepo in t j s : I f you want to h i re the bes tca l le rs ava j lab le , you mus t be ab le tosquare dance accura te ly w i th a min jmum ofbreak-down. Why shou ld the C lub pay topdo l I a r fo r a ca l I e r to have a i a rgepor t ion o f the f l oo r s tand ing ' i n a squarewa i t ing fo r le f t a l l emande mos t o f thet i me.

Let me tel ' l you, the f I oor was hot at the

January 26 dance that Western Star hostedwj th Vern t {eese ca i l ing . The two programsrepresented were Bas ic w j th the f i rs t fewca l I s o f Ma i ns t ream and fu l I P l us . Therewere e igh t squares danc ing , and I don ' tbel i eve I saw a square broken down for anylong per iods more than about th ree t jmes.Vern saw a f l oor of strong dancers andca l led a tough , h igh-energy even ing . Mos tal I of our cal I ers conment on the energyof gay square dancers and how good theyare compared to the c lubs fo r wh ich theyregu la r l y ca11 . However , Vern pa id one o fthe h ighes t compl iments ever rece ived whenhe asked the ins t ruc to rs who were presentto i dent i fy themsel ves and publ i c1yacknowl edged the qual i ty' ins t ruc t ' ion . o f the ' i r

CALLERLAB QUARTERLYSELECTION PROGRAM

[a press re lease of CALLTRLAB, The Internat ionalAssoc ia t i on o f Squa re Dance Ca l l e r s . ]

From t ime to t ime ca l le rs and dancers

I4 i .J INTER 1990

express c r i t i c ism o f the CALLERLAB QSprogram. These c r i t i c isms range f rom "Whydoes CALLERLAB pi ck such

' lousy cal I s for

quar te r ly se lec t ions?" to "Who needs theseca l ls? l ^ le waste our t ime learn ing themand then they just go awayt " Those areboth good ques t ions and the answers mayhe1 p everyone to understand the reason forthe program and how i t opera tes . [ td .l ^ lSD doesn ' t do much w i th quar te r lyse lec t ions , bu t you hear the express ionoccas i ona l l y and gues t ca l I e rs w i I I usethe ca l l s a t dances . ]

The QS program grew out of the squaredance s ' i tua t i on tha t ex i s ted whenCALLERLAB was fo rmed jn the ear ly 1970 's .A t tha t t ime, there were no acceptedprograms o f square danc ing bu t there wasa near ly end less f Iow o f p roposed "new"ca l I s . [Ed . C&C Stud ios capturedconments on th ls sub jec t when ca l le r M ' ikeGreen, Ok lahoma Ci ty , was in te rv jewed fo rI ' l indow to the Stors 7 .l Cal I ers hadd i scovered tha t teach i ng a ca1 I no one hadever heard be fore made l i fe eas ie r ( fo rca l Ie rs ) jn two ways . The f i r s t th ingca l I e rs I i ked about new ca l I s was tha t theexper i enced dancers and the new dancersboth I earned them together and thed i f fe rence in the i r exper ience became less' impor tan t . The o ther th i ng ca l I e rs I j kedabout teach ' ing new ca l l s was tha t p rogramvar i e ty was easy to p roduce jus t byteach i ng nevv ca l I s . A l I a ca l I e r had todo was I earn what the new ca l I wasequ i va1 en t to and j t was eas i 1ysubs t i tu ted ' in to the dance rou t ines thecal I er a1 ready had memorj zed.

By I974 exper ienced dancers had a l readydec ' ided they d id no t I i ke th is p rogranmingtechn ique. When they went to dances , theyspen t the who le n igh t lea rn ing new ca11s ,most o f wh ich they wou ld never hear aga in .I t was cormon fo r ca l Ie rs to " teach" aha l f dozen ca l I s a t a Saturday n i gh tdance . The travel i ng cal I ers werepar t i cu la r l y fond o f th i s techn ique , andthey I e f t the I oca l ca l I e rs w i th theprob lem o f exp la in ing to the dancers whythe c l ub ca l I e r had no t taught theseca l l s . A t the ear l i es t CALLERLAB meet jng ,there were requests f rom the dancers to"do someth i ng about the f I ood o f newca l I s ! "

The CALLERLAB response was to ' ident ' i fy the

QUARTERLY sELrcTIoNs 15

Mains t ream program. Dancers cou ld thenknow what they were expected to know. Atthat t ' i r re many people were worr ied thatthose dancers who eni oyed 1 earn'i ng newca l ls - -and there were many o f them--wou ldwant to cont inue to exper iment. Manya lso be l ' ieved tha t there had to be a wayfor new ' ideas to be added to theMai nstream program. The QS program l lasdeve l oped to answer bo th o f these needs.

Si nce I974, CALLERLAB has j dent i f i edadd i t j ona l dance p rograms, and the ca l l son these programs have changed severalt imes . The quar te r l y se lec t ion p rocesshas cont r i bu ted to these changes. Asexampl es, we have recycle on theMajnstream program and spi .n chain thegesrs on the Pl us program. Both of theseand many others were added through the QSprocess . There have been many se lec t ionsjn al l of the programs that were less thangreat , bu t i t j s impor tan t to remember theother purpose o f the QS program--g iv ingdancers who en joy learn ing the chance toexper iment w i th new ca l I s . A l I quar te r lysel ect ' i on cal I s , good or bad, are chosenby a major i t y vo te o f a fa i r l y la rgeconmi t tee . A f te r a s ix -month t r ia l ' i n thef j e l d, the ent j re CALLERLAB membersh' i pvo tes to keep o r d rop the QS ca l l s .

CALLERLAB has never urged cal I ers to usethe quar te r ly se l ec t i ons . From thebeg inn ing o f the program, they have beenoffered for those cal I ers who wi sh to' inc lude a workshop in the i r p rograms. Thegoa) was to narrow the number of new cal I sthat were presented so that dancerseverywhere I earned the same ones. Theother conmon compl ai nt ' is that some of these lec t ions have no t been good ca11s . Tha tcer ta i n1y ' i s t rue , bu t we shou l d begra te fu l . Most peop l e be l ' ieve we havemore than enough cal I s on our danceprograms a l ready . I f a l l the QS's weregood enough to deserve a p1 ace on theI ' i s ts , we cou ld never keep the pnograms toa reasonab l e s ' i ze .

There i s se r ious d iscuss ion abou t whe therthe quar te r ly se l ec t i on process hasou t l i ved i t s use fu lness . Some peop le a reurg ing tha t we do away w i th the processent i re1y . Before we take tha t s tep , h reshou ld cons ider how the needs tha t led usto es tab l i sh th i s p rocess w i l l be se rvedwi thout j t . The process does prov ide very

IJ INTIR 1990

s t rong s tandard i za t i on o f workshopmater ia l th roughout the wor ld . I t a lsoprov ides a p rocess fo r in t roduc ing newmater ia l in to the square dance vocabu lary .l . l i thout th ' is order ly and accepted process,there ' i s a g rea t r i sk tha t we cou ld re tu rnto the confus jon tha t ex is ted pr io r to197 4.

1991, A YEAR OFNEI.J ADVENTURES

"No ev ' idence i nd i ca tes tha t humans i ngenera l have ever I i ved as I oners .Ind i v i dua l s , sure l y . But the mass o f menand women have a1 ways pai red of f i nperenn ia l pa r tnersh ips ak in to mar r iage .Scho l a rs say th i s pa t te rn o f cen tur i essuggests a l oneness i s one o f the most' in to ' le rab l e o f cond ' i t j ons among humans. "[1 . l . l . Boyd, "The Grab Bag,u Sunday Punch/TheSan Francisco Chronic le, September 30, i990]

Becoming mone invo lved in the ac t j v i t i eso f l , les te rn Star w i l l b reak the shack les o fa loneness . Most square dancers need al i t t l e b reak f rom the ac t i v j t y every nowand then, bu t don ' t fo rge t tha t you mayhave a need to return. l ,Jestern Star hastwo po l i c ies tha t tha t he ' lp make re tu rn ' ingI ess stressfu ' l . I f you are current l y amember, you may at any t ime pay one-ha1fthe cur ren t c lass fee (o f any c lass leve lyou have already completed) and be treatedas a regu la r s tuden t , no t as an ange1 .That means you wi ' |1 not be requested tos tep ou t o f a square to a l I ow anotherstudent to dance. Tel l former l , lSD membersyou know abou t the po l i cy , fo r i t app l iesto anyone who has ever been a c l ub membero f HSD-- regard less o f how long ago.

The second po l i cy a t Western Star tha t i sbenef ic ' ia l to fo rmer s tudents and c lub

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

members i f our f ree re-take program. I fa person pays f rom a par t i cu la r c lass anddo:s not complete the sessions or does notgraduate, the student may repeat the c lassfor f ree wi th in a lZ-month per iod f rom thebeg inn ing da te o f the s tuden t ' s o r ig ina lc l ass .

0vercomi ng a l oneness necess i ta tesacqui r i ng some soc' ia l graces. Squaredanc ' i ng i s no t a l I ca l I s and mus i c . T rue ,the dance js ak in to mar r iage in tha t youpa i r o f f w i th a par tner and work together ,bu t i t can be ak in to a d ivorce when adancer 's I ack o f soc i a l i nvo l vementimpa i rs en joyment o f the dance.

"Ca l I e r and dancer can choose to ca l I anddance a t many leve ls on a sca le o f one toten , bu t th i s sca le deno tes on lychoreography.

"Have you ever ana lyzed where you wou ldstand i f you were to grade yoursel f on asca le o f one th rough ten ' in o ther aspec tsof the act i v i ty? Where woul d your I evelfa l l i n :

1. Rhythm2. T im ing3. S ty l i ng4 . F r jend l iness , soc ' iab i l i t y , and

tol erance of others5 . C lub loya l t y6 . Years you have cont r j bu ted to the

act i v i ty7 . l./el comi ng new members and guests to

your c1 ubB. He lp ing w i th beg inner c lasses9 . Br ing ing new members in to the ac t i v i t y10 . Mak ing sure tha t no ca l le r o r dancer

j s le f t a lone in the park ing lo t a tthe end of the dance

" I f you average a l l o f these sca les a longwj th choreography , you shou ld then f indyour rea l and t rue leve l in the squaredance picture. . . " [cur ly custer, AmericanSquaredance, January 1981, as repr inted in uEncore"

of Anrerican Squaredance. January 1991]

So, i f you ' re lonesome ton igh t . Then comeback aga i n . Western Star is wa i t i ng w i tha program o f dance and soc ia l ac t j v l t iesfrom whj ch you may choose to add spi ce to1991 .

ENEI t{:D I truD RSIIP

il. A

16 ! I INTER 1990

N QUARTERLYt l-C sELEcTIoNs\ - , N/ l l lr l r l v' \ , , I I

lv

ITESTERN STAR DANCERS

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 480SA}I FRANCISCO, CA 94LL4

SPRING 1991 - l-tARCH, 1991

BUBBLES' BUBBLE BURSTI,IIA CULPA, CRIES EDITOR AGAIN

These cr ies of anguish are not just for show.My wrists are l imp from coo many hand-vringingsess ions . Be l i eve tha t and I ' ve go t j ewe l r yI ' 1 I se l l as rea l d i amonds .

In the last edi t ion of QuarterTy Select ions,the article announcing our newest friendshiprecogni t ions stated that the indiv iduals " jo inonly two other people to have been awardedFr iend memberships s ince the pol icy wases tab l i shed i n Ap r i l , 1985 . " The s ta temen tshould have indicated that only three otherpeople have been so honored.

Bubbles (occasionally known as l. lark Savino)cal led wiEh fe igned pol i teness to in forur methat h is WSD badge d id in fact read "Fr iend"and not "Fi-end" as he horrorfyingly concludedupon seeing h is name omit ted f rom the l is t o f" the chosen. " Bubbles has at tended manyWestern Star socia ls and ret reats and undertookthe herculian task of directing the thirdedi t ion of Club La Star . When he is around,get ready for laughs and feeling good aboutyoursel f . He is just as bubbly as goodchampagne (hence h is nom de pTune). Cl ingf i rmly to you: possessions, however; forBubbles carr ies wi th h i rn a propensi ty forb reakage .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS is apubl icat ion of Western Star Dancers,I nc . , a modern wesce rn squa re danceclub serv ing pr imar i ly theSan Francisco B"y Area gay andlesbian communi ty . The purpose ofth is publ icat ion is Co providethought-provoking ar t ic les of anedi tor ia l nature and other mater ia lof general in terest or enEerta i runentvalue for WSD rnembers. The emphasiso f Qua r te rTy Se lec t i ons i s onre levance to square dance issues,ph i l osoph i ca l subs tance , andl i t e ra ry qua l i t y .

O r i g i n a l a r t i c l e s i n t h i spubl icat ion are copyr ighced but maybe repr inted vr i th appropr iate credi tto the author and c i ta t ion of

Quar te r l y Se lec t i ons .

Edi tor : Freeman Stamper(4rs) 43L-6272

OPINIONS D(PRESSED ARE TEOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DONOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINIONS AND POLICIESOF IIESTERN S1AR DAfiCERS, INC., NOR ITS MEMBERS.

MENTION OF A PERSON'S NAI.,IE IN THIS PUBLICATION INNO I{AY INDICATES IIIS/HER SDruAT ORIENTATION.

Bubbles, we do love you and know that you wearycur WSD badge wi th as much pr ide as we have in cal l ing you a Fr iend.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

By ilAX ROBB, Administrator

In very many ways, any organizat ion or

business is l ike a row boat- -everyone has

to pu l l t oge the r . I f some peop le a re

ly ing back enjoy ing the r ide, daydreaming,

napp ing o r j us t s l ack ing o f f , t he boa t

doesn ' t go f o rwa rd . In the worst

scena r i o , i t beg ins t o d r i f t backwards .

I f people on one s ide are rowing

di l igent ly and some on the other s ide are

n o t , t h e b o a t g o e s i n c i r c l e s .

Western Star is a great organtzat ion f rom

which we a l l get many d i f ferenc types of

pe rsona l f u l f i l lmen t : exe rc ] - se ,

f r i endsh ip , soc ia l ac t i v i t i es , l ea rn ing

expe r i ences - - t o name a few . I wou ld l i ke

eve ryone to ask h im /he rse l f t he ques t i on :

"What am I g iv ing to Western Star in

re tu rn f o r a l l I am ge t t i ng? " I f t he

answer i s $21 a yea r i n dues , You a re no t

paying your way. In order for Western

S ta r t o rema in t he v ib ran t , f un - f i l l ed

organizaxion i t is , i t is essent ia l that

eve ryone g i ve a l i t t l e o f t hemse lves , a

l i t t l e o f t h e i r t i m e .

We have out l ined a l l o f the many, many

tasks that must be per forrned in order to

keep Wes te rn S ta r "go ing on a s teady ,

ups t ream cou rse " i n a co l l ecE ion o f " j obdescr ipt ions. " The whole idea behind thejob descr ipt ions ! /as co provide an

opportuni ty for everyone to do a l i t t le of

the work. I t 's the o ld "many hands make

l i gh t wo rk " concep t .

Come on , don ' t wa i t f o r someone to ask you

d i rec t l y i f you w i l l he lp w i t h some asPec t

of a dance or other Club funct ion. This

is a volunteer organizat ion and that

requi res volunteers--come forward and do

your share; keep those oars in the water .

The more people we have rowing the boat,

the less ef for t each person has to put

into the job and the more fun the boat

r i de w i l l be f o r a l l o f us .

You know when you've square danced tooouch. ,when you do a Double Pass Thru,Clover leaf Just io tet to your seat in churchon sundaY'

- -J im c 'evenger

COUPLE #I

COUPLE #2

COUPLE #4

Couples I & 3 face each other in the

square. Both of these couPles are

known as HEAD couples.Couples 2 & 4 face each other in the

squa re . Bo th o f t hese couP les a re

known as SIDE couples.In every square, the two PeoPle in

Couple #1 wi l t have thei r backs to

the cal l -er .In every square, the two PeoPle in

Coup le #3 w i l l be f ac ing the ca l l e r .

The dancer standing next to You in

your couple is your PARTNER.The lady to the le f t o f each gent is

known as the gent 's CORNER.The genc to the right of each ladY is

known as the lady's CORNER.The dancer d i rect ly across f rom each

dancer is known as the OPPOSITE.

The ca l l e r may re fe r t o t he l e f t - s i dedancer by several d i f ferent names(hope fu l l y no t de roga to rY ones ) :

g e n t s , m e n , b o y s , B u y s , e t c .

The cal ler may refer to the r ight-

s ide dancer by several d i f ferent

n a m e s : l a d i e s , g i r l s ' , w o m e n ' P e t s ,tav/s , e tc .

G -L :

1 0 .

SQUARE oRIENTATI0t{

By BILL WTTITEFIELD

GentLady

C A L L E R

trtr

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trPLCOU

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3 .

7 .

9 .

'Remember, this is pr imari ly a gay group.The te rm "Hey, G i r l " m igh t no t necessar i l ybe directed to the four ladies in yoursquare .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS SPRING 1991

CONVENTION !CAST A SHADOW IN THE SUN

I I ibera l l y adapted f rom Border l lnes , o f f i c ia l news le t te ro f Squares Ac loss the Border , Vancouver , BC, Cmada, Apr i l1990, pub l l shed abouC a week prLor to the VancouverConventlonl

WHAT TO EXPECT

1. Blue sk ies, sunshine, and sandybeaches .

2. Not much s leep. Between dancing andmeet ing new f r iends, s leep wi l l belas t on you r l i s t .

3 . Improving your dancing sk i l ls . Youwon' t bel ieve how easy dancing yourprogram wi l l be af ter the weekend.

4 . Lo t s o f l augh te r , wonde r fu lconversat ion, and spectacularYe l l owrocks .

5 . A sense o f f r i endsh ip and suppo rc .Tha t ' s ha rd t o pu t i n to wo rds .

6 . So re f ee t !

PI.ANNING HINTS

Your l i t t le b lack book wi l l come inhandy to help keep in touch wichal l those new f r iends. l E d .Alternat ive ly , and preferably,subsc r i be t o B rad ley BeLL . The1 9 9 1 e d i t i o n , f o r w h i c hsubscr ipt ions wi l l be avai lable inMiarn i , ant ic ipates at least 400subsc r i be rs . Tha t ' s more than youc a n f i t i n a " I i t t l e " b l a c k b o o k . ' l

l {oney: You' I l f ind th ings to buy asthere wi l l be vendors at theConvent ion. Your registrat ioninc ludes a banquet . on Saturdaynight and a brunch on Sunday.Otherwise , you ' re on your ordrr formeals. Beverages in the hote l areI i ke l y f o be expens i ve .

The dance manual for the progran youa re danc ing . I t i s a goodre fe rence i f vou ' re shaky onanyth ing.

Part ic ipate as much or as l i t t le asyou choose; there are no ru lesabout amount of par t ic ipat ion. Dopush yoursel f that l i t t le ext ra i fyou ' re a b i t a f ra id t o ge t on totha t f l oo r . You von ' c reg re t i t .

Don ' t hes i t a te t o ask ques t i ons i fyou ' re unsure about anyth ing. Thisis a learn ing weekend.

COIIRTESIES

Star t the Convent ion wi th nof lor ishes. They vary a lo t f rom c lubto c lub. Learn the ones you l ike,but respect the r ight of of ,herdancers to omit them. Remember, adancer coming towards you withhis/her hands behind the back meanssometh ing . Don ' t s do a f l o r i sh w i t hme! The person may noc have handsbehind the back, but she/he may nothave "hands up " f o r a f l o r i sh . Don ' tbreak down the square by ins is t ingthat the f lor ish be executed.

Don ' t shun a f o rm ing squa re . I t ' sunfr iendly and d iscour teous to passby a forming square and look forano the r .

Dance only the programs you know,unless you are at tending anint roductory workshop. You may Ehinkyou' re good enough to be pul ledthrough a t ip just because you knowa few (maybe even most) of the cal1s.Neve r f ea r - - t he o the r dance rs w i l lsoon d i .scover your "secret" andyou '11 w ind up unpopu la r . I t ' s ha rdenough getting yourself through thet ip , much less having to dance foranother person or t l to .

Don' t abandon your square. Once in asqua re , neve r l eave i t - - r ega rd less

o f t he d i f f i cu l t i es . I f you rnus tleave the square before the t ip isover , get someone to tag in .

Be posiEive and f r iendly. In t roduceyoursel f a t the beginning of the t ipto dancers you don' t know. Apos i t i ve a t t i t ude i s con tag ious , addsto the fun, and actual ly improves thedancing of the square.

S t i r t he bucke t o r no t s t i r t hebucke t? A t Wes te rn S ta r Dance rs , weteach st i r r ing the bucket f rom thebeginning. At Convent ion, askwhether or not the square wishes tost i r because not a l l o ther dancershave the same exposure as you. You

5 .

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS SPRING 1991

don' t want the square to break downjust because the other dancers arenot accustomed to rotat ing.

And the eternal ly debated quest ion- -

whose weave the ring do l{re use?Don 'E deba te i t . T ry t hem a l l .Mix and match in the same tip.H i s to r i ca l l y , t he s t y l e w i ch themos t pe rsona l i t y w ins . I t cou ld beyou rs . I t cou ld be ano the r c l ubs .I f there is a problem, remember toput your hands behind your back andt t j u s t s a y n o . "

POINTERS FOR BETTER DANGTNG

Join hands automatlcally ghenever

poss lb le a f t e r each ca l1 . Th i ses tab l i shes the fo rma t i on you a rein and prepares you for whatevercal l may come next . When therei s n ' t t i m e t o j o i n h a n d s , t o u c hhands i n pass ing to es tab l i sh t hefo rma t i on be tween ca l l s . Fa i l u reto touch hands is a maj or cause ofsquares breaking dovm.

Be l i eve the ca l l e r . T ry t o execucethe ca l l o r d i r ec t i on as we l l asyou can , even i f you don ' tunderstand why or i f iE seemss t range .

I f you are lost , don' t turn around.Look around by turning your head.I f someone says to turn around oryou see that you should turna round , t hen do i t . O the rw ise ,maincain your fac ing d i rect ion andIe t someone gu ide you i n to p lace .When lost , don' t wander arounda i m l e s s l y . Move s lowly in ageneral forward d i rect ion wi th yourhands s l ight ly up so that you canb e e a s i l y p u l l e d i n t o p l a c e . D o n ' tput your arms out l ike a i rp lanew i n g s .

Don ' t ge t f r an t i c I f you fa l lbehind on a cal1, don' t run aroundfrant ica l ly t ry ing to catch up.Remember, keep the square t ight ino rde r t o make fewer s teps . Tha t ' sthe quickest way to make up t ime.Try to p ick up where everyone e lseis f rom che posic ion you should bein i f you had done the cal l . For

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

example, Do Sa Do leaves you whereyou star ted, and a le f t a l lamandeputs you about where you sEarted butfac ing the other way. Look whereeveryone e lse is to see where youhave to be.

Try to help someone who l -s lost .Min imize ta lk ing and use hand s ignalsor a gent le touch. An ef fect ivemethod is to point to the spot inwhich they should be.

Stand your ground. If you have donethe ca l l co r rec t l y , don ' t l e t someonewho is unsure of the cal l make youchange you r pos i t i on . Th i s w i l l keepthe squa re go ing .

Don ' t g i ve up . When you hea r a ca l lyou haven ' t hea rd be fo re , don ' t g i veup and qu i t . Mos t o f f he t ime theca l l e r w i l l immed ia te l y t e l l you howto do i t by cue ing you .

Strong couples and weak couples. I f asquare has two st rong couples and twoweak couples, the st rong couplesshou ld be ac ross f r om each oche r .This way each weak dancer has astrong corner , and th is g ives eachs ide o f t he squa re s t rong coup lesdur ing dance f igures.

9. Breaking down in a hash cal l . A1le ight dancers go to thei r or ig inalhomes. Square up and then have thehead eouples s l ide to the r ight andform normal fac ing l ines of four .Then watch che other squares. Thisw i l l he lp you p i ck up the o the r ca l lf o l l ow ing a l i nes -o f -4 f o rma t i on .Because of the nature of ca l l ing,you '1 I s ta r t danc ing soone r f r omfacing l ines than f rom standing in asquare format ion. And don' t r rorryabout being out of exact rotat ionfrom Ehe other squares.concentrate and keep moving.

Jus t

10. Breaking down ln a s inglng cal l .Square back up with the gents at homewith any lady. Singing cal ls have 7s e c t i o n s : O p e n , 2 r o t a t i o n s , m i d d l e ,2 r o E a t i o n s , a n d c l o s e . I f y o u ' v ebeen watching che progression of theladies and are aware of the sect ionwhere the square broke, Iadies ean

SPRING 1991

move to the proper gent . This takesp r a c t i c e , p a t i e n c e , a n dconcen t ra t i on .

11. Learn the def in i t ion. In learn ing aca l1 , unde rs tand i t s de f i n i t i on ,rather than just memor iz ing i t f roma pa r t i cu la r pos i t i on . Men ta l l y cuethe cal l to yoursel f each t ime youexecute i t . I f you know thede f l n i t i on o f t he ca l l , you w i l l beable to do i t f rom any posi t ion thec a l l e r u s e s .

L2. Bidancual . Whi le you get a chance todance wi th more people by being ableto dance either the gent or the ladypos i t i on , Conven t i on i s no t t hep lace to s ta r t " sw i t ch ing . " Youhave the opportunity to make a lotof f r iends. Do what you can do thebes t vou can .

A LATE APOLOGY

By BILL WHITEFIELD

I learned very recent ly that many membersof the last cwo (maybe more) graduat ingWSD classes l rere of fended by some of theexerc ises in which they were requested topa rE i c i pa te on the i r g radua t i on n igh t .They were made to feel uncomfor table andembarrassed. As one who par t ic ipated inthe p lanning of those n ights, I want toapologize to you for my par t in thoseevents. Please know that ic was not myintent ion to cause you d iscomfor t or totake av/ay from what should have been avery specia l evening for you.

Most of those exerc ises were borrowed f romsquare dance graduat ion t radic ion, bothstra ight and gay. Perhaps, though, theyweren ' t app rop r i a te f o r us . WSD membersare t ru ly the most creat ive and fun peopleI have ever known. I would l ike to askaI I o f you to t ry to come up wi th someideas which you feel would be fun foreverybody, and to communicate these ( inwr i t i ng so ! / e won ' t f o rge t ) t o WSDinstructors and Board members. I knowthat , together , l re can create a graduat ionevening which wi l I be a p leasant lymemorable evening for a l l fu ture c lass

QI'ARTERLY SELECTIONS

members .

SCOOT BACK?FROM HERE?!

I reprlnLed from 4!e499__-h,e-Eg!-e!-$or i ,g ina l l y pub l i shed i .nl la r ren Berquml

P e r h a p s i c ' s

Febluary 1991,. AuLhor :

w e 1 1 to rem ind

Idance rs ] . . abou t scoo t back and t r i p l escoo t . . .The re seems to be someconfusion. .wi th regards to the cal lt r ipTe scoot . Tr ipTe scoo8 was droppedfrom Ehe Plus program. The l la inst reamCommi t tee Io f Ca l l e r l ab ] r ^ /as reques ted tolook at the def in i t ion of scoot back tode te rm ine i f a rev i s i on cou ld a1 low scoo tback to be cal led f rom columns and havethe dancers per form the act ion aspreviously def ined under t r ipTe scoot .That act ion has not yeL taken p lace norhas any vote been taken on that def in i t ionchange. To those of you who feel thatCal ler lab redef ined scoot back, th is hasno t been done . The sugges t i on was madethat i f you only wanf a normal scoot backto be done , say , " I n you r f ou rsome, scoo tback. I f you want everyone to do thescoo t back ac t i on , you m igh t say ,"Everybody or grand scoot back-"

THE TEN COMMANDI'IENTSFOR SQUARE DANCERS

THOU SHALT -

honor thy cal ler and harkenvo i ce , f o r t hy successg reac l y upon h i s wo rds .

THOU SHALT -

to h i sdepends

exchange greeting and be friendly toa l l i n t hy g roup , l es t ye be l abe leda snob and unworthy of the t i t let 'Squa re Dance r . "

THOU SHALT NOT -

r id icu le those dancers possessing t \ r /olef t hands but shal t endeavor to helpchem dist inguish one f rom the other .

IEd. Remember, when you puE thebacks of both hands in f ront of youreyes wi th your thumbs extendedtowards each other , the hand whichmakes the "L" is che t rue le f t . ]

THOU SHALT -

st r ive to dance in d i f ferent squares,thereby g iv ing to a l l the benef i t o fthy f ine personal i ty and great

SPRING 1391

expe r i ence .THOU SHALT NOT -

anLic ipate or dance ahead of thycal ler for he is of f iendish natureand possessed of ev i l powers to makethou appea r i 11 -p repa red i n t he eyeso f t hy f e l l ow dance rs .

THOU SHALT NOT -

moan and bel i t t le thy cal l -er , thypar tner , nor the s l ippery f loor whenthou has goofed, for th is is l ike lyth ine own mistake.

THOU SHALT -

c lean thyse l f d i l i gen t l ydance, thereby creaf ingaroma for thy par tner .

THOU SHALT -

rema in s i l en t wh i l e t hy ca l l e r g i vesadv i ce and i ns t ruc t i ons .

THOU SHALT NOT -

par take of s t rong dr ink before ordur ing the dance, lest thy mindbecome be fudd led and con fused . IEd .D i t t o f o r any m ind -a f f l i c t i ngsubs tance . I

THOU SHALT -

makech up anything thou wishech forthe tenth commandment, for thoucanst count that there are only n inel i s ted above . How abou t : he lpe ththe c lub/cal ler set up and take downthe hal l where thou danceth.

a lonesome dancer on each end with ashoulder towards the three pai rs . . I cuethe tota l act ion as Coordinate go -

7 - 2 - 3 - t r a d e - m o v e u D .

You know when you've square danced toomuch. .when al l the cal lers sound exact lyal ike, and they al l cal l you by name.

--J im Clevenger

PARLEZ-VOUS SQUARE DANCE?

By ETT McATEE

Icontr ibuted by JAI{ES OZAfICE. Repr inted f rom Zip Coder,V o L X I X , N o . 5 , D e c e m b e r 1 9 9 0 , p p . 3 8 - 3 9 . E t t ( J u s i E t L ,Hon) is a founding member of Chesapeake Sguares, an IAGSDCclub i .n Bal t imore, MD. Zip Coder is a per iodical for theAdvanced and ChaLlenge programs. l

Do you cons ide r you rse l f b i l i ngua l? Imean, do you speak Square Dance? You knowthe scenar io: You are dr iv ing a long wi tha fe l low dancer, and, when asked ford i rec t i ons t o you r des t i na t i on , you say ," V e e r t o t h e l e f t ! " o r " P r e s s a h e a d ! " o r"Zoom a round th i s s l ow Doke" o r t he eve r -

before thea p leasan t

popu la r "U - tu rn back ! " OnIy squaredancers understand vour prec ise meaningand w i l l do as you say .

How many other t imes in our everyday l ivesdo we rh ink in Square Dance, even when thesi tuat ion at hand has noth ing to do wi th

CO0RDTNATE (DBD 0R REGULAR) our be loved ac t i v i t y? As American

I repr i .nted f rom , Feb rua ry 1991 ,Squaredance magazine once pointed out , weknow we are in i t deep when our boss says

"Keep busy! " and we walk away rec i t ing thedef in i t ion to ourselves ! Think about i tnext t ime you f ind yoursel f th ink ing inSquare Dance in your everyday af fa i rs .

Ser iously , I have been wrest l ing wi th theissue of what makes square dance soaEtract ive to me. Whi le sorne fo lks havet roub le commi t t i ng t o a once -a -week c lassor c lub n ight , I have d i f f icu l ty makingt ime to do much e l se . I have rea l i zedover the years that , as I learn more andmore, both new cal ls and the mechanics ofcal l ing a dance, I am real ly learn ing tospeak ano the r l anguage . IEd . E t t beganher cal ler t ra in ing at the IAGSDCConvenEion in Vancouver last year . ] Oneo f my l i f e - I ong i n te res t s has a lways beenthe sc ience o f l anguage - -o r t he syn tax ,

i n Dance t ime NoLes f o r Ca l l e r s .or ig inal ly publ i .shedAuLhor: Dick Hanl

With the dancers in columns, for theci rcuTate 1-7/2 I have the dancers takethree normal dancing steps and stop; thenI have the six dancers who are side byside touch hands and trade (turn I/2) nitheach other . Now have the center pai r andthe lonesome outs ide dancers move forwardand out to become the ends of thef in ish ing two-faced l ines. We make k indof a game out of th is "Three Step"app roach . F i r s t , I t e l l t hem to no t t oueha thing unti l they have taken the "threes teps , " t hen we s ta r t t he wa l k - th ru . Ihave everyone count thei r s teps out loud( l - 2 - 3 ) , n o w s t o p ; t h e n t h o s e w h o c a ntouch hands wi th whoever is beside themand t rade. You now have three pai rs and

QUARTERLY SELECTTONS SPRING 1991

granmar and structure of how a language isput together and understood.

We as square dancers in terpret what aca l l e r says , v i s -a -v i s t he command ; wecl ick i t in to the gxay mat ter of ourbra ins, come up wi th an in terprecat ion ofthe cal l , and execute ic in our square.In ef fect , w€ speak Square Dance, butinstead of verbal feedback, we communicatewi th the cal l -er and the other dancers thatwe understand the cal l by per forming i t inour square. Square Dance is a languagespoken and understood only by other squaredance rs . No t i ce t he reac t i on i f you askjust anyone of f the st reet i f they "boxthe gnat" !

Square Dance is real ly an in ternat ionallanguage. Consider the German

"a l l emande , " t he F rench "deucey , " and theJapanese "ah so. " We can go anywhere inthe wor ld, walk inEo the local - f i rehal l orschool cafeter ia, and feel r ight at homeas soon as the needle goes down. Neverwas this more apparent than at theNat ional Advanced and Chal lenge Convent ion1990 i n V i rg in ia Beach . Th i s was my f i r s tt ime at th is convent ion, and r ight away,at the t ra i l -end dance on l^ Iednesday n ight ,I found mysel f in a square wi th s ixSwed ish dance rs . Thanks , La rs , Lo t ta ,E1se , Yvonne , Le i f , and B jo rn , f o r mak ingthe squa res l o t s o f f un ! These peop lewere super dancers and made the wholeweekend lots of fun for my parcner and me.An Engl ish couple on thei r way to Vi rg in iaBeach j o i ned us a t M ike Jacobs ' s homeclub, Spinning Windmi l ls , for an eveningof Advanced dancing. IEd. Mike Jacobs isa prominent ca l ler and l ives in theBa l t imore a rea . ] They , t o9 , added a l o tto our dancing enjoyment at theconvent ion. Several dancers f rom Japanwere a lso at the convent ion. , as ! /ereGerman and Canadian dancers. They a l lwere a p leasure to dance wi th throughoutthe weekend.

Square dancing has added a lo t to my l i fe .I t ' s an ac t i v i t y t ha t sa t i s f i es myinterest in another language and yet a lsoa l l ows a phys i ca l i n te rp re ta t i on o f t ha tl anguage . Bes t o f a l l , I now haveinternat ional f r iends f rom abroad whoshare my love of square dancing, and wea l l speak che same language - -Squa re Dance .I look forward to the dav when I can

QUA&TERLY SELECTIONS

travel abroad and dance wich them in theirhometowns. Af ter a l l , square dancing isj us t " f r i endsh ip se t t o mus i - c " ! So un t i lthen, keep on dancing, and Yel lowrocks toy o u a l l !

THE HEARTBREAK OF CHIRALITY

By JANA HOLLINGSIIORTH

lcontributed by JAIES OZAXICE. Reprint€d froo Sidetrack,a Pe r l od i ca l o f Qua rLe r l l es and Sp i r l t ua l Adv i ce , No . 3 ,Autust 1, 1990. Jana ls the edi tor of Sidetrack and l lvesi , n Sea t t I e . l

W h a ' d s h e s a y ? D o n ' t p a n i c . I t ' s j u s t afancy word I came across, used intheoret ica l physics to refer to what theres t o f us mor ta l s ca l l " handedness . "I t 's one of those th ings that can dr ivephys i c i s t s c tazy , and , s t range l y enough ,i t can do the same th ing to squaredance rs .

Personal Anecdote Dept : When I was s ixyea rs o ld , I b roke my l eg . When thedoctor came to p\ r t on the cast , he asked," I s t h i s t h e r i g h t l e g ? " I s a i d , " Y e s , "and he put the cast on i t . Unfor tunate ly ,t he l e f t l eg was b roken .

When I was s ix years o ld, th is was aser ious quest ion. Knowing r ight f rom lef tis not something that comes automat ica l lyto me. But s ince becoming a squaredance r , I ' ve d i scove red someth ing : onecan learn. Since most of the t ime wedance in r ight-handed format ions, as apract ica l mat ter there are two th ings onemus t do to become a mas te r o f ch i ra l i t y :f i r s t , t o no t i ce when one i s i n a l e fC -handed format ion, and second, to dance inlef t -handed format ions comfor tablv .

SPRING 1991

I f you ' re l i ke me and i t t akes you a goodthree or four seconds to remember r ightf r om le f t , t r y i ng t o t ake no te o fhandedness " co ld " i n t he m idd le o f a f as t -mov ing squa re i sn ' t easy . I ns tead , t hecal ls can of ten te l l you the handedness ofyou r f o rma t i on . The re a re ce r ta in ca l l sthat invar iably resul t in format ions of aspec i f i c handedness . Pass the Oceanalways g ives r ight-handed waves; Dix ieS ty le a lways g i ves l e f t - handed waves .There are a lso cer ta in cal ls that changethe handedness of a format ion; Trade theWave is the best known. I f Dix ie Sty lehas been cal led recent ly and there hasbeen no Trade the Wave or Cross Run,you ' re p robab l y s t i l l i n l e f t - handedw a v e s .

Obviously no one's going to remember thel a s t d o z e n c a l l s . B u t i f y o u l i s t e n f o rthe par t icu lar ca l ls that governhandedness , you '11 f i nd t ha t remember ingwhether they occurred dur ing the pastth ree o r f ou r ca l l s i s no t d i f f i cu l t .

There are a number of "ch i ra l " ca l ls thata lways begin wi th the r ight hand unlesst h e y a r e s p e c i f i e d a s l e f t . W e ' r e a I If am i l i a r w i t h t hese , bu t pe rhaps no teveryone real izes how very few there are.A t Ma ins t ream, t he re ' s Sw ing Th ru . A tPlus, Grand Swing Thru. At Advanced,

Quarter Thru, Three-Quarter Thru, andRemake.F rac t i ons

At Chal lenge, Swing the

Other cal ls are danced just the same f romlef t -handed format ions as f rom r ight-handed format ions. There is no reason forRelay the Deucey to be any more d i f f icu l tf rom a le f t -handed format ion than r ight-handed . Bu t i t i s . I t f r eaks peop le ou t .I f you ' re a competent dancerr 1 lou a l readyknow the cal l . You just have to learn toavo id t he f reak -ou t .

Fo r caL l s t ha t beg in i n pa ra l l e l waves(1ike Relay the Deucey) , the best adviceI can g ive is s imply to do the cal l anddon' t worry about the fact that i t " feelsw r o n g . " D o n ' t p a n i c ; d o n ' t s t o p d e a d , a n dwhatever you do, DON'T TURN AROUND. [Ed.emphasis added] Just s tar t moving andkeep go ing . Rec i t e t he de f i n i t i on t oyou rse l f , and s tay coo l .

The real problems begin wi th cal ls that

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

involve a L/4 Tag or 3/4 Tag format ion.This is because only hal f the dancers( those in the center wave) can " feel" thehandedness of the format ion, yet theent i re format ion is considered to ber i gh t - o r l e f t - handed . A l e f t - handedChain Reaction can throw an Advancedsqua re even i f t hey ' ve been do ing l e f t -handed Mot ivates a l l day long.

When a caI I begins in a L/4 Tag format ion,the dancers in the !/ave must make surethey use the proper hand when they workw i t h t h e o u t s i d e s . I f y o u ' r e i n a l e f t -handed r /ave, be extremely asser t ive abouttak ing the outs ides by the le f t hand.

l E d . Asse r t i ve , nev /e r dance rs , no ta b r a s i v e . ] I t o f t e n h e l p s t o s a y " l e f t "as you s ta r t t o do the ca I I . Then i f youhave to reform the wave in the center (asi n a S c o o t B a c k ) , b e e v e r y b i t a sasse r t i ve abou t re fo rm ins i t as a l e f t -handed wave.

A 3/4 Tag format ion is harder on theou ts ides , s i nce they have the i r backs tothe cen te r wave and can ' t see i t shandedness . I f t he ou ts ides mus t make amove that depends on the handedness of thefo rma t i on , t he ca l l e r w i l l usua l l y spec i f yi t f o r t h e m ( " L e f t P l e n t y " ) .

Easier to handle are cal ls which involvean "Extend and Quarter to Handhold, " whenyou turn in the d i rect ion of thehandedness of the rdave you just le f t .I t ' s j us t a L /2 Sp l i x C i r cu la te . S incethe Extend takes only a second, you canst i l l remember by " feel" the handedness ofthe wave and can turn in that d i rect ionwi thout having to th ink much about i t .A l though cal ls that expl ic i t ly requi reth is move are most conmon at Chal lenge, i tis a usefu l concept to understand atMainstream and Plus. Every PIus dancerhas p robab l y done a "Sp l i t C i r cu la teL - l / 2 " t o f i n i s h i n D i a m o n d s - - l e f t - h a n d e dones i f you began i n l e f t - handed waves .

Wou ldn ' t i t be s imp le r i f ca l l e r s wou ldjus t s t i ck w i t h no rma l , r i gh t -handedformat ions instead of dragging in th isweird le f t -handed stuf f? Maybe, but th inkwhat a bor ing wor ld i t would be i feverything and everyone was always"normal . " I uruch prefer the occasionaldose o f we i rdness .

SPRING 1991

I . IHAT'S THE RUSH?(0R FrRE TRUCK SQUARES)

I repr inted f romS n i p p e t s f r o m s e v e r a l a r t i c l e s a s n o L e d . l

We could I is ten ln tenEly to aI I the gr ipesin the world about what drives manydancers away from square dancing and notaccompl ish anyching. The reasons are toomany and vary considerably withindiv iduals. Let us th ink instead aboutwhat keeps dancers in the act iv i ty . Onei tem that wi l l sEand head and shouldersabove a l l the rest is a good, f i rmfoundat ion in the basics wi thconsiderat ion g iven to s ty l ing anddancing. Teach them well! [cene and rhelrnaTrl -mer "CaII i .ng Tips, " or ig lnal ly publ ished in March1 9 8 1 l

Harold Bausch suggests we look back to thet ime we each starLed to square dance, toth ink what i t was that made i t a l l so muchfun. F i rsc, we might th ink i t was thepeople who were so k ind, so much fun to bew i th . Then , t oo , i t was the d i scove rythat we could do th is th ing that looked socomp l i ca ted . . I f squa re danc ing doesno th ing e l se , i t deve lops f r i endsh ips . I tbreaks down shyness and barr iers of age,sex, race, and creed. I^ Ie f ind that we areal l equals , a l l wor thy people. [or ig inal lyp u b l i s h e d i n M a r c h 1 9 8 1 1

I s t i l l l i ke t o dance P lus , bu t when theseso-cal led PIus dancers cannot dance theMainstream program, i t takes the fun outo f t he t i p f o r me . I have ca11ed fo rseveral s tudent hoedowns late ly . Thewords I hear f rom these future leaders inour act iv i ty is thac they are being pushedto l ea rn t oo many [moves ] coo fas t . We ,as ca l l e r s , can do ou r ac t i v i t y a b igse rv i ce i f we l i s t en to t hese new peop leand star t br inging our exper i -enced and newdancers together by going s lower in ourpush to ra ise the levels. We need thesenew people and aI I thei r f r iends i f ouract iv i ty is to s tar t growing again. tFranlTay lor , o r ig ina l l y pub l i shed in For the Record , a ca l le rn o L e s e r v i c e f r o m T e x a s l

Dena and Elwyn Fresh are round danceinstructors/cuers. Perhaps an East Indianproverb quoted by Dena in a past newspapera r t i c l e be l i es t he F reshes ' ph i l osophy o ft each ing :

QUARTE...-Y SELECTIONS

What I g i ve , I have ;W h a t I g a v e , I h a d ,But what I keep is lost

a r e q a n c e , March 1991 . I n t he same a rE i c l e , a c i r c l e i s de f i ned :

A I l j o i n hands and c i r c l e t o t heIe f t i n l ove ,Af l jo in hands and c i rc le to ther i gh t i n j oy ,

Al lemande lef t and hel lo f i rs tto the sf rangerGrand right and left and marchof f wi th the one vou know.

[ " L i . n e - L i g h t , * p . 2 1 J

DO-IT-YOURSELFSQUARE DANCING

(A BOOK REVrEri)

By PERFESSOR LEGGS N. AIRE

Ireprinted from lbg_!l]dg_l&eg, newsletter of The WildeBunch, Albuquerque, NM, SepLember 1990. The Perfessor isalso known as Ric Gonzalez, a loyal and €nthusj .ast icmember of The Hi lde Bunch, who wi l l be re locat int to theBay Area ih is sunmer to nest wi th h is lover Mike Staples -Get ouL those weddin8 cr inol ines, hons, we got us a squaredance wedding on the hor j .zon! l

[Ed . Be ce r fa in t ha t you r copy o f t here fe renced book i s t he 1989 5 th p r i n t i ngor the page numbers and locat ions may notc o i n c i d e e x a c t l y . The cove rs ,typesty les, and layout look the same ona l l p r i n t i ng ed i t i ons as t he f i r s tpr in t ing in 1982; but changes byCa l l e r l ab cause repos i t i on ing o f t ex t .You '11 en joy t h i s a r t i c l e w i t hou t t hebook by you r s i de , bu t you ' l l have adoublemint exper ience i f you t rack i tdown before you begin reading. l

Today, just to show you that I am noti l l eg i c ima te , I 'm go ing to l r r i t e a bookreview. Huh? The word is i l l i terate? I

SPRING 1991

see . We I l , i n sp i t e o f my g ra rnma t i ca lf aux pas , I wan t t o rev iew the bes t se l l e rThe ITTustrated Basic and MainstreamMovements of Square Danclng.

The cove r o f t he t ome i s qu i t e l ove l y . I thas a p ic ture of four vromen in veryco lo r fu l pe t t i coa ts expos ing themse lves toeach o the r . The men ( i n po l yes te r ) a rewaJ-k ing around I ike goobers t ry ing tosneak a peak . Boy a re t hese peop le we i rd !The women I can understand (af terconfer ing wi th ny board of thespianexpe rEs ) . Huh? The word i s " I esb ian "?But , the men should be of f by themselvesdoing a 1 i t t1e exposing of thei r ov i r r .H u m - m - m - m - m - m .

Oh, not ice that a lmost aI l the coupleshave ma tch ing ou t f i t s . The p ink d resswi th the p ink shi r t , the g ingham dresswi th the g ingham shi r t , b lack and whi tec o u p l e , a n d . . w e 1 I , o n e o d d c o u p l e .E i t h e r M a t i l d a c a n ' t s e w o r G o m e r i s c o l o rb l i n d . (How 's t ha t f o r sexua ls te reo typ ing? ) Ac tua l l y , s i nce he rpe t t i coa ts a re ye1 low and h i s c l o thes a rebrown, I th ink th is couple is in tosometh ing I wou ld raEher no t d i scuss he re .(Does the color of a dress a l roman wearshave the same s igni f icance as thehandke rch ie f code? )

As I d i l l i t an t l y read th i s book (0h ,d i l i g e n t l y . ) , I n o t i c e t e r m s " m a n " a n d" lady " we re used to mean " l ead " and" fo l l ow . " Appa ren t l y , t he au tho r has ye tco d iscover gay square dancing. IEd.Words to ident i fy le f t - and r ight-handdancers are determined by the var i -ousIAGSDC clubs. This is what TWB musrp re fe r . Fo r my p re fe rence , see QS, Summer1990 .1 Boy , wou ld t hey have t roub lelooking at one of our squares and thentry ing to i l lust rate the moves. The leadis represented by a square and the fo l lowby a c i r c l e . ( I s t he re some sexua ls i gn i f i cance to t hose shapes? P lease l e tm e k n o w , O R , I n i g h c w r i t e t o M s . B . S . !Y e a h ! T h a t ' s w h a t I ' 1 I d o ! L e t H E Rf i g u r e i t o u t ! ) [ E d . M s . B . S . i s a n o t h e rfeature columnist of TWB. ] In gay squaredancing, the i l lust rat ion might be ap i c tu re w i t h a l l c i r c l es ; a l l squa res ; 6c i r c l e s a n d 2 s q u a r e s ; 4 c i r c l e s , 3s q u a r e s , a n d 1 e l l i p s e ( d o n ' t a s k ! ) .

