© American Club 78 Western Loisir (ACWL78)- Tous droits réservés
Extrait de Night train to memphis par Cattle Call
L'AMITIE EN MUSIQUE (1/2)
Parlez vous "Square Dance"? par Patience Andy Ploumacie
Do
you
consider
yourself
bilingual?
I
mean,
do
you
speak
Square
Dance?
You
know
the
scenario:
you
are
driving
along
with
a
fellow
dancer,
and
when
asked
for
directions
to
your
destination,
you
say,
"Veer
to
the
left!"
or
"Press
ahead!"
or
"Zoom
around
this
slow
poke!"
or
the
ever-popular
"U-turn
back!"
Only
square
dancers
understand your precise meaning and will do as you say.
How
many
other
times
in
our
everyday
life
do
we
think
in
Square
Dance,
even
when
the
situation
at
hand
has
nothing
to
do
with
our
beloved
activity?
As
American
Square
Dance
Magazine
once
pointed
out,
we
know
we
are
in
it
deep
when
our
boss
says
"Keep
busy!"
and
we
walk
away
reciting
the
definition
to
ourselves!
Think
about it next time you find yourself thinking in Square Dance in your everyday affairs.
Seriously,
I
have
been
wrestling
with
the
issue
of
what
makes
square
dancing
so
attractive
to
me.
While
some
folks
have
trouble
committing
to
a
once-a-week
classs
or
club
night,
I
have
difficulty
making
time
to
do
much
else.
I
have
realized
over
the
years
that
as
I
learn
more
and
more,
both
new
calls
and
the
mechanics
of
calling
a
dance,
I
am
really
learning
to
speak
another
language.
One
of
my
lifelong
interests
has
always
been
the
science
of
language,
or
the
syntax,
grammar
and
structure
of
how
a
language
is
put
together
and
understood.
We
as
square
dancers
interpret
what
a
caller
says,
vis-a-vis
the
command;
we
click
it
into
the
gray
matter
of
our
brains,
come
up
with
an
interpretation
of
the
call,
and
execute
it
in
our
square.
In
effect,
we
speak
Square
DAnce,
but
instead
of
verbal
feedback,
we
communicate
with
the
caller
and
the
other
dancers
that
we
understand
the
call
by
performing
it
in
our
square.
Square
Dance
is
a
language
spoken
and
understood
only
by
other
square
dancers.
Notice
the
reaction
if
you
ask
just
anyone
off
the
street
if
they
"box
the
gnat!"
Square
Dance
is
really
an
international
language.
Consider
the
German
"allemande",
the
French
"deucey"
and
the
Japanese
"ah
so."
We
can
go
anywhere
in
the
world,
walk
into
the
local
firehall
or
school
cafeteria,
and
feel
right
at
home
as
soon
as
the
needle
goes
down.
Never
was
this
more
apparent
than
at
the
National
Advanced
and
Challenge
Convention
1990
in
Virginia
Beach.
This
was
my
first
time
at
this
convention,
and
right
away,
at
the
trail-end
dance
on
Wednesday
night,
I
found
myself
in
a
square
with
6
other
Swedish
dancers.
Thanks
Lars,
Lotta,
Else,
Yvonne,
Leif,
and
Bjorn
for
making
the
squares
lots
of
fun!
These
people
were
super
dancers,
and
made
the
whole
weekend
lots
of
fun
for
my
partner
and
me.
An
English
couple
on
their
way
to
Virginia
Beach
joined
us
at
Mike
Jacobs'
home
club,
Spinning
Windmills,
for
an
evening
of
Advanced
dancing.
They
too
added
a
lot
to
our
dancing
enjoyment
at
Convention.
Several
dancers
from
Japan
were
also
at
Convention,
as
were
German
and
Canadian dancers. They all were a pleasure to dance with throughout the weekend.
Square
Dancing
has
added
a
lot
to
my
life.
It's
an
activity
that
satisfies
my
interest
in
another
language,
and
yet
also
allows
a
physical
interpretation
of
that
language.
Best
of
all,
I
now
have
international
friends
from
abroad
who
share
my
love
of
square
dancing,
and
we
all
speak
the
same
language,
Square
Dance.
I
look
forward
to
the
day
when
I
can
travel
abroad
and
dance
with
them
in
their
hometowns.
{author
insert:
I
was
priviledged
to
accompany
Anne
Uebelacker
to
Sweden
in
the
spring
of
1991,
and
dance
up
a
storm
with
the
very
same
ones
who
were
at
convention
the
year
before.
The
Swedish
language
is
a
very
difficult
one,
and yet, we all were on common ground as soon as we started dancing. It was a wonderful experience} After all, square dancing is just "friendship set to music!"
So until then, keep on dancing, and yellowrocks to you all!
From the Western Square Dancing Web page. Copyright notice.
Retour Index