Class Information
The Singles and Pairs started a new beginners' square dance class on Saturday afternoons in February of 2023.
Under "Calls Covered," below, we will post the schedule covered by our class. The calls which have been taught in the class, week by week, will be listed, with the most recent week at the top of the list. Each call, where available, is linked to the Taminations animation for that call on the Tam Twirlers Square Dance Club's website.
| Information
For Class Members |
Information
for Angels
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Calls Covered
Each week, the calls covered in the class session will be posted in
this section. Wherever possible, each call will be linked to an
animation (or TAMination)
on the website of the Marin County Tam
Twirlers square dance club. You can see how the call works
by clicking on the link.
(Many thanks to Brad
Christie of the Tam Twirlers for his extensive work on the
TAMinations, and for making them available to be linked from other
websites!)
If you want to look ahead, our caller's lesson plan for the first 12
weeks is available here.
(Plan is subject to
change depending on how receptive the class is on a given night, phase
of the moon, etc.)
The most recent class session will always be at the top of the list.
Class Resources
Here are some additional materials which may be of help to class members:
Printed Materials
Basic, Mainstream and Plus handbooks
These booklets were originally published by the Sets In Order American Square Dance Society, and were later updated by American Square Dance magazine after SIO faded away. They contain: (1) the written definition/description for each call, (2) diagrams showing the movement of each dancer through the call, and (3) photographs of actual dancers performing the call. Very helpful for visual learners.
Our caller generally has copies of these available at his cost after the first few weeks of class. They can also be ordered from the website www.hiltonaudio.com. This website is a well-respected provider of supplies for callers. They are a reputable organization, and it is safe to order from them online.
Definitions and Call Lists
The official written
definitions of the Basic/Mainstream and Plus calls can be downloaded for
free from the Dance
Programs area of the CALLERLAB
website. The same areas will have listings of the calls in each
program, without definitions.
(Note:
the
full CALLERLAB definitions can be dry and very technical! For the
Basic/Mainstream program, there is also an "Abbreviated Definitions"
document which is more readable.)
Videos
The Saddlebrooke Squares of Tucson, AZ have made a
series of instructional videos available for free viewing on the
Internet. They've been criticized for not completely following the
official CALLERLAB definitions, but they may still be of help to some
people. They can be found at videosquaredancelessons.com/lessons/
and can also be ordered on DVD.
More recently, a group called the Traveling
Hoedowners has introduced a set of instructional DVDs. These
can be purchased from (and samples viewed at) their
website.
Online Call Animations
The Tam
Twirlers' TAMinations
were mentioned above, and our list of calls taught each week has links
to their website, www.tamtwirlers.org.
A Taminations app is also available for iPhones and Android devices,
from the Apple app store and the Google Play store.
If you have a computer that
does not support the TAMinations for some reason, there are a number of
other websites on the Internet which provide alternative animations of
dancers executing calls. Probably the best-known such collection is
Noriko Takahashi's GIF animations from Japan. They should work on
any computer, as just about all web browsers support animated GIF
images:
www.bekkoame.ne.jp/%7Enoriks/ENGLISH/English-Index2.html