Standard E-Mails to the Class (Dana Scott, Spring 2007)
These are some of the e-mails that Dana sent when she was Class Coordinator. Spring, 2007.
In addition to the Week 1 ...Week 13 e-mails, there are invitations to the class dance and other events.
Week 1
Hi!
My name is Dana Scott, and I'm the Coordinator for the Tech Squares
Spring 2007 class. We're glad you could come to our Fun Night a few
weeks ago and hope you'll join us this Tuesday, February 13th, for the first
night of class.
Dancing this week will be in Lobdell dining hall, the same room as Fun
Night. Please arrive by 8 pm so that you can fill out a registration
form and we can begin dancing on time!
If you are an MIT undergrad, you can get PE credit for taking our
class. You can register on Tuesday night.
If you are an MIT student and wish to receive PE credit, there is no
charge for the course. If you are a student anywhere, our class costs
$2/session, or $11 for a subscription. For non-students, the cost is
$3.50/session, or $40 for subscription. Subscriptions last for the
duration of the class. They save you money and make check-in quicker
and easier for both you and the club, so please consider buying one on
Tuesday night. Checks can be made out to Tech Squares.
You can find more information about Tech Squares on our website:http://www.mit.edu/activities/tech-squares/
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
Dana Scott
dscott@mit.edu
Tech Squares Class Coordinator
Week 2
Hi!
Thanks for attending the first night of the Tech Squares class last
Tuesday. We enjoyed meeting you, and we look forward to dancing with
you again this week.
This week we'll be dancing in La Sala de Puerto Rico, on the 2nd floor
of the Student Center, opposite Lobdell (where we danced last week).
All dances this term will be in either Lobdell or Sala.
We will start our weekly review session in the West Lounge, which is
right next to La Sala, on the left. The review session starts at
7:30. Attendance is optional (our caller, Ted, will review last
week's material during the first class tip), but the reiew session is
an easier and more informal forum in which to cover specific calls.
It is also a good way to get caught up if you miss a week. If you
choose not to attend early walk throughs, please arrive promptly and
ready to dance by 8:15 so that we can get the first class tip started
on time.
Tech Squares' style of square dancing and learning is not like that of
other clubs. We teach very quickly, with less opportunity for
practice, and dance faster to more complicated choreography. We teach
the first two standard dance progams (Mainstream and Plus, the
programs danced by >90% of the clubs in the country), in 13 weeks,
while most other clubs take 40 weeks or longer. This means that we
will be asking you to learn and keep up with a lot of material each
week. If you miss two weeks in a row, chances are you will not be
able to finish the course.
If you are an MIT student and wish to receive PE credit, there is no
charge for the course. If you are a student anywhere, our class costs
$2/session, or $11 for a subscription. For non-students, the cost is
$3.50/session, or $40 for subscription. Subscriptions last for the
duration of the class. They save you money and make check-in quicker
and easier for both you and the club, so please consider buying one on
Tuesday night. Checks can be made out to Tech Squares.
You can find more information about Tech Squares on our website:http://www.mit.edu/activities/tech-squares/
If you have any questions, or would like to be removed from this list,
don't hesitate to contact me.
Dana Scott
dscott@mit.edu
Tech Squares Class Coordinator
Week 3
Hi, all!
Coming up on Tuesday is week 3 of our class. We'll be in La Sala
again, like last week, and early walk-throughs will be in the West
Lounge, also like last week, at 7:30.
If you're feeling shaky on any of the calls we've learned so far, it's
a good idea to come to early walk-throughs. If you missed last week
and intend to continue taking the class, it's a VERY good idea to come
to early walk-throughs. If you are taking the class for PE credit and
you've missed a week, not only is it a VERY good idea to come to
walk-throughs, but you'll need to in order to meet the PE attendance
requirement.
The definitions for all the calls that we have learned so far are
available on the Tech Squares website:http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/lessons/
Hard copies of these definitions are always available at the gate
table.
In addition, here are some links to different websites with animations:
http://www.tamtwirlers.org/tamination/http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~noriks/ENGLISH/English-Index3.htmlhttp://www.remus.dti.ne.jp/~jsda/sdtext/sdtext/basicpro-eng.html
And, as always, if you have questions or need help, feel free to ask
me, Bill, or any club member!
Dana
Week 4
Hi everyone!
This Tuesday is week 4 of our class. Once again, we'll be in La Sala
for the teaching tips and in the West Lounge next door for early
walk-throughs at 7:30.
There are four teaching tips every Tuesday, from 8:15-10:15, so stick
around. PE students are required to stay through the fourth tip.
