News For April 18 - 24, 2005

Contents

• Club of the week: El Camino Reelers
• Dance of the week: Walk and Dodge Into Spring
• Advanced dance of the week: Walk and Dodge Into Spring
• Challenge dance of the week: Midnight Squares
• More Features ...

Club of the week: El Camino Reelers

El Camino Reelers is proud of almost 20 years of dancing in the South Bay. The club was founded in 1985 as an alternative to the gay square dance clubs located an hour away in San Francisco.

Regular club dancing is every Wednesday from 7:30 to 9:30 at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Palo Alto. The church is located at 4111 Alma Street. The club provides a smoke-free and alcohol-free environment for gay men and lesbians to meet each other and socialize. The club welcomes everybody to dance, regardless of orientation.

Each year the club holds a beginner class. Intro nights are typically in September with lessons starting early October.

Gay Square Dancing

Despite traditional gender roles typically associated with square dancing, hoedowns have become a hit among Bay Area gays and lesbians who find it a fun way to socialize and meet new people.

Gay dance clubs also attract some straight dancers who dislike the dress code and "couples only" rules of mainstream square dancing.

The average age of mainstream square dancers is about 65, but the average age of dancers in gay and lesbian clubs is closer to 35. Hence the energy level tends to be higher in gay square dancing.

Some other differences between gay square dancing and other square dancing include:

• Gay square dancing has no dress code.
• Gay square dancing has no partner requirement. It is acceptable in a gay club to square up alone then raise a hand to indicate that you need a partner.
• Gay square dancing has its own particular styling variations and sound effects.
• Instead of round dancing, a gay square dance may have square dancing at alternating levels (beginner and Plus, or Plus and Advanced) throughout the evening.
• And of course, some men will dance the "girl" part and some women will dance the "boy" part. Or as the ECR web site puts it, "Gay and lesbian square dancers choose our own partners and positions without preconceived notions of gender."

El Camino Reelers is a member of the International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs (IAGSDC). The IAGSDC was formed in 1983 by clubs from California, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, Denver, Albuquerque, Houston, Washington DC, and Vancouver, Canada. The organization currently consists of about 60 clubs from Canada, Japan, Denmark, and 25 US states.

Upcoming Dances

El Camino Reelers dances every Wednesday night. During class season, a typical evening consists of one hour of Advanced Dancing, one half hour of review for beginners, and two hours of class (with a star tip at Plus level).

In addition, the club hosts several Saturday night dances at various times during the year. The next such dance takes place April 23, 2005, with caller Pat Carnathan from southern California. Future seasonal dances will take place August 6, 2005, November 12, 2005, and February 25, 2006.

Also, this year the club hosts Star Thru the Silicon Galaxy, the 22nd Annual IAGSDC Convention. This convention takes place July 1-4, 2005 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Every year this convention is hosted by a different member club in a different city. The convention typically draws about 1100 dancers from all over the world. There are already over 800 registered for this year's convention. The last time the convention was held this close to home was in 1996, when it was in San Francisco.

The IAGSDC conventions welcome everyone to dance, regardless of orientation.

This year's convention features a full schedule of dancing at all levels from Mainstream through C4. Internationally-known Challenge-level callers include Saundra Bryant, Vic Ceder, Rob French, Mike Jacobs, Kiyoshi Kikuchi, Anne Uebelacker, and Dave Wilson.

For more information:

• El Camino Reelers web page
• Star Thru the Silicon Galaxy site
• IAGSDC web page
• San Jose Mercury News article about El Camino Reelers
• Wikipedia article about Gay square dancing
• Wikipedia article about the IAGSDC

Dance of the week: Walk and Dodge Into Spring

El Camino Reelers hosts caller Pat Carnathan of San Diego for their Spring dance, April 23, 2005 at St. Andrews Methodist Church in Palo Alto. The church is located at 4111 Alma Street. The dance will alternate Plus and A2 tips.

For more information:
El Camino Reelers web page, includes a link to a PDF flier.

Advanced dance of the week: Walk and Dodge Into Spring

El Camino Reelers hosts caller Pat Carnathan of San Diego for their Spring dance, April 23, 2005 at St. Andrews Methodist Church in Palo Alto. The church is located at 4111 Alma Street. The dance will alternate Plus and A2 tips.

For more information:
El Camino Reelers web page, includes a link to a PDF flier.

Challenge dance of the week: Midnight Squares

Rob French calls a C2 and C3A dance for Midnight Squares on Sunday afternoon, April 24, 2005, from 4:00-6:00 pm.

The club also hosts its usual A2 and C1 class sessions that same day from 1:00-4:00 pm.

Last updated Friday 26 September 2008