0n to the dancer t ips af ter ca l l *9 ( the

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

pages of th is book are not numbered, sore fe rences can ge t a l i t t l e con fuc ious ,uh, confus ing) . Anyway, the boxed tentwi th a p ic ture refers to "Promenade PickU p . " T h a t ' s w h a t I l i k e t o s e e i n a b o o k --how to score wi th someone whi le dancing.Excep t f o r t hose pesky words "g i r l " and

"man" (and they are USED TOGETHER forc ry ing ou t l oud ! ) , I l i ke t he p lo t . Theapp roach , t he an t i c i pa t i ng , t he j o i n i ng .I t t ook ve ry l i t t l e t ime ( l i ke mos t p i ckupe n c o u n t e r s ) .

By the way, the couples have changedclothes, and the one poor lady ran out ofmacer ia l so that her s l ip shows a l l a longthe back o f he r d ress . Poo r t h i ng .Ca l I #16 ( f ou r l ad ies cha in ) has a p i c tu rethat shows a l l four couples doing a ladieschain. Not ice when they square up a l l thecouples have matching out f i ts . I^rhen theyf i n i s h , t h e i r c l o t h e s c l a s h . I j u s t h a t ei t when tha t happens . The author ,pho tog raphe r , and coup les need to ge tthe i r ac t s (and ward robes ) t oge the r sotha t t h i s neve r , neve r , neve r , NEVER,EVER, happens again. In gay squaredanc ing , t h i s wou ldn ' t happen . A f te r a l l ,we a re so tas te fu l i n ou r ou t f i t s ( checkthe Sunday neon g roup ) . [Ed . No he lpf rom me on a "Sunday neon g roup . " Ih a v e n ' t a c l u e . P e r h a p s I ' 1 1 w r i t e M s .B . S . ]

On the page w i th ca l l #11 , t he re a re someodd d iag rams . Le t ' s l ook a t t he l owerdiagram. What is couple #1 doing to eachother? What is couple #3 doing to eachother? l {hat do those arrows s igni fy? Howcan #3 do i t s i deways? P lease , p lease ,p lease te l l me I " I [ [AT'S GOING ON ! OncaIL #2L, not ice the Vulcan hand meld.Can they put that p ic ture in a book l iketh i s ?

I OBJECT f ,o the headl ine af ter eaI I *23:"Le t ' , s Se t Th i s S t ra ighc . " LET ' ,S SET THISSTRAIGHT? LET'S SET THIS STRAIGHT! ThiSis not something I want to read in I ' fYbook! Actual1y, I know chey don' t meani t . A f t e r ca l l #31 , t hey show aPacksaddle Star and say men do i t " top rov ide secu r i t y . r ' R igh t ! Secu r i t y i s agood name to eall the way we lovingly wrapout hands around each other 's sensuousw r i s t s .

Cal l #46 has two i l lust rat ions. The upper

l v SPRING 1991

one l t i th the l ic t le boxes and c i rc les; andthe lower one wi th " l ive" (k ind of )dancers. I looked at the boxes andc i r c l es ; I I ooked a t t he " l i ve dance rs ; IIooked at the boxes; I looked at theb o x e s ; I . . ( W h e w , I ' m k i n d a h o c ! ) . Ith ink we should a l l dress as boxes andci rc les l r i th numbers on them. We couldcaI I our group the "Gener ic Squares, " putba r codes on ou rse l ves , t hen se l lou rse l ves rea l cheap . We l l , maybe no t .We 'd m iss see ing Be t t y Jane [Ed . A rea ll i ve cha rac te r o f TWB. ] and he r ou t f i t s ,t hose D isha rmony S i s te rs IEd . More rea ll ive characters of WTB, but th is t imelesbian drag queens. ] , and our owrlt as te fu l l J i l de Bunch sh i r t s . IEd . We l l ,t hey a re sh i r t s . ]

I . ie l l , a l though I have desecrated manyth ings in our l i t t le book, the fact is thebook w i l l he lp you . I used a s im i l a r bookto learn the last par t of A-2 for the NewYork conven t i on . IEd . Fo r ou r bas i cs tuden ts , A -2 i s t he f i f t h o f t heCal ler lab programs should you decided totackle them. New York Convent ion was the6 th IAGSDC Conven t i on i n 1989 . I I f youwake up in the middle of the n ightwonder ing about a cal l , you just have torefer to your guide. ( I keep mine in bedw i th me . ) [Ed . And I be t i t goes on thenight s tand when the Perfesser moves toThe C i t y . l

A1so , no t i ce t he book goes on pas tcal l +49. Numbers 50 chrough 58 are themainstream cal ls (your next program ofenjoyurent) . You've got ta s t ick wi th theprogam so you can see how the book ends.( I t ' s a su rp r i se end ing , and I don ' t wan tto g ive i t away. Suf f ice i t to say, "Theb u t l e r d i d i t . " )

NEXT MONTH: Ans\,.7er to the burningques t i on , " I f I undo a P lus ca l l , i s i t aM i n u s c a l l ? "

AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

Contributed by FREEMAN STAMPER

I have a long-standing dear f r iend f romco l l ege whose 12 -yea r -o Id son dec idedqui te on h is owrr that he wanted h issc ience fa i r p ro j ec t t o be on A IDS.

QUARTERLY SELEcTIoNS 11

That 's very courageous for a chi ld in theno r theas t Lou i s i ana c i t y o f Monroe . H i sfather being the Univers i ty Regist rar andhis mother being a nurse and thei r havingan openly gay f r iend, Jeremy was st ronglysuppo r ted by h i s pa rencs and 14 -yea r -o ldb roche r . A Ias , t he re a re no ma te r i a l s i nMonroe i so , a ca l l t o "Unc le F reeman . "Wi th t he he lp o f E l1 io t Schneck ( see QS,Winter 90) and a trip by me to ConmunityThr i f t for second-hand books, Jeremyprepared h is paper and d isplay board. Hereceived an honorable ment ion wiEhcomments from the judges about the depchof h is knowledge. His father s tates thateve ry b i t o f t he wo rk i s Je remy ' s e f f o r c .I am extrernely proud to present below th iss i x th g rade r ' s resea rch i n to t he sub jec to f A I D S .

AIDS: UYTHS AND FACTSBy JEREMY DELCAilBRE

ABSTRACT

The cause of AIDS (Acquired ImmuneDe f i c i ency Synd rome) i s a mys te ry . A IDSis a v i r us t ha t a l l eged l y s ta r ted i nCen t ra l A f r i ca w i t h a ce r ta in b reed o fmonkeys. Dr . Jacques Leibowi tch, thef i r s t sc ien t i s t t o s tudy A IDS, p roved tha tA IDS was no t a d i sease o f gay peop le , no rwas i t s t r i c t l y re la ted to d rugs o r b loodt rans fus ions .

This pro ject shows there are many mythsabout how people get AIDS. Actual ly AIDSis ve ry d i f f i cu l t t o ge t . Th i s pape rfur ther expla ins the few ways of getc ingA I D S .

In fo rma t i on fo r t h i s p ro jec t was ob ta inedth rough books , pamph lecs , and a v i deo .

Th i s p ro jec t a t t emp ts t o show t rue fac t sabout how one can get AIDS and howimportant i t is to make sure that a l lpeople are educated about AIDS.

A IDSMYTHS AND FACTS

The cause of AIDS is unknown. I t is theresu l t o f a v i r a l i n fec t i on , wh i ch mayhave star ted in Centra l Afr ica. Somebe l i eve the v i rus s ta r ted i n a ce r ta inspecies of monkeys in French Afr ica.Dr. Jacques Leibowi tch and h is French

SPRING 1991

col leagues v/ere the f i rs t to iso late theAIDS v i rus. They began wi th a study ofAfr ican cases and learned that AIDS was adisease that af fected men, \domen, andch i l d ren a lmos t equa l l y . I t v /as no t a"gay " d i sease i n Cen t ra l A f r i ca . A t t ha tt ime the d i sease was no t re la ted to d rugso r t r ans fus ions e i t he r .

AIDS stands for Acquired Imrnune Def ic iencySyndrome. I t is a condi t ion which damagesthe immune system-- the body 's defenseagainst d isease. Idhen the immune systemis weakened by A IDS, t he body can eas i l yget in fect ions and cancers that heal thypeop le do no t no rma l l y ge t . Th i s i s howpeop le who have A IDS d ie .

There ate a lo t of myths about how peoplecan ge t A IDS. Sc ien t i f i c s tud ies f r omaround the wor ld have shown that ch i ldrenw i l l no t ge t t he A IDS v i rus f r om:. p l ay ing w i th oche r ch i l d renr touching other chi ldreno cough ing , sneez ing , o r sp i t t i ngo dr ink ing founta insr a h u go a c l osed -mou th k i sso swea t o r t ea rso mosqu i t oes o r o the r i nsec tso eat ing food prepared by someone who has

A I D S .

A lso , a pe rson canno t ge t A IDS f rom us ing :o t o i l e t o r shower f ac i l i t i eso fo rks , kn i ves , spoons , o r cupsr c h a i r s , d e s k s , t o o l s , o r p h o n e s. p layground equipmentr sw imming poo1s .

In fact , sc ient i f ic s tudies show that evenfami ly members l iv ing wi th a person whohas AIDS do not become infected wi th theAIDS v i rus. Fami ly and f r iends throughoutthe wor ld he lp t he i r l oved ones ea t ,ba the , and d ress w i thou t ge t t i ng A IDSchemselves. Chi ldren even use the samespoons , f o r ks , and g lasses and do no t ge tthe A IDS v i rus .

The four most common ways of get t ing AIDSare as f o l l ows :e having unprotected sex wi th a person

who has the v i rus (H IV ) ;r shar ing drug needles or syr inges wi th

a person who has the AIDS v i rus;r f rom an infected mother to her baby

during pregnancy or childbirth and

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

dur ing breast feeding;o f r om b lood t rans fus ions - -pa r t i cu la r l y

p r i o r t o 1985 s ince b lood sc reen ingand test ing have reduced thatposs ib i l i t y g rea t l y s i nce tha t t ime .

Al though one cannot look at a person andte l l i f he / she has A IDS, t he re a re s i gnstha t a pe rson can wa tch fo r . These s ignsinc lude the fo l lowing:

. ve ry t i r ed f o r no reason ;o we igh t l oss o f 10 to 15 pounds i n l ess

than two months, but wi thout d iet ing;o f eve r , ch i l l s , and swea t i ng a t n i gh t

for more than two weeks;o swol len g lands for more than a month;o d iarrhea for more than two weeks;. a constant dry cough;o white patches on the tongue that cannot

b e s c r a p e d o f f .

I n ou r s ta te a lone , as o f December 4 ,1 9 9 0 , t h e r e w e r e 2 , 2 0 L c a s e s o f A I D Sd iagnosed . Ouach i t a Pa r i sh has the 8 thlargest repor ted number of cases of AIDSin t he s ta te . t Ed . The re a re 64pa r i shes i n t he s ta te . ] The h ighes tnumber repo r ted i s 1 ,113 cases i n Or leansP a r i s h .

CONCLUSION

In conc lus ion , t he mos t d i f f i cu l t p rob lemfo r peop le w i t h A IDS to f ace , bes idesdea th , i s re jee t i on . Peop le w i t h A IDSare human beings l ike us. This d iseaseeould happen to you, a fami ly member, orperhaps a very c lose f r iend. The onlyway to change people 's chink ing about thefear of AIDS is to educate them about thed i sease and i t s mv ths .

BIBLIOGRAPHYdeSa in t Pha l l e , N i k i . A IDS : You Can ' t

Catch I t Hold ing Hands. The LapisP r e s s , S a n F r a n c i s c o , C A . , 1 9 8 7 .

Le ibow i t ch , Jacques . A S t range V i rus o fUnknown Or ig in. Bal lant ine Books,New York , New York , 1985 .

Mayer, Ken and Pizer , Hank. The AIDS FactBook. Bantam Books, New York,N e w Y o r k , 1 9 8 3 .

T h e N a m e s P r o j e c t . W e B r i n g a Q u i 7 t . T h eN a m e s P r o j e c t V i d e o , 1 9 8 8 .

Wach te r , O ra lee . Sex , D rugs , and A IDS.Bantam Books, New York, New York,1987 .

L2 SPRING 19S1

DURABLE POI.IER OF ATTORNEYWHO VILL DECTDE WHEN YOU CAN'T?

IEd . Dea l i ng w i th l i f e - t e rm ina l i s suesi s j us t no t a comfo r tab le sub jec t . A11of us in the Eay community have had toaddress var ious terminal issues and needsbecause of the owerwhelming devastationof AIDS. There are steps each of us cantake Eo re l i eve some o f t he p ressu res . If ind that addressing Eerminal issues ismore comfortable for me if I focus on thefact that the decis ions must be made atsome po in t i s eve ryone ' s l i f e - -even i f youl ive to be a hundred. I t is much easierco make logical choices i f we makedec i s i ons be fo re t he emo t i on i s p resen t . ]

I r e p l i n t e d f r o m C u r r e n t , B a y P a c i f i c ' s m e m b e r n e w s l e t t e r ,F a l l 1 9 9 0 , p . 5 , a n d l f i n t e r 1 9 9 1 , p - 4 l

I t ' s a t r ag i c scena r i o and , un fo r tuna te l y ,one tha t ' s a l t oge the r t oo conmon . You ' veseen i t on the evening newscasts and readabout i t in the newspaper. A suddeni l lness or in jury resul ts in a comatoses ta te . Young o r o1d ; age doesn ' t ma t te r .No r does soc ia l s ta tus , economic s tand ing ,r a c e , c r e e d , c o l o r , o r r e l i g i o n . A I I t h a crea l l y ma t te rs i s t ha t t he v i c t im i s nolonger capable of making decis ions aboutanyth ing, inc luding h is or her heal thca re . Those c ruc ia l dec i s i ons a re l e f tt o we l l -mean ing l oved ones , we l l -mean ingp h y s i c i a n s , a n d , a l l t o o o f t e n , w e l l -mean ing cou r t s . B i t t e r con f l i c t s can anddo ar ise betvreen those in favor ofcon t i nu ing the u t i l i za t i on o f he ro i c ,I i f e -p ro long ing med ica l measu res and thosewho wish to euphemist ica l ly , and in somecases l i t e ra l l y , pu l l t he p lug . And theobject of th is hear t - rending drama has nosay i n t he ma t te r . None wha tsoeve r .Un fa i r? O f cou rse . Bu t i t may a l so beunnecessary.

Ca l i f o rn ia l aw en t i t l es you to des igna tesomeone to fo l1ow your wishes in makinghea l t h ca re dec i s i ons fo r you i f , f o r somereason, you become unable to rnake thosedec i s i ons fo r you rse l f . I f you a re aCa l i f o rn ia res iden t ove r t he age o f 18 andare of sound mind and act ing of your ownf ree w i l l , you a re e l i g i b l e t o comp le te a

"Durable Power of Actorney for HeaIchCare" form out l in ing your fucure healchca re des i res and to des igna te a l rnos t anyadu l t t o ca r r y ou t you r w i shes . The re a re

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

some restr j -cEions ( for insEance r 1rourphys i c i an i sn ' t e l i g i b l e ) wh i ch a respe l l ed ou t i n t he I f o rm j . By d i scuss ingyour heal th care desi res wi th the personyou have selectedr 1rou can best ensurethat your wi-shes wi l l be respected l - f anunforeseen i l lness or in jury leaves youunable to make your olirr health cared e c i s i o n s .

A " l i v i ng w i l l " and a "d i rec t i ve t ophysic ians" do permi t you to s tate yourwishes to not be g iven "extraord inary"t reatment i f you become terminal ly i l l andthe t reatmenc would only ar t i f ic ia l lypro long the dy ing process. But Cal i forn iadoes not formal ly recognize the " l iv ingw i l l , " so t ha t i f you re l y on th i s , t he rei s I i t t l e assu rance tha t you r w i shes w i I lb e c a r r i e d o u t .

A Durable Power of At torney for Heal thCare is general ly va l id for a maximum ofseven years. You must complete a new

Iforrn] i f you wish to cont inue yourcoverage af ter che expi rat ion date. l . lakesure you g ive a copy of your current

I f o rm ] t o you r phys i c i an to be i nc luded i nyour medical records. You may, however,terminate a val id Durable Power ofAEtorney for Heal th Care at any t ime bysimply not i fy ing your physic ian and thepe rson you have appo in ted .

Regard less o f you r 3E€ , you shou ldse r i ous l y cons ide r comp le t i ng a Du rab lePower of At torney for HeaIch Care toprotect yoursel f and your loved onesshould you ever become unable to make yourown hea l t h ca re dec i s i ons .

To request a copy of the I form] you mayca l l ( 415 ) 882 -5L75 o r w r i t e t o Su t te rPubl icat ions PO Box 7690, San Franclsco,C A 9 4 L 2 0 - 7 5 9 4 . E n c l o s e $ 1 . 5 0 ( p l u sappl icable county sal -es tax) per copy.

The re i s a s im i l a r f o rm ca1 led"Documentat ion of Preferred Intensi ty ofCare" which may be completed and g iven toyour doctor . You may wish co check wi thyour at torney to decide which form isapp rop r i a te f o r you . IEd . Bu tdon ' t avo id t he p rocess because you th inkan at torney must ass is t you. The formsare designed so that you may maked e c i s i o n s e a s i l y . ] T h i s f o r m i s a l s oava i l ab le f r om Su t te r Pub l i ca t i ons .

1 ? SPRING 1931

Pol icy Statement No. L6

CLASS FEES TO INCLUDECLUB PUBLICATIONS I,IAILINGS

BACKGROUND

The Club hasinformat ion whichi s ma i l ed Lo i t sClub members as ab e n e f i t o fm e m b e r s h i pHoweve r , mos t o fthe in format ion iso f v a l u e t ostudents who areenrol led in thec l a s s e s o f t h eClub and f requent ly concerns act iv ic iesin which the students are encouraged topa r t i c i pa te . Keep ing s tuden ts aware o fthe acciv i t ies of the Club and get t ingthem involved immediate ly has proven to bea st rong bonding e lement for the Club 'sc lasses . The mos t t ime l y and e f f i c i en tmanner in which to d is t r ibute th isinformat ion to the students is to inc ludethem in t he ma i l i ng p rocess .

PURPOSE

The purpose of th is pol icy s tatement is top resen t t he gu ide l i nes f o r i nc lus ion o fstudents in Club mai l ings. This pol icydoes not d i lu te the value of the benef icof being a member of the Club, for thatbene f i t i s sc i l l a pa r t o f t he C lub ' smembership package. When mai l ings arenecessary which are appropr iate to onlyClub members (such as bal lo ts for e lecc ingmembers o f t he Boa rd o f D i rec to rs ) ,s tudents wi l l not be inc luded in themai l ing. Concurrent ly wi th the adopt ionof th is pol icy, the Board rescinded Pol icyS ta temen t No . 10 , Ma ins t ream Gradua t i onFree Club Nights. That pol icy prov idedfour free CIub nights to new |lainstreamgraduates. I t was fe l t that the cost ofmai l ing Club in format ion to the studentswas of greater va lue than the cost of theClub provid ing f ree dance n ights.

POLICY

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

The fee charged for any c lass ofWes te rn S ta r Dance rs w i l l bestructured to inc lude the cost ofnai l ing Club in format ion which ispubl ished for the benef i t o f theC l u b ' s m e m b e r s .

A s tudenc w i l l r ece i ve ma i l i ngs as apa r t o f h i s /he r c l ass f ee on l y aslong as the student is act ive lypa r t i c i pa t i ng i n t he c l ass .

A s tuden t w i l l no t r ece i ve ma i l i ngs i fs ( h e ) :a . s tops a tEend ing Ehe c lass .b . does no t con t i nue to t he nex t

c 1 a s s .c . does no t j o i n t he C Iub upon

graduat ion f rom ei ther Mainstreamo r P l u s .

4 . S tuden ts repea t i ng a c lass underPo l i cy S ta tenen t No . L2 ( f o r f r ee )and pr ior c lub members at tending ac lass unde r Po l i cy S ta temen t No . 15( fo r ha l f p r i ce ) a re bo th cove red byt h i s p o l i c y .

APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSFebrua ry 19 , 1991

Po l i cy S ta temen t No . l 7

CLUB SPONSORED CALLERLABI,IEMBERSHIP FOR

BITJII/ASCAP LICEI{SING COVERAGE

BACKGROUND

BMI (Broadcast l lus ic , Inc. ) and ASCAP(Amer ican Society of Composers, Authorsand Publ ishers) are the legalrepresentat ives adminis ter ing copyr ightcontro l for the composers and publ ishersof most of the s inging cal l musiccurrently used in the square danceac t i v i t y . Pa t te r ca l l mus i c i s o f t en i nthe publ ic domai-n, which means i t is o ldenough to no longer be covered bycopyr ight or i t ! /as never covered. InO c t o b e r , 1 9 9 0 , m a n y c l u b s a n d c a l l e r sreceived a mai l ing f rom BMI of fer ingeontracts for the use of copyr ighted

Cal ler lab encered into

L4

mus lc

SPRING 19S1

negoc ia t i ons on beha l f o f i t s members i no rde r t o re l i eve the c lubs o f t h i sl i cens ing respons ib i l i t y . E f fec t i veApr i l 1 , 1991 , Ca l l e r l ab membersh ip dueswi l l inc lude the negot iated annuall icensing fees, and any c lub us ing acal ler who is a member of Cal ler lab wi l lbe covered for regular dances, workshops,a n d c l a s s e s .

Western Star Dancers, as many gay squaredance c lubs, depends heavi ly upon recordsand tapes and cal ler apprent ices who mayno t w i sh to become members o f Ca l l e r l ab .There is no category of membership inCal ler lab which covers ent i re c lubs.

PURPOSE

The purpose of th is pol icy s tatement isto protect Western Star Dancers f romposs ib le a l l ega t i ons by BMI /ASCAP o fcopyright infringement and incurringlega l f ees t o de fend i t se l f aga ins t t heal legat ions and incurr ing penal t ies fora l l ega t i ons wh i ch m igh t be sus ta ined .

POLI CY

1- The Club wi l l re imburse a maximum oftwo dues-paid members for the costof apprent ice cal ler membershipfees i n Ca l l e r l ab .

2 . T h e B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s w i l l s e l e c t o nan annual basis the two indiv idualsto receive re imbursement . Apart icu lar ind iv idual wi l l not beconsidered to be automat ica l lyrenewed by f acE o f pas t repea teds e l e c t i o n .

3 . The i nd i v i dua l s se lec ted mus t be :a. Act ive dues-paid members of WSD

at the t ime Cal ler labmembersh ip f ees a re pa id .

b. Act ive ly involved in thei n s t r u c t L o n / c a I I i n g / d a n c eac t i v i t i es o f t he C Iub .

4. The maximum re imbursement forCal ler lab membership fees cannotexceed the min imum fees requi red byCa I l e r I ab to sus ta in app ren t i ceca l l e r membersh ip . I f anindiv idual wishes to susta in aCaI ler Iab membership at a h igherlevel , the indiv idual must pay the

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

di f ference between the min imum feesfor apprent ice cal ler and the desi redl e v e l .

APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSM a r c h 2 5 , 1 9 9 1

URBAN COI.IBOYSWhen I Say Dance, Pardner,

I l.lean DANCE!

by David Kalmansohn

I r e p r i n L e d f r o m F r o n L i e r s ,M a r c h 3 0 , 1 9 9 0 , L o s A n g e l e sMet ropo l i tan ed l t ion . ManyBay Area squar€ dancers neversaw th ls pub l i ca t lon and havea s k e d i o s € € l t . N e w e rsquare dancers p robab ly d idnot care about i t a year ago.WesL€rn Star Dmcers p resenbslt q_!e!g., thanks to EddieSmllh who submltt€d lt to theE d i t o r o n d i s k , i nW o r d P e r f e c t n o l e s s ! K i . s s y ,k l s s y ! I

I had taken the troubl€ to change out of myHawal ian p l inL in to a b lue worksh l rL ,rep) .ac lng the N ikes w l th Fryes , and theDodger cap w i th t ry S teLson. Everybody lnL . A . i s a g o d d a n r r e d c o w b o y t h e s e d a y s . . .

--Stephm Leris'Conrboy Bluos'

Cotfuyl. I IosL my grlp doint nry chin-upsand I fe l l on ury hee ls and tw isLed my back .EDor t : You shou ldn ' t wear hee ls when you

do ch in -ups . -H:;:X'fl rbe Bad-

Not eve ryone i n L .A . i s a cowboy , bu t i tmay seem that way on March 30 [1990] whenthe Los Angeles Gay Rodeo returns to theGr i f f i t h Pa rk Eques t r i an Cen te r .

A lo t has happened s ince Phi l Ragsdalepresented the f i rs t Nat ional Reno G"yRodeo in 1-91 6 as a way " to rai-se somemoney for a local char i ty Iand] changethe stereotype as to what gay people weresupposed to be . " Desp i t e reac t i ons f r omlocal res idents that ranged f rom mi ldre luc tance to ou t r i gh t hos t i l i t y ,Ragsdale managed to put on h is show for"a g rand to ta l o f L25 pay ing cus tomers . ' rA f ew yea rs l a te r , ove r 10 ,000 specEa to rsa day f rom around che wor ld wereat tending one of che gay communi ty 's mostimpress i ve even ts .

Today, rodeo groups can be found not only

1 5 SPRING 1991

in near ly every Western scate, butscat tered across the ent i - re country andinto Canada. Under the aegis of theInternat ional Gay Rodeo Associat ion, thegay rodeo has grown out of i ts s tatus asan i so la ted spec tacu la r . Rodeo pe r fo rmersnow fo l l ow a na t i ona l c i r cu i t o f even ts ,and loyal audiences greet them at everys top . L i ke oche r spo r t s , t he rodeoat t racts some for the games and some forthe gameplayers. " I l ike the way they a l lwear uhei r entry numbers on thei r backs, "says one newly-converted fan. " I t makesi t s o m u c h e a s i e r t o s h o p . "

According to Pacr ick McGrarh, co- foundero f t he Go lden S ta te Rodeo Assoc ia t i on , t helargest events are in Cal i forn ia andTexas . A f te r Los Ange les , t he 1990schedule inc ludes Oklahorna Cicy, Denverand San D iego ; i n Oc tobe r , t he rodeoreturns to Phoenix for the f ina ls .

The success of the gay rodeo c i rcu i tr e f l ec t s t he r i s i ng popu la r i t y o f t he gayurban cowboy. About 10 years ago, spurredon by the Reno rodeo, the movie "UrbanCowboy" and the crossover success ofcoun t r y s ta rs l i ke Do l l y Pa r ton and Wi l l i eNe Ison , a f ew gay ba rs began o f f e r i ngb lueg rass and coun t r y -wes te rn mus i c .Soon , sma l l - t own boys f rom Texas , Ok lahomaand New Mexico who had grown up wi th th isk ind of music began teaching thei rcosmopol i tan cousins the dances that wentwi th them. The dances became so popularthat bar patrons somet imes spent thei r owntime and money improving the floors att he i r f avo r i t e haun ts .

The gay country-western scene cont inued togrow s lowly and rather inconspicuouslythroughout the decade, but in the last twoyea rs , a d i sce rnab le i nc rease i npopular icy has occurred. Now a remarkablenumber of 501 hems are hugging cowboyboots rather than Reeboks, and the term"ha t ha i r " has en te red the l oca l l ex i con .

Ask any cowboy- -urban, rh inestone orotherwise- -about the country-westernscene , and the response i s t ha t i t ' sf r iendl ier and more re laxed than d iscosand c ru i se ba rs .

" I t ' s a rea l n i ce a l t e rna t i ve t o t hed i s c o - r o c k s c e n e , " s a y s S c o t t S i n g e r , aper former l r i th the Country Knight Cloggers

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

and an occasional dance teacher. " I fsomeone asks you to dance at a countryb a r , i t ' s n o t a n i n v i t a t i o n t ob e d - - n e c e s s a r i l y .

"Fo r t hose who g rew up on d i sco , " hewarns, " the s ight of two men hold ing eachother whi le they dance--and ta lk ing at thes a m e t i m e ! - - c a n b e v e r y s t r a n g e a t f i r s t .Bu t mos t guys l ea rn t o l i ke i t r ea l f as t . "

I danced wi th a guy in a gray f lannelshir t /And t r ied to look i .nto h is b ig babyblues/BuL li seemod funny to be danclng Loredneck music/ l l i th a d iamond in r ry ear anda pa i r o f ea rLh shoes .

--Lorln $I-amberg'f,u-Tora Saloou'

Since mos t coun t r y -wes te rn hab i t ues don ' tspend thei r dayl ight hours on a ranch,cer ta in aspects of the cowboy uni formhave been " c i t i f i ed . " Thom Ho tovec IEd .That 's Pats i and one of the Albuquerque'92 Comrn i t t ee members . ] , who has done h i sshare of "bal ing and calv ing andcas t ra t i ng , " checked ou t t he ba rs r i gh taf ter he moved f rom New Mexico toC a l i f o r n i a .

"Eve ry th ing was more . . deco ra ted , " hesays . "Back home, we wou ld change f rom af i l t hy , wo rn -ou t wo rksh i r t i n to a c l ean ,w o r n - o u t w o r k s h i r c . H e I l , w e w e r e j u s tgoing to sweat r ight through them. InL . A . , t h e r e a r e a l l t h e s e f o u - f o u b u c k l e sa n d c o l l a r t i p s .

" I t ' s h a r d t o s t a y p u r e , t h o u g h , " h es ighs . "When I go t he re I had th ree pa i ro f b o o t s . N o w I ' v e g o t 1 5 . "

"Eve ryone shows up i n t enn ies a t f i r s t , "observes deejay Curt is Rich (aka "CountryC u r t i s " ) . " I s t r u g g l e d a l o t o n n y f i r s tn igh t : I had come unde r p ro tes t , I d i dn ' tl ike the music and I d idn ' t know how todo the dances. Then some of the regularsgrabbed DO, in t roduced me around andtaught me the basics. I ended up comingback every Tuesday for two years. Theo ld t imers he lp ou t t he ' coun t r y v i r g i ns 'again and again. I ' v e n e v e r s e e nf r i end l i ness l i ke t ha t annwhere e1se . "

One bar tender whose business caters toboth the country and d isco crowds saysthe mix of formats ends up in t roducing alo t o f d i sco dance rs t o coun t r v .

is trendy

SPRING 199].1 6

"Espec ia l l y s i nee coun t r y

aga in , " he says . "The re ' s a co re g roup ,the new ones who are real ly in terested,and then there are che emulators who puton the ou t f i t s and s t r i ke poses . Luck i l y ,the last bunch has been st ick ing to one oft he o the r ba rs . "

"An attitude queen in a country bar isst i l l an at t i tude queen, " expla ins CountryKnight Br ian Ti l l is , "but people who gocountry-western dancing tend to actual lywant to dance. I 've met more people th isway than in any other kind of atmosphere--and these are people you acknowledge thenext t ime you see them. Besides, anyonewho's s i l ly enough to wear a cowboy hat inpub l i c can be ta l ked to . "

The current boom is not without itsinconsistencies. Extremely popular inWes te rn c i t i es l i ke San F ranc i sco - -wh i ch ,acco rd ing to many , has the bes t c l assesand the best dancing--and catching on 1nsuch d isparace locat ions as Honolu lu andToronto, the country-wesfern scene hasmeet wich sporadic success in the Midwestand the Nor theas t . Odd l y , New York C i t y ,which boasts the largest Eay squaredancing group in the counEry, has yet toopen a country-r$Testern bar .

Pa t r i ck McGra th be l i eves i t ' s j us t amatter of the bar owrrers catching up todemand . A f te r a } l , t he rodeos , wh i l eextremely popular , only last for a fewdays. Or as one man puts i t : "The realcowboys move on to thei r next rodeo or goback to their ranches in Wyoming andCo lo rado , bu t t he res t o f us needsomewhere to go. "

So what do urban cowboys do dur ing the 51-I / 2 rodeo - l ess weeks o f t he yea r? Theydance .

A roar o f laughter caDe f rom thece lebraL ing miners and a l l eyes tu rnedthelr way. Sinful and llanlc were dancln6,to the ous ic o f a jew 's -harp and the t j .neseb by s taxnp ing , hob-na i led boots . Theyp a r t e d , b o w e d , j o i n e d a g a i n , p a r i e d ,cur ts i€d and wenL on , hand in hand,tu rn ing , and duck ing , back in t and f iL ing ,the dusL f l y ing and the persp i raL ions t reming down.

--Claretrce lfuIford- f e r ' ( 1 9 2 2 )

They dance a l o t . They r vTo -s tep .They c log. They square dance. They l ine

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS L7

dance. They round dance' contra dance,s h u f f l e , w a l t z , s c h o t t i s c h e , 1 0 - s t e p , 1 2 -s t e p , 2 2 - s t e p , s w i n g a n d p o l k a . T h e ybucka roo , boog ie , s tomP, f t eeze , mu le ,s t r u t , s l i d e , r o l l , s t a g g e r , k i c k , w a l k ,weave and tush-push.

They form clubs whose names are a studyin country fo lk lore and Western whims:Barbary Coast CIoggers, GoId Rush,L a v e n d e r F i l l i e s , San F ranc i scoSaddlet ramps, Rawhide Rust lers, RockyMountain Rainbeaus, T imes Squares, TheI.I i lde Bunch and dozens more.

Clogging, though i t seems a b i t l ike down-home tap dancing, actual ly has i ts rootsin a rust ic dance f rom I re land andLancashire that was per formed in wooden-so led shoes . Today , mos t c l ogge rs v tea rCapezio dance shoes, a l though one or twogroups have worn boots despi te the lacko f f l ex ib i l i t y and the ex t ra s t ress p lacedo n t h e f e e t a n d l e g s . " S u r e i t h u r t s , "s i ghs one i n t rep id boo t - shod c logge r .

" B u t i t l o o k s s o h o t . "

Pa t r i ck McGra th s ta r ted F loyds C logge rsin Long Beach seven years aEo. "We do thecradi t ional Appalachian c logging that cameove r f r om I re land , " he says , "as opposedto the buck dancing that some people arefam i l i a r w i t h . I t ' s ve ry h igh -ene rgy andgreaE fun. "

There 's a l together too much emphas ls p lacedon be in6 ab le to te l l your le fL f lom yourr i .6hL around here .

--A beginnina, square dancer

Sco t t Ca rey i s t he f o rmer p res iden t o ft he I n te rna t i ona l Assoc ia t i on o f GaySquare Dance Clubs ( IAGSDC) and co-founde r o f San F ranc i sco ' s Wes te rn S ta rs .Amer ican square dancing, a descendant ofthe French quadr iTTe, ended up as apr imar i ly rura l act iv i ty that near ly d iedo u t b v t h e 1 9 3 0 ' s . The geographicupheavals caused by Wor ld War I Ire juvenated the act iv i ty and extended icsreach throughout most of Che country; i thas s ince become internat ional lys tanda rd i zed .

The f i rs t gay c lub-- the South Flor idaMustangs--began per forming in Reno in theIa te ' 70s ; t he IAGSDC was fo rned seve ra lyears Iater on the pat io of the Crossf i reba r i n Ho l l ywood , F la . , and the f i r s t gay

SPRING 1991

and lesbian sguare dance convent ion wash e l d i n S e a t t l e i n 1 9 8 4 .

Fo r Ca rey , t he sa t i s fac t i on o f gay squa redancing is i ts unique combinat ion ofs o c i a l i z i n g a n d a t h l e t i c s : " I t ' s a g r e a td ivers i ty of people who are real lyi n te res ted i n wha t t hey ' re do ing ; a f t e ra l l , t hey ' ve a l l commi t t ed aL l eas t s i x t onine months to learn the basic levels .I t ' s n o t a l c o h o l - b a s e d ; t h e r e ' s p h y s i c a lcontact i ) /ou a lways have a par tner ; youdance wi th groups of e ight people wi thwhom you make f r iends instant ly , and youge t t o t r ave l . "

Each month, d i f ferent c lubs host membersfrom other c i t ies at inEensive weekends ofdanc ing ca l l ed " f l y - i ns , " wh i l e t he annua lconvent ion, scheduled for Easter weekendin Vancouver, is expected to at t ract about800 square dancers f rom near ly 40 c lubs.Mar i l yn Mar t i nyak , co - founde r o f t he E lCamino Reelers and current chai r of theIAGSDC, says that the bonds of f r iendshipforged through these events grovr yeara f t e r y e a r .

Carey and Mart inyak agree that squaredancing suf fers f rom an undeservedlyanemic image. "The f idd le band is gone, "asse r t s Ca rey . "We dance to pop , f o l k ,c o u n t r y a n d r o c k ' n ' r o 1 1 . I t ' s n o t j u s ta genteel evening at the Elks Club or theGrange Hal l anymore. "

Those who have squared up with Eay andnon-gay groups descr ibe very d i f ferentexpe r i ences . "The re ' s more fo r rna l i t y i ns t ra igh t c l ubs , " says Randy Reeves . IEd .Randy dances wi th T insel town. ]

t t l n

s t ra igh t c l ubs , f o r examp le , t hey don ' tle t you wear shor t s leeve shi r ts so theladies won' t have to grab onto sweaty,hai ry arms. In gay c lubs, however, weact ive ly encourage sweaty-hai ry-armgrabbing. "

IL 's a good th ing thab I was born awoban, or I 'd have been a"dr;e Cueen.

As square dancing is so l id ly based ontradi t ional - def in i t ions of male andfemale ro les (and, for good measure, longaf f i l ia ted wi th an envi rorunent of ear thys to i c i sm) , i c i s pe rhaps no t su rp r i s i ngthat a good deal of sexual b lurr ing

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

occurs in the gay and lesbian c lubs. Noconly do men lead ! /omen, but men lead men,l romen lead women and women lead men. Mostof the dancers have learned both par ts andcan swi tch of f f rom one dance to another .Somet imes peop le sw i t ch gende rsinadvertenEly whi le they ' re dancing, and,as a j oke on the ca l l e r , en t i r e squa reshave been known to change sexes in them idd le o f a song .

L ike the gay rodeos, wi th thei r designatedMr . , Ms . and M iss Gay Rodeo ( f o r t hela t t e r t i t l e , M ike H ipp le r has sugges tedthe term "cowqueen") , gay square danceclubs f reely incorporate the use of drag.On spec ia l occas ions , t he chances a re goodto excel lent that the cr inol ined beaut ieson the dance f loor are men who are dressedas women who may be par tner ing other menwho ate dressed as men but dancing aswomen .

A11 th is gender-bending means chat thecal ler , who has been t ra ined to makeins tan t dec i s i ons based on v i sua l cuesfrom four male- fernale couples is"challenged and pumped up and drivento ta l l y i nsane , " says Sco t Bya rs , a ca l l e rand teacher wi th T insel town Squares,L . A . ' s g a y c l u b .

Byars was nervous the f i rs t t ime he cal1edfor a gay c lub, but he enjoyed theexperience thoroughly and recommended itto h is f r iend Dick Hol ton, assur ing h imthat the "beaux" and "bel les" would bewear ing coded vescs . Wha t Bya rs d ldn ' tknow was that Hol ton booked the Hal loweendance . When he go t t he re , 90 pe rcen t o fthe room was in some sorc of e laborated rag .

"He nea r l y k i l l eds m i l i n g .

f r€ , " says Byars ,

G"y c lubs have encouraged interestedmembers to learn the ar t o f ca l1 ing, andthere is now a Gay Cal lers Associat iondesigned co fac i l i ta te recru i . tment andtra in ing. Learning to cal l , however, isa long process. In the meant ime, c lubshave turned to standard channels to findp e o p l e .

Scot t Carey helped sol ic ic Paul Marcum andE lmer She f f i e l d , " two o f t he bes t ca l l e r sin the country, " for the f i rs t gay

1 8 sPRlt{G 19S1

convent ion. "They throught i t was a joke;they thought they 'd been set up, "remembers Carey. "F inal ly , they agreed.Hal fway here, they real ized that one oftheir most popular songs was 'Honky Tonk

Queen, ' which is about a cowboy f ind ingout that the g i r l he 's dancing wich is aguy. Thuy figured this would beincredib ly of fensive so they resolved tocu t i t . We , o f cou rse , knew a l l abou t i t ;we loved i t , and we had a drag t roupecal led Fis t fu l o f Cr inol ines a l l ready todo a number to i t . I t b lew them away."

Host i l i ty f rom mainstream square dance hasd im in i shed , i f no t aba ted . "Mos t o f t hetrouble happened in the f i rs t few years, "recal ls Mar i lyn l . tar t inyak. "Some peoplet r i ed t o ge t ou r l i s t i ngs s topped andthreatened to cancel contracts wi thcal lers who worked wi th us. They t r ied i ton Paul Marcum, but he wouldn ' t beb lackrnai led. Pau I ' s been ve rysuppo r t i ve - -he ' s ca l l i ng t he Wes te rnS ta r ' s e igh th ann i ve rsa ry dance I i n March ,19901 - -bu t t hen , he a lways has a ba l l w i t ht l s .

t t

A la rge number o f t he c ream-o f - t he -c ropca l l e r s ac tua l l y p re fe r t o ca l l f o r gayc lubs , no t j us t f o r t he cha l l enge , bu t f o rthe enthus iasm. "We hoot , we hol ler , r^rej *p , we spin and we e/ant absoluCelyeveryth ing thrown at us," says Carey.

" I p re fe r gay g roups because I 'm a h igh -ene rgy ca l l e r , " exp la ins Sco t Bya rs . " Idon ' t have to s ta r t t he i r eng ines - - t hey ' real ready rewed up and wai t ing for me. Alot of the scra ight groups are o lder thand i r t . I ca l l ed f o r some b ra in -dead peop lein Pasadena recent ly and someone to ld methese people hadn' t had so much fun ina g e s . ' H o w c a n y o u t e l l ? ' I a s k e d .

"Gay dancers never s top and whine 'You

can ' t do t ha t ' a t me . W i th gay g roups , Ican re lax more and I don' t have to worryabout having fun or being r isque. Wi tha l l t ha t exc i t emen t on the f l oo r , I don ' thave to wo rk as ha rd . I t ' s t he d i f f e rencebeCween expec ta t i on and app rec ia t i on . "

Byars readi ly admits h is af f in i ty for thethea t r i ca l i t y o f t he gay c lubs . Once , a ta benef i t in San Francisco, two men wereneeded to dance together , one as a c lown,the other in drag. "My f r iend James got

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

ter r ib ly nervous and refused point b lankto do the d rag , so I sa id hey , no p rob lem,and put the dress on. We made anin te res t i ng coup le . IEd . Tha t ' s James asin Ozanich a/k/a Blanche ! Refused to weara d r e s s ? H a ! ]

"The next t ime we danced cogether , I waswi th my wi fe and he had just come out oft he c lose t . I t was a t a gay c1ub , o fcou rse . I don ' t r emember who l ed . "

But don ' t fo rge t who 's tak in t you home/Andin whose arms you ' re Eonna be /Sod a r l i n ' / S a v e t h e l a s ! d a n c e f o r m e . . .

%

1 9 SPRING 1991

N QUARTERLYt I O sELECTIoNSX1 V\Dt l / l I - Lrtl

I

I

W E S T E R N S T A R D A N C E F | S

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 4BOSAN FMNCISCO, CA 94114

WINTER 1994 - FEBRUARY, 1994

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS:WHAT AND WHY

Let 's s lor t by quol ing f rorn WSD Pol icy Slo lernent No. l3 :

QUARTFRTY SEIECI/ONS

I . The pu rpose o f t h i s pub l i co t i on i s t o p rov ide t l r oug l r l -provoki r rg or t ic les of on edi tor icr l ncr ture ond o lherrnoter io l o{ generol i r r terest or err ler tq innrerr t vo lue forWSD rnenrbers. The enr l ; l rcrs is of Quo, .1er /y Se/ecl ionsi s o r r r e l evonce l o sc luo re c l c r r r ce ' r ssues , ph i l osoph i co lsubs tonce , ond l i t e ro ry quo l i t y

Becouse t l re conlent is not l i r le-sensi l ive, Quor ler lySe/ecf ions is publ ished quor ler ly on o f lex ib le schedule.I t is moi led to o l l WSD nrernbers, orrd os o cour iesy loo l l IAGSDCIM c lubs .

2. There is no l inr i t on l l re s ize of ony issue of theQuaf ter ly Se/ecl ions (except i l ro t which moy beimposed by Boord res l r ic i ions on pr in l ing ond nro i l ingcosts) . Accordingly , or l ic les subrr i t ted by t l re nrer lbersnroy be of ony lerrg lh the oul l ror considers necessorylo cover the subiec l ; o lso, eoch nrenrber moy subr l i tos n rony o r l i c l es os s (he ) w i s l r es .

3 . I n odd i t i o r r l o n re r rbe rs ' o r l i c l es , l l r e Ed i t o r n r c r yinc lude moter io l { ronr o l l rer Clubs ' newslef lers orsquo re donce pub l i co t i o r r s . Rep r i n t i ng w i l l be donewi th permiss ion only [Ed. nrost of the t ime] .

4. The or t ic le conlent , preserr to l ior r quol i ty ond sty le orede te r r l i ned by t l i e ou l l r o r s . A I I ou l l r o r s w i l l becre d i te d.

5. Edi tor io l chorrges rv i l i be ot the d iscret ion of t l re Edi tor .

You see, churning out o newslet ter of brood substonce ono rnonth ly bosis is on enormously lorge tosk. l t tends towork o member in lo ihe grourrd. T l rus, in I 989 t l re Boordof Di rectors spl i t regulor i r r formot ion d isseminot ion in tothree publ icof ions: fhe Weslern Sfor , our t rodi t ionolnewslefier corrying i ime-sensil ive dolo for the followingmonl l r ; WSD Todoy! , concerning i tse l f wi th t l re immedioteup-to-dote informotion on o donce niglrt; ond QuorterlySe/ecl ior rs , os oui l ined obove. The f i rs t edi t ion of QSoppeored for the Fol l ,

, l989, wi th seven edi l ions being

publ ished before i t become dormonl unt i l th is edi t ion.

And where d id we get thot nome? In the wor ld of squoredoncing, new col ls ore in t roduced f rom t inre lo t ime.Aduol ly , lhere oren ' t mony l rew col ls ; new col ls ore reol lynew combinot ions of ex is t ing col ls which, when execuled ino speci f ic ser ies, ore g iven o new nome. T l rese new col lsstor i the i r l ives os exper i rnento l co l ls . l f the b ig c l reese of

QUARIERTY SELECI/ONS is o oublicolion of Western 51or

Doncers , Inc . , o modern wes le rn squore donce c lub re ru ing

pr imor i l y the Son Fronc isco Boy Areo goy ond lesb ion

communi ly . The purpoe o{ th is pub l i co t ion is lo p rov ide

lhought -p rovok ing od ic les o f on ed i to r io l no ture ond o lher

moter io l o i genero l in le res l o r en ie r io inmen l vo lue fo r WSD

memben. The emphos is o l Quor ledy Se/ec l ions is on

relevonce lo squore donce issues, philosophicol subslonce,

ond l i te ro ry quo l i t y .

Or ig ino l o r l i c les in th is pub l i co l ion ore copyr igh ied bu l moy be

reor in ted w i lh oooroor io le c red i t lo the ou ihor ond c i lo t ion o{

Quorlerly Se/eclions.

Edilor Fremon Stomper

(4 r 5) 550-8056

OPINIONS IXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THT AUTHORS ANO DO NOTNECf SSARI I .Y RETLECT THE OPINIONS AND POLICIE5 OF WEsTERN sTARDANCERS- INC. - NOR IT5 MEMEERS.

MENTION OF A PTRSON'S NAME IN THIS PUBTICATION IN NO WAYINDICATES h IS/HER SEXUAT ORIENTATION-

squore donci r rg, known os Cql ler lob, deternr ines there isenough inferest i r i l l re exper imento l , the col l becomes oquor ier ly se lect ion. On o guorter ly bosis , Col ler lobonnounces whether o col l hos been odded, cont inued, ordropped from tlre l ist. Once it mokes it to the quorterlyselec l ion l is t , o l l co l lers ore expected to in t roduce i t o t c lubnights ond donces. l f used dur ing the evening, the col l isto be lougl r l o t the beginning of l l re evening pr ior lo i tsbeing col led. The next phose for o col l is being occeptedqs o s londord col l in one of lhe progronrs. So, quoder lyselect ions wos t l re inspi ro l ior r for the norne Quoder/ySelec l ions. [Ed Boy, thot wos iough, wosn' t i t? Whowouldo thunk i t? ]

Al l the publ icot iorrs of t l re Club ore in tended to be o forumfor o l l members; not iust o meorrs for one member, theEdi tor , to wox on for the omusement of the Club. Apub l i co t i on o f i l r e C lub i s i us t l i ke ony o t l r e r t osk i n t ho i t heef{or ls need to be spreod orourrd. You wr i le the or l ic les,o r rd t he Ed i t o r w i l l pu t t hem toge t l r e r i n to o co l res i ve w l ro le .

This ec l i i ion of QS wi l l be on i l re "sk inny" s ide. As t l reEcl i lor , I wcrr r i lo re- in t roc luce the publ iccr t ion lo l l re newc lub ond c loss r re r l be rs s i nce i t s l os f pub l i co t i on i n I 99 ' | .