Make sure you sign in at the door at the beginning of the evening --
we need to take attendance (even club members have to sign in, it's
part of our club rules). If you're trying to sign in and people are
squaring up for a class tip, it's okay to sign in after the tip rather
than clog the attendance line. Just remember to sign in when the tip
is over.
Tech Squares is a singles club, but our etiquette dictates that we
have partners before squaring up. Please find a club member to be
your partner and then find a spot in a square. If you can't find a
partner, let me know and I'll find one for you.
We've learned a lot of material so far -- congratulations! If you
find that you are starting to have trouble with the calls and the pace
at which we teach, I encourage you to read over the call definitions
before clss. They can be found athttp://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/lessons/
The pace of the class will not get any slower and the material will
not get easier. Remember, we are teaching the first two programs of
square dancing (Mainstream and Plus) in 13 weeks -- other clubs can
take almost a year. It's very important that you're comfortable with
the calls from the first few weeks, as the rest of the class will
build on them. It may turn out that our style and speed of class and
dancing is not for you. If you have concerns or need help, talk to
me.
See you on Tuesday!
Dana
Week 5
MIA
Week 6
Hi everyone!
Week 6 is coming up on Tuesday. Once again, we'll be in Lobdell for dancing and upstairs in 20 Chimneys for walk throughs.
If you ever need to know where we're meeting, you can find all of that information here:
http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/schedules/
The "weekly schedules" link will show you where we are as far in advance as we know. There's also a link on the left sidebar to all of our schedules.
Also, please note that next Tuesday, March 20th, falls during MIT's spring break. There will be no teaching that night, but plenty of class-level dancing. It's a good opportunity to solidify what we've already learned without piling on even more calls. If you are taking the class for PE, you will not be penalized for missing this week, but if you have missed a week, this week will make it up for you.
I apologize for missing last week. Bill, thank you so much for bailing me out. As of now, it looks like I will be permitted to leave my cubicle to come to class tomorrow. =) And, I hope that all of you who came out to dinner had a good time.
Dana
Week 7
Hi everyone!
This week is week 7! When we're done this week, you'll be more than
halfway through the class. Congratulations!
This week we'll be in Lobdell for dancing and upstairs in 20 Chimneys
for early walkthroughs.
The next few weeks are an exciting time for the square and folk dance
communities of the Boston area. There's also lots of stuff going on
for the Tech-Squares-class sub-community:
Weekend of:
April 7/8
MIT
Possible review of week 7. I sent mail about this yesterday. If I do
not get 8 RSVPs from either class members or club members willing to
help, THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN. For events like this we need hard RSVPs,
so if you are interested, you need to let me know. Please respond to
my previous email asking for time preferences, so that I can schedule
a time.
Weekend of:
April 14/15
MIT
Class Dance! Bill has offered to call a dance for us. By this time
we will have finished Mainstream (the first level of modern western
square dancing). Yay! There will be no teaching, just a few hours of
straight dancing in a celebratory atmosphere. It's a great chance to
reinforce what you've already learned while having a good time. I'll
be taking a poll about times at class meeting on Tuesday, so please
look over your schedule beforehand. If you'd rather let me know by
email, please tell me which of the following times you're available:
Friday night (4/13); Saturday (4/14) afternoon, evening; Sunday (4/15)
afternoon, evening.
Weekend of:
April 20-22
Mansfield, MA
NEFFA Festival! This is a giant yearly event put on by the New
England Folk Festival Association. It's not a Tech Squares event, but
there will be lots of other folk dancing and music events, and lots of
Tech Squares people will be there. You can find more information
about it at http://www.neffa.org/. If you're interested, find me on
Tuesday night and I can let you know more about it. If you'd like to
go but don't have a way to get there, I can also help you find a ride.
Weekend of:
April 27/28
Springfield, MA
49th annual New England Square and Round Dance Convention. NESRDC is
quite an experience, and since you will have finished Mainstream by
then, you can dance nonstop for 2.5 days if you so choose. Ted, Bill,
and Clark will be calling. Lots of Tech Squares people will be there.
You can find a limited amount of not-very-useful information athttp://www.nesrdc.org/. For more and more useful information, ask any
club member on Tuesday night. We'll talk more about Convention in
class meeting as the time gets closer, but rides and hotel rooms will
be arranged by a volunteer from the club if you'd like to be in on
them.
Weekend of:
May 4-6
MIT
Tech Squares is hosting a weekend-long dance event with an out of town
caller and cuers. I'm talking with the dance organizers now to see if
we can arrange to have some of the weekend be at class level. I will
keep you posted as I know more. For now, you can find information athttp://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/schedules/weekends/may07.html.
