NOTES ON COUNTRY DANCINGDANCING APPAREL ‘There are many reasons for giving a little thought to the clothing and footwear you choose to dance in. Superficially, of course, they are an expression of a dancer's personality and often become associated with a person's dancing style. For example, a full skirt flowing colorfully during a lady's swing, or a fancy colonial shirt complementing a man's "reserved" dancing style. Having special clothes for dancing, enhances everyone's dancing pleasure by making the whole hall colorful and a bit different from other activities. But the most compelling reasons for carefully choosing one's dancing clothes have to do with making dancing easier and more comfortable. Dancing generates heat, and as a consequence, cotton is an ideal material to wear. Many dancers often bring a second shirt to change into, especially during the long summer dances or the all night "dawn" dances popular in the Northeast. Anyone who has ever casted off with a gentleman in a soaking wet shirt will appreciate the problem. Long skirts are not only the preferred dancing garb for women, but they also facilitate cooling and allow freedom of movement. In fact, all dancing clothes, including footwear, should not hamper freedom of movement. It is very difficult to walk smoothly or swing safely in boots or other heavy footwear. Similarly, shoes with sticky xibber soles do not permit the slipping action of the sliding/walking step nor the buzz~step swing. The most popular dancing shoes are therefore light, leather-soled shoes. Many women, however, enjoy dancing in the black cloth Chinese shoes which are available in many stores. In short, varying the shoes and other clothes you dance in may significantly improve the way you feel when you are gancing. DANCING COURTESY Nearly every dancing guide book written in the 1800's had a list of dancing etiquette rules printed in it. These were often very detailed and quite restrictive. Modern dances are, thankfully, much more relaxed and open. Listed below are a collection of modern-day, common-sense suggestions designed to facilitate everyone's dancing pleasure. 1) adies or gents may ask partners to dance, but if you refuse a dance, common courtesy insists that you not accept a subsequent offer to dance the same dance. 2) If you have promised a dance to someone and then forget and begin dancing with ancther, you should apologise to that person and dance with the first person. 3) If a dance is announced as being challenging or for experienced dancers only, inexperienced dancers should resist the temptation to "try anyway". 4) A related suggestion is that two absolutely inexperienced dancers should not attempt to dance together repeatedly at their first dance. It is perfectly polite to make that suggestion to such couples. 5) Join contra lines at the bottom of the set, and never drop out of a contra except at either end of the line. 6) Tt is impolite to switch squares as they are forming; it is also poor form to @rop out of a square after the first dance of a two square set. 7) Be aware of other sets forming around you. Should your set be moved to allow ‘them more room to dance comfortably? 8) It is a nice gesture to introduce yourself to each partner, especially when dancing together for the first time. 9) Try not to talk out loud while the dance is being taught. 10) Gents: If you are planning to dance a variation of the call, or to turn the lady under your arm, whisper it to her in advance, so she is not unexpectedly jerked about by the move.11) Use good judgement when meeting inexperienced dancers as you progress down a contra line. Try not to use fancy variations which might be confusing. 12) Dance with the enjoyment of others in mind. Specifically, do not impede the ability of others to dance in time to the music by, for example, swinging too long before the promenade in a square dance. 13) If you accidentally bump or step on someone, acknowledge the mistake and apologise. 14) It is perfectly correct (and in fact encouraged) to inform someone that what they are doing to you is painful or awkward. Hopefully, such comments can be made tactfully and be accompanied by suggestions of more comfortable, smoother ways to dance. 15) Avoid the temptation to clap during pauses in the dancing movement. It interferes with understanding the calls and other's ability to appreciate the music. 16) It is common courtesy to thank each partner you have danced with, as soon as your dance together has finished. DANCING STYLE Dancing style, like any otherkind of "style", cannot really be taught, although it can be developed. If one dances a lot, observes other dancers, and is willing to be creative & experiment with variations in ways to follow the calls, what emerges is a personal dancing style. While there is no easy substitute for practice and experience, the following comments may help to accelerate the development of your own dancing style and at the same time make you a more interesting partner to dance with. First, the mechanics of the dozen or so calls involved in the dancing must be absolutely second-nature. Development of style, demands that you be thinking not about what to do next, but how you will choose to do it. For example, "Do I feel like dancing elegantly or in a more energetic, raucous fashion? And shall I twirl the approaching lady or do a courtesy turn?" There are, perhaps, four main dance movements where style is most readily apparent: 1) How you walk. ( An energy-conserving, sliding step is currently popular.) 2) How you allemande. (A firm, but elastic, connection between partners is preferred.) 3) How you balance. (There are scores of distinctly different ways to balance right and left. To each his own!) 4) How you swing. (This may be the most important thing to work on. A smooth, rapid, level-shouldered swing in which both partners are leaning out, is ideal. For most people, this is the most difficult figure to master, and there are probably as many swinging styles as there are dancers.) A truly creative dancer is not static in his or her style, byt adapts to what seems most appropriate for a particular partner, or dance, or tune. Developing a dancing style and learning to apply it creatively Sometimes take years to accomplish, but the revards are well worth it. A comparison can be made to snowplowing down a mountain,versus parallel skiing your way to the bottom. You get to the same place both ways, but one is a lot more fun. DANCE MUSIC , Many people are unaware that the music for New England-style country dancing (whether it be for a contra, square, or couple dance) almost invariably has the same structure. Each tune is composed of two different-sounding musical parts ~~ the A part and the B part-- which are nearly always played in the following order: AABB, repeated until the dance is finished. The A part establishes the melodic