Partner Up: Las Vegas square dancers are one big family’

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002 | 8:22 a.m.

Several years ago Don Baltz and his wife were looking for a social activity they could share.

They turned to an American tradition that once flourished in rural pockets throughout the country.

They turned to square dancing.

"I play racquetball. She's a dancer," Baltz said recently before a Saturday night hoedown. "But we were looking for something with more social context."

Fortunately, for the sake of the dance, they are not the only ones stepping into the square. For there is nothing singular about the dance. Square dancing relies on community effort, which in turn is the appeal for square-dancing enthusiasts.

"We're one big family," local square-dancer Don Hanson said from the back of the cafeteria at Walter Johnson Middle School in Southwest Las Vegas, where the annual fund-raiser for the Square and Round Dancers of Southern Nevada Inc. was in full swing.

It was a Saturday night and dancers by the dozens were kicking up their heels, their ruffled petticoats swishing from their hips.

Homemade veggie trays, plates of cakes and cookies crowded a table in back. Egg salad sandwiches had been picked over. Thirsty dancers were slurping down nonalcoholic beverages.

At the front of the room, a square-dance caller spun 45s on a record player and sang into a microphone: "All the boys circulate ... Recycle ... Slide through ... Pass through with a wheel and deal."

Dance cards were full, hands were clasped and partner swapping was commonplace. Hoots and hollers erupted from the center of the squares.

On such nights, women are commonly known as ladies. Their male compatriots dudded in matching western wear simply become "fellas."

Robert D. Putnam's "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community" (Simon & Schuster, 2000), pointed out how once-thriving community organizations are fading. The square-dance community, however, is one group trying to keep its numbers strong.

Its survival depends on it.

The dance, a homogeny of centuries-old English and French variations, requires eight dancers to a square. A caller leading the dancers through the steps is a necessity. Reciprocated politeness is required.

Locally, dances are held almost every night of the week and new dancers (provided they have been schooled in square dancing) are always welcome.

"We've got people who have been dancing 40 years," said Vern Vernazzaro, an IRS representative and local square-dance caller who has been dancing 30 years, calling for 14 years. "Then we got some who have been dancing less than a year."

Leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and eyes set on the dance floor, Vernazzaro added, "We come from all walks of life and we have one thing in common," then pointed to the makeshift dance floor.

Slowdown

Nationwide, the number of square dancers has been dwindling since square dancing's peak in the 1970s.

Younger dancers, once common among the squares, have moved on to other interests or have grown into the older dancers who are hoofing it today.

The majority of square dancers are between the ages of 40 and 80, and a spry 90-year-old square dancer (dressed to the nines) is not entirely unusual.

Finding ways to recruit new dancers is common talk at conventions. Groups try to keep up with the times by alternating traditional hoedown music with re-mixed pop and country songs.

"We are in the process of trying to build our numbers as a lot of group-oriented activities are," said Jerry Reed, executive secretary for the Foundation for Preservation and Promotion of Square Dancing. Reed is also executive director for Callerlab, an international association of square-dance callers.

Referring to the dwindling numbers, Reed said, "It's across society. It's not a phenomenon that has affected one group activity. Bowling leagues, bridge leagues, you name it."

'Round the square

Square and Round Dancers of Southern Nevada Inc. oversees 12 square dance clubs and one round dance club. Located in Las Vegas Valley and Northern Arizona, many of the clubs offer classes to interested dancers, whether or not they have a partner.

"We have people in class who have no partners at all, but we always have angels to help them out," said longtime dancer Eilene French, who was cooling off between dances.

An angel is a term given to established dancers who assist newcomers at classes. Fifty-eight-year-old Stan Stanton relies on French, who not only "angels" him at Wednesday class, but is his girlfriend and the one who turned him on to square dancing.

Until he graduates from his square dance class next spring, Stanton attends the dances un-costumed and watches.

"There's a lot to learn before they just turn you loose out there," he said with a smile. "Better you know what you're doing than mess up a square."

When he graduates this spring, Stanton will move into a world of dance that extends well beyond school cafeterias. Dancers often travel to dances out of state, and sometimes out of the country.

The revelry never stops. Games, such as banner-stealing from club dances, and "fun badges" are plentiful.

Fun badges are gained by dancers who have done something outstanding while square dancing and that can include almost anything.

Such badges are available to dancers who have met their spouses square dancing, dancers who have danced without touching another dancer, dancers who have danced in Twenty Nine Palms, Calif., dancers who danced with a pickle in their mouth, a lemon in their mouth, on Ground Hog Day or even in a public restroom with the caller right outside the door.

"It's a whole 'nother world," Don Hanson said.

"But it's a fun world," added Esther Simmons, who has been square dancing 37 years and has even danced on the Great Wall of China. (Simmons also received the "Crackpot Badge" for dancing with a square in a restroom).

Petticoats and scarves

Though the ruffled dresses, petticoats and western wear are part of a long-standing tradition, some say the outfits (required at many dances) scare away potential newcomers. The issue has even been addressed at national conventions.

"There's some belief if we had a more relaxed attire that we'd draw more members," Baltz said, when asked about the dress codes.

But, he added, "The women really enjoy dressing up."

And surprisingly, costumes aren't hard to come by. Dresses can be bought at larger dances and over the internet, Baltz said.

At the Square and Round Dancers of Southern Nevada, previously worn costumes were being sold for $10. Many women make their own dresses, as well as scarves for their partners to wear.

With Southern Nevada's largest club, Good Times, holding its Frontier Festival next month, its likely that dancers will be stitching up their best duds.

Roughly 200 local and out-of-state dancers are expected to attend. Callers will be brought in from California. The two-day festival will include Friday and Saturday night dances, workshops and sales of dance apparel.

"Sometimes we travel to a square dance out of state," Baltz said. "Square dancers develop some kind of a bond and we do other things together. It leads to a nice social environment."

Euro-squares

Local dancers and callers have traveled to dances as far away as Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Japan where square dancing is as popular as it is in the U.S., if not more so.

Locally, they've even welcomed busloads of square-dancing Japanese tourists to their dances.

Ned Newberg, a local caller who has been dancing all of his life, including three years in Germany (while in the U.S. Air Force), said that he's not concerned about square dancing dying out in America.

"It goes up and it comes down," Newberg said.

Newberg and others say that the social aspect of square dancing, as well as its mental and physical challenges, will continue to draw new members.

"There are very few activities where this kind of cooperation, friends and courtesy exists," Reed explained. "Square dancers are happy and healthy. They're shaking hands, thanking people, emphasizing politeness, manners. It's just an amazing spirit.

"Our challenge is to bring that message to the non-dancing public. It's not as hokey as people think it to be. It's a very sophisticated activity."

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