Our Side of the Mic
by Bob Riggs
Listening to the radio a while back, I recognized a message that we should all hear. The message was simply to say “Thank you”. “Thank You” to the dance community, the members of our club(s), the leaders of our club, our local callers & cuers, the proprietors of the halls we use for our dances and on a very individual basis to ourselves. As a representative of the local callers & cuers, I want to thank everyone in our dance community, the club leaders, the council leadership and most of all the dancers. As a dancer I want to thank my club, its leaders and my fellow callers and cuers for their dedication to the square and round dance activity. Please recognize the value we share within the activity and whenever you can, say “THANK YOU”.
On another note, our fall classes are underway and those that have joined are having a great time experiencing the activity and the new friends. Remember you were once a new dancer … you wanted to fit in, you didn’t want to make a mistake, you were somewhat hesitant to dive in because you might embarrass yourself. So you can help all of us newbies by being in the right place at the right time with the appropriate hand available in the right place, DON’T push, DON’T pull, Smile, encourage, Don’t try to fix the square if it breaks down. Encourage everyone to go to their home spot and depending on instructions from your callers either wait for the caller to pick them up or make lines facing the side walls.
Finally, as we look at our dance community we see a wide spectrum of ages and life experiences. Some want to participate in dances on an infrequent basis and some want to dance often. Our community should welcome all to events suited to each desired experience. Basic dances like Red Hot Country Squares, slower mainstream dances like Heather Twirlers, regular mainstream dances like Square Halos, Plus dances like Plus.Com and more, provide these desired experiences for our community. Also know, that many of our callers provide entertainment for dance parties where participants may dance once a year or once in a lifetime. All enjoy our activity.
If you would like to contribute your thoughts directly to me, please send me an email at