CALLERLAB REPORTS:MAINSTREAA4 QUARTERLYSELECTION COMMITTEE

l r r lhe nros l recent keep/drop bo l lo t ing o f t l re Mo i r rs t reonrQucr r te r ly Se lec t ion , CROSS ROLL IO A WAVE, t l re vo tewos to d rop i l os o GS. The cur ren t MS QS se lec t ions ore :SINGLE CIRCLE TO A WAVE ond ACEY DEUCEY. WoltCooley , cho i rperson o f the MS GS Cor lmi t tee , onnouncesno new nrovernents fo r the per iod Jor ruory th rough Moy 1 ,. l 9 9 4 .

[ E d . W i t h n o n e w m o v e n r e n t s f o r t l r o t l o r r g , r r e * e rd o n c e r s o r e b o u n d t o s u c c e e d . l

ASK ?nK. SQ',UgZ-0pI

l f you cou ld osk o squo re donce w izo rd ony lh ing obou tsquore doncing becouse you kno* he/she/ i t knowseverytlring, whot would you osk 11ll!. ,9Q119:.tl?2\?

NICK CARLSON: Whot level of squore doncing do youen ioy lhe nrost crnd v;hy?

t l l ,9 ' . Ihere you go ogoin us i r rg thol word " level . " Whot doI hove 1o do to pe r rnonen l l y f i x t he no l i on t ho t squo redonc ing hos p rog ro r r s , no l l eve l s . "Leve l s " sugges ts t ho t

AUARTERLY SETECTIONS

something is bigger, better, greoter, horder thon somethingelse. "Progroms" suggesls o set of cr i ter io needed tooccomplish tl.rot progrom. The progrom I enioy ihe mostis the progrom being offered tlrot I voluntorily choose todonce. lf I choose to donce tlre Moinstreom progrom now,thot is my clroice. lf I choose the Plus progrom, so be it.Knowing more col ls doesn' t meon I hove more fun.Knowing more col ls is s imply thot ; i t doesn' i meon I condonce the col ls ot o l l - -much less wi th en joyment . Squoredoncing is not just o ser ies of co l ls ; i t is f r iendship, o deep,coressing, compossionote hug when I feel dornrn. Squoredoncing is shor ing my occompl ishments ond knowing myportner ond my corner ore t ru ly hoppy for me. Squoredoncing is communicol ing wi l l r o smi le to someone whenthey forget how to execute the coll thot you sti l l love themond en joy thei r compony. Squore doncing is doncing foryoursel f ond someone e lse so thot o l l e ight of you consucceed. I enjoy the progrom I om doncing becouse Iknow thot l , we, you, they hove o choice to be ot t l r isdonce, or . rd l 'm l roppy thot we c l rose eocl r other .

CHUCK YEO: Wlrere do fhey gei the funny nomes ofcol ls , l ike Dix ie Sty le to o Wcrve?

'l/8: \Nell, this one hos o long history behind it. Since youdidn ' t osk t l re or ig in of the norne "wove, ' ' l ' l l ossume youknow t l rot . You must th ink of the s lor t ing ond endir rg{ornrot ion of t l re col l . Dix ie Sty le requi res thot you be insonre formol ion of foc ing couples. This is representot ive ofthe st ruggle betweerr t l re North ond t l re South, theestobl ishnrent of the Moson-Dixon L ine, ond l l re urr re lent ingf ight to not surrender lhe f lcrg of Dix ie. Wlren one beginslhe col l , t l re doncer on the r ight , represerr t ing the ot tock ingfoot so ld iers, is propel led ocross t l re set l ike o bul le t f romo r i f le dodging eoch o lher in orr ot tempt to get beyond lheerrerny l i r re. At t l re sonre t i rne, the le f i -hond doncer,represenl ing the commor.rd i r rg forces, begins the chorge oft l re remoin ing forces lowords the enemy l ine. When theconrnrondir . rg of f icers of the opposi r rg forces meet in thenr iddle of the bot t le f ie ld, there is recogni l ion of the fut i l i tyo[ wor. They io i r r l ronds ond soy, "H-e-e-re 's Dix ie!" Theresul l inq formot iorr is on oceon wove. Comorerrdo?

IfN YEAR5 AGO

The Club hod i ts 2nd Anniversory Donce wi th col lers DougClork ond Phi l Poyton. The progroms donced wereBeginners orrd Moins l reoni . P lus wos iust o s tor l ip .

Dine ond Dis l r wos being coordinoted for lunch in theFinoncio l Dist r ic t . The purpose wos for WSD Club ondcloss members to meet outs ide of squore doncing foenhonce our get t ing to know one onoiher ond to improvefr ierrdships. l t wos st ror . rg ly suggested (ond yes, knuckles

W I N T E R I 9 9 4

were ropped) thot you to lk qbout ih ings other thon squoredoncing. Menu i iems were selected 1o cover o ronge ofindiv iduol budgets. The menu syslem wos successfu l , ore lse everyone wos ofro id lo cross the host(ess) ond notcomplo in (could thot hove been possib le?) .

The Club wos deol ing wi th the l ro l o f issue of wl rether ornot to offer the Plus progrorr os on officiol port of theClub. Russ King hod on odic le "The Plus Progrom: Fr iendor Foe?" He stoted "Western Stor 's present opprooch is togroduol ly in i roduce the more populor Plus col ls in to theMoinstreom port ion of Club n ight so thot members con geio sompl ing wi thout feel ing excessively rushed. The pocewi l l be geored to t l re reol i fy thot noi everyone is oble to bethe re eve ry s i ng le c l ub r r i gh l ond t l r o t compe len tMoinstreom doncers should o lwoys be oble lo dqrrce in t l remojor i iy of t ips." He o lso repor led l l ro t , "The mostinrpor iont t l r ing is to go ot o poce you enioy, becouse, i f i ts t ops be ing fun , t he w l ro le po in t i s l os t . "

A quest iorrnoi re l rod beerr d is i , ibuted lo t l re nrernbers.Sorre l l r ings leorned were l i re r .no jor i ty d id woni lo pursueP lus ond the vos f mo jo r i t y l i ked t l r e C lub ' s opp rooch l o l hePlus progronr IEd. This wos before the doys of " levels , " not"progronrs." l which wos orr occelero led c lcrss on Fr idoyn ig l r l s ond o s l ow l eoc l r i ng on C lub r r i gh l s w i l h two fu l l P Iust i ps .

T l re C lub wc rs l r os l i ng c l c r ss n igh ts on Tuesdoy ond c lubn ig l r l s on Wednesdoy o t t l r e YMCA on Go lden Go le .Tl re,e urcre f t4oinstreor . wor l<, . ! . . r113 orr Surrdoy fcr l l r reeweekends i n Feb ruo ry o I 2 )3 Sonchez S t ( T l re Ronch" ) .C lub n igh t f ee wos $3 . C lub r ren rbe rs we re busyprepor i r rg lo ot tend t l re f i rs t goy squore dorrce corrvent ion,Al l Jo i r r Honds, ot the Crovrne Plozo Hole l i r r Secr t l le ,Wosh ing ton . Pockoge A cos l $40 ond i r r c l uded o r re bu f fe td i r rne r , one b runc l r , o l l do r r ces , o l l wo rks l roJ rs , c r r rd l l r ecorrverr t ior r bodge. For on <Lcld i t ionol $55 per pe,rson fordouble occupcr . rcy you gol two n ig l r ls ' hote locconr r r odol iorr s .

Whol 's on your nr i r rd r - rbouf squore donci r rg?

l'm trying to coordirrole l/rings for tl'reporode, getl irrg o boo/lr, prepor'tng {ordoncers lo s/row tlreir best to our brol/rersond s is ters. Hovi r rg just bo,- , 'g i r l my o i r l ' r relicke/s lo DC, l 'm f/rinking oboul lhecorrverrl iorr. We're leovit ' tcl on o cheop fl ighto l I I :30 p.m. This is t / re second c/ub-r r ightdoncirs, orrd I tirirrl ,,,2"U;,L,"",,; ti?*,rO

BIGOTRY IS ALIVEAND WELL AND LIVING IN

THE UNITED STATES

[Excerpt {rom "A Word From fhe Choi/' in Vol 3, lssue 2, Jonvory, 1994,

o{ the IAGSDCI* newsletler 'to lhe member clubsl

The IAGSDCTM wos recenlly ihe torget of o serious onti-goyottock. lt seems tlrot one of t lre fusociotion members sclwo bodge conto in ing the in i t io ls - IAGSDC" enci rc led in redwi th o s losh through i t ( ind icot ing "no goy doncers in mysquore"). Ever.rtuolly, the monufocturer o{ this bodge woslocoted.

O n N o v e m b e r 1 5 , I 9 9 3 , t h efusociot ion choi r , Bob Young, wroteon officiol letter to the bodge mokerexplo in ing (o) thot t l r is wos oni r r to leroble oct of b ios ond pre judice(s ince sucl r monufocture would not benrode of o bodge s los l r ing the le t lers"NMCP') ond (b) thot t lre Associotiorr is in the process ofl rodemork ing our nome ond logo ond thot such v io lot ionswould be met wi lh legol remedies. Three doys lo ter , olef ler wos received { rom the bodge moker thonking Bob fortok i r rg t l re t ime lo explo in the posi t ion of the Associot ion,explcr in ing thot orr ly ihree of these bodges hod been mode(one of which is in the honds of one of the fusociot ionmernbers who worr ls i t for on "orchive" copy) , ond ossur inghim thot no more of these bodges would be monufoctured.

Kor l Joeckel , t l r rougl r o rev iew of the dotobose hemointo ins of the incoming col ls to the Associot ion 's 800plrorre nunrber , deduced who the person wos who oskedfor th is bodge to be mode. Al though the fusociot ion hosthe norne, oddress, ond phone number of t l re of fendingperson, lhe Associot ion l ros decided ot th is t ime not lopursue ony contoct wi th h i rn d i recf ly , but wi l l wotch forfur t l rer pre judic io l oct iv i t ies orrd t rodernork in f r ingementf rom him orrd others.

As for th is t rodemork ing business, i t l ros long been o goolof l lre fusocioliorr lo troder.nork l l.re nome ond log, but theexpense hos kept th is in the long-ronge cotegory. Thisinc ident hos shown us thot we con no longer of ford towoi t - -now thot the Associot ion is incorporoted, we musiprotect our orgonizol ion. Being f rodemorked ore the le f iers" IAGSDC" ond the logo of n ine in ter lock ing squores wi ththe words " INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION' obove ond"OF GAY SAUARE DANCE CLUBS belo* . When usinsthe logo, be sure to use i t iust t l r is woy. Eventuol ly , ourborrners ond other logo representot ions wi l l hove toconform. Also, be sure ihot , when the logo or ocronymIAGSDC oppeors i r r pr i r r t , i t should be fo l lowed by ' I " ' unt i lsuch l ime os the t rodenrork is octuol ly regis tered. At thot

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS WINTER I994

t ime the ' IM'

wi l l be reploced by '@'

Whol 's on your mind obout squore doncing?

Good fun. This time for squore doncing isreolly specio/ sirrce lhe resl o{ my ltfe is ollwork. I reolly / ike doncing wrth gay peop/ebecouse you ore o/woys chonging porlners.I went lo one stroight donce--never ogoin./n squore doncirrg i l is o given lhol everyoneis n ice orrd socio/ .

Peggy Oslerkonp 2/1 B/94

[Ed . Peggy is one o f our non-goy membere . ]

WHY AT MY CLUB?!?!

f repr inted {rom Anrer icon Squoredonce, Februory 199.1. Auihor: RoyGohol

,About the oulhor - Roy Gollo /ros been dorrcrrrg for 22yeors, cueing rounds for l5 yeors ond is nrorr ied lo squoredonce coller Betsy Gotto, who /ros beerr co//irrg {or 32yeors. fogelher lhey are members of Roundcr lob, Legocy(Executive CommifteeJ, crnd Cc//erlob (Boord o{ Governors),orrd c i ror ler mernbers of t i te Coi ier 's ond l j re So, ,ore i )nnceCounci/s of New Jersey.

"Vy 'hy do they hove lo donce o l our c lub? Wlry con' t lheykeep lo lherrselves? | don' t nr inc l i f l l rey wont fo squoredo r r ce , os l ong os t hey s loy i n l l r e i r own c lubs . Th i s usedto be o n ice for l i ly c lub. l f you le t one or two in, l l ren,before you know i t , your c lub wi l l be tokerr over by t l renr . "

Do t l re obove s lcr ter lents sourrd fonr i l ior? Hove you heordony of lherr recenl ly ot your c lub, or onol l rer c lub whereyou were donci r rg? Wel l , these s lntenrerr ls were ouerheodbcrck i r r ihe lo te 1950's wlren r ly {other- in- lcrw l rcrd thenerve (or wos i t couroge) to br ing o Jewis l r couple to osquo re do r r ce c lub .

l s t he re ony d i f { e rence be tween th i s ond l l r e cu r ren t up roo rover "o l lowir rg" goys ond lesbio ' rs lo dorrce o l s t ro ight c lubsond fest ivo ls? I th ink not . ls l l rere orry d i f fererrce betweenth is ond l l re some uproor in the s ix l ies wlren Blocks enleredihe squore dorrce p ic ture? | th ink r rot . Pre judice ondhoired ore the some whenever ond wherever t l rey oppeor.I know of one moior squore donce {es l ivo l lhot l ros octuol lyhod rneel i r igs to d iscuss " lhe problenr . "

Be fo re l d i scuss o t l i t ude , l e t ' s t oke o l ook o f o coup le o ff oc t s . Bo r r i ng goys ond l esb ions f ro r r you r c l ub o r donce

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

or segregot ing them ot so id of fo i rs is i l legol ! l t isd iscr iminol ion! Also, you hove beerr doncing wi th goy ondlesbion sguore doncers for mony yeors. You just d idn ' tknow i t ! Goy ond lesbion doncers hove been coupl ing upond doncing os "trodil ionolly correc/' couples. lf you oreconcerned obout coming in contoct with goys, keep inmind thot o week doesn' t go by thot you probobly hovecontoct with o goy individuol outside of the squore donceoctivity.

I hove heord the orgument thot, "l con't donce in o squorewi th some-sex couples." Two th ings come lo mind when Iheor t l r is . One, th is person probobly d idn ' tsoy onyth ing inthe post when two women were doncing together, ond two,lhis person is o very poor doncer. Some men oreuncomfodoble swinging o l l rer men. This is not o problemif you lust soy so up front. lt is no different thon notswinging someone of e i lher sex who hos o physicolprob lern.

Let 's suppose for o moment lhot yourc lub decides to breok the low ond bongoy ond lesbiorr doncers from dorrcir.rgos some-sex couples of your donces.Do you now fo l low the some ru les forl l re two senior lod ies who hove beerrdoncing logel l rer o i your c lub lor thelos l two yeors? How do you krrow for sure thot fhey orenot lesbions? And how obout the t imes when I hovejumped into o squore to be the needed e ighth body? Sincet l ro l e ighth posi t ion wos the "g i r l 's" por t , do seven peoplehove lo s i t down becouse t l re ru les prohib i t some-sexcouples? Does my 84-yeor-o ld molher- in- low hove to g iveup ilre octivi\ she hos been doirtg for over forty yeorsbeccruse she donces nrosf ly the "boy 's" posi t ion?

Finol ly , wholever hoppened to " f r iendship set to music"?Does lh is nreon only my f r iends, by my ru les, ond to mymusic? l t is not eosy lo chonge one's ot t i tudes ondfeel ings. l t is s imi lor ly not eosy io occept l i festy les ondcuslonrs t l ro t ore rodicol ly d i f ferent thon your own.Rerrenrber , vou ore r rot beinq osked to occept , condone,or ernbroce onyone e lse 's l i festv le. However, you ore beingosked to not deny onyone the riglrt to enioy tlreir clroserrform of recreotion. After oll, thot's oll sguore doncingis--recreotion. lt hopperrs lo be recreoiion lhol involvesinteroclion ond irrlerdependence of of leost seven otherpeople. l f your pre iudices ore so greot thot you connoteven donce in the some squore wi th o person who bel ievesor l ives d i f ferent ly thon you, then perhops you should belooking for onot l rer form o[ recreot ion.

[Ed. Roy ond Betsy Gofto hove been very octive in supporlof t lre New York Times Squores. Betsy wos o feoturedcoller ot the 1 989 IAGSDCTM Convention in New York City,wi l l be o feotured col led ot the I 994 Convent ion inWoshinglon, DC, ond con be heord "on lhe rodio ' ' inepisode four of Crossf i re. V/ l r i le I l rove not met Roy, I hove

WINTER I994

donced wi th Betsy ot the goy squore donce convent ion inA lbuque rque , New Mex i co , i n 1992 . She l r os been osubscr iber ' to Brodley Bel l . E lsewhere in th is edi t ion ofQuarterly Se/ecfions, we'l l explore the concepls ofCol ler lob, Legocy, ond other e lemerr ts of the greoter squoredonce wor ld outs ide our goy communi ty . ]

USING THEI NTE RNATI ONAL PU BLI CATIONS

[Ed. Ken Broidi is o rnember of the T/MES SQUARES, theonly goy sguore donce c/ub in New Yo* City--in foct, theon/y squore donce c/ub in NYC. His recenl letler lo theedi lors of Amer icorr Squoredonce Mogozine cry ing outogoinsl onti-goy molerio/s wos pub/ished in the Februory,1994, edi t ;on. So / rere 's whot Ken soid to the wor ld: l

been conceived ot the first f ly-in of the South FloridoMustongs Februory 12 through 20, I 983; ond WesternStor Doncers (WSD) wos putting together o contingent forthe June 26 Son Froncisco Goy Freedom Doy Porode. TheBoord of Directors of Western Slor opproved the expenseof creot ing o c lub bonner thot could be corr ied in thePorode. Dennis F icken, onother founding member of WSD,wos osked to creote i lre design, ond l, o member of theMoinstreom closs of the time, wos osked to construct it.

Severol members from other clubs were to ioin us for theporode, ond Scott Corey, felt the need {or some kind o{bonner to corry ot t lre front of the combined squoredoncers ' cont ingent thot would c leor ly ind icote the foct thotdoncers from lhe other clubs were olso present ond thotthere wos o lorger ossociotion thot brought us oll together.With Boord of Directors' opprovol of the expense, Dennisond l , in o mod dosl r , creoted the or ig inol bonner for theNol ionol Associot ion of Lesbion/Goy Squore Donce Clubs,os l l re orgonizot ion wos or ig inol ly co l led. The bonner,t l ren, wos conceived, designed, construc led, ond f inoncedby Western Stor Dorrcers.

Tl re whi te ny lon bonrrer moter io l *os purchosed f rom TheFlog Store, o commercio l f log business, to ensuredurobi l i ty . The fe l t for the le t ters ond t l re r ibbon for thecolored squores were purchosed f rom the populor Cl i f f 'sHordwore on Costro Sireet. Tlre colors used for thesquores were o select ion of ovoi loble r ibbons; t l rere wos not i rne to shop ot other s tores or order specio l co lors becousei t wos t l re weeke,rd before lhe Pc: 'ode.

There reol ly wosn' t much precis ion in t l . re p lonning of thebonner. The length ond height of the bonner, t l re s ize ofle t lers, ond the s ize orrd p locemenl of l l re squores werewhot Dennis fe l t were r ig l r t . S ince Dennis ond I werework ing fost , Derrn is wos o l i t t le s loppy cut l ing out theletters, so I decided lo zig-zog stitch the letters onto thebockground wi t l r o very shor t s t i lch length fo comouf logethe rogged let ters. l t wos my ideo to in ter lock l l re squorespr ior to sewing t l rem onto t l re bockground. The ro inbowcolors for t l re goy f log, the in ter lock ing squoresrepresenl ing the los l ing bonds of f r iendship, ond the open-ended c l ro in represenl i r rg the obi l i ty to odd ond grow oreol l por t of the symbol ism incorporoted in to the design ofthe borrner .

The new ossociot ion bonner wos f i rs t publ ic ly d isp loyed otthe pre-porode squore donce on June 25, I983, ond wosproudly corr ied down Morket Street hero ld ing squoredoncers f rom the ossociot ion the fo l lowing doy.

Whi le the bonrrer wos st i l l not of { ic io l ly sonct ioned by theossociot ion, i t wos d isployed ot the f i rs t convent ion held inSeot t le , Woshington, Apr i l 6 , 7, B, 1984. At the businessmeet ing held o i t l ro t convent ion on Apr i l B, the nome of theossociot ion wos chonged for two reosons:

Decrr Edi tors: T l re ongoir rg d iscussionos l o w l r c t con be do r re t o moke thes( lucrre d<.rnce exper ience more inv i t ing1o o l o rge r c rud ience shou ld now beexponded to i nc lude , o long w i t l r o l he rreminders o l r sc luore dcrr rce et iquet le,o renr inder thcr t i t is h ighly

i noppropr io te fo r doncers to weor bodges (such os t l rosetho l hove sur foced o f recent donce fes t i vo ls ) s tc r t i r rg w i thwh ic l r r l inor i t ies t l re ; r o re fe r r ro l to dcr r rce . ( l wou ld even goso fo r os to encouroge doncers to re f ro i r r f rom buy ing onynrerc l rond ise f ronr vendors *ho nrc r rke l such exc lus ionoryb o d g e s . )

T l r e o p p o r t u n i i y t o n r e e l o n d d o r r c e w i l l r p e o p l e f r o n r ow i c l e r o r r g e o f b o c k g r o u r r d s o n c l c u l t u r e s , o l l o f w h o s h o r eo connon in fe res t in squore dcr r rc ing , i s fo r rne one o f t l i em o l o r h i g h l i g h t s o f t h i s g r e o t o c t i v i \ o f o u r s . L e t ' s n o lo l low b igo t ry ond o t l re r d iv is iue be l rov io rs lo i r r te r ie re w i t l r

the ioy o f who i hos so o f len beer r descr ibed os " f r iendsh ip

s e l ' l o n r u s i c . " S i n c e r e l y ,

HISTORY OF BANNER OFI NTE RNATI ONAL ASSOCIATION

OF GAY SQUARE DANCE CLUBS

Ihe IAGSDCT" publ ished a book ot rhe lOth convent ion in Seot l le,Woshinglon, over lhe Jvly 4, 1993, weekend ent i t led Ten Yeors /AGSDC:A Col lecl ion of Poges {rom Ovr Memory Bool . Freemon Stomper wososked lo conir ibule o h is iory o{ the bonner. The story { rom the book{ol lo*s. ]

A n o t i o n o l o s s o c i o l i o n o f g o y s c l u o r e d o n c e r s l r o d o l r e o d y

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS WINTER I994

- Squores Across the Border f rom Voncouver , Conodo, wos

odrn i f ied to membersh ip in the ossoc io t io r r , thus mok ing i to t rue in te rno t iono l ossoc io t ion , ond

- The membersh ip vo led , o lmos l unor r imous ly , to odopt theword "goy" os on o l l -encomposs ing word denot ing bo th{emole ond mole homosexuo ls . Thus , the word " lesb ion"

ond the " f " were removed f rom the bonner .

The lo t te r chonge produced o fu r ther b i t o f symbo l ism: Iused the le i te rs " i , " "n , " ond "e" f rom the word " lesb ion" tocreo ie l l . re " in te r " in in le rno l iono l o f t l re new nome. Th is oc tincorporo led the in rpor tonce o i lesb ions in to thein le rno l iono l ossoc io l io r . r . (The unused le t le rs remoi r rp ro lec ted i r . r on enve lope in my f i le cob ine t . ) So , thep locement o f t l re le t te rs reo l l y wos born ou t o f necess i tyr o l h e r t h o n o u l o f p r e c i s e p l o n n i n g .

Wl r i le no t spec i f i co l l y o por t o f the l r i s to ry o f the IAGSDCTMb o n n e r , l l r e i n l e r p r e l o l i o n o f l h e b o n n e r ' s d e s i g n i r r l o t l r eIAGSDCIM cor rven l io r r bodge does houe o cor r r rec i ion fotho t h is to ry . The ossoc io i ion 's convent ion bcrdge rnode i l sd e b u t o t t h e s e c o n d c o n v e n t i o n ( 1 9 8 5 ) i r r D e n v e r ,C o l o r o d o . T h e b o d g e w o s d e s i g r r e d b y D e r r n i s C o s s e y o n dKor l Joecke l , n rer rbers o f t l re then newly -orgon ized RockyM o u r r t o i n R o i n b e o u s . l n o r d e r t o m o d i f y t h e d e s i g n i n f osonre t l r ing s r .no l l enoug l r to be c r bodge ro l l re r t l ron ob r e o s t p l o l e , K c r r l , D e r r n i s , o n d I d e b o l e d p o s s i b l e c h o n g e sin the des ign . l l wos ogreed to re rnove t l re dup l i co te co lo rsi r r i l re midd le o f lhe c l ro i r r o f squores ond to use the b luesquores c l |he enc ls o f l l re o r iq inc l c l ro i r r fo r . t l re co lo r o ft l r e l e t l e r s s p e l l i n g o u t t l r e o s s o c i c r l i o n ' s r r o n r e o n l l r ebodge. As d l f f i cu l t to p r in t os i t wos , the syr rbo l i snr o f lhef rue in le r lock ing sc luores v r 'os p reserved or r t l re cor rver r t io r rb o d g e .

T h e t l r i n g I l i k e r r o s t o b o u l n r y s c l u o r e d o r r c ee x p e r i e n c e i s .

lhe fr iends / /rove mode. Peop/e /rove beenlhe mos l genu ine ; no l p re le r r l ious .

Todd Tryon

SQUARE DANCING IS ORGANIZEDI

lheir purposes.

CALLERLAB - The Interrrolionol Associotion of SquoreDonce Col lers. l t wos estobl ished to ossis t i ts members inoll ospects of the squore donce octivity. lt is o non-profitorgonizotion with membership of obout 3,900 collers fromol l por ts of the wor ld. l ts purpose is to prov ide leodershipqnd direction for the coll ing profession in order lost rengthen the squore donce movement.

A 4ERICAN CATLERS ASSOCIATION - A newly formedprofessionol orgonizolion for the modern wesiern squoredonce col ler . Wi th the odvent of the BMI/ASCAP l icensingreguiremeni , mony col lers throughoul the U.S. ind icoted odesire to hove on olternotive orgonizotion thot couldprovide the requi red l icense. ACA is iust thot ond conprovide you wi th group BMI/ASCAP l icensing whi le keepingcosis lo o min imum. [Ed. Whi le i t moy be "newly formed"in re lot ion to Col ler lob, i t l ros been oround for ot leost twoyeors. One doy, when I hove seen the v is ion of thedi f ference between Col ler lob ond the ACA, l ' l l issue on in-dep lh ono l ys i s . Fo r now, i l j us t seems os t hough i f i s obilclr f islrt. l

LEGACY - Wos founded os oserv ice- leodership orgonizot ion lodevelop bet ter comnrunicot ionomong the mony focets of thesquore donce ocl iv i ty . Trustees

represent ing every focel of the oct iv i ty (doncers, co l lers,cuers, leoders, suppl iers, publ ishers, specio l in feresf groups,e lc . ) meet b ierrn io l ly lo exchorrge ideos ond formulo lerecommerrdot ions for the promot ion, protect iorr , orrdperpetuot ion of the oct iv i \ . [E. l There ore severolnrenrbers of Legocy i r r l l re goy communi ty . ]

UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF A 4ERICA - Serves torepreserr t the squore dorrcer in decis ions whic l r ore moderelo l ive to t l re developmenl orrd growlh of the squoredorrce octivity. As o united voice, l lre USDA is oble toexpress the v iews of t l re dorrcer on o not ionol level so thott l rey mig l r l be re loyed lo the other not ionol ondinternot ionol groups wi t l r whonr the doncers in teroct . [Ed.I t is under t l r is umbrel lo group thot Western Stor purchosesi ts onnuol doncer ond property l iob i l i ty insuronce. ]

SINGLE SQUARE DANCERS U.S.A - ls o notionolorgonizot ion of s ingle squore donce c lubs ond s ingledoncers. The objec l ives ore lo prornote ond st imulotesquore doncing omong urrmorr ied odul ts of o l l oges byossis t ing ony group wlro wishes to s tor l o new s ingles c lub.

INTERMTIOML ASSOCIATION OF GAY SOUAREDAl.lCE CLUBS - Purposes ore lo promote squore doncing,lo enl ronce the imoge of goy people, especio l ly in thesquore donce conrmurr i ty , 1o provide on oppor iuni ty for thesocio l ond dorrc ing in ierchonge of i ts members, to prov ideq forum for the excl ronge of ideos, ond lo support the

[ repr in ted f rom Amer icon Squoredonce,

Do you know how orgon ized theh o s b e c o m e ? H e r e o r e s o m e

QUARTERTY SETECTIONS

Februory )99 .1 . ]

squore donce cornmuni ly

o f t l re o rgor r izo t ions ond

&4w

WINTER I994

growth o f i t s membersh ip . [Ed . Western Stor Doncers i s ofour rd ing mernber o f lhe IAGSDCIT/ wh ich wos conce ivedi n l 9 8 3 . l

[Ed There ore o l l rer nol ionol orrd in ternot ionolorgonizol ions, but th is sompl ing g ives you on ideo of thescope of orgonizot ion. l

PRESENTATION OF I993I O.YEAR VETERANS

Freenror r S fonrper

Bockqrou r rd

The I O-yeor Ve ie ror r Medo l l ion hos been c reo fed torecogn ize ind iv iduo ls w l ro hove comrr i t ted themse lves lothe goy squore donce cor l r -nun i ty by o t tend ing te r rIAGSDCTM conven l io r rs . Ccrs t in pev l le r , t l re des ign issynrbo l i c o f concep ls p reser r t in t l re l r r ie r r - ro l io r ro lA s s o c i o l i o n o f G o y S c l u o r e D o r r c e C l u b s . T l r e s q u o r e s o r ei r r t e r l o c k i n g , r e p r e s e r r t i n g l h e c o n l i n u i t y o f t l r e c l u b s w l r oo r e m e n r b e r s o f l h e A s s o c i o l i o n o n d l h e l i n k i n g o f l h e c l u b st o t h e i r C o l l e r l o b c o m m o n o l i t y . T l r e e n d s o f f h e c h o i n o r et . to t cor rnec ted to eoc l i o l l re r to represer r f t l re ob i l i t y o f t l reAssoc io l ion to expcrnd, wh i le the curved fo r r lo l ionrepresen ls lhe loure l b ronches o f c - rch ievenren l . O l r lhereserve rs o r r o r rongerner r l o f t r iong les represent ing t l re foc tt h o t l h e g o y c o r r r r l u n i l y i s f h e b o c k g r o u n d o f t h eIAGSDCTT'4 . Wl ren l l re n redo l l ron is p resented , i t i si n s c r i b e d w r l h t l r e r e c i p i e n l ' s n o r l e , l l r e y e c r r p r e s e n t e d o n dl h e c i i y i n w h i c h l l r o t c o n v e n l i o n i s l o c o l e r l . T h e n r e d o l l i o r ri s o t l c . rched to o w ic le recJ r ibbor r to be rvorn oround l l ren e c k .

the greoler society, wlro ore inside the universe. We orewomen ond men iust l ike society ident i f ies everyone'sgender. Al l o f us iust hoppen to be homosexuols. l 'mcomfortoble with tlre word "goy," so I use "goy" os oninc lus ive word.

When I wos o l itt le boy growing up in o fown of obout1,000 people, 10,000 heod of cot t le , ond

, |00,000 qcres

of cotton, I leorned the tlreory of commitmeni from o fotherwho wos o mechonic of the some cor deolership for overforty yeors.

Most goy people hove on enormous sense of commitmentthot is o pod of our in ternol ized volues. These volues oreleorned t l re very some woy ond of the very some l ime osthose ocquired by heterosexuols. But, you ond I hove oftenobserved the enormous dispority between the selflesscommi lmenl thot the goy cornmuni ty is wi l l ing lo moke ondthe senseless obstoc les moin-st reom society p loces uponthe goy conrmuni ty in exerc is ing thot commitment . Thinkof lhe omount of t ime ius i you ond your { r iends spendconrnr iHed lo:

I . Per{ec l ing pro{essionol sk i l ls2. Cor ing for the s ick orrd dy ing3. Lovi r rg your f r ier rds4. Loving your domesl ic por tner5 . Lov ing you r f om i l y6. Demonslrot i r rg for equol r ig l r ts for everyone--wi thoul

d iscr inr ino l ion7. Serv ing ihe communi ty to improve sofety ond the

errv i ror t r l er t tB. Shopping to bols ter the economy

Bul , for o l l we con do, hove done, ond wi l l be doing, ourcommitr renl lo these choices con be, hove been, ond wi l lbe reduced io seeming worth lessrress iust becouse societyi r o i r r s us t o i g r ro re goy peop le .

The squore dorrce cornmuni ty is run by volunteers who orecommif ied to sel f less, of ten thonkless tosks which provideo heol thy, fun oc l iv i fy . For goy squore doncers, the qnnuolconvent ion represents o progression: t l re f i rs t cements thereol izot iorr t l ro l l l rere is o b igger wor ld, the next fewrepresenl ihe supreme dorrce event of the yeor , ond thefo l lowing represerr t o cornnr ihnent to the donce communi ty .I t is th is commitment to success of the onnuol convent ionthot o l lows o l l c lubs to explode the bounds of squoredoncing, wi lh nrony doncers exper ienci r rg l remendoussocr i f ices to moke th is onnuol p i lgr imoge.

For the f i rs t n ine goy squore donce convent ions, there hovebeen ouer 2,500 por t ic iponts. From the i 984 Seot t leconvent ion host ing obout 250 doncers to the 1992Albuguerque convent iorr host ing over 1,100 doncers, thesenine convenl ions conrbi r red hove hosted o lmost 5,500port ic iponts. l l 's in terest ing to note thot obout 40% of theport ic ipr :nfs ot o convent ion ore ot iending t l re i r f i rs t , ond

T l r e P r e s e n l c r t i o n

I o r r g o i r r g t o b e u s i r r g t l r e w o r d " g o y " I u s e i l o s o n o l l -e r r c o m p o s s i r r g w o r d ; n o l o s o d i v i s i v e t e r r l . l o n rcornrn i t ted to no t d rowing l i r res o round snro l l g roups o fs q u o r e d o n c e r s , w l r o o r e i n s i d e l h e g o y s c l u o r e c l o n c ec o n r m u r r i t y , w h o o r e i n s i d e t h e g o y c o n m u n i \ , w h o o r ei n s i d e t h e g r e o l e r s q u o r e d o n c e c o r n n r u n i t y , w h o o r e i n s i d e

QUARTERLY SETECTiONS WINTER I994

women ore reochir lg obovl 20% of l l re registrol ion.

Wl r i le some i r r our soc ie \ do r ro l won i to recogn ize us , i t

i s impor lon t iho i we recogn ize ourse lues even ih rough l l re

thwor i ing o{ conrmi tment w i thout couse. So, lo recogn ize

comnr i tment in the goy coml run i ty , I hove c reo ted o

medo l l ion lo recogn ize squore doncers o r r l l re occos ion o f

o f lend i r rg the i r IOth goy convent ion .

T h e r e o r e m o n y d o n c e r s w h o h o v e b e e n d o n c i n g l 0 o rmore yeors ; ho*ever , t l r i s medo l l ion focuses or r convent ionot len do nce .

l b e g o n t h i s p r o j e c t i n 1 9 8 9 , o n d I o r n d e e p l y i n d e b t e d t oMork Dov is o f T i rnes Squores fo r pu f t ing nry ideos ondconcepts in to o v isuo l p resen lo t ion . He wo lked up lo me,s o i d h e w o s o g r o p h i c o r l i s l o n d w o n l e d t o l r e l p w i l h t h edes ig r r o f the nredo l l ion . H is per fec t io r r in p repor ing thedes ign os cor re ro- reody or t o l lowed t l re rnedo l l ions to becos l w i lh o two-week iu rn-orour rc l wher r I thought o l l wos

los t t l re end o{ f /oy .

I o rn o lso deep ly indeb led lo r l y r ron-c lo r rc i r rg f r ie r rd Dov idwho mode o l l the or ronger le r r ts fo r lhe cos l ing ondsweo led breo l l r less ly fo r i l re rnedcr l l ions lo o r r i ve o r r l y hoursbe{ore I le f t Son Fror rc isco . ( [ " low, l l ro t ' s ono lher s lo ry l l ro ll ' l l t e l l i r r l o u ' s s e c o n d b o o k )

And, I o lso w ish lo ockno* lec lge Agnes Sr r r i l l r . S l re wcrs c rco- {ou , rder o f l l y c lub , Western Stc r r Dor rcers , wos o co-fou , ' ,dc r o f Pu. lc l l c i i ,w , ,Sc1 i , - ; ;os , c rn . . l , ,u r rs c co-c l rc i r o f t l re{ i rs l conven l ion in Seof l le . I thc r r rk her fo r l l re oppor lun i l yl o b e s q u o r e d o n c i r r g t o d o y .

S e o i t l e i n . l 9 9 3

i s t h e l 0 1 h c o n v e n l i o n ; s o w i l h g r e o t p r i d e ,

t l rese ve terons- - these p ioneers- -o re p resented to you lh isyeor . One o f us hcrs been donc ing c rs o gcry s ( luore dor ,cerl o n g e r l h o n o n y o n e e l s e . l d i c l r r o t o c c i c l e n l o l l y l e o v e h i sr tc r r re ou t o f t l ,e p rogronr . A l t l re l i r r re t l re n ro te r ic r l wos

d u e t o l l r e p r i n t e r , l r e w o s r l o l l ) l o n n i n g t o o t t e r r d

However , he is here toc lc ry , c rnc l i t i s c r g recr t l ronor topreser r t t l re f i rs t i 0 -Yecr r Medcr l l ion to :

Deon Hof r lo r rn , Sor r D iego

[Ec l . The medo l l io r r wos p loced oround eoch ind iv iduo l ' sneck be fore proceec l i r rg w i l l r onr rour rc ing the no lne o f l l re

nex t . ]

C h r i s A r r d e r s o r r , S o r r F r o r r c i s c o

Deon Avok ion , Seof i le

Ly le Boss , Seof i le

Ston Boyden, Socrornentc>

S t e v e B r o w r r i r r g , S o n F r o n c i s c o

D i c k B u r d o n , P o d l o n d

Scot i Corey , Sor r Fror rc isco

Denn is Cossey , Der rver

Mor rue l Gorc io -Guer rc r , Seot t le

QUARTERLY SETECTIONS

Alon Hol l , Son FronciscoKor l Joeckel , DenverKen Kols le in, Sorr FronciscoHor lon Kerr , Son FronciscoTom Long, SeottleRuby Luke, SeottleTim Murphy, Seot t leJ.W. Poulson, Seot t leCorol Roberts, Voncouver BCBi l l St . John, SocromentoBi l l Scot t , MemphisDennis Scoti, SeottleLee Snrith, PortlondFreemon Stomper, Son Frorrc iscoRolph Storr , Puyol lupMichoel Stokes, Son FronciscoCroig Thomsen, PodlondBob Wei lbocher, Puyol lup

The th ing I l i ke most obout my squore donce

exper ience is .

meeling suc/r nice peop/e ond l toving o

wonder{ul t tme.

Joonrre DeVivo

WINTER ] 994

N QUARTERLYt | -O sBLBcrroNSA1 \il\D'vL,|

W E S T E R N S T A R D A N C E R S

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 4BOSAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114

I

SPRING 1994 _ MAY, 1994

ROnTVt tzmoRThonks to o l l o f you *ho exp ressed p leosu re w i th t he

l os t ed i t ion o{ Quoaer ly Se/ec / ions . Your en joymenl i s l l re

o n l y r e w o r d f o r p r o d u c i n g t h e p u b l i c o t i o n . W h i l e I d o n ' t

necessor i l y l i ke c r i t i c ism, I do vo lue your observo i ions wh ic l r

c o n e n h o n c e t h e q u o l i t y o f { u t u r e e d i l i o n s .

l n o vogue so r f o f woy , l hove o " l hen re " {o r eoch ed i t i on .Th i s t ime i t deve loped i n to n ro re h i s to ry t hon l hodont ic ipoted. Alon Hol l is o lder thon God when i t comes toBoy Areo goy squore doncing. In repr in l ing on in lerv iew wi t l rh im { rom the Goy Book , l om run r r i ng exce rp t s { rom o r rin terv iew wi lh Alon { rom the h is tory o{ ihe f i rs t len yeors o igoy squo re donc ing . We l l , who t shou ld t u rn up on my doo rs lep bu t l 9B3 l e f i e r s { rom Russ K ing ond Mork N i l son to Ko r lJoecke l . They o re gems !

And b less Pot , but Mr. Squizord col led me lo gel bockgroundon the l9B0- l984 d i f ferences beiween Western Stor Doncersond Foggy Ci ty Doncers. So, Mr. Squizord consenled tool lowing these or t ic les to onswer fhe inqui r ies he hod

:"r .O"J:" , A l l th is ius i { i ts losether l ike o completed Rubic 's

Todoy, Foggy Ci ty ond Western Stor hove more in commonthon they hove in d i f ferences. You see, both c lubs wereformed f rom o need to seporote f rom the o ld Foggy Ci tySquores under the leodership (some soy d ic totorship) of SkipBorret f . Whi le WSD hos been ot the Col ler lob formot longerthon FCD, both c lubs of fer the some progroms ond the somesty le of socio l oc l iv i t ies. Both c lubs support the under ly ingpr inc ip les of f r iendship set lo music ond work togelher lopromole squore dorrc ing to the publ ic ot lorge os o sofe ondheol thy recreot ionol oct iv i ty .

l r eques t o r t i c l es f r om numerous peop le , bu t l t r y l o send ou ienough requests so lhot "no shows' don' l leove me wi th o

QUARTER|Y SETECT/ONS is o pub l i co l ion o{ Western S lo r

Doncers , Inc . , o modern wes le rn squore donce c lub * ru ing

pr imor i l y lhe Son Fronc i ro Boy Areo goy ond lesb ion

communi fy The purpoe o{ th is pub l i co l ion is lo p rov ide

lhoughf -p rovok ing or t i c les o { on ed i to r io l no ture ond o lher

moier io l o i genero l in le res l o r en ledo inmeni vo lue {o r WSD

membere . The emphos is o { Qvor le r ly Se iec l ions is on re levonce

lo squore donce issues , ph i losoph ico l subs lonce, ond l i te ro ry

q u o l r t y .

Or ig ino l od ic les in th is pub l i co l ion ore copyr igh ied bu t moy be

repr in fed w i lh oppropr io te c red i t lo lhe ou lhor ond c i to l ion o{

Quor le r ly 5e /ec l ions .

Ediloc Fremon Sfomper

(4r5)55G8056

OPI I I IONs EXPR,ESSED ARE THOST OT. THt AUTHORS AND DO NO]NECTSSARILY RiFLECT ]HE OPINIONS AI lD POLICIES OF WESTERN SIARDANCTA-q. l r . l c . . NoR rT5 ITEMBEAS.

MENTION Of A PERSON'S NAME IN THIS PUBTICATION IN NO WAYINDICATES HIS/HER SEXUAT ORIENTATIOI . l .

blonk poge. l f you were hoping lo reod obout somethingond i t 's not here, don' t iust ossume thot i t wos over looked.h might be o ' 'no show. ' ' I om olwoys looking forspontoneously contr ibuted or t ic les lo burst in to pr in l .

ERRATAOR, OH POOPI

Kor l Joeckel reminds us thot the f i rs t goy squore donceconvent ion, Al l Jo in Honds, wos held ot the Modison Hote l ,not the Crowne Plozo Hote l . The error occurred becouse thefirst f lyers odvertised the Crowne Plozo, but the site woschonged . Thonks , Ko r l .

WINNIE'S COR.NER

by WINNIE BAGO

On Apr i l 2 , yovrs t ru ly of lended the Foggy Ci ty Doncers ' goloSpr ing Donce held ot the lovely Uni tor ion Church hol l .Enler to inment wos provided by the wor ld-renowned Mr. RogerLoney, co l l ing to o hol l pocked wi th smi l ing squore doncers(olbeit sweo\ ones, os the room wos quiie worm ond cousedeven Winnie to "mist" o bit) .

Refreshments were provided ond werejus i del ic ious.

Winnie wos especio l ly p leosed to hove ot ip wi th Mr. Freemon Stomper, the n icebrother of the ( in) fomous Stephonie (whowos consp icuous in her obsence) . [Ed And you be t te r hopes h e d o e s n ' t s e e y o u r s p e l l i n g o f h e r n o m e H o w m o n y t i m e s ,how monv l imes, hove you heord her soy , "Thot ' s

S- t -e - { - f -o -n-y You con mispronounce i l , bu t , p leose, don ' lm i s s p e l l i t . " ? ]

A l l the k ids seemed lo hove o greo l l in re omus ing Mr . Loneywi th the i r c reo t ive ond bo is ie rous sound e f fec ls . I imog ine hewqs espec io l l v impressed by Mr . Homi l ton 's eor -shot te r i r rgshr iek dur ing o Cos l o Shodow. On Cross f i re , Mr . Loneyeven commenled , 'You peop le hove o sound e f fec t {o reveryth in g. "

Winn ie wos d isoppo in ted tho t she missed ou t on the A-2 t ip .

[Ed. l { , o f te r comple t ing o l l the A-2 co l l s , one is on odvor rceddoncer , I wonder in the A-2 i ip i f there were ony co l l s { romthe A- l p rogrom? Jus i wonder ing . ] l t seems she ond hermother - in - low, Lomb Bogo, jus t cou ldn ' t run fos t enough ioget i r r to o squore . lguess we ' re jus l too or t l r r i l r c lo keep u1>wi th the younger ones . Bu l , overo l l the dor rce wos o greo tsuccess , ond o good t ime wos hod by o l l

TTFN, Winnie

l'[l o]t ftlY SoAPBox AGATN!

by PATTY CAKES

When osked me lo wr i le something for th is issue of Quoier lySe/ecl ions, i i sure ly must hove been known thot l 'd go bockto horp ing on my fovor i te topic-- the squore donce cour les ies!I used to hoross people constont ly obout th is , but now lhoteveryone hos hod o couple of yeors ' respi fe, i l seems lo mel ike o good t ime to br ing i t up ogoin. . .especio l ly now thotwe hove o NEW CIASS.

I t h i nk who t we shou ld be o im inq fo r when we teoch c losses

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is to give our students the skil ls they need fo be populordoncers, not iust in WSD but olso when they donce with othergoy c lubs ond the greoter squore donce communi \ os wel l .Popuhr doncers not only ore lechnicolly proficienl but olsoknow how to behove ot donces. We do reolly well ot turningout proficient doncers, but sometimes short the students onihe sociol ospects.

So, here ore some things for our members to think obout oswe guide these new doncers into our fold. Mosi of thesethoughts oboul the courlesies ore snippefs from old editionsof WSD Today!.

When you've completed ihe Moinstreom portion of the closs,you' l l be oble lo indulge in your hobby o l l over the U.S. ,Europe, Jopon, ond Austrolio--to norne iust o few ploces.Most of the clubs ore stroight clubs with o brood ronge ofstyling ond energy level, so you need lo be o universoldoncer.

There ore two things thot enoble squore doncers to tronsporlthei r hobby wherever they go. One, of course, is thot we o l lknow the some col ls ond thot o l l co l lers use Engl ish (hooroyfor Col ler lob!) . The o lher reoson, equol ly impor lonl , is thollhe socio l cusloms ore the some in every squore donce hol l .

Probobly everyone hos hod the exper ience of beinguncomfodnble in some socio l s i tuol ion such os beingunderdressed or not knowing qui te how to moke conversol ionin o group o{ s i ronge people. Wel l , ony doys of feel ingsocio l ly inodequote ore over once you leorn to squore doncelAl ony squore donce, whether o WSD closs n ight or ony o lherdonce ony where in the wor ld, the socio l propr iet ies ore veryfew ond eosy lo remember.

1t Under ly ing everyth ing is lhe ideo of respect ing lheotlrer person--squore doncing is o cooperotive octivity, not ocompel i l ive orre. l t tokes e ight people work ing togelher lomoke o successfu l squore. No motter whether you' re the bestdoncer oround, you' l l never gei through o t ip wi thoutcooperot ion { rom the other people in your sel . Your squoreis not lhe p loce for you lo show of f os o indiv iduol ; rother , i l 'swhere eoch of the eight contributes lo creote something thotno t one cou ld do o lone !

* Remember thot eoch person in yourset hos something to contr ibute (howeverlitt le it moy seem to vou) ond eoch deservesyour ocknowledgmenl thot his or hercontr ibui ion is vo luoble fo you. (When youhoppen lo be o good doncer in o very weoksquore, iust get through i t grocefu l ly ondescope in o p leosont monner of ter the t ip . )

* A ru le of thumb is th is : When you' re v is i t ing onotherc lub, wotch lo see how they do th ings ond do i t iust thot woy.The visitor occommodofes lhe host, not the other woy oround.

