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Show y .... j V 1 ' vilie , ,fj SQUARE DANCING "j r By ROSELYN KIRK I Square dance calls are ' complicated and the begin-i begin-i ning square dancer must ; spend about a year learning ' at least the basic 50 calls ; before he is ready to join a regular square dance group, f say Eli and Dixie Mitchell, 46 ! North 1100 West, West Bountiful. Boun-tiful. THE MITCHELLS joined the Moonlighter Square Dance Group in Bountiful in 1972, and after a year of earning calls and how to maneuver, they joined the. ?gular group the following -ear. Since that time they pjn-! rave traveled in their trailer Tp. ' sail parts of the country to ; articipate in square dances ajj ailed by a variety of callers. yj' "Just because you begin ? l with 50 basic calls doesn't V mean you know it all," Eli I said. 'There's alwavs . something new to learn. You j nave to scratch to keep up. t New calls multiply as they v'. v! I continue to be improvised by I I many callers nationwide." v ; i; Eh said the square dance or ganizations choose a "call of the month," based on the originality of the call. THE Moonlighter group in Bountiful has a special caller who comes from Ogden each Friday to call the square dance held at the Community Church in Bountiful known as the "man in green," he has taken his name from Green River, Wyo his place of origin. The caller, Clarence Eskridge, arranges each year for square dance clubs from Green River, Wyo. and Vernal Ver-nal to meet with the Moonlighter Club and square dance at the top of the Flaming Flam-ing Gorge Dam near Green River and Vernal. Although the Moonlighters usually dance every Friday night at the Community Church, sometimes they rent a larger hall and inyite other square dancing groups to participate with them. That number could reach 200 to 300 people. DIXIE SAID, the two of them like square dancing because it "is a family ac- A basic course in round dancing will be taught this winter, sponsored by the Golden Spike Square Dance Club in cooperation with the Davis County Adult Education Program The 12-week course will begin Jan. 7 at 7 p.m at Vae View Elementary School in Layton. Cost is $2.50 per couple per lesson which includes dancing nfter each class. Getting instructions from dance instructor ins-tructor Sam Young are Becky and Lace Wakefield. Public is invited and dancers do not have to have previous dance experience. tivity and spans several generations." Dixie's parents, Les and Mae Brewerton, as well as the Mitchells'' children square dance. A spin-off teenage group, many of them children of the square dancing parents have formed their own square dancing group called Levies and Laces. This group meets on Monday. SOMETIMES when the Mitchells travel as far away as California to attend a special square dance, they take their children with them and park near the. square., dancing area in their trailer. "It's a fine activity for a couple and is also family oriented," Dixie said. According to Eli, "Square Dancing is a community all its own." He pointed out that four years ago 30,000 people attended the National Square Dance convention at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. "There were square dancers in every room and hall and they also danced outside and in Arrow Press Square." SOME OF the square dancers were bedded down at the University facilities and filled motel rooms from Ogden Og-den to Provo, Dixie said. The Mitchells have traveled to the Silver Slate Festival in Reno, Nev., an average gathering in terms of square dancers, where about 7,000 people attended. at-tended. The Mitchells say, although it takes a lot of energy to square dance from three to four hours an evening, "there is a lot of resting in between." "Drinking is a no-no in square dancing," Eli said. You can't think what you're doing and drink at the same time." PRIOR TO learning to square dance, the Mitchells participated in ballroom dancing and went almost every Tuesday night to the Terrace ballroom in Salt Lake City where they danced to the music of Max Engman. Eli said, "We danced a lot before we were married. I guess I've danced ever since 1 could walk." Although the men usually wear western clothes and cowboy boots 10 square dance in, the women have elaborate costumes with big skirts and petticoats. "In some cases all the women in one square dance club have costumes alike." In the past the women in the Moonlighters Club have worn green costumes since their caller is the "man in green." DIXIE SAYS, although she is not a seamstress, her mother or sisters make her square dance costume, all from the same basic pattern, but come up with different modifications to change the costumes. Some specialty shops sell square dancing costumes, she said, but in most cases the women make their own. Dixie said square dancing is "strenuous." But Eli added "Exercise doesn't hurt anybody. You don't really work that hard." Although the square dance usually begins at 7: 30 and lasts until 10:30 or 11:00, there is a 30 minute break in the middle. There the caller demonstrates his skill by calling a "tip," a pattern call or a singing call. ELI SAID he has attempted to call some squares, but is an amateur. Callers go to school to learn. Some are famous on a national basis and fly around the country to call square dances. Dixie said traveling to square dances can become a whole way of life." Sometimes Some-times the family travels to West Yellowstone, where they vacation and where a well known square dance is held in a trailer park. Dixie said many retired people are taking up square dancing. "When I went to visit my parents in Arizona, I was astounded as-tounded at the number of oldercouples who were learn-' ing square dancing and ballroom dancing." Although the Mitchells say that square dancing is more of a summer activity, the state convention for square dancers was held at Logan, Utah in the stadium in late September or early October. SQUARE DANCE clubs each have a banner. After a participating group has come to a square dance, they take the banner of the host group home. Then that group comes and brings a square to get the banner back. They bring a caller and the whole exchange begins again. The Mitchells say that, although square dancing has always been considered a western custom, that square dance groups are organized in all parts of the country, rk |