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43.1: SINGING CALLSThe "singing call" or "singer" portion of a tip is much more structured than the patter portion. In a singing call, the sequences are carefully composed to fit the timing of an actual song, and are usually interleaved with some of the original lyrics of that song. The sequences therefore form a regular pattern, with a fixed length.If the patter portion of a tip is the "prose" of the square dance language, with sentences forming paragraphs of irregular length and structure, the singing call portion is the "poetry", with the calls making up a regular pattern of verses or stanzas. Although there are a number of possible variations, the overwhelming majority of singing calls consist of one particular structure, as follows:
The opener usually consists of relatively simple calls, often including at least one that takes a significant amount of time (e.g., Grand Square). It also will typically include a significant number of words from the original song. At the end of this sequence, everybody will be back at home with their original partners. The break and closer sequences are similar -- they may even be exactly the same as the opener. The other four sequences are different. Instead of everybody getting back home, only the boys will be back at their original home spot. Each of these "figure" sequences will move the girls one position around the square.
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