SPRTNG |994

* When you're squoring up, ohrop go info lhe cloceslsquore. Don' t look people up ond down ond evoluole themlo see i f you wont to donce wi th them s ince th is hur tspeople 's feel ings. (Stro ight doncers o lwoys get o por inerbefore they heod for the {loor--since they usuolly orrive oscouples, ihey squore up os couples--so, unless i t 's o s inglesclub, you do i t thot woy, loo.)

* Also, it 's very bod form to preorronge squores.Unless there 's o d i f {erent custom in your host c lub, moke sureyou ohrop squore up with differenf people. 5o, you'll gefgood squores, ond you' l l get bod squores-- just occept i t ondbe n ice. (Anywoy, some people who hoppen to be poordoncers o lso iust hoppen lo be super people, ond, i { you missoul on meef ing everyone, you iust might miss out on meet ingsorneone you'd reol ly l ike lo get to know.)

* Once you're squored up, you olwoys sloy in yoursquore ' i i l f ie t ip is over--no mot fer whot hoppens. (A moiormedicol emergency is the only occeptoble reoson to breok upo squo re . )

1t And fhonk everyone in your squore ofier fhe fip! Asko igh t donce cus lom i s t o oc tuo l l y shoke honds o l l o roundthe squo re . Pe rsono l l y , I t h i nk t h i s l okes up too much l ime ,but thol 's the cuslom. l f the o lher people ore doing i t , youdo i t , too. [Ed In the goy squore donce comnruni ty , moslc lubs use o bois lerous, unonimous " ihonk you." Mony st ro ighlc l ubs o l so use o unon imous " t honk you , " bu t i t ' s qu ie t ondmore l ike o l ight group hug. Personol ly , conl rory loMs . Cokes ' p red i l ec t i o r r , I l i ke t ok ing o l l t he t ime needed tohug ond/or k iss everyone who wos in ihe squore. l t doesn' ltoke owoy donce l ime; i f 's

iust por l o i my breok between t ips. ]

* Another of f ic io l squore donce cour lesy is lo l is len tof ie col ler ! Whether they soy so or nol , o lher people in yoursquore might octuol ly prefer to l is fen lo the col ler ihon to you(Hord to bel ieve, but t ruel ) .

* And you never, never let onyone know or evensuspecf lhof you didn'l enjoy doncing with him or her.Fspecio l ly when we' re being ongels for the new cross,remember thot everyone leorns ot d i f ferent rotes, ondeveryone leorns fos ler of some l i rnes t l ron of ot l rers. Onevery common feel ing new s ludenls hove is f rust rof ion i f they" just con' t get i t " os quick ly os they th ink they ihould. Asdoncers, we hove to be sensi t ive to thot , le t t ing them knowthot we o l l went through the some th ing ond they,re doingfine ond not lo worry. We hove lo show them thot we like todonce wi ih lhem onywoy, even i { they do mess up. We hoveto show them by exomple in oddi i ion to just ie l l ing them.

A squo re donce shou ld be o qen i l e p loce wnere we conescope { rom the shess ond f rus l rot ions of our hect ic l ives.The squore donce cour tes ies ore the foundot ion {or th is k indof p loce, which con exis l o t ony l ime o lmost onywhere in thewor ld. We con br ing th is p loce in to ex is lence ot wi l l , ond we

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need to teoch our students the courtesies so thot thev con doit. too.

Asked of new student: Why ore you here?Why ore you hying squore doncing?

It seems like fun, ond I olwoys wonted lo doit. I wos looking for o donce octivity. ond Igot this flyer on the streel.

Steve Kolbv 5/l6/94

THE BEST KEPT SEGRETIN SOUARE DANCINO

f repr in led { rom Amer icon Sguoredonce Apr i l 1994. The or t i c le i s c red i led to

8ow & Swing Mogo ine October 1993, w i th c red i , ts to Dr . J . L . Wolker ond' n u r s e '

C o r o l y n S u e W o l k e r ]

i, PFIYSICALA. Keeps you heolthy whi le you exercise, ond hove fun

o i t he some t imeB. Keeps your c i rcu lotory system ( inc luding your heor t )

work ing bet terC. Helps lower b lood pressureD. Helps recovery f rom occidento l in jur iesE. Helps recouery f rom cr ippl ing d iseoses (s t rokes,

or thr i t is) [Ed Winnie, deor , your on the rood lorecovery]

F . Tones up you r musc lesG. Besi of o l l i ts oerobic ond more fun thon o lo t of

oerobic exerc ises

2. Emot ionol benef i ts ore goined f rom the fe l lowship oroundthe souo re .

3. Compor isons between vor ious exerc ise progroms:

Wqhz l / t hr 1.5 ptsWo lk ing /Runn ing l .B m i l es i n 28 m in I .B p t sTennis I /z hr 2.2 ptsPolko t/z hr 2.5 otsCyc l i ng 2 m i l es i n 6 m in 2 .5 p t sGo l f lB ho les , wo l k i ng 2 .5 p t sFootbol l 25 min (cont inuous) 2.5 ptsSquore Doncing \ /z hr 2.5 ptsAerobic Doncing t /z hr 6.0 pts

These stotistics ore from The Aerobic Progrom forTotolFitnessby Kenneth Cooper, M.D. [ " the fother of oerobics, , 'M. Evonsond Co . , pub l i she r , 1992 , 216 E 49 th S t , Ny l 00 l7 l ondpersonol correspondence wi th Dr. Cooper, Moy 28, I 993.

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In h is le i ter , Dr . Cooper s totes, " l encouroge you to keep upwi ih your doncing s ince we know thot ovoid ing inoct iv i ty ,three t imes per week, wi l l prov ide greot benef i t . " He o lsosto les, "We do consider both squore ond round doncing osbenef ic io l in prov id ing heol th ond longevi ty benef i is . , ,Regulor i fy is the importont th ing--ot leost three l imes o week.Ihree 1/z hour exerc ise sessions ore bef ler thon one i ) /z hoursess ion.

Col Golden come up wi ih some oddi t ionol co lculot ions. lnon evening of squore ond round doncing, you moy donce 9t ips of squores (1 6,416 feel ) ond 2 rounds between t ips(9 ,360 fee l ) , o r o f o i o l o l 25 ,776 fee t (obou l5 m i l es ) . tEdAt o goy hoedown where lhere is no round donce ocl iv i tv , thenumber of l ips would increose; so i t oppeors thot o goyhoedown would corry you more thon 5 miles.]

Whol 's on your mind obout squore doncing?

Love it. Would be /ost without it. Such nicepeop/e. l 've lost 20 lbs l 've only beendoncing 2 yeors, ond / donce 6 doys oweek--including squore. round, f olk, ondC&W /ine.

Joyce PickelhouptPlus groduote (ond re l i rec l )

ALAH & IIIIGUEL

[ G o y B o o k , B o o k 1 6 , S p r i n g 1 9 9 4 , l r o m o s e r i e s o { o r l c l e s w r l h t h e t h e m e'Coup les

in Love. -How They Met , Fe l In Love, And The i r Ad" ice For O lhers l

[Ed Alon Hol l wos o member of lhe f i rs f c loss of WesternStor Doncers. You moy hove o l reody seen thrs or l ic le ; butyou ' l l en foy i t ogo in know ing tho tA lon i s "one o f us , , We , l lo lso look ot Alon 's commenls in the lAGSDCl,"n onniversorvbook . l

When osked whot h is def in i t ion of love is , Miguel so id," - . .unders londing, componionship, cor ing, suf fer ing, o l l o fthot . A lon 's smi le is love io me. A touch con be love. l t conbe very s imple th ings thot you do. Nei ther of us ever leovesthe house wi thout soying goodbye to the other one ondkiss ing goodbye. Thot in i tse l f is on expression of our love. , ,

A lon smi led mony t imes os Miguel to lked obout thei rre lot ionship--h is is i ru ly o lovely ond honsformot iveexpression. Eloborot ing on whot he f inds mosl ot t roc l iveobout Alon, Miguel cont inued, ' ,He is o verv ot t roct ive rnonwi th o beout i {u l smi le. When we met, he kepi wonrrng ro go

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out ond do th ings togethei ond I enjoyed thot very much.Alon l ikes lo trovel constontly [Ed. Thot's on understotementi f I every heord one! Alon doesn' t need o home; he needso check-in stotion.], so we hil i f off nicely. I l ike to do thereseorch obout the p loces we go. l found h im wonderfu l ondkinky--you con te l l h im your fontosy, ond he wi l l execute i t . , ,A lon hod equol ly n ice th ings to soy obout Miguel .

'This one mokes me lough. Not o single doy goes by ondthere is olwoys sornething to lough obout. He is o bit of ocomedion. Loughter is good medic ine."

Miguel ch imes in, 'To heor h im lough, I iust t ick le h im otn ight . "

"l l ike his sense of humor,' ' Alon continues. "l hove olwoysgotien olong well with people who ore o l itt le bit idiosyncrolic.Miguel is o greot costume designer . He wi l l weor o crozycostume, cover up his foce ond go to on event. People wil lcome up ond soy, oh, Miguel , thot must be you, nobody e lsewould do o th ing l ike t l ro t "

A moior AIDS {und ro iser ot Chops in Morch, 1984, prov idedthe sef t ing in which these two men met. A f r iend of Alon,sint roduced h im to h ls buddy, nol knowing thot the buddy wosAlon 's ex- lover , ond both men burs l in to louqhier of the i ronvof the s i tuol ion. The wormth of the soJnd--ond Alon,ssmi le--ot t rocted the ot tent ion of Miguel , s tonding neorby, whoinquired "something must be funny?" A conversot ion ensued,ond the two men begon dof ing shor t ly thereof ter . A l thoughthey were soon spending o greot deol of l ime togelher , foro6ovt 2t /z yeors, Miguel moin lo ined h is own spoce unt i l{ ino l ly movinq in wi th Alorr .

In oddi t ion io the br ight combinot ion of loveond p loy thot f i l ls thei r doi ly l ives, they hoveo number of responses os lo why thei rre lot ionship hos endured. "When we comein lo th is re lot ionship, we'd both p loyed the{ ie ld qui te o b i t , ond on cer to in fh inqs where

we d. idn ' t ogree, we compromised," Miguel so id. , ,He hosth ings thot he does on h is own," Alon begins, , ,so he hos h isindependence. I hove th ings thot I do on my own so I hovemy independence, ond then there ore th ings we dotogether--it ollows us not to be completely closed in.,, port ofnot being c losed- in inc ludes sexuol non-monogomy. Alonte l ls o funny story: " l hove o few f r iends thoi lhove beenhoving sex with for the lost 25 yeors. One friend,s portnersoid to me, "l sure love i l when you come oround--you get ollthose frushotions out of him. thot I con't, then l ife orornJ h"r"is greot for six monlhs. Do come of leost twice o yeor.,,

The moturity eoch of these men brought to the relotionship oswell os the spoce they give eqch other meons there is l i tt le toexperience conflict over os most oreos of dispute ore resolvedpeocefu l ly . Miguel so id, "We hordly ever orgue, ond wedecided o l ihe beginning not to go lo s leep ongry ot eochother . " Alon soys, "L i fe is too shor t . Probobly the b iggest

SPRING I994

th ing l 've leorned { rom him is deol ing wi th upset ondonger--if you siori getting ongry ond upset, then you hove gotto spend negot ive energy get l ing un-ongry ond un-upset . "

Al though Alon ond Miguel p lon to gei r ings for thei rupcoming lOth onniversory, d iscussion st i l l conl inues oboutregis ter ing for Domesl ic Por tnership. Quips Miguel , " l con ' twoit to get the while dress out o{ the closet."

They hove no plons {or children--they enjoy other people'schi ldren t remendously. Fr iends hove o lwoys been supporf iveof thei r re lo l ionship, ond {omi ly members who were hesi lontin showing opprovol hove been coming oround in the lost {ewyeors. Alon 's brother receni ly v is i ted, ond lef t wi th o muchmore posi t ive ot i i tude thon when he orr ived. Miguelcombines procticolity with whimsy, "l hove been very openobouf being mysel f - - l wos born out of the c loset ond myfomi ly o lwoys knew. They support me now. Of course, inSouth Amer ico, we don' t hove c losets, we hove ormoires. SoI come ou l o f on o rmo i re . "

Their odvice for those who ore s ingle ond looking lo merge:"Be yoursel f , be honesl . l f you s ior t fe l l ing stor ies you hove lokeep te l l ing stor ies to cover up the inoccurocies. Put oulposi l ive energy. Love wi l l { ind you in lhe st rongesl woys ondthe s t ronges l p l oces , usuo l l y when you ' re no l l ook ing , whenyou ore iust being yoursel f . "

FROM CALLERLABCurrenl Querrlerly Selections

MoinslreomSing le C i r c l e t o o Wove

Acey- Deu cey

PiusT rons {e r t he Co lumn

Corrnect the Dionrond

OUR HERITAGETKEYS TO THE FUTUR,E

Edi tor : Somewlrere o long the poths of my knowledge, Ibel ieue I wos to ld thot those who do not bother to leorn ofones h is tory ore dest ined to repeot i t . Whi le new gqy squoredoncers moy ih ink thot the orgonizot ion thoi current ly ex is fs inthe IAGSDCIM c lubs hos been oround o long l ime, our obi l i tyto squore donce wi ih eoch other in o goy set t ing hos been inexis tence for only i i yeors. Thoi is so recent thot I bel ievewe should prov ide our h is tory to o l l new doncers so thot the

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verbol h is tory which wi l l develop wi l l be occurote. You wi l l ,therefore, f ind in QS mony oriicles deoling with history.

For the Son Froncisco Boy Areo, it is exlremely importont toremember ond lo understond thot the former Foggy CitySquores of the loie 70's ond eorly B0's is p! the some enfityos our current Foggy Ci ty Doncers. Whi le the nomes oresimilor ond FC Squores is the porent o{ FC Doncers, fheconcerns which focused on FC Squores under the leodershipof Skip Borrell do not exist with FC Doncers. lt is impossibleto discuss the development of fhe IAGSDCIM with WeslernStor Doncers being one of the five founding members withoutreferring fo FC Squores. I repeot--ltwos FC Squores, not FCDoncers. Anyone cought misconstruing the history of the Boyfueo goy squore donce community by replocing the Squoreswith Doncers wil l be "hoired" with o Steffony Stomper wig onhis/her bore bofiom.

So, hong onlo your hols ; here we go wi th some his tory.

AN INTERVIEW WITH AIA}.I HALL

f ' he IAGSDCT' pub l i shed o book o i the l01h conven l ion in Sot t le ,

Wosh ing ton , over lhe .Ju ly 4 , 1993, weekend en t i t led Ten Yeors IAGSDC: A

Co//eciion o{ Poges lrom Ovr Memory Book. Luis Torres ("1T"), the compiler

ond ed i to r o { the s ' lo r ies , in le ru iewed A lon Ho l l { AH ' ) , who re lo ted 'some very

in le res l ing in {ormol ion obout the bockground o f the Son Fronc isco

c l u b s . . . . , t h e i n i t i o l c o m i n g l o g e l h e r o { g o y s q u o r e d o n c e r s o l { l y - i n s o n d

conven l ions , ond obout lhe exper iences o{ the { i s t goy doncers lo move in lo

the s t ro igh l sqvore donce communi ly . . . . " Whor {o l lows is ex l roc ted f rom

the pub l ished in le rv iew wh ich occur red on Moy 27 , 1991. )

LT Okoy, Alon, f i rs t o f o l l te l l me something obout yoursel f .Where ore you f rom?

Af l l 'm or ig inol ly f rom Englond, ond I emigroted lo theUni ted Stotes in 1968. Eventuol ly , I ended up in Col i forn ioof ler meet ing someone on on o i rp lone who of fered me o50% increose in solory ond on o l l -expense-poid move loCo l i f o rn io .

[T How did you end up doing squore doncing? Hod youever done ony fo lk doncing or t rodi f ionol doncing inEng lond?

Afl No. I just heod one evening from o friend of mine (lthink it wos my ex-lover who told me obout i l) thot this personwos doing this squore doncing siuff ot the Trocodero Tronsferond thot i t wos sor t o[ fun. He osked i f lwould l ike to gobecouse they were just obout to stort o new closs.

I decided I would, th ink ing i t would be something d i f ferenfond noi reol iz ing whot I wos le t t ing mysel f in for ot the t ime.When I octuolly experienced it, I found thot the energy levelwos terr i [ ic . I th ink i t wos becouse of thot energy level thot i ikept my interest . So, or ig inol ly I wos sor i o f roped into the

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old Foggy Ci ty Squores, o group thot ot thot t ime wos col led by o guy by the nome of Skip Borret t in Son Froncisco.

I suppose you could col l i t oerobic squore doncing. This guy hod i remendously h igh energy ond gove out thot energy to the peoplewho were doncing, bul we only donced to s inging col ls . L i lero l ly , you never reol ly leorned squore donce col ls . You leorned thepot tern to o por t icu lor s inging col l , ond i f i t hos o Stor Thru ond o Sl ide Thru, you leorned thot . [Ed. This could be ossocioted wi thon eor l ier vers ion of squore doncing which is referred lo os v is i t ing couples. At some point in the future, we' l l invest igote ihe v is i t ingcouples concept . ]

LT So whot you leorned wos o specific donce potter lo o specific record or tune?

AH He would col l i t , but i f you reol ly d idn ' t know ihe pot ter , you couldn ' l do ihe donce. Everyth ing wos bosed on s inging col ls .He hod people hool in ' ond hol ler ing, ond, i f you weren' t hoot in 'ond hol ler ing, he 'd s top the record ond soy, " l con ' t heor you hootond hol ler ! " or " l con ' t heor the whoops!" He l iked lo hove o lo t of oct iv i ty ond o lo t of noise.

The other th ing thot hoppened ot Foggy Ci ty Squores wos thot you o lwoys donced wi th the some people in lhe some squore. Wewere told we should never chonge. lf you were o heod, you were olwoys o heod; ond, if you were o side, you were olwoys o side.There were o lo t of people who wonted lo not only donce o l the Trocodero but o lso to be oble lo donce in other p loces, which theycouldn ' t do s ince they were not leorn ing the col ls by Col ler lob def in i t ion.

They o lso used to hove o Foggy Ci ty Squores exhib i t ion group, which wos sor t of on e l i te . But eventuol ly Skip Borret t 's d ic totor io lot t i tude t icked o few people of { , ond some doncers decided ihot they were going to breok of f ond form thei r own c lub. Amongthese people who broke of f , the moin inst igotors octuol ly , were Scot t Corey ond h is louer ot the i ime, Ron Dougloss. They spunof f ond s lor led on orgonizot ion they col led Western Slor Doncers. l

The new group stor ied meet ing i t . r one of t l re l i t t le rooms ot the ACT Theoter , ond obout the second week I found oui obout i t . Ithought , 'Wel l , I don' t exoct ly wonl 1o g ive up Foggy Ci ty , but I would l ike to leorn doncing by Col ler lob def in i t ion." So, unl ike mostof the other people who hod gone over to Weslerr r Slor , I wos lhe f i rs t one lo io in them ond st i l l moir . r to in my re lot ionship wi th FoggyCi ty Squores.

LT So, wos there ony one who l rod orry col l i r rg or leoching exper ience?

Al- l None whotsoever. The woy we leorned *os by put l ing on o record ond doncing uni i l we come onlo something we d idn ' t know.Then, we'd stop the record, we'd look in the book to see whot the col l wos, ond then we'd put the record bock on ogoin ondcont inue doncing. [Ed. Alon one n ight h icked wi th Bi l l K le in, who eventuol ly wos the f i rs t ins i ructor for Western Stor . B i l l 's squoredoncing exper ience hod token h im t l r rough the C-4 progronr . ]

Bi l l wos t l re one thot you might reod obout in the h is lory of Western Doncers who took us l ike o sergeonl mojor through leorn ingMoinstreom in I 0 weeks. Now, Bi l l honest ly ocknowledged he wos not o col ler , so even o i thot t ime we were st i l l do ing bosicol lys inging col ls , but we could now put o record on ond donce o l l ihe woy through i t wi thoul hoving to s top ond look in the book.Bi l l hod o l reody tought us o l l the 68 col ls in the Moinstreom l is t , ond everyth ing by def in i t ion r ig l r t owoy.

The f i rs t th ing he octuol ly remembers doing wos lo hove everybody ro l l owoy. Then, he soid, "Ok, heods Right ond Lef t Thru." "Butyou con' l do thol , " we exclo imed. And he soid, 'Yes, you con. The g i r l con lurn the boy." 5o, he l i tero l ly drummed in lo us, mi l i torysty le, every ru le thot you could possib ly th ink of , ond very quick ly correc led o l l the wrong impressions we hod develop.d in o*ignoronce. Bi l l eventuol ly tought two c losses.

I Edi tor : Wel l , there is more d i r t lo thot s totement thon hos ever been reveoled in pr in t . So, here goes! Scot t wos never onthe per formonce leom; however, Ron, Dennis F icken, Roger Perry, ond Agnes Smith were. These f ive people ore the founders ofWSD. When FC Squores ex is ted, being on the per formonce teom wos the p innocle of squore donce ochievement . Skip would tokethe performonce leom on retreol, while the rest of the doncers stoyed home. While Scott hod ouditioned for the leom ond wosfurned down, he wos permi t led to ot tend o 198l ret reot becouse of h is re lot ionship wi th Ron. At thot ret reot , under o guise ofd iscussion obout music, Scot l wos summonsed to Mr. Borret t 's room, whereupon Skip proceeded lo expound to Mr. Corey, whi leottempting to remove young Scott's clotlres, thot there wos sti l l o possibil i ty for his moking the performonce teom. Scott felt horossedby the oc l ion becouse Mr. Borret t knew thot he wos ot the re i reol wi th h is lover . l t wos widely rumored thot the cost ing couch wosone importont cr i ter io for induct ion onto the teom. Wel l , i t wos shor t ly of ter th is ret reot thot Weslern Stor wos born. Mind you,Messrs. Dougloss, F icken, ond Perry were not sexuol prudes. Agnes is o non-goy womon. The f ive of them justeventuol ly reol izedthot there must be o bet ter woy for o l l doncers to en joy o l l o{ t l re oct iv i t ies surrounding squore doncing.

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS S P R I N G I 9 9 4

LT So, where d ld th ings go f rom there?

Al-l There wos o big revolt going on ot Foggy City Squores,ond whot eventuol ly hoppened wos thot some of the c lubmembers l i tero l ly bought Skip Borret t out , ond they chongedthe nome to Foggy Ci ty Doncers. [Ed. The new Foggy Ci tychonged the d i rect ion of the c lub to the Col ler lob formot . ]

Afler o while, there wos o group of us *ho were reolly tryinglo get on ond leorn Plus. We hod th is 12 ' record of Pluspot ter co l ls co l led by Jock Losry thot we would p loy; we col ledit "the stinker." We kept trying to see i{ we could get throughi l , but we ron oround ond ron oround ond hod to keepstopping ond stor t ing i t . We knew the col ls , bul everyth ingcome so fost thot we couldn ' t keep up. Then one doy weoctuolly got through it, ond there wos o lot o{ cheering ondhol ler ing.

This l itt le group wos very dedicoted. We moved our woythrough Plus, ond then we decided lo s lor t leorn ing A- I . Thisgroup inc luded both Weslern Slor ond Foggy Ci ty people.

[Ed . Th i s g roup become the c lub M idn igh t Squo res . ]

tT So lh is wos on "ex l rocur r rcu lo r ' g roup w i lh lhe ideo o fl e o r n i n g P l u s ?

Al l Yes, i t s tor ted ot Plus, ond eventuol ly become Advonced.And ihot orrongemenl worked out pref fy wel l . A l thot poinf ,we hod people leorn ing Moir rs l reom both ot Foggy Ci ty ondol Weslern Stor . Weslern Stor decided thol i t would doMoinsl reom ond Plus ond refer those who wonted io go in foAdvonced ond beyond to Midnight Squores. So MidnightSquo res deve loped os on Advonce ond Cho l l enge g roup , no lto compele ogoinst Weslern Stor ond Foggy Ci ty , but rotherto supplemenl those gr<lups.

[he in terv iew, cont inues wi th on ex lended conversol ion oboulthe f i rs t goy squore donce convenl ion ond the f i rs t in leroc l ionwi th the st ro ighl squore doncer communi ty os goy squoredonce rs . ]

LT Now thot you hove been ot th is for o long t ime, whol doyou gel out of i t?

AFI I l ike the socio l in teroc l ion. I l ike the energy level . l t 'so lso, {or me, good exerc ise. There 's o whole soi t o f sp i r i tuo lf i i ng beh ind o l l t h l s , l guess Now i l ' s pod o f me , ond Idon' l know whot l 'd do wi thout i t ony more. Moybe i l 's od rug .

LT Squore Donce Methodone?

AH Here I con reol ly sor l o f b low ond let out s teom; iust le teveryth ing go. My work involves o lo t o{ mento lconcentrot ion in the oreo o{ { inoncio l p lonning, ond I conpush o l l thot os ide ond out of my system. l th ink thot 's whotI reol ly get out of i t , ond the foct thot I hove met someincredib ly wonderfu l people over t l re yeors through squore

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

doncing, mony of whom I s t i l l hove o good { r iendship wi th.I th ink thot 's importont ; o por t o{ your socio l wel l -being.

LT There seems fo be o wov thot the common interestbreoks the borriers thot otherwise would be ther".

Afl Such on ecleclic group! I meon, we hove everythingfrom high twink [Ed. I think thot meons "nelly."] to hordleother, ond oll points in between. When you get thempoiring up os doncing porlners in the some squore, I don'lknow where e lse you' l l f ind thot in the goy communi ty .

Whot's on your mind obout squore doncing?

Whol {un it is! Trying to keep up mokes iffun'

Roy shelton{ull-t ime studenf & {ull-t lme nighl worker

[Now here's o firel. Someone sociolly chollenged.l

TIME-TRIPPING WITH RUSS KING

[Ed. I remind you thot re{erences io Foggy Ci ty ore io FC Squores ond FC

Doncers short ly of ter ihe nome wos chonged ond be{ore FC begon leochingCo l l e r l ob . ]

Like every o lher guy who checked out goy squore doncing inl98l in Son Froncisco, I got my f i rs t toste ot Foggy Ci tySquores which wos bosed ot ihe under l i t , undervent i lo tedTrocodero Trons{er, where closses of over o hundred guys(ond one or two women) worked up o sweot to the high-energy s inging col ls of Skip Borret t . Wi th h is rough goodlooks, soulhern drowl , dynomic s inging, t igh l personol i ty , ondeven lighler ieons, Skip rode the Urbon Cowboy croze lo fhelop He presided over the crowds ot the Troc with ochorismo ihot wos hol{ rock stor, holf old-time revivolistwhipping the fo i th fu l in to re l ig ious f renzy. No one l 'vedonced to s ince hos been oble to moke squore donce qui leso hot .

But by 1982, people stor ted to heor oboul goy c lubs in otherc i l ies who used o myster ious system col led "Col ler lob" ondbegon forg ing t ies wi th $ose c lubs. In Februory, I 983,severol members of Weslern Stor Doncers (including ScottCorey, my lo le housemqte Mork Ni lson, ond me), membersof Mi le High Squores f rom Denver ( inc luding our f r iend Kor lJoeckel), ond Art Smith from Seottle ofiended o fly-in hostedby the South Florido Mustongs, ot which the first meeting wosheld to discuss the {ormotion of on orgonizotion of goysquore donce clubs. A few weeks loler, lefiers wereexchonged between Korl, Mork, ond me thot Korl hos recenllyuneorthed ond which the editor hos deemed worthy of

SPRING 'I 994

inclusion in Quorlerly Se/ecfions (in somewhot obbreviotedform).

These letters hove been o {orceful reminder to me of whot opivotol yeor of tronsition

' l 983 wos for goy squore doncing in

Son Froncisco. For Skip Borrett, the emergence of theIAGSDCIM ond h is inobi l i ty to odopl meont thot thehondwr i t ing wos on the wol l . Only o few monlhs of ter theselefiers were writ len, on oll-out civil wor would be woged olFoggy City Squores between Skip ond his per{ormonce teom,leoding lo the formotion of the club known todoy os FoggyCi ty Doncers. But , thot 's onother s tory. . . .

- -Ru ss

4/24/94, Hi Russ,

Hove been sor t ing ond p i tch ing ond sor t ing ond f i l ing odin{ in i tum th is winter ond spr ing. One pro ject hos been to pul ltogether documentot ion, correspondence, e lc . , {or o set o{IAGSDCTM orchive o lbums. Al reody I hove three 3" b inders{u l l , ond l odd to i hem regu lo r l y . A l l t h i s l eods up to myrecent d iscovery o{ I 983 correspondence f rom you ondMork. Your le t ters rek indle the feel ing of the f imes--om soglod I kept them. I kno* you' l l enfoy re-reoding thenr .Documen to t i on { rom l9B l -1983 i s ue ry d i f i i cu l t t o f i nd l

Regords, Kor l

3 /6 /83 . l : 30 AM. Deo r Ko r l .

Thonks for the poslcord which Mork orrd lgoi todoy, orrofher fonighl , Mork hoving been ot o Foggy Ci ty hoedo*nlh is of ternoon ond evening ond mysel i hourng gone roAmer icon Bol le t Theoter is Son Froncisco th is of ternoon ondto the Midnight Squores th is evening--both o{ us hovingreturned obout on hour ogo. I meont to get pr in ts of o fe*of my photos f rom Miomi mode up before I wrole, bul Ihoven' t got len oround to i t yet , ond th is seems o good t imelo wr i le s ince l 'm st i l l too wired up lo go to bed f rom 5 hoursof doncing. Lots o{ l i f l le p ieces o{ ne*s, in no por l icu lororder :

Chonges in the wind ot Foggy Ci ty , ond some tensionbeiween Skip ond some members of Midnight Squores. Skipcol led Richord Tuck, one o{ the {ounders of MidnightSquores, ond to lked to h im for over on hour todoy-- thegenerol ideo being thot it wos on Unfriendly Gesture lo hovethe regulor ly scheduled Soturdoy n ight c lub meel ing whenSkip wos hoving o hoedown. Also, on Thursdoy n ight otFoggy Ci ty , o squore of pr imor i ly Midnight Squores peoplechose lo sil out the "wolk-through" explonotion portion of onew donce. When the teocher, Br ion Jockson, osked themwhv they were sitt ing it oul, one of them replied thot theywere bored. Skip to ld Richord thof fhe Midnight Squores orethe "bro ins of squore doncing, but the leost fun to doncewi th"- -wholever thot is supposed lo meon. Sour gropes,probobly. We ore, however, d isc ip l ined-crozy, os opposed toundisc ip l ined-crozy.

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS

Foggy City is leoving the Trocodero ofier the present sessionends th is month ond wi l l be moving lo o newfy re-openedweslern bor, the Rowhide. Most of the Midnighi Squoreswon' f be s igning up for the next c losses--Poul Z immermonn,Alon Hol l , ond I ore o l l dropping out ; keeping oct ive in threegoy squore donce orgonizotions is too much for us. Morkwi l l cont inue wi ih i t s ince he 's never io ined Midnight Squoresond enioys o lot of the people there. (And this woy, we'l lolso hove o direct source for oll the lotest gossip.)

I went lo my first stroight squore donce club (not countingJock Losry's group) lost Thursdoy with three other guys fromMidnight Squores ( inc luding Poul) . This is o very f r iendlys ingles group in Pleosont Hi l l , oges ronging f rom twenl ies lofift ies, ot the Plus progrom, with o fe* Advonced collsworkshopped. We did choin reocfion ond onother coll, thenqme of which l 've olreody forgotten. lnteresling lo comeinto stroight squore doncing ofter o yeor ond o hol{ ofKinsey 6 squore doncing. l t wos o l l very ogreeoble, ond we' l lo lmosl cer to in ly go bock, but I wonder exoct ly how being goywould f i t in to thei r socio l fobr ic i f we were regulor members.Poul 's bel t buckle hos the two-mole-symbols- io ined pot tern oni i , which severol of the women opporenl ly not iced, ond which,Richord lold me, seemed to bother one womon in porticulor.Some people in the suburbs ore de{ in i te ly more comfor toblethon o lhers wi th goyness. I del ibero le ly osked *omen oldenough to be my mother to be my por tners os one woy of(sor t of ) ovoid ing the issue. Their co l ler is very good, ondRichord would l ike io sound h im out (d iscreet ly) oboui co l l ingon Soturdoys for Midnight Squores, but lhere is o del icoteproblem. The { r iend who f i rs f in t roduced Richord to thegroup ond who is o regulor member o[ thot c lub, is verJc loseted ond would def in i te ly be rother poronoid oboutRichord 's coming out to soid col ler . So, Richord is t ry ing tofigure out o tociful woy to deol wiih the issue.

l l 's now of ler three in the morning, ond l 'm no longer wired,so l ' l l w ind ih is le t ter up. l 'm enclos ing o copy of on odic lef rom B.A.R. thol oppeored recent ly on Western Stor Doncers.I t wos shown lo the Miomi people, but I don' t know i f yousow i l or not . The beginning c loss referred to wi l l hove i lsf i f th meei ing next week; enro l lment is hold ing ot obout 35.Phi l Poyton, our regulor co l ler , hos ioken over teoching dut ieseffective lost week, o chonge thot is definitely for the better.(Scott Corey, Poul, Brion Porcher, ond Chorles Prongos wereoriginolly going to shore leoching duties, but they decidedthey were over thei r heods, ond Phi l decided he could use themoney. l 've been going os on "ongel" obout hol f the t ime.

Thonks ogoin for wr i f ing. I hope th ings improve for you otyour iob or thot something more remunerotive comes yourwoy. Things ore hecfic ol my office, ond I know the monogerwould l ike us io pul in some over f ime. How do I explo in thotI hove o socred obl igot ion to go squore doncing ot leost s ixn ights o week? Oh, the conf l ic t ing demonds of Ar t ondCommercel Toke core

with offection, Russ

SPRING 1994

P.S. Mork decided lo write, too. His lefler wos written thefo l lowing evening so the t ime sequence moy sound o b i lconfus ing when you reod these. There were two other squoredoncers in our group for Cosi Fon Tut le, ond weunexpectedly ron inlo two more there. I wonder ifSon Froncisco is the only c i ty where there ore so mony meninto opero g[ squore doncing. Over hol f o f the WesternStor Doncers go regulor ly to the SF Opero 's fo l l seoson.

3/6/83 Deor Korl,

I wos very glod to heor from you. These lost two (it hos beenthot long) weeks hove been o rot roce for me, loo.

Losi night--octuolly yeslerdoy ofternoon--l wenl to the FoggyCi ty hoedown ond donced non-stop f rom 3 PM to midnight .Skip Borret t moy be hord to deol wi th ond not much onleoching stondord squore doncing, but I hove never seenonyone rev up o crowd l ike he does. l t wos reol ly sor t ofowesome.

lhove been sound ing ou l t he poss ib i l i t y o f o r rong ing opockoge deol for the Reno Rodeo thot would inc lude hole loccommodol ions, rodeo odmiss ion, l ronsportot ion f romSon Froncisco or f rom the Reno o i rpor t , shuf l le serv ice lo t l refo i r g rounds , o squo re donce , ond pe rhops o bonque t o rbreokfost get together . Do you th ink there would be demondfor such f rom the other c lubs? We might be oble lo ge1some good group ro les ond spend more o{ our t ime wi thother squore doncers. l f the o lher c lubs ore in teres led, i lmight be orronged on o prof i t -shor ing bosis . I don' l knowwhot the pr ices would be l lke. My impression is thol , i { theycould be held to the $150 level for the three doys, there moybe o good morket for such o pockoge. Does th is seem l ikeo reosonoble guess lo you? The subiec l orose becouse *ewere d iscussing moking reservot ions {or hote ls ond such, ondi t occurred to me thot I hove o f r iend who orronges pocKogelou rs .

The chonces ore good thot I wi l l be oble lo come lo Denveri n June fo r t he rodeo . Tho t wou ld be {un l t h i nk . G i ve myregords to the gong in Denver. I remoir r

Your l ru ly , Mork X0X0X0

3 / l 5 /83 , Deo r Ko r l .

Here ore three pr ints of my Miomi p ic tures--noih ingspectoculor , bul onywoy o memento of the occosion. Theoceon p ic iure is enclosed sole ly for lhe purpose of prov ingwhot doncing fools the Western Stor Dqncers ore.

Mork is s l i l l checking in to the group four possib i l i t ies forReno. Scot t th inks i t un l ike ly thol the Reno Rodeomonogement wi l l wont to inc lude enouglr squore doncing iokeep us hoppy, so we' l l be looking in lo the possib i l i ty ofschedul ing our own events owoy { rom the fo i r grounds,preferobly ot o hote l where o b lock of us were stoy ing, tosupplement the doncing opportuni t ies. Ron Dougloss, Scot t ,

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

Mork, Poul , ond I moy go up to Reno the f i rs t weekend inMoy to check out ovoiloble locotions; some sort of NevodoStote squore donce convent ion wi l l o lso be hoppening tholweekend there, so it seems like o good woy lo combinebusiness ond p leosure.

Lost Thursdoy wos my lost n ight os o regulor poid-up memberof Foggy City--in oddition to Foggy City's lost night ot theTrocodero. I expected to feel more sentimentol lhon Ioctuol ly d id; moin ly I feh s l ight ly bored ond unchol lenged byi t o l l . Sk ip hod inv i ted the beginning c loss, though; ond, ofthe end of the odvonced session, he colled five beginningdonces for them which Tom Kernkomp (my regulor porlnerthere) ond I ioined in on. So, | {inished up with five of thefirst donces l 'd ever leorned: "Just Becouse," 'Troil of lheLonesome Pine," "Redwing," "Sioirwoy to Porodise," ond"Alobomo Jubi lee." Not hoving done them for oges, I wosn' fbored. l i wos o pleosont reminder of how things seemed(only o yeor ond o hol f ogo!) when I knew noth inq oboutsquore doncing ond everyth ing wos toto l ly f resh. l t wos ogood woy to wind th ings up.

There wos o hoedown in Socromento lost weekend vfrichseverol Weslern Stor members ottended. After somediscussion, i t wos decided thot we'd morch in the Goy Porodeth is yeor os por t of the Not ionol Lesbion/Goy Squore Doncers(or wholever it 's exoctly colled) rother thon os seporotegroups. I expecl thot severol people f rom Midnight Squoreswill ioin on, os well os one or two from Seofile (moybe). Wesl i l l hove o lo t of log is t ico l deto i ls to work oul , but the bosicideo is to octuol ly do squore donces rother thon modi f ied l inedonces os Foggy Ci ty d id lost yeor . I f igure i f we donced inthe oceon, severol pork ing lo ts , ond o ro l ler r ink, the middleof Morket Street con' t be thot much of o problem.

This coming Fridoy, obout f ifteen of us from Weslern Slor oregoing to see Chor les Pierce 's show in SF. l 've never seenhim l ive before; just once on lhe Tonight Show on NewYeor 's Eve. l t should be rother fun. There 's o two-dr inkminimum in oddi t ion lo the cover chorge, so I hope I don' tgel too bombed.

Toke core, Russ

[Ed. A {ew of ter- thoughts which emphosize the network ing insquo re donc ing .

The comment obout "Jock Losry's group" re{ers fo one of lheoctivit ies ot the Miomi {ly-in. Jock Losry, who is nowdeceosed, hod on enormous in lernot ionol in f luence upon lheshope of modern western squore doncing. Af ter h is deoth,Mrs. Losry personol ly osked Chr is Phi l l ips io loke overMr. Losry 's c lub in the Miomi oreo. Chr is Phi l l ips wos ofounding member of the South Flor ido Mustongs, wos the f i rs tgoy person to begin col l ing, ond owned o bor ot which theMustongs f i rs t donced in the lo te

. |970's .

The re{erence to the orticle in the B.A.R. obout WSD is theor t ic le which cought my eye ond brought me to squore

SPRING I994

doncing. l t wos o lso the coto lyst for br inging Jomes Fowleond Romon Smith to the some c loss--Jomes ond Romon, bothnow deceosed, being the former owners of the currenlGolden Boot Ronch on Sonchez Street thot is iolked obout inon or t ic le by Anno Domioni lo ter in th is edi t ion obout bui ld ingfomi l ies.

The Nevodo squore donce {est ivo l which wos considered iscol led "Si lver Stote" ond is o lwoys held the lost weekend inApril or the first weekend in Moy. This yeor wos the 47thonniversory of Silver Sfote, ond severol WSD ond Copitol Citymembers ot tended. ]

APRIL SHOWERI'WITH PAUL WATERS

bv HOLLY WOOD

Wel l , le t 's foce i t . l 've o lwoys hod lh is {osc inot iorr wi t l r PoulWoters for h is n ice buns ond h is h i rsu le body teosing peopleos they explode f rom those spondex b icyc le ponls. I corr ' t ge lenough o f i t . l d reom o f h im co l l i ng o donce i n such o t t i r e ,but he 's iust loo much o{ o squore donce et iquet fe queen todefoce h is imoge. Some t ry to console me wi th the l i t i l lo t ingthoughi lhot pot ience is o v i r lue.

We l l , I p i cked up th i s f l ye r t l r o l E lComino Ree le rs i s l h row ingth is donce for thei r Bth Anniversory wi th guest co l ler PoulWolers. My mind s lor ls lo sol ivo le. Pol ience? Pot ience??Pot ience! ! ! | o lso heord thot o herd of Western Slor Doncerswos congregoting of f ie Rec Center to boord o vor.r for ihesoiourn. Hot ing to dr ive mysel f , I or r ived ot the Rec Cenlerto boord the bus. Let 's see, there were: Lee Gion{rorrceso,Russ "Morgorei Meode" [Ed. onother s tory ohogether ] King,Poi Smith, Ron "Pookie" Joblonski , me, our groc ious hoslessJim Pel lmonn, ond ot , r gol lont dr iver Mike Sel lers. Let me ie l lyou o secret , honeys. Don' f ever s i t between "Morgorel" ond"Pookie." Lovely, lovely , lovely boys; but chot ter , chot ter ,chof ierboxes. I wos in o sor t o{ foul mood *hen I begon ihehip, ond, wi th o l l thot to lk , I couldn ' l even concentrote on myon9er .

Life hos been on the cutting edge of stress for me lofely.Actuol ly , for obout o yeor ; bui i t 's eosing up now. I wenfobout o yeor wi thout doncing regulor ly dur ing the week. Io lwoys heord thot squore doncing wos theropeul ic forwhotever o i ls you, but I hod never been o*oy f rom squoredoncing for even o week s ince 1983. Wel l , one doy I ius lupped ond soid, " l 'm mod ond l 'm not going to toke i f onymore l " So , l begon punch ing the c lock i n t ime to ge t t odoncing ot leost one n ight o week. When I squore up ondthe music slorls ond I ocknowledge $e others in lhe squoreos humon beings, the cores ond worr ies s lor t lo mel t . Ireol ize I hove o purpose in l i {e , ond thol is to be o por t of th ist ip , to do my besl , to support the others in the squore so t l io l

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

we oll succeed, ond lo ollow them to support me so thot weoll get to feel the some thing. Well, with Russ ond Ronyommering owoy, I storted getting the "squore donce spirit ' ' .Let's coll i t "esprit squored.' ' Hey, I l ike it! Let's write it l ikeespr i t2 . But , I d igress. . . .

Anywoy, we orrive ol the "new'' locotion only fo find thot thedonce hos been moved to on old locotion. Well, I thoughtfo myself, 'This is going to be o fine ho*dy do." ECR wosforever "plonning" to hove this donce, odverfising if ot the lostminute--con't they even get the holl shoighf this lqte in thegome? Thot wos the old onger swell ing up ogoin. Chotter,girlfr iends! Well, i t wosn't o very long drive to the new/oldlocotion, so I got to stort mingling with oll those beoutifulf r iends of mine reol ly soon, ond o l l the shroud of onger ondhote begon to melt os we squored up. And the whole doncewos full of energy ond comoroderie. I porticulorly love lodonce with newer doncers. lt invokes the kinder, motherlys ide of my humon needs. I wont o lo t for mysel f , but I seemlo get more when I shore wi th o ihers who seem to need mydoncing exper ience. I move on in the squore donce wor ld,nol from progrorn lo ihe nexl progrom, but {rom new doncerto new doncer. My soul is conslonl ly ref reshed, ond my needlo be needed is constont ly sot io ted.

Some where o long the evening i tdowned on me. Shower. . .wel .Wofer . . .wel . "Aor i l Showers wi th PoulWoters." Duh. St i l l no col ler in o b ik in ior spondex ponts, so the unrequi tedfonlosy l ives on.

ITADTEY ffig ATD f|rES

by JANIE JO BRADLEY

ON OVERCOMING YOURSQUARE DANCE HETEROPHOBIA

As we olt know, squore doncing is o shored octivity whichrequires your cooperolion with seven other persons in thesquore. l l is o hormonious concert of cooperotion withoutregord to the roce or credo of ony of the other doncers. lt ison oc l iv i ty which is pursued for enioymenl ond le isure fun.

In the world of goy squore doncing, it is often eosy to forgetthot this is not on exclusively goy octivity; in focl, goy squoredoncing, per se, is o relotively recent odvent in the generolsquore doncing wor ld. Somet imes we become shel tered inthe goy world to the point thot we exclude our non-goysquore doncing f r iends.

Recently I ottended two "stroight" squore donce evenls, both

t 0 SPRING I994

of which were grot i fy ing ond enjoyoble exper iences ofdoncing. I d id not ot iend them becouse of thei r genderor iento i ion but for lhe sheer enioymenl of doncing. Now, {orthose o{ you who hove nol os yet overcome your"heterophobio" in squore doncing, le t me explo in o few foctswhich might be helpfu l in understonding f ie s t ro ight squoredonce exper ience.

l . No one in o squore reol ly cores whol your sexuolor ientot ion is os long os you con donce. Normol ly , you don' tenter o goy squore ond exploin to the other seven peoplewhol your preferences ore in bed, [Ed. No, bul somet imes Isure would l ike to knowl ] ond the some is t rue in s t ro ightsquores. Don' t delude yourselves, my deors, no one reol lywonts lo know.

2. Yes, there ore some "d i f ferent" but bosic ru les thot shouldbe observed ot convent ionol "s t ro ight" squore donce events.These ru les ore nol ent i re ly unreosonoble; however, theysomel imes seem o b i t s todgy. Nonetheless, mosl of them orebosed upon l r od i t i on ond h i s to ry . Fo r exomp les :

rs ' Trodi l ionol squore donce ot t i re should be worn. Thismeons, for the genl lemerr , long s leeved shi r ts ; for the lodies,sk i r ts ond s l ips (cr inol ines, g i r ls) . IEd You corr use thesof t ies; they don' t poof out . ] The long s leeved shi r ts , byl rodi t ion, ore worn by the genls so lhot the lodies won' t berequired to louch l l re sweoty, hoi ry orms of lhe men.Al though some doncers in the goy communi ty would preferlh is , mony of the s l ro ig l r t lod ies do not . The t rodi t ion of thesk i r t s ond c r i no l i nes f o r t he l od ies l s t i l l con tend i s f o r t hebenef i t o f the col lers, mony of who, os we wel l know, con geleosi lv confused.

a*= At most s t ro ight donce evenls, i t is considered pol i teond oppropr iote thot , i f you don' t hove o por lner of theopposi te sex, lhot you seek one out ond requesl o donce. Ihove never found th is lo be o problem--{ inding o s i r rg ledonce po r tne r . Some i imes i l he lps t o weo r o 'SOLO bodge .Of ien ot these events lhere is on oreo set os ide where s inglescon g roup , mee t , m ix , ond m ing le . The re neve r seems to beo shor toge of doncers who go to {est ivo ls ond donces wi thoulpor lners in the hope of just get t ing thoi one chonce to squoreup ond donce o b i l . [Ed. This is por l icu lor ly l rue of women,s ince there ore more s ingle women doncers thon mendoncers. ]

rs Generolly, it is considered proper to donce the portof your nofuro l gender. Thot is , i f your ore o mon, youdonce the gent 's por t ; o womon. the lody 's por t . This ,however, is not o hord ond fos l ru le. Somel imes you wi l l { indyourself in o squore of strong doncers who wont to "ployoround" ond ore wi l l ing to donce hol f -soshoyed, or evensome-sex couples.

3. Everyone thot I hove met ot both st ro ight ono goy squoredonce events go lo donce for ihe some reosons, most ly iorthe {un of i t . l f you of lend o st ro ight squore donce fest ivo l ,

OUARTERLY SELECTIONS 1 I

keep those some reosons in mind. Look oround you; thoseother people ore oll doncing {or the very some reosons, lheen joyment of the octivity which is shored by oll...the energy ofthe floor ond the flow o{ the donce.

fu | hope you hove leorned from your goy doncingexperiences, there ore those sirnple rules thol should olso beobserved of ony squore donce event: be courleous, be oled,don't olwoys donce with the some people, moke friends, beyourself, ond mosi importontly hove fun.

ASK rup SQ1t9Z,4t?

l f you could osk o squore donce wizord onyfhing oboutsquore doncing becouse you kno* he/she/it knowseverflhing, whot would you osk 1111?. SQWZAF2T?

