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Square Dancing in Palo Alto
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Learn to Square Dance in Palo Alto!
It's not what you think.
Isn't square dancing for cowboys and hillbillies?
Well, there's square dancing in Palo Alto -- and more than a dozen
clubs all over the rest of Silicon Valley! Also in Europe. Also
in Japan. Next question?
Don't square dancers wear funny clothes?
Yes. And no. At some clubs everybody dresses up. At some clubs
everybody dresses informally. Some are in between.
Isn't square dancing done to country music?
Yes. Also rock, or even hip-hop. Anything with a beat.
Isn't square dancing for old people?
Yes. And young people. And everybody in between.
Isn't it hard to learn such long and complicated patterns?
No. Modern square dancing is based on a standard set of calls. You
just have to learn how to do each call, and you learn those one by
one -- like new words when you learn a foreign language, or functions in a
programming language. Then the caller tells you what to do for each
dance by speaking or singing the calls. You don't have to memorize
the sequence. (Sometimes even the caller doesn't know the sequence
because he's making it up as he goes along!) Because the calls are
standardized, once you have learned them you can dance to any music,
with any caller, anywhere in the world.
Do I need to have a partner?
Some clubs are oriented toward couples -- you are expected to bring your own partner.
Some are oriented toward singles -- you are not expected to have a partner.
Some welcome both couples and singles.
So I don't get it -- you can do it wearing special clothes or not,
be any age, have a partner or not, do it to all different kinds of
music -- then what is it, really?
Come find out for yourself. Beginner classes are starting this
fall at two square dance clubs right here in Palo Alto:
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Stanford Quads
Sunday evenings
Fairmeadow Elementary School
Intro sessions October 5th, 12th, 19th
For more info call: Pat 650-948-4935 or Joe 408-774-1570
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El Camino Reelers
Wednesday evenings
St. Andrews Church
Intro sessions September 18th, 25th
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OK, but how do I decide which one?
- If you can't do it on Wednesday, go to Quads.
If you can't do it on Sunday, go to Reelers.
- If your idea of fashion is rainbow-colored suspenders, you may prefer Reelers.
If you have no fashion sense at all, you may prefer Quads.
(But at either one you can wear pretty much anything you want.)
- If you consider yourself mathematically-minded, try Quads.
(But you don't need any specialized math background.)
But -- the basics are the same at every club, so you can take a
class at one club and switch later. And if you can't make it
on either Wednesdays or Sundays, no problem! There are other clubs
nearby holding classes on other nights; for a list visit:
http://www.scvsda.org/learning.html
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