Reproduced From Square Dance Magazine
Why is Square Dancing Dying?
December 15, 2011
I love square dancing, it is good healthy brain and cardio vascular exercise, its nice to meet friends each week, but unfortunately our activity is dying, clubs seem to rely on the faithful few to keep going as usual, the majority just come to dance, some may be past committee members, who have left disillusioned at the way things just trundle along with no real sense of direction.
Numbers at conventions are dwindling; the number of squares dancing is falling. Our activity competes with so many other well promoted leisure activities, we amateurs in the market place are competing with professional organizations that target any spare leisure time people may have, hence they do other things. We need to change our ways, we need to be more flexible, we need to be more modern, more attractive. Below I list some of my observations and comments compiled over the relatively short time I have been dancing.
- Them v Us - Clubs end up with “clicky” dancers who will not go to other clubs. It is evident that many callers do not really combine to promote square dancing, they prefer to promote their own club and may look upon nomad dancers as “unfaithful”.
- Bad Promotion ; fitness and health may be a much better way to promote our activity, this is a cult craze with our younger generation, I never ever thought I would be “square”, our activity has a poor image. Placing an advertisement in a newspaper and waiting for new dancers to turn up, or relying on existing dancers to bring friends (over time an ever diminishing occurrence unless the club is expanding exponentially) just does not work. We need to regularly get out in our communities and “strut our stuff”, AND involve our audience, thus encouraging them learn. How square dance promotions have you seen lately at a farmers market, a school fete or other community gatherings?
- Very Low Entry Price – The perception these days is that if it’s cheap it’s no good. Charging a few dollars for a whole nights entertainment implies it’s poor quality. OK so the regular old fogies will object to a price increase of a few cents, BUT they will eventually leave the club through old age – so who will you have left then?
- Poor Hospitality – Most square dances we ask dancers to bring their own food. If we increase the entry price a little we can provide the supper, its surprising how much food you can provide for as little as $2.00 per head.
- Poor Communication – It is very important that we keep in touch with our club members. If we don’t keep records how do we know that Joe has not been along for 3 weeks? Someone should know this fact, someone should contact Joe and see if he is all right, we need to be interested in the welfare of our club members. Similarly we need to keep a close watch on those dancers learning, if they fail to attend what is their reason. Could it be that the pace is too fast or too slow, or someone said something, or they don’t like the music? Just why have they dropped off the horizon? Again they need to be contacted and we may need to change our act.
- It Takes Far Too Long to Learn – We (new dancers) want to dance now, not in 10 months time. Bring back the 50 call Basic level? Perhaps even less calls than Basic and then run alternative club level and newcomer tips at our club dances. You’ll be surprised how many experienced dancers will not recognize the difference or alternatively their square will break down because they are not used to Basic calls. Further, if the easy tip is slowed down a bit, then older or less mobile dancers can enjoy a relaxing dance some of the old’s could come back. We should also consider ways to start more learners classes each year which would requires clubs to work closely with each other. Remember club callers and committees, it’s your clients you need to please, a call may be interesting to you, or you may always have run your club “this way”, but if the dancers don’t like it then they won’t come back and there are very few replacements available right now.
- Backup Callers – one problem I think Callerlab tends to generate is one club one caller, again dancers may get a same old, same old perception. I have attended a couple of clubs with two callers, who alternate tips. I liked that a lot. We need new callers who need to be encouraged and nurtured, it takes many years for them to develop we need to look well ahead. I believe novice callers should also become involved with those learning to dance, they will certainly be more sympathetic to a caller mistake than will the more seasoned club dancers. Club callers, don’t expect a novice caller to ask to give a call, rather YOU ask the novice to give a call.
- Too Many Rules – sure we all need the same international road rules but stuff like a square dance caller must run a club and teach (has some basic good intention) can rule out some good callers who have limited time.
- Are We Really With It? - the sign says “Modern Square Dancing”, how many callers keep up to date with what’s charting in the pop world? Ho many callers use “Modern” songs. Many just roll out the same old same old. Get with it, if we want to attract younger dancers then the music needs to be attractive to them.
- Live Music- if only we could have live music like the good old days, a band will always attract a following – but then we would need to upgrade the stakes a bit – bigger hall and more dancers, so that the door take covers the expense.
I have been a member of many committees (not just square dance committees) and it amazes me that the staple comment is “we’ve tried that before” or “we’ve discussed that a while ago” followed by “and it doesn’t work” or “we’ve decided against that”. Rarely have I heard a supporting argument as to why it did not work or why they decided against the action or idea or importantly what could be done to try and make it work, and heaven forbid suggesting that perhaps the idea was not managed very well. I have found that most committees are reactive rather than proactive and for many clubs and associations that is a problem.
Will these comments make any difference? I hope so, if not then we are doomed.
From the news editor of Square Dance Magazine, December 15, 2011.
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From the news editor of Square Dance Magazine
Billings Gazette
Hunter Keller found his calling through square dancing
Story By DONNA HEALY Photos By Paul Ruhter Of The Gazette Staff The Billings Gazette
Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 12:00 am
As dancers in petticoats swirl around their partners at MetraPark's Cedar Hall, Hunter Keller belts out one of Pat Benatar's hit songs.
“Why don't you hit me with your best shot,” he sings, his deep voice filling the hall.