ROBERT ADELIvIAN ond RON HIRSCH: Whot reollyhoppened woy bock when to Western Stor- -Foggy Ci ty? [Ed.Dir t -d iggers they ore, i f you osk me. ]

TILS: You're certoin to get your eors full in the orticlesinc luded in th is edi t ion. Are you sot is f ied?

K O'BRYAN (Dioblo Doncers) : How do you know whenyou' re supposed to be hol f -soshoyed?

lflS: Firslof oll, i f the coller instrucls you to soshoy, then youknow you' re supposed to do i t . Second, concentro le whi leot tending c loss. Leorn to donce by def in i t ion, not get t ingcomplocenl lo o lwoys do i t { rom the some posi l ion. Wouldyou wont your sex l ife to be thot woy? Trust the coller.Donce the col ls by def in i t ion os the col ler co l ls them. l fyou ' re hol f soshoyed when you've completed lhe col l , you ' resupposed to be hol { -soshoyed. Simple, don' t you th ink?

EUATTEIY SELEGTIOIISIIIDUGTED I| TO GAY ANGHIYEIS

by MIKE SEGEIMIER

[Ed. Mlke donces wilh Foggy City ond Wedern Stor ond is o volunteer oilheGLHSNC. He introduced the los.t edirion oi QS to the director o{ the"Archives,' ond QS wos invited to be o port of the holdings oI the collection.All prior editions o{ QS fiove been {oruorded to the GLHSNC, ond theorgonizolion is now on the WSD moiling list, where lhe monthly newslefier,The Weslern Stor, is being odded to the collection. I thought you would bein lereded in knowing someihing obout lhe 'goy orchives." l

History is olwoys presented from the perspecliveof the victor, or ruling porty. Excluded frommoinstreom medio unt i l recent ly , subiected to theprevoi l ing pol i t ico l wind, much of the h is tory of

SPRING I994

goy men ond women hos been lost . The gool of the non-prof i l , voluntory Goy ond Lesbion Historicol Society ofNorthern Col i forn io is lo col lec l , protec l , ond moke ovoi lobleper iodicols , ephemero, monuscr ipts , books, ond personolpopers which ore pertinent to our history io scholors ond tothe publ ic . S ince i ts founding in 1985, the GLHSNC'sorchives hos grown fo contoin over I 900 li i les of periodicols,ronging from the Journol of Sexuolity lo the mosl oulrogeous,oul - lhere zen. The Society o lso presents exhib i t ions indif{erent venues oround the Boy Areo, the next of which wil lbe ot the Horvey Mi lk /Eureko Vol ley L ibrory dur ing the monthsof June, Ju ly , ond August , 1994.

The Archives is locoted in the Redstone Building in the heortof the Mission District. lt is stoffed enlirely by volunteers,mony of who ore l ibror ions or h is tor ions. Unt i l I 990, theArchives wos housed in Bi l l Wolker 's opor tment in the Hoight .[Ed. Ei l l Wolker is o founding member of GLHSNC ond is operson who knew Stef fony Stomper in Woshington, DC.] Thecol lec l ion outgrew i ts domoin ond is now in o bui ld ing whichis hondicopped occessib le ond hos the spoce needed forser ious studv.

One of the f i f ty goy ond lesbion orchives in the counlry ,GLHSNC hos oboul 500 members wlro come f rom o uerydiverse secl ion of our communi ty . The Orol History Project ,choi red by Lyndol l McCowon, is ot tempt ing lo orc l r iveoccounts of goy, lesbion, b isexuol , ond t ronsgender l i {e in iheBoy Areo wi th emphosis on the pre-Stonewol l ero. Ofpor t icu lor in lerest is the Son Froncisco goy scene in lhe 30 'sond 40 ' s .

Among the personol popers, those of Elso Gid low, LeorrordMot lov ich, Lew Sul l ivon (o femole to mole t ronssexuol) , DelMort in , ond Phyl l is Lyon ore coto logued ond preserved forfu lure h is lor ions. These popers prov ide o wir . rdow into the l i {eo f t he i nd i v i duo l os we l l os t he su r round ing commun i \ h i sfosc inot ing to look ot the personol wr i t ings of on indiv iduol{ rom the 20 's ond 30 's ond see how c looked the wording iseven between lovers. One wos never sure who couldintercept ond use wr i t ings to one's d isodvonloge.

ln April, I 994, Western Slor's ()uorterly Se/ections wosreceived into the Archives to become o pori of the permonentcol lect ion, document ing for the fu lure o p ic ture ofrecreot ionol ond socio l behovior in our oreo. Souoredoncing is olso represenled by the Foggy City newslefler.

The GLHSNC is o lwoys looking {or in terested men ondwomen to work os volunteers. We feel thot the unique notureof our cul ture should be preserved for fu ture generof lonswi thout the monipulot ions of government ogencies ond/orsel f -serv ing pol i t icos. l f you ore in terested in volunteer ing, oriust wonl more in formoi ion, p leose col l (4 I 5) 626-0980.

|o I/EARS AGO

WSD hod been phone volunteers for the KQED Festivol. |984. This wos on o Soturdoy of iernoon, ond we were

successful in hoving the stotion onnounce thot we were osquore donce c lub pr imor i ly for the goy communi \ ond ourfriends. Fortunolely, lhere were few homophobic collersdur ing our shi f t , but there were some.

Some members of the Club volunteered to help move theSon Froncisco Foir into new of{ice spoce, ond it wosonnounced thot WSD would be doncing ot the Foi r .

Members hod oflended the first goy squore donce convenlionin Seottle, Woshington. About 250 doncers were inot tendonce. l t wos o f i rs t in which mony, mony f r iendshipsore deeply rooled. There is no convention l ike your firstconvent ion. The exper ience is d i f ferent eoch yeor onddi f ferent {or eoch doncer, but the sum loto l o f the exper ienceis h igh emol ionol energy. Here ore entr ies { rom Chr isAnderson's d iory:

Fr idoy, Apr i l 6 , 4:30 PM [Ed Regist rot ion ond theGrond Morch o l l hoppened wi th in obout four hours. ] Wheredid o l l lhese people come f rom? Sign in , get your bodge,Seot t le goy guide, T-Shir t , schedule, beer . Costumes.Roinbow scoryes. Fr inges. Vests. Hots. "Did I t ie i t r ight?Look ot those cr inol inesl We were here eor ly but couldn ' tf ind onyone. They drove? Did you get my messoge? Wego t i n o t4 :00 . Our p lone l e f t on hou r ond o ho l f l o te . Hosonyone seen our equipment? Wlren d id F lor ido get in? Hosonyone seen Foster? Did Scot t ond Ron get in? ls onyonehere f rom SoCo? Freemon shipped Stef fony oheod of l imein t h ree boxes . Where ' s Cop? The re ' s Denn i s . H i , Be r t ! l sGoi l here? Reiso! Where 's Corolyn?" L ine up, two couples

logether . "Jesus, thot guy is hot .Wonder whot c lub he donces wi th?" Wecoreen into ihe bol l room. Club f logsSmo l l s toge . The cho rus o tone end . "OConodo." ' 'The Stor Spongled Bonner."Invocot ion. Hizzoner speoks. [Ed. Themoyor of Seohle, Chorles Royer, wos

there in the f lesh wi th h is wi fe to welcome the goy squoredoncers. l Squore up! "Seot t le"- -everyone gets lhrough.Opening hymn--"Somewhere Over the Roinbow'- -suddenly,I reol ize l 'm in Seot f le .

Soturdoy n ight . This is o lmost o b lur . The Women'sSquore. Poul /Elmer. F is t fu l o f Cr inol ines, Honky TonkQueen. Cloggers. Moins l reon. Plus. Advonced. TheWeslern Stor c loss members ore doncing fu l l Moinstreom--look ot them grin! Poul/Elmer were ofroid of forlfeothers {or"Honky Tonk Queen"-- th is becomes the unof f ic io l theme songof the convent ion ond is requested ogoin ond ogoin. F is t fu lof Cr inol ines br ings i i to l i fe . More c loggers. Potsy Decl inein her motorcyc le cr inol ines--comple le wi th hot , crop,hondcuf fs , Mory Pickford 's lost hoi rs , ond pointedgoggles--c logs in on st i le t to heels. F is t fu l o f T imber. Morgie

AUARTERTY SELECTIONS t l SPRING i 994

Shef f ie ld is in hys ler ics. I bet her s lomoch hur ts tomorrow.Hoots, hol lers, cheers, s tomping {eet , more doncing. Thewo l l s mus l be pu l s i ng . One env i s i ons l he who le ho te lmork ing t ime l ike o Disney cor toon. The f loor is iommed.Poul , E lmer, Hoppy, Ric, Jon, Wol t , Todd, Andreo, Poul ,Elmer, Hoppy. . .morel morel T ip lbreok/ t ip lbreok. . .o i3:30 AM Elmer (beer in hond) hos remoined to col l ondporty Another squore io ins us ot 3:45 in PJ 's , bothrobes,swimsui ts , teddy beors. At 4:30 Hoppy {o i ls to weor out thelost four squores ond col ls i t qu i is . No lopes of ter thot . Weol l ret i re.

The Sister Ci ty Club orronge wos estobl ished wi th SquoresAcross the Border , Voncouver, BC. From no* on, onymember who donces wi th the other c lub ot o c lub funct ionwi l l receive on honorory membership bodge f rom the SisterCi ty Club.

The second yeor , WSD promoles ot tendonce o l NorthernCol i forn io Roundup, o s t ro ight squore donce fest ivo l held ouerthe Mernor io l Doy weekend.

The Club groduoied i ts { i f th c loss, the lorgest to dote. Thenew memoers we re rem inded tho l . i us t os t he C lub hoscer lo in responsib i l i t ies lo the membership, eocl r doncerossumes ce r to in respons ib i l i t i es t o l l r e C lub . The C lub i s nos l ronge r t hon l he con t r i bu t i ons mode by eoc l r member .Remember, f r iendship is squore donci r rg 's greotest reword.With th is c loss, the Club ot tempied o progrom col led"Resource Leoders," where Club members volunteered toossis i two lo three groduotes in moking the t ronsi t ion to Clubmembership by being ovoi loble lo onswer quest ions,in t roduce them to o iher members, ond d iscuss por l rcu lorneeds os they orose.

WsD I2Ih ANNIVERSARYDANCE PARTICIPANTS TELL Att !

by JIM PELI".IUANN

[Ed ln my Co l l {o r Ar l i c les i ssued to J im, l suggested some d i f {e ren . l

opprmches 1o repor t ing obou l o t tend ing lhe donce- -o iher lhon jus t soy ing ,'A

-oood l ime wos hod by o l l . " Lo ond beho ld , there wos on o f { i c io l suruey

prepored l I wos thorough ly impressed l ]

On Soturdoy, Morch I 9 , I I 7 energet ic doncers showed upot St . Poulus Lutheron Church in Son Froncisco for o doncecelebrot ing the I 2 th Anniversory of Weslern Slor Doncers.

Shelby Dowson wos the col ler for the wol l - to-wol l crowd,which ot t imes complete ly { i l led the f loor o{ the church hol lwi th l2 squores! A fovor i te wi th the goy ond lesbion squoredonce communi ty ond o {eotured col led ot severol IAGSDC]Mconvent ions, Shelby k icked of f the evening by present ingperennio l gueen of co i f fures, Freemon Slomper, wi th o g i f i for

G. -TARTERLY SELECTTONS

those doys when he (or his olternote persono for the doy){ inds h imsel f " tonsor io l ly chol lenqed"--o T-shi* emblozonedWith ,BAD HAIR DAY.' '

For over three hours, Shelby kept oll the doncers' energy highond their foces glistening with perspirotion. Speciol closs-level t ips for sludents from WSD, Foggy City Doncers, ElComino Reelers, Dioblo Doncers, ond Copi to l Ci ty Squoresmode it especiolly fun for them. Severol students, for whomthis wos their f irst non-closs donce. remorked on the crowd'senthusiosm. One soid, 'This is much more fun thof closs everwos! | con't woit for the nexl donce."

The WSD volunteers, led by Gory Groy, JessAlvorez, ond Potty White, outdid themselveswith the holl decorotions of block, silver, ondpurple, h ighl ighied by o bol loon drop ot theend of the evening. All ottendees olsoreceived o soeciol commemorotive ribbon {or

thei r bodges. Dioblo Doncers ' Jef f Meogherwon the 50/50 iockpot of $ I 23. Abeoul i fu l ly decoroted onniversory coke wosdone by WSD's own Michoel Mork ic .

As doncers orr ived, they were osked to f i l l outo shod su rvey on the i r squo re donce"coreers." Thei r onswers, summorized below, ref lect thediverse in leres ls ond specio l comoroder ie thof compr ise oursquo re donce commun i t y .

Nineiy- f ive of the I I 7 donce ot tendees (81%) f i l led out osurvey. Thonks to everyone who por t ic ipoted! Al lpercentoges below ore bosed on the 95 io to l respondenh.

Club Membership

Tolo l exceeds 95 ond percentoqes exceed I 00% duemu l t i p l e membersh ips .

lo

C l u b

Western Stor DoncersCopi to l Ci ty SquoresDioblo DoncersE l Comino Ree le rsFinest Ci ty SquoresFoggy Ci ty DoncersGos l i gh t Squo resM idn igh t Squo resPACEPrime B'sPuddletown SquoresSqs Across the BorderStonford QuodsTimes SquoresTinsel town SquoresNo c lub of f i l io t ion

No .

30t3'13

91

IB

l /

I1'|

II

l 0

% o fRspdnts

32%1 / O /t 1 / o

14%9%lYo

t9%l-/o

2B%3%1 0 /

1%1 o /l / o

1%1%1%

t1%

'| ? SPRING ] 994

Averoge length of membership {or WSD members: 5.2 yeorsLongest WSD membership: l0 yeors (Leon DuBois, Rod

Morre l l , ond Jomes Ozonich) [Ed. Me th inkst not o l llongevi ty doncers completed the quest ionnoire, or thequest ion wos misunderstood. ]

2. Otlrer WSD Avtniversory Donces

Number of f irst-t imers ot I 2th Anniversory Donce: 27Averoge number of onniversory donces ottended ({or oll the

others) : 4 .0Most onniversory donces ot tended: l0 (Anonymous ono

Hol ly Wood) [Ed. Me th inks i the some th ing. ]

3. Whot dif{erenfioles WSD {rom olher goy/lesbion sguoredonce clubs?

"Fr iendly otmosphere, n ice people" (most populor response)"High energy doncing"' 'Commit ted to good teoching, i .e . , good doncers"Frequency o{ evenls""The vests" [Ed. l 'm not te l l ing who soid thot . ]"Mony hondsome merr" [Ed Cer lo in ly we hove wonderfu l

women, responses con' t be contro l led. ]"Socio l oct iv i t ies o lher thon squore doncing"' ' l t 's my home." (Hol ly Wood, Bud Budlong)

4. Do you olso Countryh\y'eslem donce?

54 respondents (5/%) do.

5. Hove you aver donced with o non1,oy sguore doncegroup?

45 respondenls (4 7%) hovek ldd i ns? ' )

(One wrofe "Are you

6. Whol posilion do you donce?

20 respondents (21%) donce boy posi t ion only.17 respondents (1 B%) donce g i r l posi t ion only.58 respondents (61To) ore b i -doncuol .

Severol nit-pickers pointed out thot our survey incorrectlycol led the posi t ions " leod" ond " fo l low," which ore not sex-speci f ic . Some col lers need io be reminded of th is , o lso!

[Ed. l 'd focus on them being n i t -p ickers ond nol the contentof the p ick ing. ]

7 . Whot is your {worite Moinslreom or PIus coll?

Reloy the Deucey edged out Teocup/Beermug Choin. Below

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

ore oll of the colls l isted by respondents, followed by thenumber of respondents for eoch.

Acey Deucey 1

CrosJire 2

Dix ie Sty le to Wove l

Flutterwheel I

Fol low Your Neighbor

& Spreod I

Grond Squore 2

Le{t Al lemonde I

L ineor Cycle 2Lood the Boot 5

Ping Pong Circulo le I

Recycle 2

Reloy the Deucey I 5

A l l E i gh t Sp in t he Top I

A l l emonde Tho r I

Bocklrock I

Bow lo Your Por lner I

{Ed . Huh? Pe rhops t hey on l y

donce wi lh lhe corner. ]

Remoke ihe Thor ISpin Choin Geors 2Sp in Cho in &

Exchonge Geors 2Sp in Cho in Thru 3Spin the Top

' l

ony'hing & Spreod 2) l o r l h ru |

Sw ing I

Swing Thru I

Teocup Choin I I

(Beermug Choin - 2)

Yel lowrock I

Remoke f he Tho r 5

ony ' h i ng & Ro l l 4

Scool Bock I

S l i p t he C lu l ch I

Sp in Cho in Th ru 4

Sp in Cho in &

Exchonge l he Geom 6

Sw,ing Your Corner I

Teocup Cho in 3Tho r { om i l y I

Turn Thru 6

Whee l ond Deo l I

ony'h ing {rom soshoyed posi t ion

B. Whidt coll is fhe rnosl difficuh, or rnosl ofren couses osquore lo breok down?

There wos no c leor consensus here. People ore confused bymony d i f {erent co l ls , i t seems:

Coordinote

\-rossl I re

Crosslro i l ThruFon l he Top

Po r l ne r H inge

Podne r Tog

Re loy i he Deucey

21

5I2I3

{cont'd nexl poge]

\ ^ / E S T E R N S T A R D A N C E R S

l 4 S P R I N G I 9 9 4

9. During your entire sguore donce 'coreer,' vvhot is lhem o s l m e m o r o b l e e v e n l i n w h i c h y o uprlicipted/donced?

The IAGSDCTM convent ions (especio l ly our very f i rs i one) orec leor ly the fovor i tes, but there ore mony specio l memor ies:

'50s Sock Hop in Socromento IHot tub in Phoenix INude sq doncing ot gother ing

of Goy Mole NudistsFinest Ci ty Squores Fly- ln '93

Oregon Troil ThroughStor Through L.A. '92

I 986 Goy Gomes c los ing ceremoniesAngel ing our c lossesGrond Morch ol eoch convenronLeother tips ot conventionComp CozoderoWSD lOth onniversory donceTh is donceMv f i rs l donceMy f i rs t donce ot Western StorMy first f ly-inMy f i rs i conveni ionSon Froncisco convent ionPhoenix convenl iorrMiomi convent ionAlbuquerque convenl ionNew York convenl ionSeot t le '84 convent ionSeot t le '93 convent ion

IIII

I

'I

7I1I1

I J

4I1221

I L

Potty ('Cokes') White gets the "most verbose" prize for thisonswer lo her most memoroble evenls. l t g ives us o g l impseof the specio l p loce WSD holds in mony of our heor ts :

'Voncouver convent ion, ond the FIRST Quor ler ly Se/ecl ions,ond of course get t ing up ALL those sto i rs on Angel ls lond,ond the g ion l c r i no l i ne , ond f i nd ing the on l y {unc t i on ing Xe roxmoch ine i n Son F ronc i sco to pub l i sh t he Oc tobe r lB , 1989 ,WSD Todoyl , ond the f i rs t donce we hod ot St . Poulus,d inners o l Welcome Home of ler c loss ot Eureko Vol lev RecCenler , get t ing on essoy publ ished i r r Arner icon SguoredonceMogozine, being o hof-check g i r l o t the i Oth Anniversory Fly-In, wolk-throughs before closs, workshops on. weekends,goroge soles, the Gorbie Awords, Gossfire ond boordmeet ings, [Ed. she's not o squore doncer, she 's o mosochist . ]ond the l9B9 Comp Coz (which I hoted, i t wos mocobre tobe sober in the midst of my f r iends who were drunk ondweird) [Ed Look who's to lk ing. ] , ond dr iv ing my HondoCivic to the l2th Anniversory Donce with Gory, Jess,decorot ions, hundreds of bol loons, AND my dog-- l couldn ' teven shi f t geors l "

Thonks lo o l l who mode our l2 th Anniversory Donce osuccess ond to those who "bored o l l " becouse "enouir inominds wont to know" l

QUARTERLY SEIECTIONS

slNG our, tou+sE sHEttY!

by l-EE GIANFRAI.ICESO

[Lee hos been doncing wilh Wes'tern Slor since ioining the Purple '93 Bosics

closs. ]

ln Morch, WSD celebroted its I 2th onniversory (thot's peorl)with on oulsionding donce ot St. Poulus Lulheron Church witho reol iewel of o coller, Shelby Dowson, who celebrotes 25yeors of dedicoted service fo the squore donce community inJune. Those who ottended were impressed with his stogepresence ond his enthusiosm for squore doncing; however,lhree hours on stoge is not enough time fo reolly gel lo knowthe coller or lhe mon. fu hosf for Shelby's visit, I hod onopporiunity io leorn obout the mon behind the colls, ondlhese observotions ore shored with you.

Hove you ever wondered how collers get storted? Well,Shelby got h is s tor t out of necessi ty . F inding h imsel f reody togroduole f rom Cloremont Col lege wi th o degree in {omi lyond chi ld counsel ing, he hod l imi ted f inoncio l resources ondno prospecls for immediote employment in counsel ing.Shelby oppl ied for o posi l ion ot Red River , o resor t where h isfonr i ly spent ihe i r vocol ions dur ing h is youth.

He hod l i t t le exposure fo music ond donce os o youngslerbecouse of h is cul turo l ond re l ig ious upbr inging, so you conimogine h is surpr ise when he wos selected fo work os odorrce inst ructor . Even bet ter , imogine h is surpr ise lo { ind theresor l sending out publ icot ions l is t ing "Shelby Dowson,Not ionol Col ler in Residence." Wel l , needing the money thotthe summer iob would prov ide, he d id whot wos necessory.He took squore donce lessons on Mondoy evenings ondiought the some lessons io c l ients of the resor t on Tuesdoyevenings. Wi th h is in fect ious enthusiosm, Shelby wos qn

ins lonl success.

News l rovels l ike wi ld f i re throughout the squore doncecommuni ty , [Ed. euen foster i f you te l l Fel ic io Furnoce] ondsoon Shelby wos being inv i ted to col l o t other donces neor h ishome in Joshuo Tree. He of ten found h imsel f dr iv ing up totwo hours one woy to coll oll over lhe Southern Coliforniooreo. With his new coreer off l ike o shooling stor, Shelbygoined o well-deserved coll ing reputotion ond wos offered oposition os o producer in the LoLo Lond record industry. ltseems thot, once he got storted, there would be no sloppinghim. [Ed. You meon l ike l ights wouldn ' t be br ight enough;or he hod o dreom, Popo?]

Although Shelby l ived ond colled in Southern Colifornio forneorly twen\ yeors prior to moving to Tijeros, New Mexico,wi th h is wi fe, Shi r ley, i t wos not unt i l he wos inv i fed by Bi l lEy ler to col l for The Wi lde Bunch in Albuquerque in 1989thot he col led for o goy squore donce group. Shelby foundthe invitolion o chollenge, soying, "h's hord to keep trock of

t 5 SPRING I994

who's who on the donce floor when everyone's weoring

ieons!" l l wos o rewording exper ience, ond Shelby ondShir ley st i l l o t tend donces held by the Wi lde Bunch for thegood t imes ond {e l lowship thot is somet imes lock ing inst ro ight squore donce groups.

Curreni ly , Shelby spends h is t ime counsel ing 4OO students.Obviously he is o i loched lo mony o{ them becouse, when hetolks oboul issues thot confront students todoy, you con seethe poin in his {oce ond heor the depth of coring in his voice.Shelby is o lso work ing on h is PhD in counsel ing, ond, os i fthot were not enough, he sti l l iokes l ime to coll donces osoften os possible. I wos eloted thot he took the i ime loonswer o novice squore doncer 's quest ions ond lo shore h isweolth of knowledge in whot wos on oll-too-short visit in myhome.

I om groteful thot Golden Boot Ronch houses cols which goveme the opportuni \ lo hosl Shelby s ince he is o l lerg ic to thosefe l ine cr i t ters. I s t rongly urge those of you who hove neverhod the p leosure of host ing the col ler to volunteer the nextl ime. You wi l l be greof ly reworded wi t l r good compony ondconversot ion ond the chonce lo leorn more obout souoredonc ing thon i us t o new co l l .

AN ANNIVERSARY ITSTTNG

by JA.lvlES OZANICH (oko Blonchie Jo Brodley)

How obout onother l is t on the WSD Anniversory theme.Blonche offers ihis chronology of Anniversory Dorrce collersond locot ions.

ls l 1983 Phi l Poylon, o l Club n ight , Golden Gote YMCA2nd 1984 Phi l Poyton & Doug Clork, Golden Gole YMCA3rd 1985 Er ic Hener lou, Golden Gofe YMCA41h 1986 Vonyo Leighlon & Scol Byors, Col i {orn io Club5th 1987 Mel L i ter , Golden Gote YMCA6th

. |988 Poul Morcum, Golden Gote YMCA

7th I989 Poul Wolers, Golden Gole YMCA8th 1990 Poul Morcum, Si . Poulus Lulheron Church9th l99l Poul ln{onl i , St . Poulus lu ' fheron ChurchlOlh 1992 Mike DeSis lo & Poul Morcum, Russion CenterI l lh

. |993 Deboroh Pornel l , St . Poulus Lutheron Church

l2th . l994

Shelbv Dowson, 51. Poulus Lulheron Church

A DIFFEREHT KIND OF DAMITY

by Al.lM DA ,llANl

(Ed. The iollo*ing orticle is on exponded treolmenl o{ o poper which Anno

prepored os on ossignmenl in her wriling closs. I osked Anno to shore it wilh

the squore donce community becoue lhe roots o{ her {omily ore inexlricobly

in squore donce. This is lhe uhimote expression o{ "{riendship sel lo music.'l

Friends ore the {omily we choose {or ourselves. --o Recycled

Poper Producis, Inc. birthdoy cord

the point o{ lhis movie is thol, os long os lhere's love. there's o

{omi ly. ' - -Chr is Columbus, commenl ing os di reclor o{ the f i lm

Mrs. Doubt{ire

The ideo thot on Amer icon fomi ly must consist of o husbond,o wi fe, two chi ldren, ond o cot or dog is chonging wi thsociety. There currently exist mony more options for fomilyl iv ing. Todoy the fomi ly moy or moy not inc lude chi ldren.Fomi ly members moy inc lude sexuol por lners. The fomi lymoy be compr ised of o l l women or o l l men. Any combinot ionof sexes, sexuol i t ies, in lerests, oges, re l ig ions, or bockgroundsmoy be o por t of o fomi ly . The one foc ior which def ines ofomi ly , whether b lood re lo l ives or chosen, is the presence oflove ond support for eoch other . Not o l l fomi l ies in theUni ted Stotes ore represenled by the Huxtobles, the Nelsons,or lhe Cleovers.

Du r i r r g t he sp r i ng o f 1986 , I begon l o reo l i ze t ho t l cou ld l i veolone wi ihout being lonely. Thot l ime wos when I begon lodiscover thol lcould shore my l i fe wi th o lhers wi thout g iv ingup my i ndependence wh ich l hod gone l o g reo t l eng ths t ooch ieve ; l begon the p rocess o f l eo rn ing tho t l cou ld chooselo hove o fomi ly wi l l roul feel ing smothered. The yeors hovetought me thof o fomi ly is not o lwoys whot I hove seen onle lev is ion. My own fomi ly is not whot is considered to betroditionol by most slondords of society. lt is, however, my{omi ly- - the fomi ly thot I vo lue.

L iv ing o lone is common omong mony oduhs todoy. Divorce,the deoih of o por lner , or o conscious choice ore omong thereosons thot odul ts l iue o lone. Single odul ts must core forthemselves physicol ly ond emot ionol ly . Mony seem to feelthot if they l iue olone, they must be oble to resolve everythingfor ihemselves. The economy somet imes p loces f inoncio lpressures on indiv iduols. One onswer which hos come oboulos o resul t o f the mony chol lenges thot {oce indiv iduols is onevolulion in the fomily structure. My own experience hostoughi me thot o fomily doesn'l olwoys {ollow o specificdef in i t ion or se l of ru les.

Nowhere ore the chonges in the fomily struclure moreobvious thon wi th in the goy communi ty . The c i rcumstoncesof most goy people lend themselves to bui ld ing fomi l ies thotore not wi th in the def in i t ion of whot is considered to be thetrodi t ionol fomi ly . Mony goy people hove been exi led f rom

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS l 6 SPRING 1994

the i r b lood re lot ives os o resul t o f reveol ing thei r sexuol i ty .Others, such os me, hove d is tonced themselves f rom bloodrelotives in order to ovoid doily confrontotion regording theirchoices in l i {e . ln Son Froncisco, mony members of the goycommunity come from other ports of the country. Thiscreotes o s i tuot ion where there ore monv indiv iduolsseorching for componionship ond secur i ty .

io the reloxing of these borriers thot I hove been oble fodevelop o close relotionship with the three goy menthot comprise my fomily todoy--o single goy mon qnd iwomen who ore o couple of over ten yeors.

It wosn't long before our other friends would see one of usond osk questions l ike: "Where ore Scott ond John?" ols

Freemon ot home todoy?" "Would you tell Anno this or thot?'They knew thot we were rorely seporoted. As time possed, webegon lo moke long-ronge plons lo retire logether. Wewould get together ond tolk obout our plons for "the riverproiect." This wos the nome we gove to our decision lo mokethe Russion River oreo the ploce where we would somedoyreiire. By this l ime, we hod reolized thot we hod becomemore thon friends; we hod begun to rely on eoch other forhelp ond supporl when limes were diff icult. We hod begunfo be there {or eoch other whenever one of us needed lo foceony of l i fe 's d isoppointments ond t rogedies.

In the spring of I 993, the four of us emborked on o proiecfthot would moke us os dependenl on eoch other os ony o lherfomi lv could ever be. The four of us decided thot we d id notwont to woit unti l we reiired to buy o ploce io l ive logefher.A { r iend of ours hod d led ond lef t o three-uni t bui ld ing os opod of h is estote. We decided thot th is bui ld ing would mokeo per{ect home for oll four of us, so we begon the processrequired to ocquire i t . The process turned out to be very longond compl icoted. We were conslont ly being subjected tof inoncio l ond emot ionol setbocks. There were t imes whenour f r iendshio wos les led to the l imi ts o{ lo leronce. Theomount of core ond suppor l thol we hove shored over the lostyeor for surposses whot lhove seen in mony fomi l ies whichinvolve b lood re lo l iues.

The s i tuot ions foced by members of the goy communi ty ores imi lor to those foced omong mony odul ts todoy. When omorrioge dissolves ond o womon is left with children to cqrefor , she shouldn ' t fee l thot she must remorry immediote ly inorder to prov ide o home for her chi ldren. She could io in os ingle-porents orgonizot ion ond meet someone e lse in hers i tuot ion. She might o lso moke { r iends wi th some olhers ingles wi lh whom she could bui ld o household. Singlewomen (regordless of sexuol or ientot ion) could becomefr iends ond decide to shore o l i {e . Seniors could moke l i femuch eosier for eoch other by creoiing group homes whereinfriends gother together to shore their expenses, meols, ondmemor ies. There ore no l imi ts on the possib i l i t ies ovoi loblewhen choosing o fomi ly .

There ore mony k inds of fomi l ies. Some fomi l ies moy bechosen deliberotely to fit individuol needs or l i festyles. This isdifferent from fie usuol view of how fomilies ore creoted. ltshould be remembered, ho*euer, thot ' 'differeni" is nol osynonym for "bod." My {omi ly proves th is .

[Ed. Thus, Golden Boot Roncl r wos born wi th mole, femole,ond two cols. Sounds pretty much like the Huxtobles, theNelsons. ond t l re Cleovers to me. l

Wi th in the goy communi ty , men ondwomen often refer to eoch other osbrothers ond sisler. Speeches ot evenlsofien begin with, "My broihers ondsislers. ." Flyers ond odvertisements

for communi iy or chor i toble orgonizot ions refer to help ing ourbrothers or sislers. All of this is o port of the desire byindividuols to be o port of o close-knil group of coringindiv iduols. Of ten, o l though some goy people ore on goodlerms wi th thei r b lood re lot ives ond hove f requentcommunicot ions wi th them, they cont inue io seek emot ionolsuppor l wi th in the goy communiry- . The need {or o bond wi tholhers l ike themselves seems to creole desi re for o fomi l io lre lot ionship wi th other goy people. This seems to be l rueeven i f b lood re lot ives l ive in the immedio le oreo.

I d id not del iberote ly go out in seorch of o fomi ly . I d id io inocl iv i t ies in f ie goy communi ty in on ef for t lo meet peoplewi th s imi lor in terests. ln l986 | hod my f i rs t encourr ter wi l l rsquore doncers in the goy communi ty . Al though I or ig inol lywen t on l y l o s i l ence i he cons ton t u rg ing by o f r i end , l soo r rfound mysel f deeply involved in ihe oct iv i t ies of the squoredonce communi ty . I o i lended mony oct iv i t ies ond begorr lomeet squore doncers { rom oround the conl i r renl . As myinvolvement grew, my f r iendships grew orrd deepened.Among these f r iends there were some wi th whom I begon tospend more t ime thon wi lh ofhers, ond, os the yeors possed,I begon to grow c losest to three of these f r iends. We begongoing oui to d inner ond tok ing doy t r ips out of town. Wewould hove eoch o lher over for d inner . Somet imes, i f t l reweother *ere bod or i t wos too lo te to wolk home, *e begonto stoy over n ighl o l eoch others homes. l t wos n ice lo beoble to woke up hoving cof fee ond loughing over the evenlsof the previous evening wi th people who could see lhe humorthe some woy I d id. We would core for eoch o lher wheneverony of us were not feel ing wel l , ond we would shore lhemony exper iences which L i fe deols us. Al though I d id notreol ize i t o t the t ime, my fomi ly hod begun lo develop.

The goy communi ty in Son Froncisco hos o lendency to besomewhot seporot is t in noture. Goy men lend to socio l izeprimorily with eoch other me, ond goy women lend lo sloyowoy from ploces or orgonizotions where goy men gotlrer.This is very different from the goy world I once knew inMiomi. For exomple, in Son Froncisco there ore men's borsond women's bors. In Miomi, there were pr imor i ly goy bors.The AIDS epidemic hos s lowly begun to chonge t l ro t s i tuot ionin Son Froncisco. Goy men ond women hove begun toreol ize thot they o l l need eoch other . Seporot ism seems to beeosing up o b i t , ond I om very g lod {or th is . l t is , in por t , due

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS t / SPRING I994

=Y"*;;ft77- - SO HCT. lT S|ZZLES_ { l>-?t? frhF

in the other. One thing we{ound interesting wos thedifference in the energy ondexcilemenl between thete. r€J€ progroms [Ed. 'scommentl of doncing tokingploce, especiolly in theMoinslreom room. Not lhotthe doncing wosn't good inthe Plus/Advonced room, itwos iust different. Wecompored notes with folksthroughout the weekend onddetermined thof, becouse theAdvonced colls were morediff icult (honsloted "fun" tomony doncers), you lendedl o c o n c e n t r o l e m o r e .Although my portner ond Idonce Plus, we spenl theweekend moving bock ondforth between the Mo groupspre{err ing, l th ink, the energy ond ' ' looseness" of theMoinstreom group. [Ed. Just how loose were they?]

One thing we've both grown to enioy is lhe exercise ondstress relief we gel {rom squore doncing, ond the ofiernoonworkshops ore no excepl ion. Some people don' t reol ly l ikeworkshops, but we've d iscovered lhot you get os much out o{them os you put in to them. l f you put your whole sel f in todoncing, you gel o good workout ond get your mind of f o l llhe crop going on oround you. "Oh, Dorothy, the yel lowbr ick rood is so long. Do we hove to keep going?"

Of course, whi le you' re in Guernevi l le , you hove to shopsome; ond we d id. We spent Soturdoy morning hovingbreokfost ot o street-side cofe, eoting ond people wotching.Wlro soid shopping hod to be inside o slore! After breok{ost,we d id wolk the moin "drog" enioy ing the mix lure of goodseverywhere. You con hove o good t ime-- i f you ' re wi th ther ight person, ond I wos!

Soturdoy evening feotured d inner , donce, ond o specio l"pojomo t ip . " The h ighhght of d inner wos desser t . . .o hugeslob of white ond chocolote coke thot l i terolly overflowed theplote. A chocolote lover's nirvono! Bock in "the holl,"everyone hod odorned themselves with fieir squore doncef inest . Whol wonderfu l ond orousing s ights! Ski r t work, g i r ls !

Afterwords wos the Poiomo Tip. The hundred-plusport ic iponts--o l l do l led up in thei r besl n ightweor--gotheredpools ide bock ot F i fe 's . An omozing ond exhi lorot ing s ight tobehold. l 've never seen s i lk , f lqnnel , ond teddy beors usedso creo'l ivelv! Oh, whol skirtwork--now I know whoi oCotholic school girl weors under thot skirt. Are we in Oz yef?

Sundoy brought wi th i t the c lose of our re lox ing weekend.

Time lo heod bock lo Konsos. Whir lwind, where ore you?

Momo Jo Brodley col led the other doy lo le t me know lhotthe Brodley Fomily is throwing o big donce ON BrodleyNot ionof Hol idoy, Seplember 24, 1994 The hoedown wi l lbe ot St. Poulus Lulheron Church, with the ' 'gorgeous RogerLoney col l ing," os quoted by Mz. Brodley. More delo i ls oreio follow, olthough Momo Jo ossured me thol 1994subscribers toBrodley Be//, the 7th Edit;on, wil l receive $l offthe odmission. She stotes thoi the door chorge wil l be smollsince this is o big thonk you for the support received from thegoy squore donce community for Brodley Bell. For those whohove not hod the p leosure of exper iencing the Brodley Fomi ly ,wotch for them in their new dresses in Woshinqlon. DC."Themed to d ie for , " soys Fonnie Jo. - -Edi tor

CXF.

SQUARE DANCERSROLL DOWN TIIE RIVER

by MIKE SELLERS

Close your eyes, hold on to "Tolo,"ond c l ick your heels ihreet imes . C l i ck . . . c l i c k . . . c l i c k . . . We l l , i t o i n ' t OZ , bu t i l ' s c l oseenough to be col led home. Join me for o weekend of squoredoncing o l the Russion River wi th Copi lo l Ci ty Squores ondthei r onnuol re l reot , "Rol l Down the River . "

Guernevi l le wos os quie i ond os "open" os i t ever is ,enveloping us in the f reshness of lower ing p ines ond coolcoostol oir. Just right {or working up o "squore donce sweol"!Sti l l eorly in fhe seoson, we were the lorgest group in lown.Beyond the re lox ing surroundings of F i fe 's , we onxiouslyowoi ted doncing wi th good f r iends--o ld ond new--ond thot 'swhot we got . Workshops dur ing the doy ond donces in theevening. h wos greot ; nol qui te the lo lo l "convenl ion"exper ience bul lo t 's of good energy nonetheless. L ions ondt igers ond beors. . . oh myl

The locol Veteron's Holl (offsiie from Fife's) wos divided intotwo moin rooms. Wilh the exception of the evening donces,Moinstreom wos in one room ond Plus/Advonced olternoied

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

I

r}i'oi'l

IB SPRING I994

Congrotu lot ions goes to Copi to l Ci ty for moking "Rol l Downthe River" o fun ond memoroble weekend. l f you get ochonce to ottend o relreot or o fly-in in onother city. . .go!You' l l put onother poge in your l i fe scropbook thot wi l l br ingo lot of smi les for o lono t ime to comel

I WONT DANCE!DONT ASK IIE!

[Ed. A few people who jo in ihe squore donce communi ty doso ofter they ho,re olreody ottended, os o non-doncer somemojor or specio l squore donce hoedown or fes l ivo l . I thoughtit would be good to heor from o few of those folks to seehow they opprooched our donce {orm wi thoui the exper ienceof o f i rs t -n ighter being cold turkey.

DAVID VAI.IDENBERGFoggy City Doncers

After o lmost three yeors of put t ing of f the encourogemenlsf rom my best { r iends (Bob ond Rolph) in Puyol lup,Woshington, [Ed ond mighty { ine fo lks they ore] to leornhow to squore donce, I wos inv i ted in Apr i l , 1990, to io inthem in Voncouver, Conodo, for o hol idoy dur ing theweekend of the goy convenl ion. Since I hod neuer been loVoncouver ond lhe guys ossured me thot lhere would becountry-western doncing eoch evening, I decided io go. Aftero l l , l cou ld spend my doys shopp i r rg ond see ing the s igh ts o fthe beoul i fu l c i ty whi le t l re guys of iended thei r donceworkshops.

Once before Rolph hod t r ied to get me interested in c lossesby l ok ing me by o " c l ub n igh t " whe re l sow pe rhops twosquores formed, but lhere reol ly wosn' l enthusiosm lhere, soI quickly lost inlerest ond left lo go two-slepping Well, os onon-doncer in Voncouver, I observed some of the workshopoci iv i ty thof look p loce dur ing the doy, but i t wos the eveningevents thol gove me o new oppreciot ion for squore doncing.

I hod the p leosure of being o member of the oudience for theGrond Morch, ond o more color fu l ond exci t ing doncespectocle con' t be imogined in my opin ion. Then when Iheord the voice of Mike DeSisto singing ond coll ing, I knewI wonled to be on the floor lo experience the oonce energythot he wos creot ing. I wos hooked! | so id then ond therethol I would never ogoin miss on opportuni ty to donce wi th ogroup of people thot wos hoving os much fun os these squoredoncers were hoving.

I promised Bob ond Rolph thot I would go bock toSon Froncisco to jo in o cross soon, especio l ly s ince we

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

ogreed during thot convenlion thol, becouse we hod such ogreot holidoy together, we wouldof iend the next convenl ionstogether--o five-yeor plon thot wouldinclude following the conventions loM iom i ; A lbuque rque ; Seo f l l e ;Woshington, DC; ond Chicogo--o l lcit ies (except Seottle) thot I hodnever been lo ond wonted to visit.So, I s tor led o c loss in July o{ 1990in order lo be oble to leorn lodonce--reolly donce by the time of the convenlion in Mbmi-It wos this gool ond the experience of hoving seen for myselfwhoi hoppens while doncing ot o convention with hundredsof other doncers thol mode me reolly opply myself to thewhole leorning process during the weeks of closses.

l 've been doncing now for {our yeors. Just recenily I begono romonce wi th, who e lse bul , o squore doncer. So, l 'mhoving even more fun now doncing wi th o lov ing mon os myporlner, ond I om looking for*ord to our trip to lheconvenf ion in D.C. logelher lo meet Bob ond Rolph oncemore lo experience the donce excitemenl f ioi I f irst observedin Voncouver. I reolize now whot those first steps into squoredoncing con leod lo, ond I th ink l i {e is bet ter when you ore inlove wi th squore doncing wi th o squore doncer l See you o lconventionl [Ed Don't ever turn down on opporlunity lodonce o tip with Dovid. He is obsolutely one of the mostcour teous doncers in our communi ty who donces wi thouthor i ty , compossion, ond possion. ]

PAT SMITHWSD Closs Blue '92

Weslern Stor & Foggy City

Leon DuBois, o long- t ime Western Stor member, ond mybrother, Richord Smith, hove been friends for yeors. Leonwos olwoys trying to tolk Richord inlo shoring two of hisfovorile oclivi l ies--opero ond squore doncing. Being ostubborn Smith, Richord resisted for o long time, but {inollyogreed to try one--opero. Much fo his surprise, he l iked it lHe octuolly odmitted lo me (slightly emborrossed) thotWogner is his fovorite composer.

Thot wos so successful thot he finolly decided to try Leon'sother possion, squore doncing. Richord loved i t f rom fheslorl. He wos olwoys coll ing me up ond trying to explointhese col ls wi th odd-sounding nomes I d idn ' t poy o wholelot of ot tent ion but d id encouroge h im to keep on os he l ikedi t so much .

l 9 SPRING I994

Then, Western Slor 's lOth Anniversory Donce come oround.Richord wos very neryous obout going; i l wos it f irst reoldonce. He inv i ted me fo come olong, ond, being osupport ive b ig s is ter , logreed lo go.The donce wos held o l the RussionCenter in o hol l which hos o bolcony, soI stotioned myself up there io wofch theproceedings. And I wos omozed by ito l l . There were people there f rom ol lover the ploce. New York. Voncouver.Women, loo! And every foce I looked otwos gr inning. l t wos c leor even lo methol somet imes doncers in o squoremessed up, but everybody jusf loughed, sorted it out, ondwenf r ight on doncing.

I knew ofier wolching o while thot I would hove to give this otry, ond, by the time the I lth Anniversory Donce comeoround, I wos o doncer. I bought mysel f on onniversorybodge ond on I I th Anniversory swing bor . Then, of ier osecond thought , I went bock ond got o I Oth Anniversory bor ,loo. I wos there ond wi l l o lwoys remember thot evening.Nobody osked me lo donce, thonk goodness Whol wouldI hove soid? My l in le brother drogged me here?

GEORGE FOXCopitol Ci ty Squores

SQUARE DANCINGI !? | t h i nk NOTI Tho t ' s one oseudooct iv i ty {or b lue-hoi red lodies ond thei r poce-moker c lodh ubb i es .

My f i rs l exposure lo goy squore doncing wos the l9B7IAGSDCIM Convent ion ond wos on occident . I wos v is i f ingmy now-ex (o sord id to le in ond of i tse l f - -but , ld igress. . . )lover in Por t lond for the July 4th weekend. A f r iend o{ mine,Cor l Grovel o{ Voncouver, BC, p lonned to ot iend oconvent ion in Port lond of the some l ime; we orronged lomeet . I hod or ig inol ly mel Cor l through goy sof ibol l (whichnei ther of us p loyed buf both our louers then d id--sof tbol lwidows?), ond, since thot wos my "context" with Corl, if hehod ment ioned the convent ion being squore-donce br iented,i l meonl l i t t le to me beyond vogue memor ies f rom grommorschool ond v is ions of decrepi t ond stodgy o ld fo lks t rudgingslowly ond poinfully through o series of posil ions (sorto l ikethe Virginio Reet set to ihe "Riie of Spring" olo "Fontosio' '). Ihod no notion o{ ihe convenlion in Podlond thol veor.

I wolked into the Porilond Hilton on o cold, gloomy, drizzlydoy in July not knowing reol ly ho* to f ind Cor l . He hodmode some vogue comment obout "osk ing oround" ondpeop le wou ld f i nd h im . . . g reo t l As soon os lwo l ked i n , lwoslost s ince the Hote l , on o h i l l , hos entronces on more thor . rone level . There moy hove been s igns oround, but to the

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 20

unin i t io ted " IAGSDC' is meoningless, "Moinstreom" soundslike o seminor on l iving in lowo, "Plus" moy be lectures onhow to increose your income, ond "Advonced" is the secondseries for the previous twol Signs were nol helpful to me olfiot point. Wondering through the onle rooms ond corridorsodiocentto the holls, I could heor "western" music ond begonto wonder if I hod misunderslood whot kind of conferenceCorl wos ottending--or iust found the wrong hotel. I wosgetting more ond more confused ond fruslroted.

There were people mi l l ing oboul ; but being the shy, ret i r ingtype, I did not hy lo converse with them or osk for Corl.About then, two friends from Socromento, Judy Momeo ondChuck Kitt l inger, sow me ond stopped short. Their immediotereoction os, "Whot ore you doing here? We know you don'lsquore donce!" I exploined the situotion ond thot I woslooking for Corl Grovel, oll the while thinking, "squoredonce? Squore Donce?? SQUARE DANCE!!??? Whot 'swrong with this picture? These two oren't old enough forthot ! " They d idn ' t know Cor l but were wi l l ing to look; Ibegon to wonder whot I wos doing in thot hote l . Chuckdecided to s tor l in the Moinstreom (o st i l l meoningless wordto me) Hol l ond drogged me over to the neorest door ,yonking i t open. At thot moment, I knew EMCTLY howDorothy fe l t when she opened the door in OZ! The "country ' 'music l 'd been heor ing swel led mossively , ond I wos h i t by owove of neor-st i f l ing humidi ty , of sound, of hoot ing, loughing,col l ing, ond the s ight of l i tero l ly hundreds of people, most lyyoung, crommed into th is enormous room--every one of themdonc ing w i th w i l d obondon .

This wos squore doncing? l t d idn ' t o t o l l f i t my memor ies.These people were hoving for loo much fun ot woy too fosto poce to be squore doncing. Then I not iced Chuck wosloughing ot me. " l con le l l th is isn ' t qui te whot you expected,"he soid. Just then, o v is ion whir led in to v iew: red sot in f loor-length gown, s leeveless, whi le e lbow- length g loves (gouche,perhops, {or the t ime of doy, but I d idn ' t not ice) , rh inesfonesond occessor ies for doys, ond s i lver- lome-covered ROLLERSKATESI I knew r ight owoy th is wos no ord inory debutonte--moybe the fu l l beord goue h im owoy. [Ed. he 'd just beensi reoked by Mustong Mory] | turned bock to Chuck,

mu t l e r i ng , "WHAT lSTHIS?, ' but he hod o l reodydisoppeored. I slood there,mesmer ized, lok ing i t o l l in .The re wos so muchexcitement, so much fun, somuch exuberonce, such onincredible feeling of love, offomily, f loof ing in thotroom. l t 's something l ' l lnever forget.

