This discussion is intended to assist current square
dancers in using the Mini-Squares CD.
| If you're reading this and you're not currently a square dancer, we suggest you first read the section titled "To Non-Dancers". |
To acquaint yourself with the CD, we strongly suggest that you dance all the sequences on the CD with other square dancers before working with non-square dancers. It’s a lot of fun, and your teaching sessions might well proceed more smoothly if you’ve had some first-hand experience with the material and the way it’s presented. At least preview the first couple of Steps to get a feel for this new experience.
| Introducing Mini-Squares |
First, you need to assemble a mini-square. This mini-square can include yourself, or not, but it might be advisable to include yourself, at least the first time through. This way you know your mini-square will have at least one experienced dancer to help guide new dancers and provide some stability – two experienced dancers are even better.
Next, we suggest teaching the calls at each Step. All of the sequences for a particular Step include all the calls on that Step, so you should teach all the calls at one Step before playing the CD.
We suggest walking people through the calls a couple of times so they’ll have some familiarity with them. Don’t hesitate to demonstrate a call with them rather than teaching it. For example, have an experienced dancer do a Touch ¼ with an inexperienced dancer rather than trying to explain how to do it in words. Often a demonstration is worth a thousand words! We also suggest using both right and left-handed setups as you’re walking them through, because both are used with equal frequency throughout the CD. You might even want to consider teaching the left-hand version first.
| We believe there’s nothing inherently more difficult with a left-hand setup than a right-hand one. Left-hand setups appear more difficult to many current square dancers because they're exposed to a predominance of right-handed ones at dances. Consequently they become much more familiar with them. |
People often feel added pressure hearing the music and attempting to keep up with the caller, so gently ease them into the "live" situation by giving them a little practice first. A solid teach and a walk-thru are critical. You want to guard against doing the call wrong the first time to live music so a bad pattern isn’t burned into the brain.
Once they've walked through each call a few times and from several starting setups - and it shouldn’t take more than ten to fifteen minutes per Step - start the CD and let ‘er rip! Most people won’t breeze through everything the first time – that’s to be expected. Our experience shows that people require help the first time through the sequences, begin to work on their own the second time through, and are starting to feel comfortable the third time.
If they break down, just square up and repeat the sequence. Each sequence is on a separate track of the CD, so it's very easy to repeat one. An advantage of a CD over a live caller is that you are in complete control. You can repeat any sequence whenever you like, and as often as you like. We strongly encourage you to utilize that advantage.
| Don't expect to complete the CD in one session. In fact, attempting more than one or two Steps per session is probably too aggressive. Don’t jeopardize your friends’ willingness to try something new by pushing them to unreasonable limits. Remember, it’s better to end a session too soon than too late! |
| Remember, it’s better to end a session too soon than too late! |
Reassure your friends. Try to create and maintain an atmosphere where they feel relaxed but interested. Remind them that you’re just trying to show them what modern square dancing’s all about. You’re trying to have some fun, and you certainly won’t be asking questions tomorrow. Don’t worry about convincing them about the benefits of square dancing. Help them to enjoy what they’re doing at that moment, and let square dancing take care of any conversion to the activity. It’s real good at that!
The sequences review the new calls introduced at that Step very extensively, and of course include calls from all previous Steps. Unless each mini-square consists of experienced dancers, we don’t recommend skipping any of the Steps.
Before moving on to another Step, we strongly recommend:
Dance the sequences from the previous Step at least three times, and at least one of those times should include dancing the complete Step by squaring up in your partner’s position. Remember, there aren’t any men or women’s positions in these sequences, so by changing positions with your original partner, the calls can be danced from a different perspective.
Always review the calls from the previous Steps. Don’t "test" the new dancers cold. Failure here is ill-advised, and it engraves bad patterns. So, in effect, go forward, then back up before going forward again, especially if time has gone by. It’s vital that these previous calls become almost second nature so the mind is freed-up to concentrate on a new set of calls.
| Organization of the CD |
The 20 calls are grouped into 6 Steps. Each Step introduces 2, 3, or 4 new calls, and each Step has several sequences associated with it as follows:
| Step 1 | Tracks 3 - 10 |
| Step 2 | Tracks 12 - 19 |
| Step 3 | Tracks 21 - 28 |
| Step 4 | Tracks 30 - 37 |
| Step 5 | Tracks 39 - 50 |
| Step 6 | Tracks 52 - 67 |
To review our hints on teaching the 20 individual calls, just click on the "Call Definitions" button.
This page copyrighted © by P. Galburt and B. Heimann, last revision March 29, 1999