Pat and Tom Griggs working on their square dancing with other members of the Rancheros Square Dance Club
Rebecca Williams
How many times have you heard someone say, “Square dancing? Me? Oh no, I can’t dance.” So, how about we ask instead, “Can you move to music?” “Can you walk to music?” Or, how about: “Do you like to have fun with friends, and do you want to make new friends?” Square dancing is all about following the instructions of the caller, within a square or group of eight people. The caller guides you through moves accompanied by many different genres of music. And, of course, you will be having loads of fun while doing so.
Ranchers Tom and Pat Griggs, Corine Sturdivant, Margaret O’Toole Somenske, and JeanElaine Parfet have been giving it a whirl, working on learning the Mainstream calls. There are about 62 calls at the Mainstream level. The calls they learn are used across the United States and around the world. The same calls are used everywhere. Dancers have square danced in Europe, Japan, and many other places. Once you learn, you will find dances and new friends in many places.
Rancheros Square Dance Club Dances are on Sunday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. The club is known as one of the friendliest clubs in Southern Arizona. The club also does carpools to dances held by other clubs and, on occasion, to three-day dance festivals. So there is a lot of dancing and fun to be had.
The club offers the beginning set of Mainstream lessons starting in early to mid-October. That class then moves on to the intermediate level starting in February.
From the HOA website, www.saddlebrookeranchhoa.org, check out the Rancheros site under “Things to do,” “Clubs,” and then “Square Dance—Rancheros” under Dance, Music, and Theater. The club has live callers who teach the lessons. They also call all club dances. They have years of experience teaching folks this fun activity. Why not give it a try?