HOW TO GO
What: Jericho Old Time Band’s Oxford Community Square Dance
Where: Oxford Community Arts Center, 10 S. College St., Oxford
When: April 3, 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Cost: $5
More Info: 513-524-8506 or www.oxarts.org
Magical as he finds square dancing to be, Tyler Crawford (a.k.a. T Claw), who has recently started a regional movement to revive this old-time community entertainment, has often found himself reluctant to use the term.
“There’s a stigma to it,” he said. “People assume it’s something hokey or dorky. Some people think it’s exotic or just not for them. A lot of people today don’t dance at all, or even know they have an interest in dancing. Since it’s like a game with simple rules and patterns, square dancing is a gateway drug to dancing. We’ve had a lot of people love it.”
Thanks partially to T Claw, monthly and semi-regular square dances are taking place throughout the Tennessee-Kentucky-Ohio region, including Friday, April 3, at the Oxford Community Arts Center. T Claw has been the “caller” at this event before, but that duty this weekend will be taken up by a local group, Jericho’s Old Time Band.
Judy Waldron is the guitarist for Jericho’s Old Time Band and will be calling this weekend’s dance. Like T Claw, she likes square dancing for the way it builds a sense of community.
“It changes a lot, and you always have new partners,” she said. “You have a lot of fun with people you know or don’t know.”
As an organizer who has always been interested in bringing different types of people together, square dancing was a fortuitous discovery for T Claw.
“It’s just a great tool for breaking down social awkwardness, which is gone once you’re holding hands,” he said. “It’s important to have the composition of the crowd just right, with part of the crowd dancing and the other part socializing on the outskirts so nobody feels pressured. It’s also important to keep it beginner-friendly so anyone came come off the street and learn what they need to know.”
Indeed, Waldron said the square dance at the OCAC will begin with 10 to 15 minutes of basic instruction.
“We teach through dancing, starting with a circle dance,” she said. “People pick it up enough in that time to dance the next dance, and we’ll teach them another move.”
Waldron said there is no specific script for calling a dance, only patterns.
“I’ve been calling for 30 years, and I learned by playing in a band behind a caller who learned it in Kentucky where he grew up,” she said. “He did the old-style hoedowns, and I started by repeating his words. I’ve changed it throughout the years by dancing and playing with other callers. There’s no script but the path is there.”
Waldron said they usually get a good mix of people at the dances.
“We get a few older folks who did it when they were younger,” she said. “Most of them don’t square dance regularly. The last time they did it was gym class.”
About the Author