Message from the President
This is a welcome message to all new and returning square dancers as we approach the beginning of a new dance season. We have a full dance program planned, including special and themed dances. See the calendar on our website at merisquares.ca for details.
Social Square Dancing?
Social Square Dancing (SSD) is our introductory program on Tuesday evenings for new dancers and those who haven’t danced for some time. We have two free open houses planned to introduce new dancers to the activity, on Tuesday September 3 and 10 at the J.A. Dulude Arena, 941 Clyde Avenue, from 7:00 to 9:00pm. The following Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Wendy VanderMeulen will begin teaching this program and we will definitely be looking for angels (experienced dancers) to help introduce new dancers to square dancing. SSD is specifically designed to be easy and fun to learn and to dance.
Dancers will learn the entire program in 14 weeks for a fee of $130 (less than $10 a night) and will have opportunities to dance at this level after they graduate. SSD is a stand-alone dance level that will be available at regional dances. Dancers who travel south for the winter can continue to dance the SSD program while away.
Full SSD Dancing
Every third tip on each Tuesday evening, and for a half hour following the teach session (9:00 to 9:30pm), there will be full SSD dancing for those who have previously learned the SSD dance steps. If you are an SSD graduate, come along for the exercise and to keep your dance moves fluent, and also to help the new dancers learn their steps. The fee for full SSD dancers is $130 for the session, the same as for learners.
Recruitment
All Club members are encouraged to download and print the attractive and colorful posters that have been created to recruit new dancers; you will find them here and here. If you cannot print them, pick some up at the August SSD and Plus dance at 7pm on August 20 at the Dulude Arena. Please help us attract new SSD dancers by posting them in prominent places such as community bulletin boards, store windows or on your Facebook page.
Plus and Mainstream Dancing
Our regular season of Plus dancing will begin at 7:15pm on Thursday September 5 at the Westminster Church gymnasium, and will continue until December 19. The fee is $130 for the season, the same as last year. This year we will introduce mainstream dancing on this evening; once a month we will feature a mixed Mainstream and Plus dance, where tips will alternate between these two levels. These dances will be free to our Mainstream graduates who have paid their full SSD session fee for Tuesday evening dancing, and will be $10 for drop-in mainstream dancers.
You are encouraged to download and complete the appropriate form and bring it, along with your fees, to your first dance night. The registration forms are available on this website under Club Documents, you can find the SSD form here and the Plus form here.
The full dance schedule can be found under Schedule on the menu bar on this website (merisquares.ca).
See you on the dance floor!
David Shackleton
President