I hope all the students had a relaxing spring break, and if you
celebrate Passover or Easter, enjoy your holiday! And please,
remember to do your taxes early so that you can come out and dance at
all these awesome events! (This means you, Bill.)
See you Tuesday! If I won't, please let me know about your schedule
preferences for the week 7 review and the class dance.
Dana
Week 8
Hi everyone!
Congratulations! You're halfway through the class, and this week we
finish Mainstream. We'll be in Sala/West lounge this week for
dancing/walk-throughs.
Thanks to Bill for calling a totally awesome, fun and hopefully useful
week 7 review session on Saturday!
Upcoming events:
Class Dance -- Sunday 4/15, 2-4, W20-491, called by Bill
New England Square and Round Dance Convention -- Friday/Saturday
4/27-28. There will be a crowd from Tech going and you are encouraged
to come and dance! Rides will be arranged.
See you Tuesday!
Dana
Week 9
Hey everyone!
This week we'll be in Lobdell, with early walkthroughs upstairs in 20
Chimneys.
Congratulations on finishing Mainstream, at one of the most blistering
paces in the world! Now you can attend outside dances that offer this
level. Just be aware that many outside clubs/dances expect you to
come with a partner. Tech Squares has lots of practice at forming
pools of partners for outside dances, so if you're interested, I'll
help get you set up.
Now, on to Plus, still at one of the most blistering paces in the
world. =)
We had an awesome class dance this past weekend with almost 4 squares!
I hope everyone had a good time. Thank you Bill!!
Coming up in 2 weeks(4/27 - 4/28) is the New England Square and Round Dance
Convention. Y'all should come! It will be fun. In a separate email,
I will forward some email that went to the club encouraging them to
go.
See you in a square!
Dana
Week 10
Hey everyone!
Excellent job last week with the first week of plus calls!
We'll be in Sala this week, with early walkthroughs in the West
Lounge. We had several people missing last week, so if you were one
of them, being on time (7:30) to walkthroughs is a very good idea.
In addition, remember that all of the weekly definition handouts are
available online. If you've missed a week, reading through the
definitions before class can be very helpful:
http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/lessons/
A few notes:
Remember to check in at the door when you arrive for squares. We need
this information for our attendance records.
When you're squaring up, please try to find a club partner rather than
dancing with another class member. I know that it's fun to dance with
each other, but this helps automatically distribute the learners and
the helpers around the room. If you can't find a club partner, find
me and I'll give you a hand.
Fun stuff coming up:
Tomorrow: Marketa's birthday! Post-squares dinner at Cindy's.
Unfortunately (for you) we'll be having an extra half-hour of dancing
tomorrow night (until 11) so that Ted can practice calling A1 (the
level above Plus) for convention. We won't need to do tables, so we
should be able to leave promptly at 11; stick around and watch the
all-knowing (yeah, right) club members start screwing up, then we'll
head out for food and socialness.
This weekend, Friday and Saturday: New England Convention! It will be
lots of fun! There will be lots (about 30) of Tech Squares people
there! You could be one of them! There will be signup sheets and
schedules at gate and class meeting tomorrow. It's out in
Springfield, there are rides and accomodations available, and you can
come for as little or as much as you like.
See you tomorrow!
Dana
Week 11
Hello class!
Lots of important stuff coming up in the next few weeks (and just
because I say that every week doesn't mean it's not true. =) ):
5/1 (this Tuesday): Week 11, Hack Tip discussion at class meeting (see below)
5/6 (Saturday): There is some chance that we will be able to have some
class-level dancing this weekend during the Tech Squares weekend.
There will also be dinner. I'll keep you posted as we're working it
out.
5/8: Week 12, Hack Tip voting, late-night dancing (no teaching,
class-accessible) until 11 -- Eric Mulder calling
5/15: Week 13 -- Graduation! Hack tips, cake and punch, celebration, etc.
In just two more weeks, you will have all finished Plus and will be
ready to graduate into the club! This is quite an accomplishment,
particularly at the Tech Squares pace. As you have already seen, this
club is rather unique in that we dance hard and fast and require quick
thinking from our dancers. Other clubs do not offer such a fast-paced
class, nor do they dance as vigorously as we do. It may turn out that
this club is not for you, but I encourage you to keep coming to our
Tuesday dances over the summer so that you can really see what we're
about. We'll talk more later about what it's like to be a full club
member, but if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.