“Hit me with your best shot. Fire away,”
As the line fades into music, he calls out instructions to the dancers.
“Heads square through,” he commands. “Touch one corner. Scoot back. Boy run. Square through three. Swing your corner. Promenade.”
At age 22, Keller has found his calling. Now he just wishes he could persuade a few more young people to join him.
On stage, Keller wears a black cowboy hat, silver and turquoise bolo and a Western-cut black jacket with black flowers embroidered on the yoke. On the square-dance circuit, he's known for his high-energy and rich, clear voice.
“He's got the voice; he's got the rhythm. He's got the charisma, which is important, said Gail Smith, a square dancer from Livingston, who spoke during a break between dances at MetraPark's Cedar Hall.
Smith and her husband, George, have danced to callers from around the West since they started square dancing 14 years ago.
Jess Perry, another Livingston square dancer who drove to Billings for a dance at MetraPark in December, likes the way that Keller makes a connection with the dancers.
“You watch the dancers, and they're having fun,” Perry said. “You watch Hunter, he's having just as much fun. That's what makes a good caller.”
Keller, who lives in Billings, has already made a name for himself on a national level as a square dance caller, the person who chooses the music and calls out the steps to match it.
The only hitch — most of his fans are old enough to be his grandparents. The dwindling ranks of square dancers make it unlikely that Keller can turn his passion into a full-time career.
Square dancing runs in Keller's blood.
He went to his first dance as a 2-week-old infant. His grandfather, Frank Leenknecht, started dancing in 1959, was a square-dance caller for many years and was active in putting together the Knothead Jamboree in West Yellowstone, an event that Keller now chairs.
Two years after his grandfather's death in 2002, Keller's grandmother, Shirley, persuaded him to sign up for a free square dancing class. Soon after, Keller began spinning his grandfather's turntable and practicing square dance calls in the garage. Keller's father persuaded a couple of veteran callers to give Keller pointers.
At 16, Keller called his first square dance.
In 2006, he joined Callerlab, an international association of square dance callers. In 2008, he recorded his first singing call, the Garth Brooks' song “Wild Horses.” Keller has also attended two “caller colleges.”
“It's rare to see somebody his age call as good as he does,” Perry said.
In October, Hunter traveled to Japan to work as a caller at a square dance festival that attracted 855 dancers. In 2012, he plans to be one of the callers on a square dance tour of Hawaii. He's also hoping for an opportunity to call at square dance festivals in Europe.
With characteristic enthusiasm, he has also assumed leadership roles, including chairing the Knothead Jamboree over Labor Day weekend. In square dance slang, a “knothead” is anyone who travels more than a hundred miles to dance.
In 2008, he chaired the youth committee of CallerLab, an international group that has worked to lure a generation of younger dancers by relaxing some dress-code rules and broadening the music beyond country-western.
While Keller tries to sing in his own style, rather than imitating others, his rendition of “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck,” as a singing call sounds a lot like Elvis Presley.
“He can mimic Elvis Presley, and you'd swear he was Elvis,” said Jan Weber, a Billings square dancer who started in 1991.
Comparisons to Elvis started when Keller was about 17 or 18 and escalated after he went to a Halloween party in an Elvis costume. Although Keller's a far bigger fan of Garth Brooks, he now has a collection of Elvis memorabilia, including a stand-up poster.
As a youngster, Keller disliked singing in school and never joined a choir.
“Everybody sings in the shower or in the car, but I never thought I'd be doing it professionally,” he said. He learned his first square dance singing call by listening to and copying one of his grandfather's favorite songs, “Tight Fitting Jeans.”
“If it wasn't for 4-H, I wouldn't be calling,” Keller said.
Presentations that he did in 4-H, gave him the confidence to relax in front of an audience. As a youngster, he was so shy that he wouldn't talk.
“I wouldn't stand on stage ever, and I'd never give a speech in front of anybody,” he said.
As a square-dance caller, the singing part was easy, he said. Learning to get the flow right to keep the dancers moving easily was much more difficult.
In Billings, Keller calls square dances four nights a week. On weekends, he regularly travels to out-of-town dances and has been to a dozen states for dances and festivals.
About half of his income comes from working as a square dance caller. The rest comes from putting in three shifts a week behind the counter at a gas station.
When he travels, he takes his music on a laptop. As a backup, he also takes a netbook, iPod and his cell phone. He also keeps three backups of his music on external hard drives. One is in a fire-proof safe at home, another is stored in a bank safe deposit box.
He has about a thousand singing calls and another thousand patter calls, spoken without singing.
Like many veteran entertainers, he likes to end each dance with a flourish.
“At the end of the night, I put on the biggest show tune that I have,” he said. His finale often includes “This Little Light of Mine,” “Forever Young” or Neil Diamond's song “Beautiful Noise.”
“You have to make sure the dancers at the end of the night go home smiling,” he said. “You want them to go home with a big smile on their face. If not, they're probably not going to come back.”
Through square dancing, Keller has made close friends across the United States. It worries him to see the ranks of square dancers dwindle. He tries hard to stem the tide.
Convincing people his age to take up square dancing is tough, he said.
Before he told his girlfriend what he did for a living, he made her promise not to laugh. In November, she went to her first beginner class in square dancing.
Contact Donna Healy at dhealy@billingsgazette.com or 657-1292.