I spent the rest of the doywondering from room toroom, but most ly return ingto the Moinstreom room (l

. - ^ li'r?rI t t l r tl r r r l ll r t t r l

SPRING ' i 994

f ino l ly hod the ierm explo ined in i ts contexf) iust enioy ing whotlwos fee l i ng r i gh t t hen . l d i d f l no l l y f i nd Co r l ; by t hen l ' dneorly forgotten he wos the reoson l 'd wolked into thebui ld ing. I o lso ron ocross others I knew f rom Socromentoond Port lond. l t fe l t so good to be inc luded r ight then ondthere, though I couldn ' t donce o step.

I come bock the next doy for some o{ the "introductory"courses, ond I knew I wos hooked. Thot { i rs t exper ience isindescr iboble [Ed. Not so. I just fe l t every momenl of yourexper ience. l ond unforget toble. lwos sure th is wossomething I wonted to pursue. I storted doncing with theBosic c loss in Socromento the fo l lowing Sepiember; th i r leenmonths lo ter I wos presideni of Copi to l Ci ty Squores, ond Iremoined in thot position tor 41/z yeors ond on the Boord ofDirec lors unt i l Moy, 1994. My ex ond I broke up severolyeors ogo, I rore ly see or heor f rom Cor l , [Ed. he 's s t i l ldoncing with Squores Across the Border] but I hove notstopped squore doncing s ince July , I 987.

I osk mysel f somel imes i f I would hove s lor fed squore doncingi f I hod not ot tended the Port lond Convent ion. (To th is doyl wish l 'd been oble to gel on "Explode the Rose" p in ) |ro ther doubt i t . Pr ior to thol exper ience, my v iew o{ squoredoncing wos o bunch of o ld {o lks wonder i r rg orourrdsomewhol rondomly. Af ler seeing people my oge, os wel l oso lde r ond younge r , ou t t he re hov ing o g rond t ime , t h i ngschonged . S ince then , my v iew o f t ho t s i de o f squo re donc inghos only broodened. I hove mode mony { r iends f rom ol l overtwo countr ies, ond l 've found o common bosis wi th s t ro ighlf o l ks I neve r wou ld hove imog ined l l t r eo l l y hos chonged myl i fe , ond my feel ings loword l i fe .

I th ink we connol hove loo much exoosure. l l behooves usos goys, os "o people," to toke every opportuni iy to be seerr .Fest ivo ls , porodes, fo i rs , wnorever venue we con { ind; usethem o l l ond use l hem o f ten . On ly when non -do r r ce rs consee how much {un there is ot the end o{ the rood wi l l t l rey bewi l l ing to s t ick wi th i t {or thot long. Fudher, the best resourceis s t i l l f r iends. In spi le of my immedio le fosc inol ion wi thsquore doncing, i f i t hod noi been for Chuck ond Judycooxing me lo the f i rs t c loss, i l 's very possib le thot I would nofhove gone ond wouldn ' t be doncing todoy. l 'm g lod theyd id , ond l 'm g lod I d i d .

[Ed. Amen, brother l ]

Asked of o new student who wos ot both freenighis: Why ore you here? Why ore youl ry ing squore doncing?

I think it 's going to be fun. I love to be withpeople ond to donce.

Chorlotte Atkins 5/1 6/94

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 21 SPRING I994

N QUARTERLY

U *Qo SELEcTIoNS'v

tl

W E S T E R N S T A R D A N C E F I S

584 CASTRO STREET, SUITE 4BOSAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114

SUMMER 1994 . AUGUST, 1994

RonTEt?noRIn our very hectic l ives, we quite often forget the

impor tonce we hove io eoch o ther . We become

focused on the do ing ro ther i l ron w i ih whom we

ore do ing i t . l ' ve donced fo r over twe lve yeors ,

ond bel ieve me l 've becorne t i red ot l i rnes f rom t l re constontcoler . rdor of oc l iv i t ies. Every t i rne l th ink i t is l ime to hong upthe o ld squo re dc rnce bodge , l t h i r r k obou f t he omour r l o fenergy i t wi l l toke to regroup r ry l i {e oround orrother oc l iv i ty .As you reod Quorfer /y Se/ecl ions, th ink obout the people whoore reloting to you in words. Reod througlr the words to tlresoul of the outhors. Exomirre yoursel { to see i f you ore por tof thei r sp i r i t . Don' t forget to toke l5 seconds to soy "Thonkyou" lo those who ore contr ibutors. Squore doncing wi thoutconcentrot ing on the humon foc lor is l ike hoving o wod ofgum stuck to your shoe. l t 's okoy for o momeni , but yousoon become onrroyed ond stop 1o r id yoursel { of the sourceof the orrnoyonce.

This quor ter I osked l l r ree womerr wl ro donce in the goycommuni ty bul ore st ro ight lo shore thei r t l roughts oboutbecoming i r rvo lved, thei r percept iorrs of lhe i r contr ibut ions tothe goy communi ty , ond thei r lhoughts obout whot they hovereceived { rom thei r por t ic ipot ion Whi le eoch hos her owns\ le, you wi l l d iscover there is o commonol i ty omong them.

In th is edi t ion you wi l l o lso f ind o complete l is t ing of therecogni t ions f rom the onnuol recogni f ion ceremony. Thisyeor, WSD held o donce ut i l iz ing our locol goy col lers.At tendonce wos extrenre ly poor . I know l l rere is o lo l o foct iv i ty going on i r r the squor.e dorrce comrnurr i ty in t l reGreoter Boy Areo. There hod been o donce the pr iorweekend. Every c lub is t ry ing lo prov ide I 00% of the needsof its members. However, the cost of providing quolity forthese events requi res thot o l l c lubs depend up o l l the ot l rerc lubs ' members to por t ic ipote in order to be f inoncio l ly v ioble.Do we need to work towords coordi r rot ing more c losely ihe

QUARTERLY SELECT/ONS is o publicotion of Wesiern Slor

Doncers , Inc . , o modern wes le rn squqre donce c lub seru ing

pr imor i l y the Son Fronc i ro Boy Areo goy ond lesb ion

communi iy . The purpoe o{ th is pub l i co l ion is 1o prov ide

though i -p rovok ing od ic les o { on ed i lo r io l no lu re ond o lher

moler io l o f genero l in le res l o r en le r to inmen l vo lue fo r WSD

members . The emphos is o l Qvor te r ly Se/ec f ions is on re levonce

to squore donce issues , ph i losoph ico l subs lonce, ond l i te ro ry

o u o l i t v .

Or ig ino l od ic les in th is pub l i co t ion ore copyr igh led bu t moy be

repr in ted w i lh oppropr io le c red i i to lhe ou lhor ond c i lo l ion o{

Quorlerly Seieclions.

Edilor Femon Sfomper

(4 l 5) 5so-8o56

OPINIONS EXPRESSEO ARE THOSF OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOINECESSARILY REFTECT THE OPINIONS AND POi ICIES OF Wf STERI . ] STARDANCERS, INC. , NOR IT5 MEMEIRS.

MENTION OF A PERSON's NAME IN THIS PUBTICATION IN NO WAYINDICATE5 HIS/HER SEXUAL ORIENTATIOt . I .

events of the indiv iduol c lubs or do we just need to be moresensitive of the need lo respeci fhe efforts to recognize ihosewho do s love owoy? Ahhough we sought membership twicein the eor ly yeors of the Club ond were furned down, l 'veolwoys been opposed to Western Stor ioining the NorthernColifornio Squore Donce fusociotion becouse of the conirolthe Associot ion hos over schedul ing donce events. Now thotthe number of goy c lubs in the Greoter Boy Areo hosincreosed lo where it seems there ore more octivit ies thon onyone doncer corr humonly surv ive, l rh ink I need lo re- th ink myth i nk ing .

You'l l olso flnd o tri logy of orticles obout performoncechoreogropl ry . I th lnk you' l l be in t r igued by the conceptswhich. inspi re d i f fererr t doncers to choreogrophy squore oonceper{ormonce p ieces.

The Lord wi l l ing ond the creek don' t r ise, nexl quor ter lp lonto begin o study of lesbions in the goy squore doncecommuni ty . Every c lub in the IAGSDCTM to lks oboutot l rocf ing ond re lo in ing women in the c lubs. No one seemsio hove the onswers. I believe it wil l toke o long fime lo sorloul the oppropriote oclions needed to be token ond lheissues connot o l l be presenled ot the some l ime. Dio loguemust begin somewhere. Those comments wil l leod lo otherthoughts, ond lhose thoughts wil l leod lo more lhoughts, ondso on lo some form of resolution. At the

-l994 IAGSDCTM

convenl ion, l took o f i rs t s tep. lcreoled o survey form whichlosked only lesbions to complete. The survey wos not le f t ino publ ic p loce in order to contro l occess lo i t ond not hoveto decide whether or noi o completed form witlr stingingcommenls wqs o cronk response. I hope to get some moreforms out before the next edi t ion of QS, but I wi l l berepor l ing on the compi lot ion of the responses I hove. We wi l lgo nowhere by conl inuing to d iv ide goy women ond men in locompeting oclivi l ies. We must find o woy for lesbions lo slopshoul i r rg ond demonding ond men lo begin l is lening lo p leos{or considerot ion. Moybe, jus i moybe, my survey wi l l he lp.

I must con{ess thot I got o l itt le behirrd in getl ing this editionto the printer. Pleose forgive nre if i t seenrs o l itt le lesscoherent thon in the posi , but occuporr ts of Golden BoolRonch p loy ing f ru i i boskel turnover , on unpleosont fo l l whi ledisembork ing f rom o bool resul t i r rg i r r o few s l i lches in oneleg, ond the impending publ icot ion dole of Brodley Be/ / hoveol l p loyed o por l in nol s tor i ing the ossembly process sooner.

1994MEfrTBERSIII P NECOGilITIONS

by GARY GRAYAdminis l rotor , Western Stor Dcrrrcers

Welcome to the Thi rd Annuol Recogni t ion Ceremony. Thisyeor the recogni l ior rs wi l l be g iverr out in four seporotesect ions. The theme of lh is yeor 's recogni t ions is bosed onfhe Acodemy Awords. In the golden yeors of Hol lywood,Louis B. Moyer descr ibed MGM os hoving more stors ihon inol l o f the heovens. I fee l the some woy obout WSD. Tonightwe recognize these stors ond honor lhem {or whot they hovedone for the c lub th is yeor .

The rec ip ients of lhese recogni l ions were chosen by me onddo rrot represent ony irrpul from the Boord of Direclors oronyone etse.

D IRECTOR OF A MUSICALJust os in the doys of the musicols , WSD hos q t rodi t ion ofhoving greot choreogrophers ond d i rectors of musicols . Justos Agnes DeMi l le , Jerome Robbins, Gower Chompion ondGene Kel ly hod thei r s tors donce grocefu l ly , so do our col lers.

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

The first recogrrit ions of the evening golo:

DON GRECOCHUCK YEORON HIRSCHED CONLEY

ON LOCATIONDur ing the o lden doys of movie-moking, o l l locot ion sholswere done in Hol lywood, but wi th the improvement ofequipment , Hol lywood stor ted moving oround the wor ld tovery exotic locoiions. WSD hos members oll over, in suchexotic locotions os Socromento, Sebostopol, Voncouver,Seot t le , Houston, ond on APO in Thoi lond. So, f rom the forcorners of ihe eorth we honor:

TODD TYRONTIM McKENIIIAJAA,IES OZANICHI-EON DUBOISCURT VANTINEDONALD SCHU,\,IACHER

SET DECORATIONWe, too, hove our set decorolors. These ore the foi thfulmembers who conre to events eor ly ond help decorote, set upequipment , toke down of ierwords, ond do o l l the t l r ings thotneed doing. They o lso br ing goodies on Club r r ight ondfurn ish c loss wi th nour ishmerr t . We ore proud to recognizeour own set decorolors:

BUD BUDTONGHARRY O'HIMS'BOB IEHRPEGGY OSTERKAA4PMIMIMUELTER

STUDIO AWARDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIALFor mony yeors lhe Studio octed os o home for the monyworkers urrder controc l 1o lhern. Al l o f the workers were heldos members of the some studio fonr i ly . We hove beerr veryfortunote tlr is yeor to hove some members offer lheir home lothe c lub for mony evenls. They gove o Chr is tmos por ty , theyheld o screenir rg of Crossf i re ond o Bor-B-Q, ond they hostedthe Pot Luck for our newest c loss. l t g ives me greot p leosureto present o Boord of Directors Speciol to GOLDEN BOOTRANCH:

ANM DA ,llANl

FREEA/AN STAA4PERSCOTT CAREYJOHN CONLEY

COMEDYFrom lhe eor l ies l doys of f i lm-mokir rg wi th Buster Keeton tothe presenl-doy onl ics of J im Correy, comedy hos o lwoysbeen o moior foctor in f i lm moking. WSD olso hos i tsres ident comedions. These ore the people who moke youlough ond moke you hoppy to see them in your squore. Wehonor ou r com ics :

SUMMER ' i 994

RICMRD COPELANDMICFIAEL STOKESJOANNE DEVIVOKAREN WIGHTTOM TRIPP

COSTUME DESIGNEdith Heod hod nothing orr the recipients in our nexlcolegory. Whether it be o leother horness, o pretty frock, oTuTu, o dress found in o high heel roce, o smortensemble logo w i th her Morgon, o r o un i fo rm, ihese w inners con i r ibu lelo lhe fun o{ squore donc ing .

MICHAEL MARKICCARL AI.FREYDAVID BAKERM|O-|AEL (ANGELT NA) TAGHtERIRAI\,1ONA MICHAELSVERONICA MARTINEZDENNIS SILVA

MERCHANDISING AWARDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIALAl l mov ies now hove to hove merchond is ing to rnoke i t osuper h i l . They hove T-sh i r l s , co f fee mugs, toys , do l l s ,records , cond ies , v i tomins , g losses , cereo ls ond corn icbooks- - jus t look o t The L ion K ing ond The F / i r r l s lones . WSD

olso hos to merchond ize , c r r rd , o l though we o f fe r on ly dong les

ond bodges, i t s t i l l rec lu i res o lo t o f work . Th is Boord o fD i rec tors Spec io l goes to our on Mis l ress o f Bodges:

PATRICIA SMITH

BLOCKBUSTER AWARDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPECIALA blockbusler is o { ihr thot breoks records ol t l re box off ice.Our nex t recogn i f io r r i s to the person who hond les our BoxOf f i ce . h g ives me greo t p leosure lo recogn ize the personw h o h o r r d l e s o l l o f t h e i n c o m i n g o n d o u l g o i n g m o n i e s f o rWester r r S for . Th is Boord o f D i rec to rs Spec io l goes to ourTreosu re r :

JESS ATVAREZ

CLASSICSLike o good movie c loss ic the next horrorees hove stood thelest of t ime. The Gone Witir The Wind ond Wizord of Oz olour c lub, these menrbers hove over 90 yeors of co l lect ivemembership. The Clossics of WSD ore:

CHRIS ANDERSONCLAIRE MEISELLEE CI-IANDLERA,IARC A/ACHADOt\4AX ROBBTHAD TRELAR.ICHARD SIMONELLIROD MORRELLROBERT ATRIADARRYL RASZLSTONER LICHry

QUARTERLY SETECTIONS

SUPPORTING CHARACTERSLike Thelmo Ritter supporting Bette Dovis or Agnes Moorheodlending support to Debbie Reynolds, the fo l lowing membersore the bockbone to our c lub. They come to donces, ongelof closses, represent us of convention, ond ottend our sociolfu n ctions.

DAVE BENSONDENNIS TURNERDON BREERDON SMITHED ZIEGTERFIAROLD LITTLEI-ARRY KELLEHERPETER BRAYBILL CERFROD ODGERSED EUGENIASDOUGLAS HALLRICK A/AYMARTYNI JONESJERRY STMUGHNA4ARINA MANEGERA

NEWEST STARSThe newesl menrbers of WSD ore represented by:

BRAD CROWELLLARRY LEEMIKE SEIGLEMEIRSTEVE MAYERS

STARS OF TOMORROWWe hove mony Stors i r r Woi t ing. These promis ing r rewcornerso re t he members o f t he RED CTASS 1994 :

BUD ARABANASBILL ROBERTSCHARTOTTE ATKINSCHRISTOPHER WARDERNA HENNESSYGEOFF HANSENRUSSELT HTIDENPAUL E. WILLIAA4SFIARRY HARKNTSSRICK GRANTWAYNE LIVINGSTONi\,1ARC LLOYDRICK PEARDRICK GRUBENANCY AGERDAVID KUFFELSCOTT PREBLELANCE WHITE

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEARThe recipient of the nexl recognilion octuolly does very lii i levolunteering, but in t l re post yeor he hos refused me onlyonce ond thot wos when I osked him to run for the Boord ofDireclors. He hos serued os the Hol idoy Angel Coordinotor,hos helped with the Pride Porode, worked di l igent ly on

SUMMER 1994

goroge soles, is the coordinotor for Angel lslond, will be co-hosting Comp Coz, ond is now serving on lhe eleclioncommit lee. Our Volunteer of the Yeor:

JIM PELIAAANN

MEMBERS OF THE MONTHThe Members of the Month this veor hove been:

come lo "Stors ond Squores Forever": brolhers ond sistersf rom New York, Seot i le , F lor ido, Minneopol is , Voncouver,ond on ond on--over

' l I 00 hoppy ond exci ied doncers ond

non-doncing s igni f iconi others. This looked l ike i t would goon unti l the wee hours, but, olos, I hod offered to doohernote delegote duty ot the IAGSDCTM Delegotes' Meeting.

B o.m. l Wel l , i f Bob Young, our in imi ioble choi rperson couldbe the re i n {u l l f o rm o t tho t ungod l y hou r , l guess l cou ld o fleost go quiet ly . Amozingly, business s lor ted prompt ly ot B:07ond went on for f ive hours. h wos cerloinly not lhe moslexci t ing f ive hours in my l i fe , but I con enihusiost ico l ly s totethot i t demonstroted the obihty, enthusiosm, ond dedicol ionof the Executive Boord in furthering the growtlr ond vitolity ofgoy squore doncing.

The customory repor ts were mode. Minutes of the I 993Meel ing were submit led in wr i l ing ond opproued. Dorre l lErhberger , the t reosurer , hod prepored wonderfu l overheodproject ion s l ides; but there wos no pro jector ovoi loble in themeel ing spoce; so he, wi th p l rontoms, d id o moster fu l lob ofpresent i r " rg on oppropr iote ly deto i led t reosurer 's repor t . Wi thincome ond expenses o l opproximotely $6,000 th is yeor , theIAGSDCTM ont ic ipotes obouf o $600 def ic i t o t yeor-end.More on this loter, but I om told thot this deficit is iwo tothree times the folol budget for the IAGSDCIM in its f irst yeor.

Bob ther r gove h is "S to te o f

t h e C l u b " t o l k . W l r i l e h e

gove nruch o f the some

oddress to the ger rero l

m e m b e r s h i p , s o m e l h i n g s

b e o r r e p e o t i n g h e r e .

IAGSDC'M is now on the

ln te rne i web, so you

c y b e r g e n i u s e s c o n

porl icipote in your fovorite

ART McDERMOTT/BILL MUSSII/AN NOVEMBER

PATTY WHITEART BRADLEY

IGTFIY HEATY/AAARIE MOHRTOM TRIPPRON JABTONSKIRUSS KINGFELX FORNINO/BOB LESLIERON Ir/{ASKERLEE GIANFRANCESCONICK CARLSON

SEPTEMBEROCTOBER

DECEMBERJANUARYFEBRUARYMARCHAPRILMAYJ U N EJULY

For August I present os Menrber of lhe nronlh, o mon whohos coordinoled donces, is the dotobose monoger, ond isresponsible for the closs direciory. Menrber of the Month forAugust :

JIM ANDERSON

MEMBER OF THE YEARNow is the most prest ig ious recogni t ior r . l t goes to o personwho hos done i t o l l . He is unl i r i r rg in h is ef for ts lo keep theclub going. He hos co-hosted Comp Coz, helpecl ot gorogesoles, served orr lhe boc,rd, brought sodos lo dorrces,decoroted o l donces, is the current Mr. ond Mz. CompCoz--Mikev does i i o l l . Our Member o{ the Yeor:

MIKE SELLERS

At th is t ime cou ld we o l l c lose our eyes or rd g ive o b r ie {momerr l o f s i lence fo r o l l lhe Members who ore no ronoerhere .

ST*RS & SQU*RES FOREVERNEWS & REVIEWS OFCONVENTION 1994

DELEGATES' MEEIINOINITIATION

by NICK CARLSON

lo r r i ved i n DC somet ime o f i e r 6 p . r . ond , os l ro r t t ime l o te r ,ensconced in o com{or loble room ot the Omni Shorehom,our home for the nexi 4 doys. I quick ly urrpocked ond golinlo sorne comfortoble hot-weolher duds for the troil- indonce. Whot o greot i ime, wonder ing f rom hol l to hol l tocheck out the col ler- -but most ly to see who in the fomi ly hod

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

communicot iorrs mode. Por t ic ipote is the key word here.Volunteers ore needed ot the locol , regionol , not ionol ,conl inenio l , ond internot ionol levels . Fund ro is ing ef for tsmusl conl inue. The specio l ossessmenl f rom lost yeor helpedoved f inoncio l d isoster , bul the orgonizol ion s l i l l needs moneyto funct ion. l f eoch c lub could do o "Bonner Donce" ond g ive

iust $25 from those receipts to the IAGSDCTM, lhe deficiencyth is yeor would d isoppeor. l t is qui te omozing lo mepersonol ly thot such on in ternol ionol operot ion con beoperoled orr sucl r o minuscule budget . Of course, you ondI eoch know i t 's becouse so mony people hove been doingso much for so lorrg orr o pure ly voluntory bosis .

Acknowledgment of personol efforts is often diff icult sincesingl ing out o few moy hur t mony by omiss ion. Nevertheless,Bob d;d ment ion the extrqord inory contr ibut ions of Kor lJoeckel . ( l hod the p leosure of meet ing Kor l o t the f i rs i f ly - inof the Minrresoto Wi ld Roses t l r is post Jonuory. I wos inMinrreopol is becouse my doughter l ives lhere. Kor l wos therebecouse of h is ubiqui ty . ) From the smol lest event to thelorgest, Korl is there to ossisl, to support, to l isien but not be

SUMMER I994

the show. Even dur ing th is meet ing he *os everywhere, i tseemed, s i lent ly of fer ing the documentot ion, references ondsuch whenever needed. And he 's there throughout the yeorwhenever ond wherever he 's needed.

I t wos o reol ly hoppy t ime for Dono Bockie l ond the co-choi rsof "Remoke the Circ le." They of f ic io l ly c losed out the 1993convent ion wi th thei r repor t . They to lked oboui resolv ingmoney issues wi lh lhe Univers i ty o{ Woshington ond ot thesome t ime recol led how using th is non- t rodi t ionol p loce for ovenue helped keep expenses down. Wit l r income oround$160,000 ond expenses qui te c lose, they even mode o smol lp ro f i t o f $ l , 270 .65 , wh i ch wos d i v i ded omong the c lub ondo locol AIDS orgorr izot ion. To Seot f le , "Wel l done!"

More exci temenl come wi th the oppl icot ion of membership off ive new c lubs, inc luding the { i rs i f rom outs ide our conl inento lboundor ies-- the L ismore Scooters f rom Austro l io . Some ofthe c lubs hod oppl ied for ossociote membership, but , whenthe def in i t ions were c lor i f ied, the oppl icot ions were chongedto f u l l membersh ips t o t he de l i gh t o f o l l p resen l .

Now os we proceecl through o l l 20 of the i tenrs on t l reoger. rdo. NOTI There is , however, lhe issue of upcorr ingconvent iorrs . As o mot ler of reol i ty check, the leod t i r le forput t ing logether o convent iorr is so greot t l ro t cr { i r rn decis ionmust be mode o l leost lhree yeors i r r odvorrce of *ho wi l l hosithe convent ion. The Neon Squores of Los Vegos presenledo splendid orroy of focts ond f igures to defcr i l wl ro l they hovedone to prepore for lhe convenl iorr in 1997. Despi le therrot ion thol lhere might be o rubber s lomp opprovol of th iscondidote to hold t l re cor . rvent ion three yeors herrce, sonreconcerns orose f rom the { loor . When one delegotesuggested o loud (whot I l rod hecrrd f loo l i r rg obout the f loordur ing breoks) t l ro t o c lub of only 20 members wos proboblytoo srnol l for such orr inrpor lorr t orrd rnqssive under lok ing, oquick response wos even more voci ferous. "A r id icu lousquest ion," s to led onolher not- to-be-nonred delegoie. For omomenl I thought the fur would f ly but , o los, my loste forb lood wcrs not to be soled. Colrner voices prevcr i led ond lheupwe l l i ng o f suppo r t f o r t h i s o r rb i l i ous young g roup wosheortworming. Los Vego. *or ioyfu l ly ond unorr inrouslysuppor ied in thei r b id. Tentot ive norne--"Wlreel ond Deol" --how opropos!

Fo r . l 998 ,

Po r t l ond hos reques led t l r e hono r . A r rd 1999 hosthe lorgest c i ty on eoch coosl vy i r rg for the pr iv i lege.Bohimore 's Chesopeoke Squores produced o le t ler f rorn thei rmoyor request ing the IAGSDCT' lo selec i i l ie i r {o i r c i ty ior iheconvent ion in the yeor 2000. Two in lernot ionol c lubs,Voncouver ond Austrq l io (Br isbone) (ond wlry not?) ore to lk i r rgobout 200' l . Gee, how st ronge lhot sounds. Perhops weshould chor ler o f leet of SST's. A dreom, you soy, but so wnsthe f i rs t convent ion in Seot t le iust o few yeors qgo.

And the dreom moves on! The hord *ork ond the love ondcor ing of our brothers orrd s is ters, i r r microcosm of th is ever-so-br ief Delegotes ' Meet ing, is whot keeps i i moving.

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GOLDEN BOOT AWARD

i*ffiH[[,'#J-The f i rs t Golden Boot Aword wos presented in l9B3 byPuddletown Squores to Art Smith for his outstondingcontr ibui ion to goy squore doncing by hoving stor ted the f i rs tgoy c lub in Seof i le ond, thus, the goy squore doncemovement in the Northwest . the or ig inol Golden BootAwordwos on octuol westerr.r boot sproyed gold ond odorned witlrgo ld cho ins ond rh ines tones .

Ar t {e l t th is oword should be shored wi th other people ororgonizot ions wi th in the IAGSDCIM who were moking or hodmode substont io l contr ibul ions to the goy squore doncemovement.

The { i rs t owordee of the Golden Boot Aword ot on IAGSDCTMconverr l ior r wos the South Flor ido Mustongs, who received i to t the Derrver convent ion in 19B5. The oword ot th is t imewos chonged lo on engroved p loque; thus the t rodi t ion wosborn t l ro t t l re oword be presenled ot eoch convent ion. Al t l r isyeor 's converr t ion in Woslr inglon, DC, the Golden BootAwcrrd wos presented lo Bi l l Ey ler of Albuquerque,New Mexico, ond Luis Torres of Sorr Anlonio, Texos.

Bi l l Ey ler , bet ter kr rown os Bi l l iBob, is o col ler wl ro hos beenocl ive ly promol ing goy squore doncing ond fhe i r r tegro l ion ofgoys in lo the st ro ig l r t conrnruni ty . He hos done much toencouroge goy doncers to ot tend st ro ight donce funct ions lohelp breok down the problenrs between the two groups byel iminot i r rg s tereolyping ond get t ing io know one onolher osindiv iduol people. He hos o lso g iven count less hours wi th inthe goy squore dorrce comnrurr i ty s l ror ing l r is to lents not only

in col l ing but o lso in teoching otherswi th in the Goy Col lers Associot iorr .

Luis Torres hos been oct ive in the goysquore dorrce wor ld {or mony yeors. Hehos corr l r ibuted to the movemerr t innumerous woys. His lo test conhibut ionhos been 1o compile ond edit the history

r ' - , \ - /1 1 l - - \f l -h-r- ,r . I I

- . - ' i l

I 'L. "\ z-'

o f the f i rs t 1 0 yeors of the formot ion of the Internot ionolAssociot ion of Gcry Squore Donce Clubs. This wr i t tendocumerr tot ion noi only prov ides new goy squore doncerswi th our h is tory but o lso hos been p loced in o l l the goy ondlesbion h is tory l ibror ies lhroughout the country, inc luding theLibrory of Congress in Woshingtorr, DC. Through his efforts,we hove been ossured thot our por t in t l re lesbion ond goymovement wi l l not be lost over l ime but wi l l remoin o v is ib leport of our history.

Al though mony of us moy never p lon to be rec ip ients of onoword on th is level , i t is never too lo te nor too eor ly lo s tor lmoking our contr ibut ions. As Ar t Smith soid, "The Golden

SUMMER I994

BootAword belongs to everyone, {or the spi r i t i thonors is lhot the process wi l l toke gut-wrenching honesty f rom both s idesof o l l o f us contr ibut ing together , shor ing our energy, our of the goy communi ty . I consider the retent ion of women osdedicotion, ond most of oll our love for eoch olher. When portners in the goy community so inrportor.rt thot this yeor tlreony o{ us g ives

, l00% of our best , thot is the f inest exomple f i rs t medol l ion is presented 1o the only womon th is yeor ond

of whot the Golden Boot Aword exernol i f ies." the f i rs t lesbion ever to receive the medol l ior r :

PRESENTATIO}I OF I994I O.YEAR VETERANS

by FREEN4AN STA^4PER

For the f i rs t ien gcry squore donce conuent ions , t l re re hovebeen over 2 ,800 por t i c ipon ls . We houe gro*n f rom or ro t tendonce o f obout 250 doncers in l9B4 to over 1 ,200.Those ten convent ions combi r red hove l ros ted o lmost 6 ,50Cregistronts. fu | noted lost yeor, obout 40% of lhe registrontsof o convention ore otterrding {or the i i rst l ime, ono women

represent obout 20% o f ihe reg is t ro t ion .

The . l

O-Yeor Ve leron Medo l l ion hos been c reo ted forecognize individuols who lrove comnrit ted thenrselves to l l regoy squore donce commurr i t y by o t tend i r rg ten IAGSDCIMconver r t ions . The 2B w l ro rece iver l lhe medo l l io r r los t veorore io ined by 30 more doncers lh is yeor . These 58 doncersrepreset t t on ly obout 2o /o o f t \e opprox i r lo te ly 2 ,800 dor rcerswho hove ever o f lended o goy squore dor rce conver r l io r r .S i r rce we do no l k r row l l re nunrber o f c lnss ond c lub memberswho hove ever possed th rough our doors , we connot knowwhot percenloge of the toiol goy squore dorrce con"rmunilyth is2% represen ls . However , I O or more yeors represenrs onenormous commi tmen l by eoc l r i r rd iv iduo l dor rcer . A t omin imum overoge, eoch o f these peop le hos con l r ibu ted onewho le yeor ou l o f l0 yeors o f the i r wok ing l i ves por t i c ipo t i r rgin squore donce oc t iv i t y .

There ore no c r i ie r io {o rrece iv ing t l re medo l l ion o lhert h o n t h e p e r s o n o l t i r n ecommi t ted lo o t tend ing theconvent ion . There ore noprogroms ' to fo l low. There rs nolevel of prof iciency lo ochieve.There is no requ i remenl 1o be oleo ther queen/ nor o o rogqueen, nor o doncer o f co lo r ,

Lindo Horry, Phoenix

Dovid Anderson, PhoenixDoug Bornef l , Greenbel t , MDDon Broy, SeottleJol rn Conley, Son FronciscoMork Dovis, New YorkKen Di Genovo, South Flor idoBob Dye, Woshington, DCB i l l Ey le r , A lbuque rqueBob Fiitermon, New YorkDovid Giff ler, New YorkRic Gonzolez, AlbuquerqueTom Hol loron, Woslr ington, DCElgin Hodgins, Voncouver, BCD ick Jocobsen , I nd ionopo l i sNelson Kuperberg, New YorkMoc McCorthy, New YorkTed Ookes , P l roe r i i xJornes Ozonic l r , Socromerr toC l ruck Re inke , Phoe r r i xSk ip Rogn l i en , Po r l l ondBob Rosenihol , Ne* YorkJ inr Roseveor, South Flor idoEd Schel lhous, ClevelcrrdEvon Schwortz, New YorkMick Sheppord, Son FronciscoArthur W Smith, Seot t leRo lph Smi lh , Son D iegoTom Tr ipp, Sorr Frorrc iscoDon Wi lsorr , Phoerrrx

Don' t s top! Don' l s lo* down!

THANKS FOR T}IE IAEMORIES

by BLANCHIE JO BRADTEY

On behol f o f my mother ond s is ters, I would l ike to thonk ihekind-heorted soul who ononymously sent us o copy of thesquore donce convent ion or t ic le thot oppeored in the July Bedil ion of the Woshinglon 8/ode. Not only is it o greotor t ic le , but i t hos o fob-u- lous p ic ture of the Brodleys tokendur ing the Grond Morch speeches.

Le t me o l so l oke th i s t ime to soy t ho t l t h i nk t he hos tcommit lee ond c lub d id o fontost ic iob prepor ing for th isconverr l ion. Highl ights ond fond memor ie$ for me personol lyinclude (in rondom order): o week o{ goy-reloted events inNew York City, o very lonq troin ride from NY to DC in the

nor o womon/ nor o mon/ nor o nudist , nor o beor . We orethose th ings w i thou t squo re donc ing . Our squo re doncecommuni ty is too smol l to f roct ionol ize. However, i t is THEDANCE thoi mokes us equol . l t is THE DANCE rhor br ingsus iogether . l t is ONLY the donce thot wi l l keep us together .

There is no secret thot ot t roct ing ond reto in ing lesbions in tothe greoter goy squore donce cornmuni ty is d i f f icu l t . I th inki t is importont for us to untongle the mystery, but I know thot

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS SUMMER I994

ro in , thunder ond l igh tn ing , tho t f i r s t sc reom o f ie r wo lk ing in tothe ho te l ond see ing so mony long- i ime f r iends , the p ionobor lounge, donc inq w i th my lover o t o goy convent ion , thef i reworks over the Wosh ing ton Monument , the Ho locous tM u s e u m t o u r , r e c e i v i n g m y I O - y e o r m e d o l l i o n , b e i n g oh l t I Itsrodley, ond, o l course, winning $ l ,282 in the 50/50 rof f le .

Thonks , DC, ond o l l o f you l , l 58 S to rs & Squo res Fo reve rpor t ic iponts for moking i t o greol convent ion {or me.

FUN DANGIE IIE'NORIES

by FELX FORNINO

Fun Dongles. As I s i t ond contemplote the sub jec i , I wonderwhy, of ter o l l o [ them thol I hove, I ever s tor ted col lect ingthem. The foct is thot I d id, ond no* | hove o whole bunch o{them. Af ter lhe Stors & Squores Forever corrvent iorr , I everrgol o few more.

I seem to remember how I co l lec led the f i rs t ones I ever goi .lwos i r r t he Oronge '90 c loss , ond we were on l y i n t hesecond week of c loss when the c lub onnourrced we werego ing to hove o p i cn i c on the 4 th o f Ju l y on Ange l l s l ond .Fun dongles ot t l ro l t ime hod beerr explo i r red lo us ( t l rey werefor dorrc ing otcr speci i ic p loce or t i r re) ond thot i f we went orrth is t r ip to Angel ls lorrd we could ecrrn o lo l o f thern. TheArchongel of the c loss, Don Greco, onrrounced t l ro t GoldRush (o Squore Donce Performorrce Teom) would g ive us thedongles i { we went to Angel ls lond. Wel l , not hovi r rgonything better to do thot doy, I set off for Angel lslond Afterwe got there, they hod io leoch us o coll or two so thot wecould donce. Then we wenl donci r rg. We donced or . r thegross, eorned our Grosshopper dongle; donced on t l re sorrd,eorned our Sond Fleo dongle; dorrced i r r l l re woter , eornedou r Do lph in dong le ; donced on the conc re le , eon reo ou rB lock Heod do r rg le . We o l so eo rnec l ou r P i cn i c Dong le ondFour l l r o f Ju l y Dong le becouse we hod donced c r t o p i cn i cotrd on the Fourth of Ju ly . Arrd on the woy home, we eonredour Ferry Doncing dongle becouse we dorrced on t l re ferryboot on the woy home. There were only two songs thot wedonced the whole doy becouse they were the only ones tholhod the few col ls we knew. One song, Eornocle Bi / / theSoi lor , become l l re c loss song. Thol s lor ted me s l id ing downthe h i l l o f be ing o Fu r r Dong le Junk ie . I wonde r i f t he re i s o12-step progrom for th is?

You con get fun dongles for iust obout everyth ing. Three thoto l l doncers con get o lmost immediote ly ore the Col i forn ioDongle, the Son Froncisco Dongle ond the Uni ted StotesDongle s i r rce we donce in Sorr Frorrc isco, Col i forn io, USA.Every time you go to onother stote or city you eorn o dongle.Mony b ig c i t ies ond o l l s totes hove thei r own dongles.Arrother dongle thot o l l WSD'ers get is the Church Mouse for

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doncing in o c l rurch s ince most WSD donces ore held ot St .Poulus Lutheron Church.

l f there is no dongle for on event you con moke one up. Forexomple, in Woshinglon, DC, th is 4th of Ju ly , we donced otthe f i reworks. A specio l dongle wi l l be mode consist ing of theWoshington Monument wi th f i reworks. Or, for the peopledoncing on Woshington 's Metro, o fun dongle for the symbolfor the Metro wos mode.

Wlren you run out of dongles to get o l home, go ro oconvent ion ond get new ones. At most goy convent ions thereis o Fun Bodge Tour. ( ln th is context , bodge is synonymouswi th dongle. ) You get o fun dongle for the p loces ot whichyou donce. l r r Miomi we got dongles for dorrc ing in the Ar tDeco Secl ion ond other p loces. In Albuguerque, we gofdongles for doncing o l the Museum of Noturo l History ondCoronodo Pork. In Seot t le , we got o dongle for doncing o lthe Spoce Needle. In Woshington, we got dongles fordoncing ot the Peniogon, the L incoln Memor io l , theCorrodion Embossy, orrd the lwo J imo Memor io l .

I hove ot leost 50 ( reol ly more, but I moved ond con' t f indthem). Por t of the fun is p lot t ing them. There is o Mummydongle for to i le t poper ing t l re col ler . Thot tokes o l i t t lep lorrn ing. Anol l rer co l ler one is the Ping Pong fun dongle forthrowing Ping Pong bol ls ot the col ler wherr he col ls Pi r rgPorrg Circulote. (For the Bosic/Moinstreom people, in Plust l rere is the col l P i r rg Pong Circulote) . You iust noturo l ly corryping porrg hcr l ls in your pocket .

The besl por l o f lhenr is the furr thot you eorn doing them.Some toke reol enduronce, for exomple, the Die Horddongle. You eorrr t l ro t one for doncing 5 or 7 doys in row.(The number of doys is dependent on the person g iv ing themou t . ) l eo r r red m ine by donc ing 7 doys i n row . Tho t i s who twe ore o l l obout isn ' l i t? | hod the fun of people I doncedwi ih, ond squore dorrcers ore good people.

Why do I weor o l l thot iongl i r rg p los l ic? Somet imes toimpress people; ofher t imes becouse I om proud of theo c c o m p l i s h m e r r l s i l r o t l h o v e d o n e . l g u e s s i m p r e s s i n gpeople isn ' t lhe best reoson, but i t is one thot I hove. l t doesmoke o good show for new students who th ink of whot theym igh t be ob le t o do . l t h i nk l see eo rn ing o new fun dong leos on exper ience more t l ron of ocknowledgment. You musthove the exper ience to eorn the bodge. The bodges oresymbols of ocknowledgment to o lher people. They con seewhot you occompl ished, but i t is the exper ience thot counts.When you look ot lhem, you remember where you were, wi lhwhom you dorrced, ond the c i rcumstonces behind get t ing thedongle. I guess dongles serve the some purpose os souvenirsthot you buy *hen you go owoy. l t is something to help youremember p loces or persons.

Do I th ink thot I wi l l s top buying fun dorrg les? I don' t th inkso. T l rey ore memor ies ond ldon' t th ink thot people t ry toforget fgn memor ies. As long os t l rere is something I hoven' t

SUMMER I994

done or t r ied ond there is o dongle for i t , I th ink I wi l lconl inue. I th ink f io t fun dongle ore l ike thot BorbroStriesond song The Woy We Were. We remember the goodt imes ond look bock ot those t imes wi th fondness {or thefool ish or fun woys thot we d id th ings.

Af ter o l l th is , I s t i l l th ink someone should stod on FDAorgonizot ion--Fun Dongle Anonymous-- for those junkies thothove to col lect one more fun donqle. Anv tokers?

GAY PRIDEPARADE 1994

WINNIE'S CORNER

by MS. wlNNlE BAGO

When Mr. Slomper osked me lo shore my feel ings oboutbeing in the Goy Pr ide Porode on June

' l9 , he suggesled o

few possib le scenor ios--"1 'm o bross bond! l 'm oho rps i cho rd ! " A ho rps i cho rd?? ! t G i r l f r i end l

Actuol ly , Winnie fe l t l ike--o squore doncer! You moy soythot 's not very imoginot ive, but , os you o l l know, o squoredoncer is o pret ty good th ing to be!

The doywos beou t i f u l ond su r rny , os i s requ i red on Goy P r i deDoy. People omused t l renrselves in vor ious woys wlr i lewoi t ing for lhe thunder of the dykes orr b ikes to k ick of f thefestivit ies. Some of us ron ofi lo cotclr o bit of the porodebefore i t wos our turn. Sorne mi l led oround to lk ing. J imPel lmonn ond Mike Sel lers worked l ike crozy get t ing ihe i ruckreody whi le thot pol i te , hondsome, young b i r thdoy boy Bi l lEy ler orgonized the doncers.

The porode octuol ly s tor ted orr t ime t l r is yeor , ond soorr wewere of f , promenoding our woy dowrr Morket Sl reet .Mr . Ey le r kep t us i n l i ne , ond , s i nce he hod oc tuo l l y l oug l r t ushow to donce in o porode, l th i r rk we looked pret ty dorrngood! The only problem wos the porode moved so fost th isyeor we hordly got lo donce! l t wos probobly c loser torunning in formot iorr ot t imes thon doncing.

The crowd seemed to enioy the squore doncers. They keplyel l ing for us to donce os we went screoming by, t ry ing tokeep up wi th ' the rest of the porode.

Af ter the porode, Aunt Winnie speni the whole of ternoor. rrest ing her poor o ld feet in the shode of the Western Sforbooth. Thot evening o fe* of us went out for o n ice d inner ,then returned to the Golden Boot Ronch for o suror isebi*hdoy coke for young Mr. Eyler , wi th o rousi r rg ond

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melodious vers ion of "Hoppy Bi*hdoy" l 'm sure he ' l l not soonforgetl

A l l in o l l , I hod o greot doy, os I th ink most others d id. Wi l lI donce ogoin next yeor? Most ossuredly, or thr i t is permi t t ing l

A DIARY FOR CONSTRUCTINOA PAR.ADE CONTINGENT

ov GARY GRAY

How does one prepore for o squore donce cont ingent in theFreedom Doy Porode?

In the eor ly spr ing of ter severol d iscussions omong the BoyAreo c lubs, the WSD Boord of Di rectors ogreed tocoordinote the porode por t ic ipot ion for the Greoter Boy Areo.

WSD then stor ted to opply for the requi red poperwork. Theoppl icot ion wos f i led, orrd i r rsuronce wos o l locoted throughthe Porode's corr ier . A number wos eventuol ly g iven to ourgroup. Rod Odgers *os osked to secure o dr iver ond p ick-up t ruck for the porode, ond he suggested Tom Durhom, whohod done previous porodes. Tom suggested thot we bui ld oplot lorm for the speokers orrd equipmerr t . Pot \ Whi te wosthen enl is led to bui ld the o lot forms.

Pot ty o lso hod the tosk of rounding up the ro inbow bunt ing(which hod been designed os, ond f i rs t oppeored os, thewor ld ' s l o rges i r o i nbow c r i no l i ne i n on eo r l i e r po rode ) , hov ingi l c leoned ond pressed, ond l re lp ing in designing i ts use inthe currerr t oorode.

Al l o f the por ts soorr fe l l toget l rer , ond the doy wos here. Atthe Porode s i le , doncers soorr orr ived 1o porode down MorketStreet . B i l l Ey ler f ronr Albuquerque wos the col ler , us ing osound syslem dr iven by o generotor secured by Mike Sel lers.

Af ier o s l . ror ler woi t t l ron in prev ious yeors, the porode *osoff. As we enlered Morkel Street, the thri l l wos there. Wewere lo ld lo s tep bock ond le l some other groups enler theporode, to d is torrce us f rom the ABBA look-o- l ike group wi thloud d isco music. l t wos o reol rush lo enter Morket Street oso group of goy squore doncers, encouroged ond opploudedby our brothers qnd s is ters on the s idel ines. As we cont inueddown the route mony doncers jo ined us. The doy went very{ost ond t l re thr i l l o f being por t of th is event overshodowedony problems or obsloc les thot hod oppeored eor ly in thepreporotion for t lr is doy. After the Porode, everyone went hisor her own woy.

Loter Bi l l wrote o le t ier wi t l r o few suggest ions 1o moke nextyeor 's porode por l ic ipot ion move more smoothly . Hesuggested thot the cont ingerr t commit tee purchose o I 2-vol t

SUMMER I994

conver le r , wh ich con e i ther hook up lo the t ruck c igore t le

l igh ter , w i th on odopter , o r d i rec t l y to the bo f le ry . B i l l o lso

suggests tho t we use on ex t ro se t o f speokers foc ing the

crowd, so tho t they w i l l heor the mus ic , be fore the doncers

ore oos t them.

Next yeor , I unders tond tho t "S tors Thors & Cob le Cors , " the

I996 IAGSDCIM convent ion commi t tee , i s do ing ihe porode.

Moybe they cou ld purchose t l re conver fe r , ond e i ther g ive or

se l l i t to o permonent Porode Conrmi t tee . Hov ing opermonent Porode Commi t tee mode up o f members o f o l l the

B o y A r e o C l u b s o n d f i n o n c e d e q u i t o b l y o m o n g o l l c l u b smokes o lo t more sense thon poss ing th is wor thwh i le , ye tied ious tosk , lo o d i f fe ren t ond unknowledgeob le commi i leeeocn yeor .

RETRO.YIEI,Y OF A PROSPECTIVE YIEII'OF CAIIP CAZADERO

[ E d l f o n e i s p o f i e n l l o n g e n o u g l r ; o n e c o n g e t j u s t o b o u l

ony t l r ing one w ishes . l t hos been o l rnos l th ree yeors io the

d o y s i n c e t l r e M r . & M z . C o m p C c r z C o r r l e s t i n , l 9 9 1 .

R ichord Cope lond, who hod won the H igh Hee l Rcrce i r r, l990 ,

wro te o wor rder fu l i r rner -s ide v iew o f w inn ing t l re rc rce

I osked R ichord to wr i te obout l l re M&M Conrp Cc lz Con les t

i n 1 9 9 . l , b u t f o r v o r i o u s r e o s o r r s - - d e l o y o n d t h e n o Q Sh i o t u s - - h i s r e n d i t i o r r o f t h e I 9 9 1 c o n t e s t w o s n e v e r p u b l i s h e d .

As we look {o rword to the 1994 ed i t lon o f Mr . & Mz. Conrp

Coz, you ore cer lo in to en ioy th is non-v ideo vers ion o f t l re

1991 s to ry . l

CAZ CAAAPERS EMBMCE MZ. & MZ. CAA4P CAZLesbions & Lesbion-/dent i f ied Goy Men

Push App/ouse Meler Over l ire Top

Compers enthusiost ico l ly derrounced se- .x ism ond heterosexistdomino l i o r r wh i l e embroc ing o rod i co l r r ew v i s i on o f l esb i c rnsuper ior i ty . Oulgoi r rg Mr. & Mz. Comp Coz, Corrc ly Bcrr(Dovid Evons, Stockton) orrd Stud Muf f in (Greg Fr ie l ,Socromento ot ihot t ime) i rom Copi to l Ci ty Squores presidedwi th surpr ised d igni ty over o roucous ond.conl rovers io lconles l thot l ronsformed l l re onnuol event wi th the select ionof Ms. SoHorny Beover (Dovid Boker, Oronge '90) ondMs. Ani to Bush (Richord Copelond, Oronge '90) os Mz. &M z . C o m p C o z

. l 9 9 1 .