One of the special things we do for graduation is hack tips. The
class will choose some modifications and challenge the club to dance a
tip with them, and then the club will challenge us with some other
modifications. Dancing the hack tips is not required, but recommended
because they're a lot of fun. We'll need to pick two different hacks
for the club to dance, one for the patter half of the tip and one for
the singer half. So, be thinking of ideas! We'll come up with a list
this week and finalize our choices next week. Recent hack tips have
included: replacing someone in each square with a broomstick that must
stay off the ground, everyone has to balance some small object on
his/her head, change gender roles when the whistle blows, Ted can call
"undo" on any previous call... The possibilities are endless, so think
of some by Tuesday night. =)
As a Tech Squares member, you will be entitled to wear a stylish
plastic Tech Squares badge. I'll be taking orders for them on Tuesday
and I hope to put in the order by Friday, so if you won't be there
tomorrow and you want a badge, let me know.
See you Tuesday!
Dana
Week 12
Hey everyone!
We're almost done! We have two weeks and nine calls left until
graduation!
This week, dancing will be in Lobdell and early walkthroughs will be
upstairs in 20 Chimneys. We'll be dancing until 11 instead of 10:30,
and the extra dancing will be class-level, so class members are
welcome to join in! Eric Mulder will be calling progressive squares,
where the boundaries between squares become fuzzy or nonexistent. It
will be fun!
I put the badge order in last Friday. If you ordered a badge, you
need to give me money: $6 for a pin-back badge and $9 for a
magnet-back.
Next week is graduation. We need to pick some hacks for the club's
hack tip. I'd like the voting to go quickly in class meeting, since
we have other stuff to talk about, so I'll go over our ideas here and
we can discuss them now and then just vote in the meeting. (I meant
to send this out in the middle of last week but then I got hosed,
sorry about that.)
1. Dancing backwards: I think this would be too dangerous, since no
one would be able to see where they were going. A similar but safer
idea would be to do "nose dancing." To do this, everyone turns one
wall left or right and then sticks their elbow out to make a "nose."
Then you dance the entire tip sideways from how you should be facing.
This is actually harder than going backwards, and by the way, you
can't really use hands. More information athttp://www.tiac.net/~mabaker/square-games.html (search for "nose
dancing"). Another idea is that Ted can ask dancers to "undo" the
previous call, which would be a little bit of backwards dancing
without total chaos. Or, on an undo, we could have everyone u-turn
back and walk backwards along the path of the call they just did.
2. Repeating the previous call out loud: I'd be worried that this
would get old quickly.
3. Hopping on one foot
4. Only allowed to have weight on one foot
5. Blindfolded: all 8 people is a bad idea. The maximum I think a
square can support is 2 or 3.
6. Dancing with earplugs: while having all 8 people with earplugs
wouldn't be actively dangerous, it probably wouldn't be all that
interesting. =) I don't really know whether dancing with earplugs is
harder than dancing blindfolded, so I'd go with no more than 2 or 3
people per square.
7. Some people blindfolded/some people with earplugs: if two many
people are handicapped, this will be impossible. I'm not sure what
the right number is, but I think that any one person should only have
a blindfold OR earplugs. Two blindfolds and two earplugs is probably
the most a square could tolerate and still have fun, and one of each
might be better.
8. Gemini, tandem, or some combination: seehttp://www.tiac.net/~mabaker/square-games.html (search for "gemini").
9. Crossed hands: I'd be worried that this would get boring quickly.
10. Abbreviated call names: I actually think this would be too easy.
11. Carry a (hard-boiled) egg on a spoon: a) eggs have the potential
to be messy even if they're hard-boiled, so maybe a ping pong ball or
something similar would work better. b) is everyone in the square
going to do this? Because if not, then that's pretty boring for the
dancers who don't get something to carry.
12. Chant the alphabet, or something else that everyone knows, while
dancing: This might be hard and confusing but not that much fun. I'm
not sure.
13. Pass an object: a) This isn't actually very hard or interesting, and b) the class did this to the club just last semester.
14. Holding or passing an object under your chin: When would they pass
it? Perhaps in a singing call we could give oranges (for example) to
the head girls (for example) and every time you swing you have to pass
it along to the next person (without hands).
15. Hot potato: the club made the class do this a few terms ago with a
beach ball. It was kind of a disaster in that no actual square
dancing took place. But maybe if we made the club do it instead, it
would go better.
16. Any time you end in a right-hand wave, switch it to a left hand
wave: this is an interesting idea. Would we also switch to a right
hand wave if the previous call ends in a left-hand wave?
We need something for the patter and something for the singer. From
this list, I think the ones that would work best for a singer are
passing an object under your chin, hot potato, and hopping on one
foot.
Discuss!
Dana
Week 13
Hi everyone!
Congratulations! You are just four calls short of dancing full Plus!
