Square dancing - A trip down memory lane!

Tonight I did something I've not done for over 20 years! I went square dancing. The campground where we are staying was having an open square dance night in the recreation hall and my Mom, that is staying with us, wanted to check it out. It was a small gathering of around 10 people, and they invited us to join them.

After 20 years I still remember! (Some of it)

The poster said it would be beginner level but it turned out to be at the level called Plus that requires you to know 100 different calls. 20 years ago that was no problem for me. I used to dance level C1 and knew well over 300 different calls. In fact, I did not just know how to square dance I used to teach it and was beginning to be a to be hired as a caller for weekend dances and smaller square dance festivals.

My first contact with square dance was when I was in 6th grade and my teacher wanted to do something students and parents together that no one knew anything about. She found square dance and we had 10 evenings one semester where we learned the basics of square dancing. The next year several families joined the local club and continued to learn and dance. I got really into it and learned several levels in that first year and before too long, I was leading the beginner classes and soon started to be known as a young promising caller.

For a while, I thought that I might make a living as a square dance caller but life took me in another direction. I had been booked for my first major event in Stockholm. It was advertised and decided when I got an opportunity to spend my summer in the US working as a camp counselor. I could not do both and even though it really felt bad I had to cancel that one weekend commitment or give up the whole summer in the US. I had a wonderful time at summer camp and after coming back to Sweden I just never danced square dance again. That is until tonight!

I first watched for one dance and know that the calls were still somewhere in my head. When I got on the floor and started to dance things slowly came back to me. It felt strange pulling things out of my head that I had not thought of in 20 years. I had a really good time but don't think that I'll be starting dancing again, at least not regularly. I might just decide to go again next time I find myself in a campground offering an open square dance evening!