Vo t i con Po l i cy Cho l l enqed bv Reneqode Nun

The Ci t ruswoods sponsored the event which wcrs dominoledby the in fomous Oronge '90 c loss, orrd Blud Oronge (Jef{Judd, Oronge'90) wos the most ly co lm ond cool MC. Af terthe grond entronce ond seot ing of Ms. Condy Bor ond StudMuffin, replete with o conopy of f loming iorches, lhecontesionts were in t roduced ond promenoded before on

QUARTERLY SETECTIONS

oppreciot ive oudience.

The f i rs t contestor . r t , S is ter Mory Spin the Top (Fel ix Fornino,Oronge '90) , wi th escor t Foiher Pious Peel Of f (MichoelMonzo, Pink '9 ' l ) wos wel l received os possib ly ihe f i rs t nunto enter the conlest. And when posed o controversiolquest ion obout condoms ond sofe sex, wi th on oudiencepotent io l ly host i le to of f ic io l Vot icon pol icy, she b lew thedome of f St . Peter 's by coming out in suppor l o fcondoms--even going so for os to d isp loy one. She got orousing round of opplouse for her proct ico l ond suppor l ives iotements os she is one of the few nuns ever to toke th isposi t ion wi th o condom.

Unchorocter is t ic Tostefu lness Disploved bv Von TroshConteslonl

Ms. Ginger Snop Von Trosh (Michoel Gi l l , Copi to l Ci ty) ,tos iefu l ly dressed in o s imple yet s l inky b lue s i lk (or wos i tsynfhet ic?) n ight- - l meon evening--gown, wos lhen posed ocomplex sociologicol questior.r obout the effecis of recentchonges in l l re Soviet Uniorr on ihe use of hot p ink os ofoshion s lotenrent . Her bold ond lostefu l ly br ie f reply , "Ohyes, everyorre shou ld weor i t , " wos very wel l received,especio l ly by Ms. Bush who, s t r ik ingly of l i red in the very color ,expressed her ogreenreni wi th o s i lent f lour is l r for f ie crowd.Al though she nrode o f ine preserr tot ion, Ms. Von Trosh'sc l ronces [or v ic iory were d imin ished by her ext remelcrstefu lness, which {o i led to orouse the possions of theoronro-r1 u l r gry mosses.

Possions lqrr i led bv Sel f - ldent i f ied Lesbion Messioh Wonnobes

Those possions were igni ted by the incendiory v is ions of thef incr l contestonts, Ms. Beover ond Ms. Bush. Col l ing theMC's quest iorrs " ins ip id" in v iew of the monumentol issuesfoc ing the wor ld todoy, the couple proudly pronounced t l re i rlesbionism ond col led {or o dromol ic chonge in the nome o{lhe conlesf to "Mz. & Mz. Cor.np Coz" ond lounched in lo of iery d iot r ibe on lhe v i r tues of sexism, helerosexism, ond themi l i t o r y - i ndus l r i o l comp lex . Denounc ing l esb ion i nv i s i b i l i t yond lesbion bed deolh os producls of yeors of d isostrousReogorromics, Ms. Beover proudly exhor led, ond exhorted,ond exl ror led unt i l she wos f i r ro l ly subdued by the stunnedMC ond lhe odor ing Ms. Bush. Wi th shouts of , "Nocensorship!," the crowd roored for more.

Af ter regoi r r ing h is composure ond gother ing h is wi ts , Bludconducted t l re oudience rot ing of the confestonts. The f i rs tround wos o sound three-woy t ie , ond Volencio (Phi lSchreuer, Oronge '90) ond Novel (Kevin Lorson, Oronge'90) Ci t ruswood were col led in to ler rd ihei r to lenls of ouro ld iscernmenl , ond the oudience wos encouroged lo be morepronourrced in t l re i r ent l rus iosm. When the dust hod set t ledond the echoes subsided, the winners were qui te obvious.With squeols of del ight , SoHorny ond Ani to were crownedMz. & Mz. Cornp Coz by on odor ing Condy Bor, whoopologized for her lock of fores ight in commissioning one

SUMMER I994

Mr. Comp Coz bodge ond bonner ond one Mz. Comp Cozbodge ond bonner. At o rore loss for words, Ms. Bor soids imply, "You' l l just hove to moke do." Overcome wi th thef lush of v ic tory, the honor of being crowned by Condy hersel f ,ond o desire to begin their reign on o positive {ooting, thevic tors groc iously occepled her opologies ond forgoue herforthwith, bloming it oll on cenluries of heierosexistdomino t i on ond obuse .

Al l ls Not Oronqe Blossoms

The emot ionol ly chorged v ic tory wos d immed somewhol whensigns of skept ic ism ond d isconlerr l begon to sur foce shor l lyof ier the coronol ion. When to ld thot the new l i f le holderss imply wonted to br ing honor to Western Slor , one supporter ,Monzone to Wood (Me l i nodo Nop ie r , ' 84 ) exp ressedskepl ic ism. " l don' t th ink thot 's possib le for you lo do," sheexclo imed. When to ld thot lhe winners fe l t thot they held thei i l le os represenlo l ive of the Oronge '90 c loss, c loss memberDovid Elk ins cr ied, "Leove me out of l t ! " And soor . r , c l rorr ts o{"No Speech, No Speech" begon to fo l low t l re duo whereverthey weni . A l though undounted by th is iur r r of events,SoHorny ond Ani to were shocked ond deeply l rur t whenrumors of on ossossinol iorr p lo l were repoded. Lel 's hopethey {o l low the odvice of one concerned suppor ler , Rondy

l" . l : : . , " ' (Red '89) , who odmonished, "Loy low unf i l nexr

AS'(1I|t? SQ?lga"I?:b

l f you could osk o squore donce wizord onyl l r ing oboutsquore doncing becouse you know he/she/ i t kr ro*severylhing, wlrot would you osk nk ,SQIL9:,t l?b!

RALPH PADGUG: Con you squore dorrce to Mozorl?

W: See Russ King 's def i r r i t ive onswer to your quest ion inth is edi t ion of QS.

DONALD WESCOAT: So i f l 'm o g i r l , who is my lef t -hondlody?

f f lS: \Nel l , now thot 's o loughie, becouse we must delve in ioother concepts in squore doncing. F i rs t of o l l , not o l l doncersdo o l l co l ls iust becouse inst rucf ions ore g iven. For exomple,i f two couples ore moving ond two couples ore stof ionory,only the couples thol ore in mot ion execute the col ls beinggiven unt i l the squore is in some formot ion thot forces themlo execute the next coll with the stotionory couples.Somet imes doncers hove to inser t nrovements which ore notspeci f ico l ly co l led but which ore necessory in order io creolethe proper setup to execute the col l which hos been g iven.For exomple, when you ore in foc ing couples ond the col ler

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

soys Swing Thru, the couples must f i rs t s lep in to on oceonwove ond jo in honds. Therefore, when the col ler inst ructs thedoncers lo do somelh ing to t l re le f t -hond lody, lhe doncersmust f i rs t determine wheiher or nof ihey ore o lody. l f youore o lody, you e l iminole yoursel f f ronr the concept of beingo lody ond s imply do whotever is co l led us ing the def in i t ionos prescr ibed by Col ler lob. This sel f -e l iminot iorr ondsubsequent submiss ion is where the f ine l ine between squoredoncing ond toto l bondoge merge.

On o more esoter ic thought ond using the concept of se l f -e l iminot ion, the col l is d i rected to the gent . His le f t -hond lodyis his corner. So, you could iust consider yourself b+-s'engoib i -doncuol ond execule the col l os o corner . Now, oren ' t youglod you osked?

I\AARTY l(AflLER: Who storted doing o highlond fl ing for oDo So Do?

flL9: lt wos probobly Russ King. See his orticle in tlr is editionof QS which descr ibes h is fet ish for combin ing o lher donceforms i r r lo squore doncing ond h is perrchor . r t for Scot t ishcountry d<rrrc ing.

IAGSDCIIiCONVEIIITION '95

TIP THE COW, INC. , PRESS RETEASECh icogo Ju l y 23 , 1994

The Boord o{ Di rectors o{ T ip the Cow, Inc. , would l ike toopologize lo everyone who *os of fended by the l rock2Chicogo presentot ion mode ot the IAGSDCTM membershipmeet ing ot Stors & Squores Forever in Woshington, DC. Thepresenlo l ion d idn ' t g ive o cornple le v iew of whot Chicogoond the corrvenl ion hove 1o of fer for everyone. Over the nextfew monihs we' l l show you mucl . r more in formof iorr oboulmony focels of the conuent ion ond Chicogo which we hopewi l l oppeol to o wide vor ie iy of in terests. We s incerely wontto put on o squore dorrce convent ion which wi l l be fun foreveryol le.

We we lcome your ques t ions , comments , ond cons l ruc t i ve

cr i i i c i sm. We 'd l i ke to know how we con moke I rock2

Chicogo spec io l fo r you . Our t l ronks lo everyone who hos

o l reody g iven us comments ond feedbock . We ' re t ry ing to

l i s ten . You con reoch us by

voice moi le -mo i lfoxUS Postol Service

1312]l3s7-3232m essom er@ mcs. com

'3121 s49-403sTime the Cow, lnc.PO Box 578485Cl r icoso, lL 60657-8485

l nt w SUMMER ] 994

The f rock 2 Chicogo registrotion booklei contoinsinformot ion oboul co l lers, schedules, the hote l , ond t rouel .Summories of thot in{ormot ion ore being posted os seporotemessoges io th is moi l ing l is t . Conueni ion i r r formot ion is o lsoovoi loble by moi l or {ox; by ononymous f tp f rom f tp.mcs.conrin directory mcsnet. users/messom er/trock2 ;o r o n t h e W o r l d W i d e W e b o t U R Lhi tp: /ww*. mcs. com/ - messonr er /ht tp/ t rock2.htm l .

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAA)

I . Who wi l l be col l ing ot Trock 2 Chicogo?

We're delighted to hove the following collers on stoff:

Anne Uebelocker , Br i t ish ColumbioBen Rubr ight , Col i {orr r ioDove Wi lson, F lor idoDon & Doug Sprosty, lowoLin Jorv is , l l l ino isLloyd "Sporky" Sporks, KentuckyMike DeSisto, WoshingionSoundro Bryont , l l l ino isSwers ie Norr is , l l l ino isTodd Fel legy, Connecf icu l

Members of the Goy Col lers Associot ion wi l l co l l the Tro i l -Endond Troi l -Oul donces orrcJ o i scheduled l i r les dur ing theconverr t ior r .

Our proposed schedule l ' tc :s 27 hours of doncing to s lof {col lers in s ix fu l l - t inre l ro l ls , wi t l r or r oddi t ionol l0 hours ofdonc ing o t t he T ro i l -End , Grond Morch , Spec io l T ips , FunBodge Tou r , ond T ro i l -Ou t .

2. Whot hote l wi l l Trock 2 Chicogo be ot?

Tlre cor.rvention wil l tcrke ploce ot t lre Hyott Regency Chicogolocoted ot l5 l Eost Wocker Dr ive orr t l re sout l r s ide of theChicogo River jus l eost of the Loop. The hote l is wi lh inwolk ing d is torrce { ronr nrony of Chicogo's wor ld-c losssl ropping, enter to i r rmerr t , ond cul turo l ot t roct ions, i r rc ludi r rglhe Loke, Gront Pork, the Ar t Ins l i tu te, Orchestro Hol l ,Mic l i igon Avenue, Slo le Sl reel , nrrd Seors Tower.

In 1993, the Hyot l Regency Chicogo won the Food lndustryNews Plofier Aword designoting tlrem os one of lhe City's topfive fovorite ploces to dine by restouroteurs. The lrotel hosf ive restouronts of fer ing o vor iety of menus ond pr ices.

Room rotes for the conventiorr ore:s i ng le o r doub le $90 pe r n igh tl r i p l e $ 1 0 5q u o d $ l 2 0s u i t e s f r o m $ 2 1 9 r o $ 5 3 3

A hotel reservotion form is in the registrotion booklet. You

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS

moy olso phone in your reservot ions:(800) 223-1234 or(312\ s6s-1234Be sure to ment ion Trock2 Ch icogo,

conven l ion code ECOW, to rece ive lhe

convention rote. Reservol ions must be

m o d e b e f o r e M o v l , . | 9 9 5 .

1 i

3. l 've heord thot the ln ternot ionol Mr. Leother compel i i ionwi l l be in the some hote l os I rock 2 Chicogo. ls thot t rue?

To ossure tlre lowest possible room roles for your stoy, Tip theCow, Inc. , ond IML used the some product ion compony tonegotiole room rotes with the hotel. T2C ond IML hovecomporoble b locks of s leeping rooms in the hote l onMemor io l Doy weekend. T2C wi l l occupy mosl of the publ icspoce for doncing, meet ing, ond meol funcl ions. Most of theIML events ore nol ot l lre hotel. Even with both groups tokinglorge b locks of s leeping rooms, the Hyot t s t i l l wi l l hove morerooms {or thei r other quests. l t 's o very BIG hote l , ond i t wi l lbe ve ry busy i r r Moy , 1995 .

4. Whot is the schedule for Trock 2 Chicogo? | need toplon nry vocot ion ond t rovel now.

The schedule is i r r the regis i ro l ion booklet . Br ief ly , ihe Tro i l -End dorrce wi l l begin ot 7 p.nr . on Thursdoy, Moy 25. Theof f ic io l convent iorr wi l l be Fr idoy, Soturdoy, ond Sundoy,Moy 26 -28 . The Fun Bodge Tou r w i l l be l 0 o .m . t o 2 p .m .on Mondoy, Moy 29, wi lh o Tro i l -Oul donce fo l lowir rg f rom2 - 5 p . r r r .

FOGGY CITY IIAINSTREAIAGRADUATION DANGE

bv HOLLY WOOD

l l 's o lwoys o p leosure to ot tend the donces of my f r iends otFoggy Ci ty Dorrcers. I wos r rot d isoppointed ot the June I IMoir rs l reorr Groduot ion ponce. Let 's see i f I con poi r r t oword-p ic lure l l ro t wi l l shore the joy I exper ienced. We werein o hol l cr l the Uni lor ion Church on Fronkl in Street , lhe col lerwos terrif ic, there were severol t ips of Moinsfreom ond Plus,tlrere were the groduotion tips ond the presentotion ofgroduoles ond diplomos, ond, of course, the de requireregroduot ion coke. Con' t you just see the grondeur of i t o l l?

I t ry o lwoys to leorn something new ot every c loss, c lub n ight ,ond donce thot I ottend. At this donce I leorned thot myheorl beots very, very fost every time I see o certoin doncer.l ' l l protect h is innocence i r r th is or t ic le ond iust co l l h im JohnThomos, or JT for shor t . Thot 's orr ly when I see h i rn. Mywhole body goes l imp when I con get c lose enough to seelhe spoces betweert h is teet l r in thot gorgeous, quick smi leond count every losh oround those doncing, twink l ing eyes.

SUMMER I994

I con ' t put in pr in t whot hoppens when I get c lose enough lobe oble to r ip of f h is . . . Now, l ' l l scro lch your eyes out otthe next donce i f lsee you procf ic ing the fo l lowing t r icks oniT, but th is is whot I leorned ot the Groduol ion Donce forthose l imes when you con' t beor to osk someone lo doncebut you con' t beor lo donce wi lhout them. (This should workequol ly wel l for lesbions, but s ince l 'm nol o , *eJ l goy womon,I don'1 know for cer to in. )

When I iust wonted lo be in the some squore wi th o JT, I poidot tent ion to the pulse of the donce ond sensed when o breokwos obout lo end. Just moments before the floor storted loform, I quickly (but noncholontly) moved lo the generol oreoof the hol l where he wos locoted. ( l wos corefu l not to orr ivetoo soon, or i t would oppeor thol I were lo i ter ing.) | movedto the donce { loor ot the some poce os JT ond iust hoppenedlo be ovoi loble to be in h is souore. l t d idn ' t mot ler i f I werehis por tner , of leost , JT, l 'm neor.

I sow thot , i f I wonted lo hove lhe nrost dcrr rc ing t ime wi th JT,the best posi l ion to be in (on the donce f loor) is the opposi tesex of the opposi le couple. Sure, os o couple, you gel tohold honds whi le the other couples ore work ing, but to getthe most dor.rce l ime, being in tlre opposile couple is besl.Squore Thru, Right & Lef t Thru, Swing Thru o l l o f fer monyopportuni t ies (becouse of the f requency of the col ls) for t l rosebr ief but exhi lorot ing momerr ts of f lesh to f lesh. You get tofeel h is soh, gent le honds. You gel cop o quick feel of lhosefuzzy orms peeki r rg below thot sh i r t s leeve. You get fo srn i lecoyly whi le the other couples ore work ing, ond you conolmost count every upper losh. Courr l i r rg l l re lower onesrequire o h igher f requency of co l ls sucl r os Single Circ le to oWove where you steol quick nromerr ts in o {oc ing posi t ion.

Besl o{ o l l obout being on opposi le is thot I got to donce themiddle of lhe s inging col l wi th JT. Dur ing th is per iod I got totest the e lect r ic i ty in the shoulder- to-shoulder , orm- lo-ormcontoct . Of course, you most probobly wi l l get to swing wi thhim where you {eel the s i renglh of those wonderfu lorms, ondyou smi le ond soy, "Gosh, you' re o good swinger." Just soyi t l Bel ieve me, i t gets good mi leoge.

Don' t forgel the o l l - importont thorrk you l inre. Dorr ' l seHle for

iust the ord inory. So os r rot to oppeor to be oc l ingpreferent io l ly , thqnk eoch doncer in your squore wi th o l i t t lehug ond k iss. Do your por tner f i rs t , then your corner , ondnow's o good t ime to p ick out your opposi te. JT wi l l neverknow thot lgove h im o l i t t le ext ro t ight hug ond the k issl ingered iust o moment longer. l f the other dorrcers hove nold iss ipoted, thonk ihem, too.

This l i t t le s t rotegy got me severol t ips wi thout being obvious.Thonk you Foggy Ci ty for the dor ' rce, ond thonk you JT for theexotemenl .

CIIOR,EOGR.APHING FORSOUARE DAIICEPERFORftTANCES

- .BUT I DO IT WITH A HU

by STEVE BROWNTNGFoggy City Doncers

When Freemqn osked me i [ | would wr i te on odic le obout mysquore donce choreogrophy, I jumped ot the chonce. SinceI officiolly retired from my unofficiol position of"Choreogropher to the Thors" ot the beginning of th is yeor ; Ithought t l r is would be the per fect opportuni ty to document my"coreer" in choreogrophy.

So whot wos i t thot leod to th is obsession wi th doi r rg squoredonce cho reog rophy? We l l , be ing i n o pos i t i on t o t e l l B , 12or I 6 squore doncers wl ' rere lo go, how to get there, ondwhot to do whi le they were get t ing l l rere cer to in ly p loyed oro le; but I l ike to th ink there wos nrore to i t thon thot . Beforewe s ior l to lk ing creot ive choreogrophy, however, le t 's toke oshor ' l prornenode do*rr menrory lone. Now don' t forget 1opromenode in t inre wi th t l re nrus ic - one s lep per beot wi thplerrty of pretty twirls olong the woy.

I d id my f i rs t per formorrce wi th t l re Foggy Ci ty (Squores)exhib i t ion leom ot the I 982 Costro Street Foi r . Bock in thoseby-gone doys, the oudience wos fo i r ly eosy to enter to in (we' reto lk i r rg squore doncing here! ! ) . Most people wouldn ' t eventh ink o{ put t ing the words squore donce ond goy in the somesentence, le t o lorre mix ing them up of t l re Costro Street Foi r .So, two squores of merr doncing to s imple s inging col ls l ikeThe Devtl Went Down lo Georgio ond Rockin' Pneumonioond fhe Boogie Woogie B/ues (deor godl ) wos enough tolurn heods. T l re novel ty d idn ' t lost long, however.

I begon per fornr ing wi th the Borbory Coost Cloggers in |983ond quick ly reol ized thot t l re oudience response to c loggingwos much more exci t i r rg ond enlhusiost ic thon i t hod beenwi th squore donce exhib i t ion ond thot got me to th ink ing (overy dongerous occurrence to put i t mi ld ly) . Whot couldpossib ly moke squore doncing os much {un to wotch os i l wosto donce?l There just hod to be something more in terest ingthon whot wos being done. And I hod o few ideos up mycr inol ine which I wos just dy ing to t ry out l Unfor tunote ly , f ieotmosphere ot Foggy Ci ty Squores ot the t ime wos nol ot o l lconducive to creot ive thought ; so I wos forced io put mycreot ive impulses on the bock burner .

I t wosn ' t un l i l I 984 when l he Foggy C i t y c l ub chonged hondsond nome ( to Foggy Ci ty Doncers) thoi the door f ino l ly

QUARTERLY SETECTIONS t2 SUMMER I994

opened for doing some creot ive choreogrophy. I opproochedthe teom co-coplo ins, who were running the c lub ond theexhib i t ion teom ot the t ime, ond osked i f they would bein ieres led in work ing wi th me to do some in leres l ingchoreogrophy. For tunote ly , lhey were very exci led oboul theideo, ond lwos of f orrd running on o wlro le new coreer .

The Foggy Ci ty teom performed oi the f i rs t Seof l le converr l ionin I 984 under my d i rect ion, but we were st i l l in the bor ingold s inging col l mode. There hodn' t been enough t ime ioput together onyth ing very in terest ing for thoi convenrron, soI worked on sty l ing vor iot ions ( l just luuuuuuuwww sty l ingvor iot ions) . The f i rs l fu l ly choreogrophed convent ionperformonce wos done ot the Denver convenf ion in

' l985.

Since then, we hove per formed of every corrvent ion up lo ondinc luding the |Oth onniversory reunion ot Seot t le in 1993.We olso per formed in Rigo (Lotv io) , Moscow ond St .Petersburg. I wos even o l lowed to donce in these fore ignperformonces ond lhot wos qui te o chol lenge

My f i rs t o t tempts ot c l roreogrophy were dorre occording to thefo l lowing rec ipe:

1 . Toke 2 souo res2 . Add son re sp i cy mus i c3. Throw in o col ler (or two or t l r ree)4. Blend in some i r r teres l ing { igures5. And st i r ihe buckei - v igorously

In i t io l ly , lwro le the f igures wi thout orry ideo oboul how t l reywould { i t wi th the music. We t l rerr r lod i f ied (extencled) themusic to { i t the dorrce. As I becor le nrore expenenced,however, I reolized thot it wos foirly eosy lo write the figuresto f i t the music. Dur ing th is per iod of l ime ( r r id-BO,s) , I t r iedto p ick music t l ro t wos o l i t t le more exci t inq thon the usuolhosh music ( / t 's o Smo// Wor ld s imply woul jn , t dol l ) . I o lsofound some c logging music which wos more {un lo l is ten onddonce to thor . r the usuol squore donce hosl r music.Eventuol ly , I reol ized thol I could wr i te in teresf ing f igures lhotf i i t he t im ing ond s t ruc tu re o f s i ng ing co l l s . Who f , s t h i s yousoy?? ! l You d id r r ' t k r row s inq i r rg co l l s hc rd ony s r ruc tu re o rt iming, for t l ro l nrof ier? Wel l , sonret imes lhey don, l seenr lo(depending on lhe col ler - r rosty, r rosty) ; l ro*ever , i f you th inkobout i t o l i t t le , you ' l l reol ize thcr t t l rey reol ly do. So howobout o shor t rev iew of whol s i r rg i r rg col ls ore o l l oboul . Ancllwoni you "chol lenged squore doncers" , t l ro t is to soy, yousquore doncers who donce Chol lenge to poy por l icu lor lyc lose ot tent ion. This wi l l be o good rev iew for you.

A s inging col l consis ls of Z por ts os fo l lows:

1. In t roduct ion- Oh something l ike - Fol lows choin, lherr choi r r ,em on

bock to o Do Poso,H e o d F o l l o w s t o t h e c e n t e r f o r oTEA. . .CUP. . . . . . . .CHAAAAAI I I I INNNNNNN

- (don' l forget the shr i l l screorn wi t l r vour f ree hondwoving wi ld ly - very impor lorr t s tuf f l l )

2 . F igu re I- Heods Squore Thru, e lc .- Follows move lo the next Mon (very fickle)

3 . F igu re 2- Heods Squore Thru, e lc .- Fol lows c l ronge ponners

4. Middle breok- A f igure s imi lor to the in t roduct ion- Done wi th your opposi te

5 . F igu re 3- Now i ls the s ides ' turn- Fol lows chonge Men - ogoin ( l 've o lwoys soid thot the

Fol lows hove ALL rhe FUN!! )6 . F igu re 4

- Do i t ogoin s ides- Time for the Follows to return to their home Bov

( f ino l ly)7 . End i r rg

- Thot 's o l l fo lks.- And yes, Vi rg in io (Homs?), o Weove the Ring is o lmost

inevi tob le .

And eoch of these porls conloirrs exoctly 64 counts - nomore, no less. So ormed wi th th is voluoble in formoi ion I setobout wr i l ing col ls *h ich f i t th is bosic pot tern--wi lh o few veryminor modi f icot ions, of course. There wos no need, forexonrple, to o l low the Fol lows to f l i t f rom one Mon to therrex l . l 've o lwoys been o ro l l rer mor-rogomous type (howeverdi f f icu l t t l ro t moy be to bel ieve) ond besides, i t wos eosier towr i te orrd leoch pot lerr rs t l ro l o lwoys brought you bock to yourpor t r rer ( iust l ike hosh) . Wr i t i r . rg pot terns thot took 64 countslo donce o lso hod the odvontoge of being modulor . Thot is ,l cou ld l oke ony 64 cou r r t po f i e rn ond p lug i l i n to ony s ing ingco l l .

Dur ing Jonuory - |986,

I in t roduced o concept which I co l ledthe "Hex". The ideo behind th is corrcepl wos to work wi lh 6couples (3 heods ond 3 s ides) . l t occurred to me (dur ing oneof nry drug- induced, squore-donce-fontosy k ips) t l ro t 6couples orronged in o l . rex formol ion could do ony of theCol ler lob squore dorrce col ls . Gronled, there needed to beo cer to i r r onrount of . . . . . shol l we soy, poet ic l iber ty loken wi thsome of lhe col ls . Otherwise, co l ls sucl r os Right ond Lef tThru or Double Poss Thru mig l r l couse some nosty occidents.Heods Promenode hol f wouldn ' t work too wel l , butpromenoding I /3 or 2/3 's worked l ike o chorm. I supposet l rot th is concept hos beerr t r ied somewhere oul there in thehin ler londs of squore doncing ot some t ime in the post , butlhod never seen i t done before. So I l ike to th ink thot I"invented" it. I sure did get o funny look from those folks otthe potent office, however, when I opplied for the polent.

Over the yeors l 've o lso exper imented wi th 6-couplerectongles (4 heods, 2 s ides) , B-couple squores (4 heods, 4s ides) , B-couple octogons (o l ternot ing heods ond s ides) ondeven 3-couple l r iongles ( l heod, I s ide ond Iwholever) . l 've o lso worked wi th 3 or 4 sets conlo in inq 2couples per set . Eqch set of couples would do t l re some"set

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS t 3 SUMMFR I994

of col ls , but they would do them sequent io l ly . Thot is , the f i rs t2 couples would stort t lre pottern, followed B counts loter bythe second set of 2 couples (doing the some col ls) , {o l lowedB counts lo ter by the th i rd sel of couples, fo l lowed . . . . . butl 'm sure you've got the p ic ture ( i f not the pot tern) by no*.

In doing squore donce choreogrophy, I hove o lwoys t r ied towork wi th ocfuol Col ler lob col ls (postond presenl) . And thereore enough of those oround lo lost o l i fe l ime - i rus l me! Solwos o lwoys on the lookout for n ice looking men col ls , tholis . And exoct ly whot const i tu tes o n ice looking col l , you osk?Well, there needs to be lots of oction ond it should creotesome nice- looking pot terns ond . . . . . . wel l , moybe o fe*exomples would help i l lust rote whot I meon:

Proqrom Pre t ty Co l ls Bor inq Co l ls Commenl on Bor inq

Moins f reom F lu t te ruhee l Bend the l ine Yowr ,

P lus Re loy ihe Deucey Loqd ' the Boot

l : t ; " : j

.o ' " ^ , O, t " "

Advonced Mof i vo le Whee l Thru Even the c lop doesn ' f

n e t p

of sguore donce music. This t ime I wrote the choreogrophyto f i t the music ond hod o greot t ime doing i t . But don' lworry, I won' t o f iempt to descr ibe i t here; you reol ly musl seei t io exper ience i t . And thot shouldn ' t be o problem, s incel've got LOTS of video. Turn Me 'Round wos {irst performedo t the M iom iconven t i on i n l 99 l ond even tuo l l v become oneof our fovorite performonce numbers.

l reol ly hove hod lots of fun over lhe post l0 yeors dreomingup vor ious ond sundry choreogrophed squore donceexhib i t ion p ieces. I hope my fe l low squore doncers houefound them to be os much fun to wotch os they were tocreote.

CA]II YOU ISQUARE DANCETO IIOZART?

by RUSS KING

Long before I wos o dorrcer , I loved lo wotch donceperformorrces. Bol le t , nrodern donce, fo lk donce, even thoseRenoissonce th ings t l rey do out f ront ot some of theShokespeore fest ivo ls be{ore t l re p loy begins-- l loved i t o l l .The f i rs t n ighl I ever squore donced, bock i r r 1981 wi th SkipBorrett 's Foggy City Squores ot t lre Trocodero Tronsfer, Ir emember t h i nk ing : "Who t f un - - t h i s i s l i ke o Busby Be rke leyrout ine for e ight people l " l 've o lwoys found the fus ion of thekinet ic impulse wi th the musicol i rnpulse to be one of the f inerth ings l i fe l ros lo of {er .

I wos posed ihe quest iorr "Con you squore donce to Mozort?"I hoven' t t r ied i t , bu l l rov ing devised per formonce p ieces loScot t Jopl in , Glenn Mi l ler , ond Tchoikovsky, I suppose theonswer *ould be o quol i f ied "yes." (The Tchoikovsky p iecewos choreogrophed to t l re wolh f rom Eugene Onegin; i tnever got posi the workshop s loge, but the doncers l iked i t . )Actuol ly , i f o i leost e ighl dorrcers ond o col ler con ogree ono uni form woy of responding to ihe music, you con proboblydonce to onyth ing f ronr Mozort to Nine Inch Noi ls , but s incesquore doncers ore r rot occustomed to cuing of f the music,thot 's o pret ty b ig lF. l l rod nry honds fu l l wi t l r Jopl i r r orrdMi l ler , even wi th lo ts o[ reheorsol i ime, crnd "Why bother inthe f i rs t p loce," you moy osk Wel l . . .

In the eor ly l9B0's ( '82 ond '83, to be precise) , goy squoredoncing wos in the process of developing o not ionolconsciousness. The hol f dozen or so known goy c lubs (mostof which would loter form the init iol core of the IAGSDCIM)hod begun to connect socio l ly v io f ly- ins ond re loted events.At these get- togethers, eoch c lub would usuol ly do some sor iof demonstro l ion donce, somewhot in the spi r i t o f present ingo col l ing cord or le i ter of in t roduct ion. This t rend peoked otthe I 983 Rerro Goy Rodeo's Courr t ry Donce Fest ivo l .Midnight Squores premiered two hosh p ieces by Rob Dooudshowcosing lhei r lherr -unique prof ic iency ot ihe Advoncedprogrom, one of which creot ive ly odopted severol co l ls to o

C IC2

c4

Scoot & P len ty Cross & Turn Too qu ick

Perk Up Swop lhe Wove Never d id unders lond

l h i s o n e

Exp lode the Top (Lo ts ond Lo ' ts ) Trus t me on fh is one

(There oren ' t ony) And on lh is , loo

A lot of the choreogrophy l 've creoted over lhe yeors stor tedwi th one of lhese in ierest ing col ls ond exporrded f rom there.A good exomple of th is is Spin Choin ond Exchonge theGeors. This col l hos lo ts of movement orrd sonre very n icepot lerns (s tors, s inuous s ingle { i le promenode); orrd I reol izedthot i t would be dynomite i f done { rorn o hex. Okoy, so c leoryour mind ond l ry to v isuol ize whot l 'm obout lo descr ibe.Let 's s tor t wi th o hex formol ion:

l . Heod Fol lows stor ( r ight) 1 %2. Sides Promen ode Ts3. Sides Poir Of f ( f l ip over lo foce your corner)4 . Sp in Cho in ond Weove the Geors ( t h i s i s my nome {o r

the col l )Ends turn t/t r ightCenlers 3/o le t t , Errds U-turn BockCenters t rode r / : ( th is reploces the Cerr lers Trode)Turn stors 7qWeove ocross the rn idc l le of fhe sel

5 . S ing le { i l e p romenode ( i n o c i r c l e ) ond foce . i n o l you rhome oosi t ion

Eventuol ly , i t become more qnd more d i f f icu l t lo f ind squoredonce music thot wos fun to l is len lo ond fun to donce to. Ibegon looking oround {or other forms of music which mightlend themselves to o c l roreogrophed squore donce. In I 990,I heord o song by k.d. long col led Turn Me 'Round, ond Ireol ized immediote ly thot th is wos exoct ly t l re \pe of song forwh ich l hod been seo rch ing . No t on l y d id i t hove l o t s o fene rgy , bu t k .d . wos oc tuo l l y s i ng ing obou t squo re donc i r rg .So l se t obou t w r i t i ng on exh ib i i i on p iece to t h i s mus i c . Ifound th is io be por t icu lor ly exc i t ing ond chol lenging becouseTurn Me'Round wos most def in i te ly NOT o t rodi t ionol p iece

QUARTERLY SETECTIONS l 4 SUMMER I994

s ix -coup le fo rmot . Cop i to l C i ty Squores d id o s ing ing co l l

h igh l igh ted by lhe c reo t ive use o f p rops fo r humorous e f fec t ,

ond Foggy C i ty Squores d id the i r po ten ted h igh-energy , h igh-

prec is ion s ing ing co l l s to Sk ip 's dynomic voco ls . A t Western

S ior , we hod no per fo rmonce leom, p rec is ion / nor o therw ise ;

ond our co l lec t i ve knowledge o f P lus wos l im i ted , le l o lone

Advonced; so w i th Scot t Corey 's invo luob le suppor l ond

encourogement , I go t the green l igh t to t ry somelh ing tho iwou ld toke o comple te ly d i f fe ren t opprooch.

l d e c i d e d t o t r y m o t c h i n g s q u o r e d o n c e m o v e s i o o n o n -t rod i t iono l bu t co tchy p iece o f qood mus ic ond se t i led onScot t Jop l in 's The Rog T ime Donce. A f ie r l i s ten ing to thep iece over ond over , | {ound m, rs ico l l y oppropr io te p loces fo ron A l l -Four Lod ies Teocup Cho in , Grond Sp in , ond Re loy theDeucey. The f ino l vers ion begon w i th two seporo te squoresond muto ted in to o s ing le S iomese squore fo r t l re g rond

f ino le . l t wos we l l rece ived in Reno (where the per fo rmonce

inc luded the pub l ic debut o { lhe Western Stor ves ts , newly

des igned by Denn is F icken) o r rd , o few weeks lo ie r , o t o

donce in Son Fronc isco . ( l t wos rev ived f iue yeors lo te r , i r rs l lgh t ly rev ised fo rnr , fo r Wesfern Stor ' s 6 th Ar rn iversoryDonce. ) But I leorned dur ing th i s exper ience tho tcoord ino t ing o l i ve co l le r w i th the nrus ic wos very t r i cky

i n d e e d . ( l f P l o c i d o D o r n i n g o e v e r b e c o m e s o v o i l o b l e t o u s ,

I m igh t be persuoded to ioke onot l re r look o i the Tcho ikovsky

p iece . ) And, no mot te r how oppropr io le lo the nrus ic the

sequences o f co l l s moy be in o lher respec ls , ge t t ing the

doncers to o l l do the some t l r ing w i th t l re i r fee i wher r lhe

mus ic i sn ' t i ' t 4 /4 t in te (The Rog T ime Donce hoppens lo be

h 2 /4 . ) i s on odventure in i l se l f . So , my ro ther lobor -

in tens ive meihods hove to do ie p roduced jus t two morep ieces- - t l ' re G lenn Mi l le r ln the Mood fo r C lub Lo Stor '85

(us ing squore doncers o lso odept o l sw ing , w i th Andrews

Sis te rs -s ty le voco ls o r ronged by R ic Wi lson) , o r rd o re lo t i ve ly

t rod i l iono l s ing ing co l l to Son Fronc isco io r t l re Go lden Gote

Br idge 50 th Ann iversory wo lk in Moy o f 1987. Lo ter tho tyeor , I d iscovered Scot t i sh Count ry Donc ing ond {ound in i t

o soc io l dor rce fo rm much more compoi ib le w i th my

por t i cu lo r in te res l in \ ing moventer r t to mus ic o f quo l i t y .

As squore donc ing , Scot t i s l r count ry donc ing is usuo l ly donein four -coup le g roups (sonre t imes in squc l red se is , bu t more

of ten in foc ing l ines) . The vocobu lory o f f igures is smol le r ,

bu t the foo twork i s more compl ico ted , w i t l r spec i f i c

mod i f i co t ions fo r d i f fe ren t types o f mus ic . Eoch donce is

s t ruc tu red l i ke o s ing ing co l l , w i th o repeot ing po t fe rn o f

{ igures (usuo l ly 32 bors in length , o f ten wr i t ten to go w i th opor t i cu lo r tune) tho t keeps on go ing un t i l everyone is bockwhere they s to r ted . The sequence o f f igures must bememor ized ond is on ly cued when the donce is be ing iought ;thereofler, the instructor merely gives o verbol recop beforet h e m u s i c b e g i n s . T i m i n g t h e m o v e m e n l s i o t h e m u s i c ( o r"phros ing" ) i s cons idered os impor ton t os knowing the i rgeogrophy , becouse, w i thout o co l le r , i t i s the un i fo rmi iy o {t l re doncers ' responses to ihe mus ic wh ich ho lds every t l r inglogether .

GUARTERLY SELECTIONS

Live music p loyed by exper ienced music ions is s tondord ofweekend donces, ond ot some c lub n ights, too. A weekenddonce progrom usuol ly conto ins obout I 5 donces, somehundreds of yeors o ld, some wr i i ten recent ly , which houebeen tought in deto i l dur ing the week ot c lub n ights. Oneinteresting discovery | mode when I took up Scottish:Al though Skip Borret t 's memor ized-s inging-col ls-onlyopprooch to squore doncing ot the Trocodero d id not mixwel l wi th Col ler lob, i t hod i ts roots in socio l donce t rodi t ionsdot ing os for bock os the I Bth Century.

So, I discovered o donce form witlr no l ive coller to worryobout , c leor ly estobl ished footwork, ond h igh-quol i ty musictoken for gronled. I wos in o socio l donce choreogropher 'shog heoven. So for, l 've wrif len obout twenty donces, oboufhol f o f which hove hod good exposure in the Boy Areo (ondoccosionol ly beyond) ond t l r ree of *h ich hove been publ lshedin o locol co l lec l ion. Now i f we could only get o goy groupgoilrg. .

GAY GA"TIES IIGLOSIl{G CEREMONIES

by t l re former ly oct ive ondnow iust former STEFFANY

oko Freemon Stomper

Let 's see. The quesi ion on the f loor is how do you design osquore donce per for f f lonce oround t l re fo l lowing concepts:

I . You' re on o {oolbol l f ie ld, ond you wont to look b iggerthon o gno t i n o box .

2. You've got 250 por l ic iporr ls iho i hove to be rnoved intothe s lodium in on order ly monner becouse you' re "pre-set t i r rg the f ie ld" whi le someone e lse is per forming on lhestoge.

3. You've got to p lon for 250 por t ic iponts--no more, noless--becouse one person miss ing would meon 47 otherswould be dropped f rom t l re per formonce.

4. You've gol to reheorse th is th ing in o lorge opening overseverol months so thot evervorre wou ld hove onopportuni ty to put ot leost one reheorsol in thei rschedule. Add to lhot the foct thot the per formonce is inSon Froncisco, but one fu l l squore is coming f romPort lond, Oregon, ond one f rom Miomi, F lor ido. Thosetwo squores wi l l not be oble to reheorse wi th the ent i reuni t unt i l the b ig dress reheorsol in the stodium the doybefore. And this is further complicoted by the foct thotone of the Port lond doncers is deof .

5. You' re donci r rg on o gross footbol l f ie ld, ond on o ld f ie ldoi thot , so thot i t could hove pot holes f rom lock ofmoir r terronce. l t could hove ro ined pr ior to the

I J SUMMER I994

performonce, so the ground could be wet ond moybeeven s099y.

6. l t could be cold; i t could be worm; i t could be windy.

7. You've no ideo whot the sound syslem wi l l reol ly be l ike,ond you won' t get o chonce to f ind out unl i l lhe dressreh eorso l .

B. You've got o ronge of squore donce exper iencesbetween not-hovinq-cornpleted-Moinstreom-closs toCho l l enge .

9. You wont to look exciting ond coordinoted wilhoutbreoking down, but you wont the specto lors lo see youos doi r rg something they could eosi ly leorn to dothemselves. And, you wonl prec ise colors, wi thout beingexpensive for the indiv iduol doncers.

' I 0 . You've got to get l l r is moss of doncers of { the f ie ld ond

out of lhe stodium in oboul one nr inute becouse onolherper formonce group hos pre-set the f ie ld dur ing yourper formonce ond is n ipping ot your heels to move l l teprogrom olong quick ly .

Most squore donci r rg choreogrophy is designed for osomewhot- in t imote envi rorrment . Choreogrophing for oper formorrce in the middle of o footbol l f ie ld {or orr es l i rnoled10,000 speclotors requi res o sense of f lore orrd lhe dromot ic .In Augusi o{

, l986, 250 squore doncers of the Greoter Boy

Areo goy communi \ per formed of the Clos ing Cererronies ofGoy Gomes l l in the o ld Kezor Siodium in Golden Gote Pork.But , the story begins in I 985 ond *os o *hole yeor in thentokin g.

A commit tee of the Goy Gomes issued i r rv i lo l ior rs to o l l o f theBoy Areo squore donce c lubs to per fornt o l orre of theceremonies of the Gomes. Scot t Corey imr ledio le ly seizedthe opportuni ty lo reocn consensus onror)g lhe c lubs lopor t ic ipote os one uni f urrder the borrr rer o{ the l r r lernot ionolAssociot ion of Goy Squore Dorrce Clubs. A corrmi t tee of s ixwos {ormed lo p lon orrd execule l l r rs presentot ion: Dorre l lAnderson (Western Slor) dec"o,'d, Keith Bishop (Western Stor)deceosed, Scott Corey (Western Stor), Eddie Smilh (therr ofFoggy City) deceosed, Freemon Stomper (Western Stor), ondBi l l Whi tef ie ld ( then of Foggy Ci ty) . Whi le there ore monyfocets lo tlre efforts pui into this undertoking, l ' l l try not todigress too much f rom $e focus of creol ing thechoreogrophy. We hod mony brunches, breokfosts, ondordinory meei ings to design ond decide: music, co l lers,colors, c loth ing, communicot ions, publ ic i ty , f inoncing (orr obudget of obout $500), log is t ics for reheorsols, orrd o l lernoleplons for doncers.

Eddie ond I were responsib le for creol ing the choreogrophy;however, i t wos the commit fee who decided on the por l icu lormusic. ln the beginning we d id noi know how morry doncerswe would hove; we knew only t l ro twe would do two s inging

AUARTERTY SELECTIONS

colls, *e needed to get onto the field, ond get off the field.Eddie ond Freemon hove on enormous f lqre for th ings b iggerf ion l i fe . Our obiect ive wos to present squore doncing thotlooked os though i t were o footbol l ho l f - t ime show bondroul ine designed by Busby Berkeley.

Music wos selected before the choreogrophy wos developed.After l istening to mony Broodwoy overtures ond bombosticc loss icol ond Souso morches for "enl ronce music," Dorre l lsuggested we l is ten to some old country-western fheme musiche hod bought on cosset le tope. And there i t wos-- thedreqmed-of music-- the theme lo Bononzo. Whot we woulddo wi th thot music come much loter . l t wos on to f ind ing iwosinging col ls thot hod musicol in lerest- -never mind thepotterns; we could re-write those. The fwo thot eventuollywon were chosen over other slrong conlenders becouse o{the upword modulot ion in p i tch dur ing lhe numbers ond themedley composi i ion. This would cut the repet i t ious feel ingnon-doncing obseruers get whi le wotching too much regulorsquore doncing.

Wel l , somewhere in the midst of o l l th is , Eddie wos "gunneddown" by o motorcyc le, cousing ser ious ond permonent legond upper body domoge. So, over mony weeks of Eddierecl in ing i r r bed, work ing wi th col ler dol ls , Freemon wolk ingup ond down the bedroom or k i tchen, ond c los ing our eyesto imogirre, we wrote tlre pottertrs for the two singirrg colls.We decided t l ro l , in one, we wonted lo emphosize the l ineorf lo* of co l ls ond, in the o lher , lhe c i rcu lor f low of co l ls . Nowremember thot we ore work i r - rg obout o yeor out f rom th iseverr i , so we hod lo design choreogrophy for the lowesiprof ic iency wi th the greotest eye oppeol lo the spectotor . Wewould houe doncers wi th mony yeors of exper ience or- rd morrywi t l r l i t t le to no exper ience other thon get t ing through oMoir . rs l reom c loss. These roul ines were g iven fo Kei th ond Bi l lwhose responsib i l i ty i t wos lo get lhe lyr ics coordinoted wi ihlhe new pot terns ond to re l teorse the col lers.

Scot t eveniuol ly gol o commitment tor 240 doncers, 4 col lers,ond 6 nroni iors. So, how do you get them i r r to o s lodiumdur ing someone e lse 's per forrnonce qnd onto t l re f ie ld in to oforrnol ion in which lhey con do two s inging col ls? Weeventuol ly sow thot the 30 squores of doncers could bediv lded i r r to 5 equol groups. Whotever orre uni t d id the otherfour would o lso do, so we focused on movements for onlyone uni t o f 6 squores. To s lor l wi th, the doncers oreposi t ioned on the per imeler of lhe f ie ld. They could iustPromenode to music in to thei r s tor t ing formot ion (somewhotl ike o Grond Morch) , but thot wouldn ' l be very in terest ing.Remember, th is wos our hol f - t ime s l row, so whot would obond do?

The ioy of work ing wi t l i Eddie wos thot he could t ru ly bro in-storm. Nei ther of us ever hod o bod ideo; some iust weren' tr ight for the occosion. The f ino l decis ion wos thot the stor t ingformot ion for the uni t wos four columns. With the uni t incolumns foc ing ihe cerr ter of t l re { ie ld, the two outs idecolumns moved on o d ioqor . ro l l ine towords eoch other to the

l 6 SUMMER I994

center o f the { ie ld . When eoch coup le met , they d id oPortner Trode ond moved towords the sidel ine. However, thetwo center co lumns wh ich were on the s ide l ine begon mov inglowords the center o f the f ie ld o t the momeni the f i rs t coup led id the Por tner Trode. S ince we were do ing t rod i t iono lsquore donce co l l s (o r movements lho t looked l i ke squoredonce co l l s ) , we hod o c reo le o fe* nomes fo r co l l s o r sub-rou t ines w i th in the per fo rmonce.

For exomple , the two ou ts ide co lumns knew when to beo inmov ing becouse one o f t l re co l le rs co l led , ,Heod ,E-

U"p .When the two ou ls ide co lumns mei ihe two ins ide .o l r - , . , r ,they d id o "Grond Pu l l By . " Once the un i t o f 4B doncers wosin two ou t foc ing l i r res o f 24 doncers ond we wonted them loseporo te ond move severo l yords opor t , the co l l wos issued to"Move 'Em

Out E igh t . " The doncers then knew to wo lkfo rword os one long l ine e igh t s teps . Remember , nowherehove we ye t resembled o squore , bu t co l l s were issued loheods ond to the s ides . Th is re fe r red lo whe lher you were oh e o d o r s i d e i n t h e s q u o r e w h i c h y o u w o u l d e v e n t u o l l y m o k eto donce the two s ing ing co l l s . Through o ser ies o t rod i i iono lco l l s , the un i t wos in o lo r rg co lumn o i foc ing coup les . Theco l l "E igh t Cho in Thru Go Tr ip le " wos g iven wh ich moved thedoncers th rough the two long co lu rnns i r r o weov ing nro l ion .A { e w m o r e t r o d i i i o n o l c o l l s s e t t h e u n i l i n o s i n g l e l i n e o fevery o ther coup le foc i r rg the oppos i te d i rec i ion . A t th ispo in t , no squore o f doncers hod been toget l re r os o squore ,bu t ihey were c lose . The e igh i dor rcers o r r e i ther end o f thel ine were o l l f ronr the some squore . For lhe four o thers q u o r e s , o l l d o n c e r s f o c i n g i n l h e s o m e d i r e c l i o n w o u l deven lucr l l y fo rnr o squore on the i r e r rd o f the l i r re . Upon t l reco l l "Cen ler Four Move Out , " the center four soor r - to -be^squores wo lked {o rword wh i le the two sc luores on lhe ends o fthe l ine remoined s lo i ionory . T l re mog ic co l l o f , ' p romenode

Home" coused o l l s ix squores to p romerrode i r r o c i rc le to se tlhe i r squores ind iv iduo l l y i r r lo o un i l o r rongec l os o lo rgerec tong le o f s ix squores o f doncers .