We'll be in Sala this week, with walkthroughs in the West Lounge. If
you've missed any classes recently, you want to be at walkthroughs
this week. Ted's post-graduation tips are pretty tricky.
Your Stylish Plastic Badges are sitting in a magnetic ball on my
kitchen table. The following people need to give me badge money on
Tuesday: Amy H., Danielle, Frances, Marketa, Matt, Niki, Paul B., Paul
H., Robert, Xiao.
We need to be prepared for our hack tips for the club. Here's what we
picked:
Patter: 2 people/square blindfolded, 2 people/square deafened
Singer: Head girls start with oranges under their chins that they must
hold there while dancing. When Ted calls "swing," those with oranges
must pass the orange to the person they would be swinging with,
without using their hands.
First we need some props.
Amy H. has volunteered to bring at least 12 pairs of earplugs.
Cori has volunteered to coordinate gathering at least 12 blindfolds.
Danielle has volunteered to bring at least 12 oranges.
Second, we need two people to announce/explain the hack tips to the
club, one for the patter and one for the singer. If you would be
comfortable getting up on stage and doing this, let me know.
After the hack tips, we will have a grand march, led by Tech Squares
founder Veronica McClure. You'll need a club partner for this, and
time is always short for graduation, so finding a partner ahead of
time is one way to streamline things.
After the grand march and the awarding of diplomas, we'll have some
cake and then a few tips of club level dancing... featuring you!
See you Tuesday!
Dana
Spring Break
Hi all,
There's no teaching this week, since it's MIT's spring break. But,
there will be plenty of class-level dancing! This is a good chance to
solidify what you already know without having to pile more on top. =)
We'll be meeting in La Sala this week, with early walkthroughs in the
West Lounge. Bill is out of town, so Andy has volunteered to call the
walkthroughs. Thanks, Andy!
This week does not count for PE credit. The new PE quarter starts
next week, and runs through 5/15. The attendance counter resets, so
if you'd like to receive PE credit for the 2nd half of the class, you
can only miss one Tuesday. If you do miss more than one, you must
come to TWO walkthrough sessions to make up the missed class.
See you tomorrow!
Dana
Veronica's Brief History
A Brief History of Square and Round Dancing
Veronica Anne McClure
Today's square and round dancing is a continuation of the social dance
history of western civilization. This tradition has always emphasized
a group of dancers moving through space making large pattersn, with a
steady, rhythmical base supporting the melody of the music. An early
form was a line of dancers who made circles, spirals, and
followed-the-leader. The line could be divided for concentric
circles, lines, columns, ranks, or squares. Individuals moved as a
group so that it could make these patterns Over and over, references
describe a group creating a basic shape, moving through other
formations, and returning to the starting shape, just as when we do
some calls and then promenade home.
Coinciding with these group dances are couple dances in which one of a
few couples separate from the group, dance for the group, and then
rejoin the group. Both types are in Italian dance manuals of the 15th
and 16th centuries and appear to have been danced in all parts of
Europe. In the 17th century (the Puritan era), there were many groups
using the name "English country dance." However, the name may be
misleading as the dancing was also done in cities and by the upper
classes -- it was not "hayseed" or "bumpkin" at all. In 1651, the
first book about this dancing, _The English Dancing Master_, was
published. This was also the beginning of the Baroque style of
dance, which reached its greatest development in the French courts.
There is much surviving documentation about both and how they
influenced one another, especially in England and France.
Because the North American continent was colonized by Europeans,
especially the English and French, we inherited this dancing. During
the Revolutionary period, the formation most popular was two lines
facing, then called "longways" and now "contra." In the early 19th
century, the square ("quadrille," "lancers") became most popular. All
through the 19th century it was a dominant force in the ballroom, and
a mainstay of the upper classes.
In the late 18th century, a folk dance became popular in upper class
ballrooms because of the same mindset that fueled the French and
American Revolutions and idealized "the common man." It was the
waltz. It was considered shocking not only because of its low-class
origin but because dancers turned their backs on the group and
concentrated on themselves. Not only that, they turned around
together, creating the first "round dance" in the sense that we today
use the term.
Class Dance
Hey everyone!
As decided in class meeting this week, we'll be having our class dance next Sunday afternoon, 2-4 pm. It will be the Student Center, upstairs from Lobdell and Sala in room 491. There will be signs directing you from the elevator lobby on the 4th floor.
Please bring a snack for the refreshment table if you can. Don't worry, dress is still casual. =)
Thanks to Bill for offering us the chance to dance some Mainstream! The class dance is a great chance to get some practice without having to absorb anything new. Plus, it will be fun!
See you Sunday! (Well, Tuesday first, then Sunday.)
