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Learn to .......

Square Dance

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Beginner Square Dance Lessons

Date...............January 11 & 18, 2024

Time...............6:30 to 8:30 pm

Place..............Cedar Hall at Metra Park

Instructor.......Bob Hogemark

Dress..............Casual Clothes w/Comfortable Shoes

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The beginner sessions this year will be taught on Thursdays (6:30 to 8:30 pm)  Bob Hogemark will be teaching the Thursday night session.

More details to follow.  Beginners can register on either Thursday listed above.

See Flyer

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Bob Hogemark

Instructor

Video Square Dance Lessons

To review Mainstream calls, the following website is a good resource to use
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What Beginners Can Expect at the Lessons

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  • Lessons are being offered by the Checkerboard Squares Dance Club  in Billings, which will meet at Cedar Hall at MetraPark. 

  • The cost of the beginner sessions will be discussed at the first lesson. A new reduced Family membership cost (3 or more family members) will also be offered this year.

  • It's ideal if you bring a partner to dance with, but single dancers are also encouraged to attend and will be partnered up with either a new single dancer or one of the club dancers we have available.

  • The beginner session will allow all of the dancers to master the "calls" (maneuvers) required for the Basic / Mainstream level of square dancing. Lessons are conducted every Thursday where new calls are introduced and then you dance using these calls and the ones you learned from previous lessons. It's fun right from the start, and you'll find yourself looking forward to the next lesson.

  • If a dancer needs to miss a lesson, they can catch up the next week since all the new calls are reviewed the following week.

  • It should be emphasized that the idea of square dancing is having fun even while you are mastering the dance calls. As you master more of the calls you will find that the dancing begins to flow with the music more and more.

  • The instructor will introduce new calls in a prescribed order that will allow the dancers to master the calls easier.  Some of the calls are fairly obvious, such as "circle left," others are not. But you learn them gradually and gently, with lots of review each week.

  • Note that the level of dancing you will be learning actually encompasses two dance levels known as Basic and Mainstream. When you graduate, you will be considered a Mainstream dancer.

  • After dancing Mainstream for a while you will want to learn the Plus level calls. Most of the dances at the clubs and special dances are Mainstream with one or two Plus level tips during the dance.

  • After you graduate, you'll be able to dance at club dances or at other dances and festivals in Billings and throughout the state, country, and world. By the way, if you're out traveling you can almost always find a local square dance nearby if you want to get out and meet people or just have something to do.

  • Most dancers remain at the Plus level. But IF you're adventurous, after a couple of years you might want to move up and learn one of the higher levels of square dancing, known as Advanced and Challenge. Here you'll learn more calls, and you'll learn new concepts like phantom dancers, mirror images, etc., to make things even more interesting (and fun).

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