S imple , no? Wel l , no . S i r rce c r squore wos no l fo r rned un t i lobou l th ree minu les in to lhe per fo rnro , ,ce , where d ic l theybeg i r r when t l rey were on t l re s ide l ine os o b lock o f fourc o l u m r r s . E d d i e o n d l h o d t o d o n c e t h i s r ; o r l i o r r o f t h eper fo rmonce in reverse , l rock ing o l l 4B doncers bock to theor ig ino l co lumns. l r r o rder lo permor ren t ly iden t i f y eoc l rdoncer , eoch un i l wos g iven on ident i f i co t ion , eoc l r squorewos g iven o number , ond eoch doncer become l l re s tondordcoup le one, coup le two, e lc . , w i th f ino l boy or g i r ldes ignot ion . The un i ts become known os G, A , y , S ond D.(Cute , huh?) Thus , os o doncer , who you reo l l y were wosG-3-2-8 , wh ich meont you were in Un i t G, Squore 3 , Coup le2 , Boy pos i t ion . l f you were reheors ing on ly one un i l ,every th ing remoined i l re some pos i t ion . Subs t i tu ies cou ld be2-4-G or

. l - .1 -8 , you jus t hod to l ine up in o cer to in

sequence. F ive o f t l ' re mon i to rs hod the respons ib i l i t y o fsee ing tho t eoch un i t wos in the cor rec t s to r t i r rg fo rmot ion ,leod ing lhem in lo the s tod iunr to ihe oppropr io le yordmorker , ond eventuo l l y becoming the lo rge t in t l re center o ft l re f le ld towords wh ich the ou ts ide co lumns moved uoon l l . re

c o l l " H e o d ' E m U p . "

The conl ingency hos now 6emplsted the two s inging col ls(flowlessly, or so it would seem to the spectolors). Htw doyou get 245 people of f o footbol l f ie ld? This next wos l ru lyinspi red by o need to s lop rhe U.S. Supreme Court in the focefor uphold ing the U.S. Olympic Commit tee 's r ight to refusepermiss ion for the use of the word "o lympic" in connect ionwi th the Goy Gomes. The f ino l music s loded ond the col lcome oui "Circle Left." As 30 squores of doncers ore circlinglef t , lhe next co l l wos "Al l Bock Out ond Moke o Ring, , ' onJsuddenly f ive enormous r ings oppeored on the f ie ld c i rc l inglef t . l t wos momentory, but i t wos g lor ious! Eoch uni t .ou.Jto the cenler of its big ring; 240 doncers soid tlre troditionol"lhonk you" to eoch other ond lo the spectotors. When thecoll "Stompede" wos given, everyone ron lowords thedesignoted ex i l forming o moss of mel t ing ond meld ing reds,yel lows, greens, purp les, b lues, ond oronges ocross the f ie ld.

fu | ind icoted ot the beginning of th is or t ic le , there weremony oct iv i t ies involved in creol ing th is per formoncecont i r rgency, but I l rove focused on some of thechoreogrophy. There ore o {ew visuols whiclr were cri l icol tothe oueroll performonce. We wonted to creote okoleidoscopic effect in color or.r t l.re field which would olsool low the specto lors to see the movenrent of heods ond s idesin t l re s ingi r rg col ls . We used lhe s ix colors o{ t l re goy f log sot l rot we could hove three squores in comple ie ly d i f ferencecolors. Thus, in lhe uni l o f s ix squores, there would be twosquores of eoch color cornbinot ion. Colors in <r squore wereossigrred which hod st rong color seporot ion. (Oronge wosthe leost populor co lor , but everyone d id eventuol ly weor thei ross igned color . ) The color wos in the shi r ts or b louses wi thponts or sk i r ts being e i ther your oss igned color , b lock, ordork b lue. I got t l re kole idoscope ideo whi le wotc l r ing thef i rs t t ip of ier the Grond Morch ot the Col i forn io Sto le SouoreDonce Corrvent ion in Fresno i r r 19B5. Al o s f ro iohtconverr t ior . r , the Grond Morch involves onlv o fe* which Jrei r r motc l r i r rg dresses orrd s l r i r ts for thei r c lubs or ossociot ions_Slorrd ing in the b leocl rers to wotch th is ceremony, I reol izedfor lhe { i rs t l inre l row dromot ic c i rc les of co lor rondomlyploced orr t l re f loor i r r c lose proximi ty to eoch other would be.

Another corrcepl wos l i f ted r ight out of the costumes of iheSon Frorrc isco Bol le t 's per formonce of Bol lonchine,s , ,Stors

ond Str ipes." Wi th ihe dor . rcers in br ight , o ld-mi l i tory_sty ledress, lwos v isuol ly owore of the precis ion of t l re doncersbecouse of the st r ipes down the men's ponts legs ond thewhi te g loves worn by o l l the doncers. In squore doncing,there is no in terest in the {eel , but t l re honds ore o l l -impor lonl . Thus, we pui whi te g loves on o l l the squoredoncers ond requi red them to do exoggeroted swinging ormmovements for such col ls os "Grond pul l By ond, ,Elght -hoinThru Go Tr ip le." We col led th is the Esther Wi l l ioms ormmovemerr t .

To deol wi t l r every conceivoble possib i l i ty of sound problems,we put the squores wi t l r fhe most numbers of

AUARTERLY SELECTIONS 1 7 SUMMER I994

leost-exoerienced doncers in the units which were closesl folhe s loge where lhe col lers ond the pr imory speokers wouldbe. We thought thot more-exper ienced doncers could deolbetter with reverberotion/echo ond weok sound. Wereheorsed ond reheorsed, ond lhere wos onlv one f low in thef inol per formonce. The contro l boolh d id nol connecl fhecollers' microphones oppropriotely so lhot, once tlre Eononzotheme begon, the doncers ond spectotors could nol heor thecommond "Heod 'Em Up." We hod not reheorsed stor t ingthe d iogonol l ines on o cer to in phrose of the music, thus ihevery beginning of the per formonce wos o l i f l le rogged, but themicrophones were work ing by the t ime the d iogonols reochedihe center of the f ie ld for the col l "Por tner Trode." "Heod 'Em

Up" ond "Slompede" were to be the bookends of theper{ormonce lo l ie i l oll together lo Bononzo. But whot theheyl Dur ing Stompede you could feel the rush of odrenol ineo{ o l l those doncers, running wi th pr ide becouse they hod ius lcomple led o per formonce they thought t l . rey never could do.Eoch doncer wos g iven on oppor luni ty , ond eoch doncerseized the indiv iduol moment lo creote one evenr.

I don' t know whether i t is becouse I co-choreogrophed lhepe r fo rmonce o r becouse lwos o po r ' l i c i po r r t , bu i l con l i nue l o{eel tremendous pride eoch tinre I wolclr t lre video of l lreper formonce. The imoges ore st i l l very s t rong ins ide of mysoul , ond the reol i ty of the energy which is generoled by 250successes shor ing thei r successes indiv iduol ly orrd col lecf ive lybr ings shivers down my spr1e.

tO \EARS AGO

The Club welcomed the f i f th ond lorgesl c loss of Moins l reorrgroduotes on July 31. Quot ing f rom T/re Weslern Stor ,Vo lume 2 , Number 4 :

"So wlrot hoppens of ierwords?" is o cornmonquest ion f rom newer doncers os groduot iorr n ightopprooches. Wel l , most of the oct iv i ty wi l l centeroround the c lub thot you io ln. Al though c lubs fo l lo*mor-ry s tondords lhot hove conre lo def ine squoredoncing, eoch c lub--ond lhere ore numerous s l ro ighfond goy c lubs in the Boy Areo--wi l l hove thei r own"personol i ty" ond "progrom" thot they of fer to thei rmembership. We hope, of course, thol you wi l lconiinue with Western Slor.

WSD did not hove o Plus c loss, but of fered Plus col ls toughton o groduol bosis ot c lub n ight wi th one or two fu l l P lus stort ips.

Another Bosic/Moinstreom c loss begon September 6, 1984.The South Flor ido Mustongs onnounced thei r second Fly- lnfo r Feb ruo ry 16 , l 9B5 ; ond the 2nd IAGSDCTM Conven t i onwos onnounced for Moy 25-27 , I 985, in Denver, Colorodo.

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

The nexl Accelero ied Plus c loss wos onnounced to begin onOclober 2 l which chorged the outrogeous fee of $1 persession.

At the July I I quor ter ly Generol Meet ing, the Clubmembership o lmost unonimously voiced o preference for oClub col ler ot the stor t o f lhe new yeor. This wos thebeginning of WSD moving owoy f rom records ond topes onClub n ight . There wos on overwhelming opprovol for osecond retreot ot the Russion River, lo be held ot theCozodero Music Comp. [Ed. This is not the some os CompCozodero.]

The weekend of August I7 ond I B held Street Foi r GrondSpin 2. lt wos in honor o[ the Folsom Streel Foir, with o Plusdonce on Fridoy ond o Moinslreom donce orr Soturdoy.

We int roduced business cords {or the Club. They weredesigned lo be g iven out fo squore doncers you met , ond youcould wr i le your nome ond p l rone number/oddress on lhebock for " impromptu" doles. Our s logon wos o WSDbusiness cord in everv honre.

Vick i Woocls-Anlr inr , o col ler lhe Club hod h i red for severoldonces, suggested thot some chonges to the vests for thepi lo t squores. Pi lo t squores ore l l . re squore(s) thot o col lerconcenlrotes uporr remember ing the stor t ing order of thecouples so thot s(he) con resolve lhe sguores. Th is ispor t icu lor ly impor lont for co l lers who ore not occustomed tocol l ing for some-sex couples, much less some-sex squores-She suggesled "hot" co lors ond the use of " 'spork l ies 'on thegi r l vest over l l re shoulders ond s l ight ly down the bock ondfront . " IEd. The Club never got orour . td to chonging lhe p i lo lsquore vests- ]

We received o leiier from the Lesbion,/Goy Freedom DoyCommit tee lhorrk i r rg us for prov id ing "o l l the necessoryserv ices ond equipment lo moke t l re I 984 Porode o so{e ond

ioyous event for o th i rd of o mi l l ion people!"

Thod Trelo hod hod on oppor luni ty to use h is WSD-ocquiredski l ls to squore dorrce in h is smol l , mid-western hometown.He reported lhot : " l understood t l re col ler , could do themond l re ld my own in o new l ro l l , wi th o st ronge col ler , ond o l lnew people. Also, my WSD bockground wos st rong enoughto see me througlr on in terrse s ix-week course in t l re Plusprogrom. . .Newer doncers of Western Stor con be ossuredthot whot t l rey ore leorr r i r rg wi l l serve them wel l wherever theygo .

To help ot Club n ight when doncers must s i t out becouselhere ore not enough doncers to {orm onother squore, theClub exper imented wi th o lemporory Togging- ln pol icy."Togging- in is o procedure wlr ich o l lows o l l ovoi loble doncersto por t ic ipole in o s ingle t ip . l t is potent io l ly d isrupt ive of t l redonce." l tem

. l o f the pol icy s loted:

Togging- in is nei ther necessory nor desi roble dur ing

t d SUMMER I994

Bongkok , l 3 June 94

I wont you to know how much I enioyed ondopprecioted l l re Moy 1994 Quor ler lySeiec l ions. l , too, { i rs t s torJed squore doncingol Trocodero Trorrs{er wi lh Foggy C; tySquo res .

I io ined Western Stor 's secorrd c lcrss to leorn

t ips col led ot the generol , onnounced level ; there iso lwoys omple oppor luni ty {or o l l to donce dur ing thecourse of the evening. Doncers ore encouroged,however, to voluntorily trode out irr fovor of others ifthe turnout is snro l l or (especio l ly) i f guesls orewoi t ing lo donce.

ln on ot tempt to spreod the responsib i l i t ies o i the Clubomong the members (col l i t forced volunteers) , the Clubot iempted the formot ion of groups of members col led"Squoreheods." The responsib i l i t ies of the Club *ere d iv idedinto s ix cotegor ies, ond lhe membership wos ossigned to )2Squoreheods. The responsib i l i t ies ro loted omong lheSquoreheods so thol every other monlh o Squoreheod hodresponsib i l i iy for something [Ed This wos the beginning ofthe understonding t l ro l not o l l members woni lo beresponsib le for something ond thot the Club would o lwoys berun on o consistent bosis by, ot most , o hondfu l of dedicotedmembers who enioy provid ing o serv ice lo others. ]

A TETTER TO THE EDITOR

coke for Jo l rn Conley ond Donold Breer . When to lk ing toRon Mosker, I found out ihot he is very proud of his new RedCloss, for he finds them to pick everything up very quicklyond feels thot i t is o p leosure teoching such o fun group. Heolso ment ioned thot i t looked l ike the moin choice of dr ink otth is pot luck wos Snopple lM ice teo. An ideo f loshed in h ismind thot he shored wi th me--wouldn ' t i t be fun to do oWeslern Slor commercio l for Snoppler t .

Veronico Mor l inez of the Red Closs showed up in her newMorgon. [Ed. Thot 's o cor for you who, os l , don' t know oMorgon {rom on Adom, Steve, or Edith.] In o conversotionoboul why she l iked squore doncing, she ment ioned lhot shewould l ike to be o good twi r ler , os Russ, Ron, ond o fewothers ore good twirlers. When I osked her how lo becomeo good twirler, she soid lhot Storr hod informed her thot, tobecome o good twi r ler , you must hove o st rong leoder whocon leod you irr ond out of o fuirl success{ully, wii lroutconfusion. Rick ond Bi l l to ld me thot one o[ the reosons they

io ined Western Stor wos not only becouse they knew severolf r iends thol ore nrembers but o lso they fe l t i t wos fun ond ogreot woy to meet new f r iends. I hove io ogree; i t does lookl lke fun, ond I met o few new f r iends thot of ternoorr os wel l .Lonce lo ld me l i ro t he hod such o good t ime ot the lostpot luck lhot he iust hod to br ing l r is best f r iend, JJ. JJ wossucl r o l r i t o t t l re pot luck lhoteveryorre hod io s lop by ond pether . I fh ink Lonce wos o l i t t le jeo lous thot JJ wos get t ingmore ot tenl iorr t l ron, soy moybe, he.

Loler ihot everr ing, Freenron osked Scot t to show us o v ideoobout Corrrp Cozodero *h ich gove the new memberssomelh ing to look {orword lo o l lhe end of September.Judgir rg { rom ol l the loughs, I th ink I con successfu l ly soy thott l r e re w i l l be o good i u rn ou l f r on r l he Red C loss '94 . l o l sounders iond t l ro t t l rere is o secret bol lo t s tor t ing up lo e lec l ocerloin sorrebody frorl the Red Closs os Mz. Conrp Coz.Does onyone hove o c lue thot they con g ive me os to whoth i s rn igh t be???? [Ed . Fo l l ow you r penc i l f r om the po in t t othe eroser os you wr i te , deor . ]

Unt i l our next pot luck, th is is Angel i r ro soying keep thosehee l s k i ck in ' ond the g i r l s tw i r l i n ' .

SIIADES OF DR. DOOTITTLE

by JAtulES OZANICH

Squore doncing l lomos? Yes, i t 's opporent ly l rue.

Severol weeks ogo o co-worker to ld me $ot she heord onews report on Not ionol Publ ic Rodio obout squore doncingl lornos. Noturo l ly I d idrr ' t be l ieve i t , th ink ing i t must be oproct ico l joke. However, I d id contoct NPR in Woshington,DC, ond requested o copy of the progrom. l t or r ived in ihesno i l mo i l ond oppo re r r l l y i t ' s t r ue .

to {ol low col lsro the r t hon menro r i ze rou t i r r es t o so r rgs . l hove r reve rregret ted the i ime spent dorrc ing wi t l r Weslern Sior people.

I hove not donced the lost s ix yeors or so due io lock of suchdonci r rg in Thoi lond. Perhops I should l ry lo form o grouphere, but I om nof o col ler nor even on exper ienced leocher.Perhops o l l i f needs is o leocler to br ing together to lenlo l reody ex is l i r rg in Borrgkok??

Dorr Scl runrocl rer

WETCOME POTLUCKRED CLASS I 994

by ANGELINAAce Reoorter

Angel ino here, lhod the pr iv i lege of being osked to s top bythe Go/den Bool Ronch where there wos o potluck for theWestern Slor Doncers ' new Red Closs '94. Boy wos Isurpr ised ot o l l the food thot wos on hond--everyth ing f romturkey ond hom to o vor iety o{ posto solods ond o b i r thdoy

QUARTERTY SETECTIONS t 9 SUMMER I994

A wi fe ond husbond teom in Shorpsvi l le , Indiono, (neorKokomo) hove t ro ined l lomos to squore donce; two squoreswi th four humons ond four l lomos i r r eocl r (no refererrce wosmode os to the gender or donce ro le of ony of theport ic iponts) . No indicot ion wos nrode os io ihe progrombeing donced e i ther ; o l though I ser iously doubt they houemostered such Plus col ls os Reloy the Deucey or Spin Chointhe Geors. Beo Kesl ing, the l lomo owner ond t ro iner ,ind icoled the l lomos ore very odept ot honor ing thei r por lnerond con o lso do o t rodi t ionol bock- io-bock Do So Do.

Beo ond husbond l rv hove opproximole ly 170 l lomos theyro ise os pets or se l l to o lher formers. The l lomos begin t l re i rsquore donce lessons o i obout 5r lz months of oge when theyore weoned of f thei r moihers. The dorrc ing is done lo o l ivecol ler who con speed up or s low down the music ond t imingos necessory, ond wi th o leod rope or hol ler . The l lomosopporent ly enjoy hoving st rongers os donce por l r rers whenmembers of the oudience ore inv i ted lo io in in .

I hove o lso heord f rom the some co-worker t l ro t o f r ier rd ofhers sow i l rese squore doncing l lomos on te lev is ion. I moveto hove the 1997 IAGSDCl ' converr l ior . r in Shorpsvi l le ,I nd iono , so we con o l l donce w i th t he l l omos .

BEING A STR,AIGTIT WOilTANIN A GAY

SOUARE DANCE CIUB

RAi'IONA ITICHAELS

So--why does o st ro ig l r t womon dorrce wi t l r o goy c lub?

Yeors ogo (too nrorry lo merrl ion) | expressed orr irrleresl insquore doncing ond wos inv i ted by o lo"e ly couple (s t ro ig l r t )lo ot tend thei r squore donce n ig l r l . I went once. Most of lhepeople were indeed couples, ond I fe l t out of p loce.Needless to soy, I d idn ' t go bock.

My interest never woned t l ro ' . When I met o Western StorDoncer, he soid o new (oronge) c loss wos stor t ing soon.When I osked i f the whole of ihe c loss wos goy, he l ied ondsoid, "No." So th is wi l l ing. innocerr t lomb ot tended. l t wosqui ie o lorge c loss ond quick ly peoked my in lerest . Thecl incher wos dur ing the rest per iods when lhe exper ienceddoncers "showed thei r s tuf f . " Wel l , thot wos i t l I Honey, Ineve r sqwsuch ene rge t i c h igh -k i ck in ' , whoop in ' , ond ho l l e r i n 'in o l l my l i fe . Al l o f th is by some of t l re best- looking men Ihod lo id eyes on in o long t inre! Being of o cer to in oge, Iwos rother bored with l i{e. After woiching fiot disploy ond

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 20

becoming involved, I reol ized thot thor is s t i l l some l iv in ' lodo.

A ser ies of l i fe events took p loce, ond I moved in lo the Costrodis l r ic l . I om never bored. fu o resul t o f th is squore donceodventure, I hove met the greotest people ond hod somegood t imes. (Does th is sound l ike o soop?)

Of course, the reol ly funny por t is thot my fomi ly [Ed.Romono is o grondmother . l ond f r iends ore o l l not occept ingof my "l ife style." lt reolly delights rne thot, in my loier yeors,I con st i l l be somewhqt of o controversy. But I th ink mygreotest joy is thot I wos olwoys inclined to royolty, ond nowl 'm surrounded by fosc inot ing Queens.

lhope you'o l l love me os much os I love you.

gUE SIECFRIEDokc SUZIE JO BRADTEY

My f i rs t exper ience wi th goy squore doncers wos when the f i rs tgroup of Midnight Squores begorr ot tending PACE donces.This wos pr ior lo lhe { i rs l IAGSDCIM corrvent iorr in Seof l le . Iremember t l r is smol l group of dcncers to lk ing obout l l re i rp lons to ot terrd o donce in Seot t le ; Io lso remember thot i tcon{ l ic ted wi th t l re PACE Spectoculor in 1984. Other thoniho t , i t d i dn ' t hove much meon ing l o me o t t he t ime . I d i dn ' treol ize thot by 1994 the IAGSDCIM convent ion wouldbecome sucl r o b ig everr t on my socio l co lendor.

I o lmost dropped out of squore doncing complete ly betweenI 985 ond eor ly I 987 . I renrember corrs ider ing going to thel986 convent iorr i r . r Son Froncisco, but I don' t th ink I wosquile yet reody lo otlend suclr o goy evertl.

l n Jonuo ry 1987 , I mode p lo r r s t o donce w i th Pou lZimmermonn ot the Nopo Weekend (o st ro ight event) . l t wosot th is donce where I f i rs l met Jomes Ozonich. We hod ogreot l i r re doncing in squores logether , orrd thot is where our{r iendship begon. This everr t is reol ly s igni f icont becouse i iwos through Jomes thot I eventuol ly become so i r rvo lved wi thdoncing in the goy communi ty . In i t io l ly though, we doncedtogether pr imor i ly ot s t ro ight events. We become regulorpor tners ot o l l PACE donces ond of iended mony st ro ightweekend {estivols suclr os the Golden Stote Round Up ondthe 37th Not ionol Squore Donce Convent ior . r in Anoheim inl9BB. Through Jomes, I s tor ted meet ing new people in thegoy communi ty ot o ropid poce. We stoyed wi th some ofJomes's { r iends dur ing the Anoheim convent ion, ond thoi wosthe f i rs t o f seuerol p leosont exper iences being o house quesiof worm ond grocious goy hosts.

Eveniuol ly I s tor ted ot tending motry donces sponsored by goyclubs, ond I hove ot tended every WSD Anniversory Doncesince I 9BB. l o t lended nry f i rs t IAGSDCTM convent ion in

SUMMER 1994

New York in I 989, ond I hod such o good t ime ihot , wi th theexcept ion of Miomi, I hove been lo o l l convent ions s incethen. l twos ot the New York convent ion t l ro t I wos "odopted"in lo the Brodley Fomi ly . I wos g iverr o Shody Rest Dorrcersbodge ond "chr is tened" Suzie Jo Brodley. This wos o io to lsurpr ise to me ond I wos thr i l led. Whoi on honor i t is to beinc luded in such on e l i te ond lov ing group. My Brodleysis ters ore reol fomi ly to me.

Over my long squore doncing coreer , I hove belonged 1omony c lubs such os UC Squores ond F remon t S ing les , ondwos o founding member of Son Lorenzo Singles. I hove beeno member of PACE Nor Col s ince opproximotely I 978 ondcont inue to ot tend most of thei r month ly donces. PACE lsofficiolly o stroight orgonizolior.r, but over the posi len yeorsi t hos goined so mony goy members thot i t no lor . rger hos thefeel of being st r ic t ly o s t ro ight c lub. I don' t bother to go loony other s t ro ighl c lubs becouse i t is more t rouble thon i t 'swor ih. There is o b ig, populor s ingles c lub in the South Boyoreo; but , in my exper ience, i t 's not o p loce where o s inglefemo le con j us t d rop i n on c lub r r i gh t ond expec l l o ge t opor tner eosi ly . These people "book" thei r t ips inodvonce--even on o pernronent bosis . l f you get to fhedonce very eor ly ond ore very oggressive you could { ind o fewpeople wi th "open" t ips. Thot seems l ike too much *ork ino rde r t o hove fun . The re i s no such l h i ng os ge t t i ng i n to osquo re os o s i r . r g l e ond ho ld ing up you r hond fo r o po r tne r .Thot is to to l ly unheord of in s t ro ight c lubs, you must o lwoysenter o squore os o couple. Going to o weekend hoedownos o s ingle femole would sure ly resul t in orr everr i r rg of s i t t ingout wotching others donce. Single nren rore ly of lend oSoturdoy n ight donce o lone; i t seenrs thei r egos do nol o l lowthem to odmit they dorr ' t hove o dote for the n ight .

My donci r rg l ros beconre cr l r los l exc lus ively wi th in the goycommuni ty or wi t l r o goy group thot ot tends o st ro ight fest ivo lsuch os the Si lver Sto le Fest ivo l in Reno ond the Golden StoteRound Up thot t l re Brodleys recerr l ly o i lended. | {eel verywe lcomed ond l oved by eve ryone l know in t he gc rycommuni ty . I fee l I hove more s i r rcere ond loyol f r iends r rowthon I hove hod ot ony t ime in my l i fe ond feel so for tunolefor th is exper ience. There is o lwoys someone ovoi loble to gosomewhere or do somelh ing wi t l r . An exomple is my recentt r ip to New York, Phi lodelphio, orrd Woshir rgton, DC. It roveled wi th Tom in New York ond Phi lodelphio; wents ig l r tseeing in New York wi th Tom, Jomes, Russ, George, ondRick; roomed wi th Freemon in DC; spent two doys s ightseeingwi th Anno; hod breokfost ond spent por t of orro i l rer doy wi thHol l is , Mory Pot , ond Mot t ; wenl on the Fun Bodge Tour bymysel f ; o t tended the f i reworks d isploy wi th o hugh group;even hod d inner one n ight wi th the Brodleys ond t l re Woodstogether ( imogine thot l ) ; ond then t roveled home wi th Rondyond Andy. The benef i ls of hoving so mony f r iends orel imi t less. In most c i rcumstonces th is mony opt iorrs would notbe ovoi loble to o s ingle womon in the st ro ight communi ty .

I om qu i t e open obou t who my f r i ends o re . My fom i l y ondfr iends of work know obout my goy f r iends, orrd l 've never fe l i

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 2I

I hod to defend my involvement in the goy communi ty . Iweor on AIDS oworeness r ibbon o lmost o l l the l ime, ondsince I recent ly bought my "Unt i l There 's o Cure" brocelet , Inever toke i t o f f . Whi le in DC, I bought o T-shi r t {or which Ihod been looking for o long t ime thot soys Stro ight 8ut NotNorrow. I look forword to weoring it often.

I t 's d i f f icu l t to soy whot I odd to the goy communi ty by myinvolvement wi th squore doncing. I know I love the donce,ond l 'm sure lhol ot t i tude comes ocross in o squore. Peopleseem to enjoy doncing wi l l r me. Even though I donce otseverol progroms, I s t i l l en joy (ond somet imes prefer) doncingthe Moinstreom ond Plus progrom donces. I hove neverbecome who t l co l l " o l eve l snob . " l s t i l l en ioy see ing o newdoncer in my squore ond feel thei r joy os they develop ne*sk i l ls . A l though I hove never io ined ony goy c lub, I regulor lyot tend weekend donces sponsored by WSD, El CominoReelers, Dioblo Doncers, ond Copi to l Ci ty . My involvementwi ih the goy communi ty hos grown ond chonged over thepost e ight or so yeors, ond now reoches for beyond iust thedonce. I con no longer imogine my l i fe wi thout th is deepinvolvemerr t wi th in the goy communi \ , ond l feel my l i fe hosbeen g reo t l y e r r r i ched by t h i s expe r i ence .

[Kip] Thorne is one of the inst igotorsof o $250 mi l l ion pro iect thol ,omong other th ings, wi l l look forgrovi tot ionol woves g iven of f by poi rsof b lock holes os they c i rc le eochother l ike squore doncing por tners,spi ro l c loser , ond f ino l ly merge.

Science SeclionSon Jose Mercury News

M o y 3 1 , 1 9 9 4with lhonks lo Fronk Yel l in {or

spot l ing the or t ic le ond shor ing

so[YA GOXGopitcl Gity Squcrer

With v is ions of Stonewol l s t i l l sos l roy ing through my heod, forstor ters, I would l . rove to conclude thot the reoson I doncew i th o goy c lub i s s imp ly becouse i ho t i s whe re l be l i eve thereol humorr bei r rgs ore. l 've been oround for o long t ime(no, not THAT long) , orrd I know th ings such os thot .

I wos born with few tolents other thon on eor {or o doncebeot , on obi l i ty to t ronspose complex terminology in toeverydoy words, ond on intuit ive certointy (perhops becouseI wos ro ised in orr rother b igoted fomi ly) thot d iscr iminot ionond pre iudice were inherent ly wrong. I hove been morr ied(more thorr once) ond corrc luded long ogo thot th is is not thel i fe for me. I now l ive wi th orr over-weiqht b lock cot nomed

SUMMER I994

Piwocket (whose dod d ied of AIDS th is post Jonuory) . l t is inth is l iv ing orrongemenl ihot I f ind mysel f mosl comfor loble.

I donce wi th Copi to l Ci ty Squores in Socromenlo becouseevery mon in the c lub is gorgeous ond ihouglr t lu l ond veryprecious to me, becouse very womon seems lo corry withinhersel f o v igor ond conf idence thot 's empower ing ondrefreshing, ond becouse there 's not o person in the c lub Iwould not be del ighted to col l my brother , my s is ler , my chi ld .I om proud to be o member, ond bot l r f l re merr ond womerrhove occepted me os one of t l re i r owrr . Going lo donces otother c lubs, l reol ize thot my feel ings for these neot humonsin my l i fe could eosi ly be extended to mony of the people Imeet of lhese out ings os wel l . (This concepl , however, is {orl oo ove rwhe lm ing to even cons ide r ; so l con t ro l my"exponsionis t " feel ings. A {ew k indred spi r i ls o l though hovesl ipped ond s l i thered thei r woy in to my heort . )

Oh yes, one ot l rer fh i r rg. The members of Cop Ci ty oreexcel lent doncers (due in no smol l por i to lhe i r terr i f icinst ructors) , ond they ' re greot fun to be oround.

How did I qet there?

I t 's d i f { icu l t to seporole l row lgot involved wi ih goy squoredoncing f rom how I got involved wi th the goy conrnrurr i ty .l 've o lwoys bel ieved thot people ore d i rected lo where theyshould be by those who've o l reody crossed to the other s ide.One exper ierrce fo l lows onolher orrd, by l iv ing the c i rcu i tousodventure, you evenluol ly f ind yoursel f in your presenrc i rcumstonce e i lher becouse i t 's your f inc l dest inot ion orbecouse i t 's the next s lep on your jourr rey. For lhose *hobel ieve in dest iny, perhops t l ro t is whcr l brought me loCol i forn io 1 5 yeors ogo ond b lessed me wi th o l i fe thot hosbeen endlessly f i l led wi th people I shol l never forget .

One doy shor l ly of ter | [ the greot Gorbo srrob whoseWoshington, DC, socio l co lerrdor wos cornpr ised ent i re ly o[Kennedy Cenler benef i ts ] orr ived here, I wos possing througho locol shopping nro l l ond could not bel ieve how complete lyenthro l led I wos wi th o group of squore doncers per formingthere. In one of the squores, the couples were doingsomeih ing reol ly wi ld thot l 'd never seen before--screomrrrg"yo hoo" ond infect ing the crowd wi t l r iust p lo in fun. loskedthem wlrot they were doing ond d iscouered t l r is wos c logging.I decided on the spot thot I wonted to mosler botlr squoredoncing ond c logging. I took squore doncing lessons wi lhSocromento Single Squores 'Joe Kulo ond leorned everyth ingihese c logge rs knew w i th in t h ree mon t l r s . lwon tedmore--horder , foster , more complex choreogrophy--only to beto ld there were no ot l . rer ins i ruc lors in town. I couldn ' lbe l ieve ih is wos t rue ond kept osk ing, "Are you sure there 'snowhere e lse lo c log?" F inol ly one of t l rem soid, "Wel l , yes,there is one other c lub in town, but they ' re. . . ( in o whisper)goy." I wos fur ious! Al l those wosted months becouse oJthei r pre judice.

Thot f i rs t evening I iourneyed into the Sut ter 's Stompers

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS

clogging c lub, I couldn ' t bel ieve my eyes--25 sweot ing guyswho look l ike mole models--ond me! As lhe monlhs possedond the f r iendships grew, I d iscouered thot mony of thesefo lks o lso donced wi th Copi to l Ci ty Squores ond wereplonning lo form o group col led Pr ime-B's, but I decided otthe time to concentrote on mostering clogging. Wereheorsed ond performed holf of every week, got stondingovotions wherever we wenl, ond mode lots of money.

With in o few yeors, s ix of our c loggers, inc luding our feocher,were d iognosed wi th AIDS. Into the mid-1980's, peopledidn ' t reol ize they even hod the v i rus unt i l they werehospi to l ized, so we were h i t fost ond hord. We wereespecio l ly terr i f ied in the eor ly yeors ond d idn ' t understond oto l l whot th is th ing wos. In our ef for ts to f ind out obout thevi rus, I qccumulo led os much informot ion for the guys os Icould. l t turned out lo be o more comple le mix thon onyoneelse in town hod ot the l ime, ond I wos osked by ourSocromento goy newspoper lo become the AIDS Edi tor . Thissounded complete ly r id icu lous to me, but the edi tor osked meto g i ve i t o go who t o wh i l e , ond l hove neve r m issed odeod l i ne s i nce I begon i n 1987 . To l eo rn more , I t r o i ned oso Hond-to-Hond volunteer wi th the AIDS Foundol iorr ondsoon become on ins i ructor- -creol i r - rg on unbreochoble bondthrough the yeors, ond i r . r to the fu lure, wi t l r scores of peopleinrpocted by lh is epidemic. l 've been for tunote to be wi thmosl of our c loggers when l l rey d ied, os wel l os wi th severoldozen ofher wonderfu l people who were my Hond-to-Hondmotc l res or c lose f r iends.

A f te r ou r c l ogg ing teoc l re r d ied i n 1991 , lmqde o Su t te r ' sStompers Qui l t ponel for the guys ond then turned my bockorr the c lub ond wolked owoy f rom i l forever . I decided toreturn to squore dorrc i r rg ond become por t of the Qui l tcommit tee br inging o Nomes Proiect Chopter to Socromento.At Copi to l Ci ty Squores, I met o *hole new group of menond women ond renewed f r iendships wi th people l 'd met overthe yeors. I found t l rese fo lks *ere for f rorn urr touched by theAIDS epidenr ic . Losl sunrnrer , c lub president George Foxmode o Qu i l t pone l con to in ing l l ' r e nomes o f l 9 men Cop i fo lCi ty ond Pr ime-B's hove lost , severol of whom I reol ized I woswi th os t l re i r l ives errded. Si r rce thot t ime. three others hoved red .

Yet , th is is where we o l l go to hove {un. l t 's cr i t ico l to nrelhol I hove o greol furr p loce to go o l leosl once o week, ondsquore doncing hos become t l r is specio l p loce for me. Thisis wl rere I go to shore f r iendships ond comoroder ie thot nowords con descr ibe. Arrd, Copi to l Ci ty hos o lso of fered meon opportuni ty to bet ier gel lo know o whole segment ofsocie\ thot hod pret ty much s l ipped r ighi by me over lheyeors: lesbions. l 've met mony goy women through Hond-1o-Hond, but , perhops becouse our purpose is so ser ious,we've never reolly hod orr opporlunity to hove fun togetlrer.The men ond women in Copi to l Ci ty hove brought me monyo smi le ond tought me for more lhon how to squore donce.They've le t me into thei r l ives, they t rust me, they conf ide inme. No one could ever osk for more thon lhor .

n aL L SUMMER 1994

I th ink my goy ond lesbion f r iends, os o generol ru le, oremore in te l lectuol , {unny, to lented, ond emot ionol ly honestthon my st ro ight f r iends--perhopsbecouse they 've exper iencedheights ond depths of emot ion few people hove theopportuni ty to explore. Since being emot iorro l ly honest isex l remely h igh on my l is t o f vo luoble humor. r t ro i ts , l f indmysel f for more comfor toble wi th my goy f r iends thon wi th mystro ight f r iends. I recent ly osked o mole co-worker whosew i fe hod i us two l ked ou ton h im ond token o l l t he f u rn i t u re i fhe 'd l ike to gel out for d inner ond io re lox ond rechorge. Hisresponse wos to osk whot I reol ly wonted f rom him ond whotmy reol in tent ions were. The concept of hoving o femolefr iend wos complete ly out of h is grosp. But , I mode h imleo rn .

I hoven' t speni ih is much h igh-quol i ty t ime wi ih dozens ofh igh-quol i ty goy men wi thout exper ienci r rg o fe* modcrushes--okoy! l 've {o l len in love o couple of t imesl - -but Iknow lhot ihe nremor ies of l i rese ex l ro-specio l people wlro 'vetouched my soul wi l l cont inue to br ing me greot joy for therest o{ my l i fe .

The sheer numbers of people who ot lended the Stonewol lce lebrot ions cought the Amer icon publ ic by surpr ise, ond i twi l l he lp lhem reol ize thol goy Amer icons ore everywnereomong us, doing thei r lobs wel l , l iv ing lhei r l ives decerr f ly ,ond thotg iven t l re c l ronce they con help moke th is country forbef ler thon i t is todoy. l t moy wel l loke onother 25 yeors, orlonger, but the ground l ros been broken. Squore dorrc i r rg isconsidered by mony io be the u l t imoie wholesonre recreof ion.Wherr goy c lub members venture out to per forr l o l s lote fo i rsond other exhib i t ions or ot tend dorrces orrd convenf ior rs wi ihs l ro ig l r t c l ubs , t hey g i ve l he gene ro l pub l i c o un rqueopportuni ty to get to know goy people bei ler . They p loy osubt le, yet powerfu l , ro le in the goy r ighfs movenrent .

Whoi hove I leorr red f rom qov sctuore c loncers?

l 've leorned there is cor- te b lonche pernr iss ion lo opproochor lyone of ony sex i r r o squore orrd scry, "Are you o g i r l?" or"Are you o boy?" wi thout hur l i r rg onyone's feel ings. l t 's o lsookoy to ye l l , "Go g i r l ! " ond "He ' s no l op ! " os l ouo os you con ,ond do lhot pr issy Ri to Hoyworth ih ing whi le forr r r i r rg one'sl oo .

I bel ieve thot goy people donce bet ter ihon st ro ight people.Leorning in o st ro ight c lub, I werr l o l l t l re woy through Bosic,Moins i reom, ond Plus before I wos ever in i roduced to iheconcept of o l l -posi t ion doncing, which is looreo upon os overy b ig deol . Goy c lubs see o l l -posi i ion donci r rg f rom thef i rs tdoy of Bosic, ond l th ink th is k icks thei r concerr t rot ion ondunderstonding of the col ls in to o h igher geor ond eventuol lycontr ibutes to thei r becoming bet ter doncers orrd fosterleorners thon thei r s t ro ig l r l counterpor ts .

l 'nr sure some people where I work worrder i f l 'm o lesbiono r i f l 'm H IV pos i t i ve . I don ' t co re , no r wou ld l eve r bo the rto c lor i fy . By keeping my nrouth shut , l 've been oble to bei ier

QUARTERLY SELECTIONS 23

understond whot i t fee ls l ike, ond to see th ings chonge. Af terI received some rother scorching heot f rom o fe l low employeebecouse of my outs ide oct iv i t ies, our ogency heod lost fq l lissued o d i rect ive soying thot d iscr iminot ion ogornsr onyone,{or ony reoson inc luding sexuol or ientot iorr , wi l l not betoleroted. I could never hove gotlen lhrough lhe turmoil ofth is i f I hodn' l been in cont inuol conl roct wi th my squoredonci r rg f r iends who could moke me lough when o l l I wontedto do wos cry.

l 've leorned to poce mysel f ond occosionol ly soy, "No." Itook A- l c losses ogoin lost yeor becouse I miss the chol lengeof complex choreogrophy, bul wl ren A-2 begon th is postsummer, l fe l t mysel f being pul led too hord f rom loo monydirect ions lo do o good 1ob in c loss. Miss ing col ls ondbreoking down squores becouse I hove too mony other th ingsdoncing in my heod is inoppropr iote. So, l 've decided toconcentrote on being o good Plus doncer ond not t ry tosqueeze in more unt i l lo ter in my l i fe when I hove the t ime togive the Advonced colls the ottention they deserve.

So, I modi fy my opening corrc lus ion o b i t to o l low thot Idonce wi th o goy c lub not only becouse thot 's where lhehumorr beings ore bul o lso becouse knowing them hos modeme more o l ive, more knowledgeoble, more orove/ morehonest wi th mysel f , ond more in tune wi th my own humoni ty .l 've leorr red thol l 'm exl remely for tunote to be consideredfomi ly by Socromenio 's goy communi ty , ond the squoredorrcers ore on irnportcrrt port of my life. Wlrer.r o couplebreoks up, I cry os hord os they do. When o member of thei rforr i ly is i l l , I worry. They ' re o por t of me, lcorry t l rem wi thn re o lwoys , t hey b r i ng me bo lonce by be ing ob le t o moke mesrni le on the ouls ide wherr l 'm devosto led orr the ins ide, ondthey 've le t me shore wi th lhem mony of thei r heor tbreoking,os wel l os h i lor ious, momenls to the fu l lest .

I hove not leorned, however, how to do o Teocup Clro i r r f romo l i r re. T l r is is on nry ogendo for th ings l l ro t obsolute ly mustbe done before lhe end of the yeor .

Wri i len w i lh espec io l l y {ond memor ies o{ K im Brownlee :

Cop i to l C i ty Squores co- {ounder ond { i rs t t reosurer

Pr ime-B 's co- {ounder

Su i te r ' s S iompers C loggers ins l ruc to r ond co- {ounder

Borbory Coost C loggers co- {ounder

who p inned me down o l every oppor lun i ty ond mode me d iscover who lom.

SILVER SrATE - nENO, ilE\fADA

by RUSS IIARSHCopi to l Ci ty Squores

ln Apr i l )994, I completed the Moinstreom course wi thCopi to l Ci ty Squores i r r Socromento. Short ly thereof ter , Io t tended my f i rs t s t ro ight (gosp!) sguore donce, the Si lverStote Squore Donce Fest ivo l in Reno, Nevodo. l t wos l ike o

SUMMER I994

kip somewhere over the ro inbow, only in reverse. I quick lyreol ized ihot ihere ore some dis t inct d i f fererrces in how "goy"ond "st ro ight" people donce. Oh, the col ls ore ihe some, bulthe f/ovor is not.

F i rs t of o l l , I con te l l you I wos qui le onnoyed wi th the dresscode. The progrom proclo ims: "Proper squore doncing o l t i rewi l l be worn ot o l l t imes." But nowhere is there o def in i t ionof whot is "proper." Hmm. . should I borrow o Brodley dressfrom Fonnie Jo? Those out f i ts hove o lwoys been proper. Buto los, i t wos explo ined to me thot l rodi t ion holds thot womenweor dresses ond men weor long-s leeve shi r ts . (Thonk you,Rev Tevyo) . Since l 'm o T-shi r t -k ind-of guy, I wos notomused. And then seeing o l l thot cr inol ine. . on women, Imeon! The dress code cer lo in ly mode i t eosy to ident i fy the"boys" ond the "g i r ls , " ond s ince everyone wos doncing osthei r own sex, i l wosn' t necessory to sel f - ident i {y dur ing o "sexcol l . " I o lmost shouted "Boyl" the { i rs t t i rne "boys t rode" wosco l l ed , bu t l cough t myse l f i n t ime ( l cou ld i us t imog ine thelooks I would hove got ten. of course you' re o boy, s i l ly l ) .But these eosy condi l ions sure corr moke you lozy.

The rest of my group spent the f i rs t n ight dorrc i r rg Moinstreorr rwi th me. Even there i t wos d i f f icu l t to { ind o souore thotd idn ' t breok down o lo t . I would stock "our" doncers ogoi r . rs l" thei rs" ony l ime. l 'm nol being heierophobic; i t 's iust thol we( inc luding our s t ro ight f r ier rds who donce wi th us) leorn todonce under much more d i f f icu l t condi l ions. Wi lh womendorrc ing os men, merr dorrc ing os wonren, men dressed oswomen donc ing os men , peop le chong ing sex i r r r n i d - co l l .. l row muclr nrore confusing con you gel?1 Bul we do i l ! Nolon l y t l r o t , we do i l w i t h ponoche l I o lwoys {ee l o pos i t i veenergy coming of f the f loor ot goy donces, but thoi seenredsomewhot lock ing in Reno. l t wos more l ike going througlrthe mot ions. Thot moy hove been due more lo lhe ogedi f fererrce thon sk i l l , bu l l 'm not convinced of t l ro t . We hovesome. um. . ch rono log i co l l y cho l l enged donce rs i n ou rc lub, ioo, ond somet imes l th ink lhey l rove more energy t l ronI do l

Soturdoy, our group decidecl thol I s l rould leorr r Plus thotof lernoorr . "Dor. r ' t pouse for Plus," t l rey to ld me. IE. lStro ight- -wlrot on odd word to use ot th is moment--out ofCrossf i re: Moinstreom in nr inutes; don' t pouse for Plus;Advonced in on of ternoon. ] ( l 'm sure i t wos just . thot theywere t i red of doncing "only" Moins i reom wi th me). So weot tended o "Plus workshop for Plus doncers," ond I wos force-{ed Plus for o lmost three hours. Whot on eye-opener l Whoio surpr ise lo leorn lhol "coordinoie" is nol something you jus ldo wi th c lothes! l t wos o lo t to leorr r , but I wos oble to holdmy own (most ly due to three ve4y helpfu l f r iends) . I do th inkthe t rodi t ionol costuming mode i t eosier for me; i t is proboblythe best woy to leorn o lo t of co l ls in o very s l ror t t ime per iod.Just moke sure you hove o st rong por t r rer orrd o s l rorrgcouple opposi le you. I leorned wel l errough to donce in thePlus Hol l tho l evening, ond i i wos exhi loro l inq ond terr i fy ingfor me ol l o t the ,ornu t i * " .

QUARTERTY SELECTIONS

Our l roupe donced one "goy" t ip thot evening. Our squoreconsisted of two mole couples, one femole couple (boths l ro ight women no less l ) , ond o st ro ight couple. l t weni wel l ,but lsoon fe l t l ike lwos being wotched, which wos o l i t t leunnerv ing. We broke down, but only once, becouse weforgot to sel f - ident i fy on o col l . (See? Lozy, lozy, lozy l Butwe quick ly fe l l bock in to our o ld hobi ts ond d idn ' t hove onymore problems. Apporent ly we coused something o{ o s t i r ,but we weren' l shunned. l t wos one smol l por iner t rode formon, one g iont o l lemonde lef t for monkind! (Okoy, okoy. . .person-k indl | / ike doncing wi th women).

Speoking of doncing wi th someone, onolher ih ing thot fe l todd wos thot o lmost everyone come lhere in couples, ondthey rorely split up to donce with other portners. Most off iem hod motching out f i ls , too. l t wos so cute seeing lhesebutch men weor ing shi r ts mode of dress moter io l . (Moybethey d idn ' t sp l i t up becouse they were of ro id of doncing wi thsomeone in o c loshing pot tern? Noh. Judging by thedresses lsow, Brodley out f i ls ore downr ight tostefu l l )Meonwhi le, "so lo" dorrcers could meel ot the "Hi tch ing Post"woy, woy, woy off lo the side of the holl (some*here rreorReno's leper colorry , I th ink) . I much prefer t l re otmosphereol goy donces, where you con (ond ore even encouroged to)donce wi lh o vor iety of people. This ospect o lone con mokeyou o much bet ler doncer.

Does i t sound l ike I om not recommending you of iend ostro ighi donce? No! Somet inres o br ief t r ip io Korrsos conbe good for you, buf don' t forget your ruby s l ippers! As Iso id in the f i rs t porogroph, the col ls ore o l l t l re some. Thedress, the sty le, the otmosphere oren ' t importont - the g luethot b inds us is the dorrce. So go, t ry i t , expecl to hove fun.You wil/ l

SQUARE DANCING HUMORby PAUL J. WEISS

D.C. Lombdo Squores

IEd . I don ' t know i { Pov l oc tuo l l y wro ie these d i t t ies , bu i

he pos ted lhem on lhe In ie rne t . They cou ld houe been

outhored by someone nomed Kev in . l

Whot col l do t l rey use on the te lev is ion showGomer Pyle?

- Fo l l o * You r J im Ne ighbo rs (P lus )

Whot col l do cooches l ike?Molivoie (Advorrced)

Whot col ls do opero fons l ike?Weove the Ring Cycle (Moinstreom)Modome But ter f ly Ci rculote (C-1)onyth i r rg wi th o Phorr torn (C- l )

t' . t

24 SUMMER 1994