Dana
May Weekend
Hello!
As mentioned in class meeting yesterday, Eric Mulder has graciously agreed to call some class-level plus on Saturday during the Tech Squares weekend.
Here's the schedule:
3:30-6:00: Class-level dancing with Eric Mulder
Alternating A2/C2 with Sandie Bryant
Board games!
6:00-8:00: Dinner from Mary Chung's, general hanging out, probably more board games
8:00-11:00: Hard Plus (full Plus) with Sandie Bryant -- only open to class members who went to the extra crash course to learn the remaining Plus calls
Class members are welcome to come dance to Eric, play some games, be social, and eat yummy dinner!
BUT:
We need to make sure we have enough food. So, if you would like to join in for dinner from Mary Chung's ($5/students, $10/non-students) you need to tell us that you are coming! Otherwise we won't know whether to order 15 orders of peking ravioli, or merely 12 (you might think I'm kidding, but you would be wrong).
If you are planning to be there for dinner, please email Sara Pickett(sarac@mit.edu), who is organizing the weekend, with the following information:
Where are you on the meat-veggie scale? Pick one:
carnivore
omnivore
herbivore
How spicy do you like your food? Pick one:
wimp
neutral
bring it on!!
Any other dietary restrictions or things we should know? We can't promise to accommodate everyone.
Y'all should come hang out and dance and eat lots of Chinese food with us on Saturday! I hope I'll see you there!
Dana
Survey
Hi, everyone!
I know you've missed getting harrassed by me via email once a week.
However, this week, I have news!
1. Please take a few minutes to fill out our exit survey. It's
anonymous (unless you choose not to be), so please be honest! You can
be as terse or as verbose as you like, but we'll appreciate any
response. We take your responses very seriously. Your answers will
go to me, and I'll share the information with Ted, Bill, JB (next
fall's Class Coordinator) and anyone else to whom it will be useful.
Please help us improve the structure and format of the class for
future students!
http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/class-exit-survey.html
2. In a week or so, I'll be taking everyone off of tech-squares-class.
3. If I'm really on the ball, you may get another survey from me in a
few months, asking more long-term sorts of questions.
I hope everyone had a good time taking our class! I'm glad to see
so many of you having fun on Tuesday nights. =) I had an awesome time
being your Class Coordinator! And, thank you for the card, flowers, and
present. The card is still sitting on my desk at work.
Dana
Unsubscribe From Email List, End of Semester
Hey everyone,
As the class is now over, I'm going to take everyone off of the class
mailing list.
If you haven't already done so, please take a few minutes and fill out
the survey:
http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/class-exit-survey.html
We're interested in hearing your opinions if you didn't graduate or
haven't been coming on Tuesdays.
Thanks for your time! See you in a square.
Dana
Review of Week 7 (Passover)
In spring 2007, the 7th week of class was the 2nd night of Passover.
Several class members were unable to attend.
It was suggested that if this happens in the future the usually
non-teaching week during spring break could be used to teach the week
7 calls again.
Hi, all --
As discussed in class meeting, we will be having a review of last
night's calls, called by Bill. It will be on Saturday, April 7, at 4
pm. I expect that it will run somewhere between and hour and 2 hours.
It will be in a classroom on the MIT campus. I'll let you know where
as soon as I do.
So far, based on the people who have sent me email, I am expecting:
(Five Names)
If you are definitely coming, please send me email. If I have you
listed as attending and you can't, please send me email. I need to
get an accurate count so that I can make sure we have enough people.
We will be reviewing:
Alamo Style Wave
Balance
Circle to a Line
Cross Fold
Eight Chain Thru (1-8 hands)
Fold
Slide Thru
Spin the Top
See some of you Saturday!
Dana
Clarification of "Fly In" Weekend for Class
Hey all,
There may be some confusion about this weekend, so I wanted to try to
be even clearer about what's going on and what will be accessible to
class members.
2-6 pm Saturday: Board games and other socialness, Lobdell or 20 Chimneys (the Lobdell-side walkthrough room). Open to all!
3:30-6 pm Saturday: Class level dance, called by Eric Mulder, W20-491
(the same room as the class dance). Open to all class members.
6-8 pm Saturday: Cheap dinner from Mary Chung's! In
Lobdell. $5/students, $10/non-students. If you would like dinner,
email Sara Pickett (sarac@mit.edu) and let her know. Also let her
know whether you eat meat and if you like spicy food (yes/neutral/no).
Open to all! Come be social and eat yummy food.
8-11 pm Saturday: Hard Plus dance, called by Sandie Bryant, Lobdell.
Open to all class members who attended the rest-of-Plus cram session
last Monday.
