Sat, Nov 21 2009
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Swing your partner By BETTY SMITHPress special writer At first, there was quite a bit of chattering among the dancers, but Stretch laid down the law: “Listen to me. Be quiet and let everyone listen. You have to listen to the caller if you’re going to dance.”
The next move they learned was an Alabama left, where each couple puts their left hands together and turns in a circle. They started to put a few moves together, at Stretch’s direction. “Bow to your partner, turn to the corner. Alabama left, then the grand handshake, courtesy turn, promenade.” Stretch used an honest-to-gosh record player and 45 rpm singles for the dance music. It was probably the first time many of the younger dancers had seen such equipment, but the veterans said the 45s still are sold to the square dance market. Pausing for a moment, Stretch explained why he keeps dancing after more than a quarter century, and why he thinks new dancers should take up the art. “If you’ve never square danced, you’ll find it’s some of the most fun you’ve ever tried. You’re going to have to get your grinning muscles in shape because you’re going to laugh at somebody else and you’re going to laugh at yourself,” he said. He resumed his call to the dancers. “Find your partner – if you want to,” he told the boys. “You don’t have to,” one lad assured another. But reluctantly or not, they paired up again and took to the floor. Stretch told the couples to join left hands as they began to learn the courtesy turn. “What’s my left?” a blonde girl asked. Her partner demonstrated. “The boy backs up, the girl goes forward on a courtesy turn,” Stretch explained. While some boys wore boots, other dancers skipped about in tennis shoes or sandals. One barefoot dancer squealed, “Oh, my toe!” as a boot-sporting boy trod on her foot. “Perfect, that’s perfect,” Stretch exclaimed as the dancers gained confidence in their moves and picked up their pace, many with the promised grins on their faces. “Let’s take a little break, you’re all doing so good,” Stretch told them. 
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