In case it wasn't clear, when I mentioned in class meeting last week
that you should hold off on dancing in club tips, I meant you should
hold off on dancing in class tips on Tuesday nights. If you attended
Monday night's cram session and you know full Plus, you are welcome to
dance with the club for the Saturday night dance.
I hope to see lots of you this weekend!
Dana
Invitation to Crash Rest-of-Plus Class
Hey everyone,
As discussed at class meeting, there will be a Tech Squares weekend at
MIT next weekend, May 4th, 5th and 6th:
http://www.mit.edu/~tech-squares/schedules/weekends/may07.html
It will be a Plus-level weekend. At that time, y'all will be nine
calls short of being able to dance Plus.
If enough people are interested, we might have a special session
sometime this week to learn those last nine calls, extremely quickly.
This special session is not for everyone. You should only consider
coming to the weekend if you are already very solid on what we've been
learning on Tuesday nights. In addition, you would be expected to put
in time studying and practicing (I can give some tips on how to do
that). The weekend should be fun if you can keep up, but if you can't
just yet, it won't be very much fun for you or for the other dancers.
If you are interested in coming to a super-fast last-9-calls-of-plus
session, please let me know when you would prefer:
Sunday afternoon
Sunday evening
Monday evening
Wednesday evening
Thursday evening
Please get back to me ASAP so I can find a caller, book a room, and
fill out a square.
Dana
E-Mails to Club and Outside
To Club: Order Badges
Hello Tech Squares!
I'm going to be putting in a badge order at the end of this week.
If you would like a new badge or bar, you need to tell me by THURSDAY,
May 3rd. If you will be at Tech on Tuesday or at the Sandie Bryant
weekend, be prepared to pay for it then. If not, I will email you to
deal with payment after I've put in the order.
Pin-back badges are $6.00.
Magnet-back badges are $9.00.
Bars are $3.50.
If you would like a new badge, I need to know:
first line (larger, commonly first name)
second line (smaller, commonly last name)
pin- or magnet-back
If you would like a new bar, I need to know:
What you want it to say (duh. =) )
Send me your orders! Your deadline is Thursday, May 3rd.
Dana
Badge Company: Badge Order
Hi Peggy,
I'll need 25 badges (23 magnet-back, 2 pin-back) and 2 bars. The
badges should be in the standard Tech Squares style with the larger
first line.
2 notes:
Joanne McLernon -- if it's possible to raise the "c" so that it's
level with the top of the letters rather than the bottom, please do.
Marketa Valterova -- If possible, this name should have 2 accents,
both rising from left to right (/), one on the "e" in "Marketa", one
on the final "a" in "Valterova."
Badges:
1st line 2nd line pin/magnet notes paid
(First) (Last) (M|pin) ($9|$6)
bars:
PAST PRESIDENT
EX BANNER COMMANDO
You can ship the order and invoice to:
Dana Scott
(Address)
Please let me know the final total and when I can expect them, and I'll start the process of getting a check for you.
Thank you!
Dana Scott
Tech Squares Class Coordinator
pin: 5@ $6 = $30
magnet: 21@ $9 = $189
bars: 2@ $3.50 = $7
shipping: $8
$234
real total = 245.30
To Club: Class Dance Announcement
The spring class will finish Mainstream this coming Tuesday! To
celebrate, we're having a dance for them next weekend.
Class Dance
Sunday, 4/15, 2-4
W20-491
Bill Ackerman calling
Dress is casual. Please bring food for the refreshment table!
I will not be helping the class members find partners, as I do on
Tuesdays, so please be friendly and ask them to dance. Also, please
give them preference when squaring up; no class members who want to
dance should be sitting out.
Also, I will not be adjusting the squares as I do on Tuesdays, so
please try to distribute yourselves (as angels) among the squares
roughly evenly so that the success rate (and consequently the fun
rate) is higher.
To Club: Want Caller for Rest-of-Plus Crash Course
Hello callers!
I am both blessed and cursed with a lot of extremely psyched class
members.
Since there will be no class-level dancing at the May weekend, it's
been suggested by the officers and the aforementioned psyched class
members that I put together a super-fast session to learn the
remaining 9 calls they'll need to come to the weekend.
All the class members who have replied are doing well in the class and
willing to put in time outside of class to make an effort to really
know the extra calls.
So far the most popular times are Monday evening (first choice) and
Wednesday evening (second choice). Would any of you lovely people
like to call a crash-through the rest of plus on either of those
nights? The 9 calls in question are:
Chase Right
Peel the Top
(Anything) and Spread
Teacup Chain
Track II
Single Circle to a Wave
Dixie Grand
Grand Swing Thru
Ping Pong Circulate
In addition, if the crash session is Monday rather than Wednesday, they will not yet have learned:
Coordinate
Cut the Diamond
Follow Your Neighbor
(Anything) and Roll
Spin Chain and Exchange the Gears
Trade the Wave
Please let me know quickly so I can find some angels, book a room, and
let the psyched class members know what's happening.
Thanks!
Dana
Veronica: Plan for Grand March
Hi Veronica,
We finally had our officers' meeting and we talked about the Grand
March.
The consensus was that we would like to have a grand march, but that,
in the past, the march has taken up a lot of time in an already packed
evening. We now have several calls to teach, plus two hack tips, plus
the awarding of diplomas.
So, we'd like to request two things:
1. We would love for you to lead a Grand March, but it should take no
longer than 5 minutes.
2. Given that it will be shorter than in the past, we'd like to
emphasize the moves that allow marchers to interact or make eye
contact with everyone else in the march, like the spiral or the
bridge/tunnel that usually goes at the end.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks so much for continuing to do this! It's nice to have
a sense of continuity and history by involving one of our founders.
Dana
To and From Veronica: Planning for Grand March
Dana, I am SOOOO delighted there will be more time for the Grand March !
I had visions of having to reverse the spiral when it was only beginning
and I do dearly , dearly believe that having some other figure or figures
before the spiral and tunnel is important. However, I'm not certain what
you mean by keeping the emphasis on the group. Please explain. Are there
certain figures you have in mind that seem more or less groupy?
Getting folks to line up promptly is a way to keep the time from
evaporating. Can the class be reminded to line up quickly at their last
class meeting tomorrow?
And could the club be reminded, perhaps during a club tip early in the
evening? It might mean more coming from a club member than from me.
Also thanks for the names and e-mail addresses -- this is very helpful.
I was hoping to be at Tech more often this semester, but one thing after
another has happened, including the deaths of three people important to me,
a major backache that lasted two weeks after driving home from Baltimore
and my brother's funeral, changes at work, and now this blankety-blank
bursitis for which the doctor says no dancing for now, grrrrr. I was
especially upset last night as I went to my usual Scottish country dance
session to hang out ('cause I'm not supposed to dance), and a lovely
newly-composed dance was introduced which really interested me. After the
group got the hang of it, the teacher announced that the new dance is "Miss
McClure's Strathspey" composed especially for me by Roger Gilbert, a very
skilled and attractive dancer himself, who admires how I dance strathspays,
especially those with flirtacious moments! Can you imagine? I was so
delighted but also so upset that I couldn't dance "my" dance.
I'm not supposed to dance tomorrow -- especially the squares as all the
quick, brief turns are potential trouble for the bursitis which is in my
right leg near the hip joint. But I will lead the Grand March, especially
the spiral, as that is consistent walking, and I'm hoping for a few rounds
as well. But I enjoy dancing the hack tips and I'm sad I shall have to sit
them out this time.
So while I won't be full steam ahead, I will be there and I'll be
especially happy to lead the Grand March.
All the best,
Veronica
Hey Veronica,
I hope the bursitis isn't bothering you as much. If you can't dance
with us, at least you should be able to come to graduation and have
fun and cue some rounds for us.
> However, I'm not certain what
> you mean by keeping the emphasis on the group. Please explain. Are there
> certain figures you have in mind that seem more or less groupy?
In your previous mail, you said
> Ideally, a Grand March should give time to establish the couples as well as
> the group...
I think (and it was the consensus at the officers's meeting) that for
something like this, where the couples are mostly random anyway and
what we are celebrating is the inclusion of the new people into the
group, "establishing the group" should be more the focus than
"establishing the couples."
We felt that things like the spiral and the tunnel are good for
"establishing the group," which is why we'd definitely like to keep
them, and comparatively little time should be figures that involve
marching alone or with just one other person.
Does that make more sense?
I'm glad I could give you more time, but we are still pretty pressed
timewise, so please be aware of that.
> Getting folks to line up promptly is a way to keep the time from
> evaporating. Can the class be reminded to line up quickly at their
> last class meeting tomorrow?
I've already suggested that they try to find a partner earlier in the
evening, and I'll be sure to mention it at class meeting.
> And could the club be reminded, perhaps during a club tip early in the
> evening?
Sure. I'll ask Ted to mention it.
What exactly should we be telling everyone to do? Stand with your
partner in a column down the center of the room, or something else?
I'm glad to hear you'll be cueing something for us tonight! I hope I
am not so busy that I won't be able to dance it. =)
See you tonight!
Dana