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Show Square Dancing Takes Firm Hold In flev York City NEW YORK. Square dancing that beloved recreation of the rural and mountain people has taken firm hold of New Yorkers much in the, same way it has their rural Counterparts and much in the same way its charms are being "discovered" by the teen-agers of the nation. Last summer, 250,000 persons attended at-tended the square dances at three of the city's parks and playgrounds, and more than a half-million New Yorkers took advantage of a similarly simi-larly free program of social dancing conducted with popular bands in parks and playgrounds of the city's four more populous boroughs. The square dancing programs usually go like this: A loudspeaker booms. A voice tells the dancers to form squares. The voice belongs to the callers-some callers-some one like Ed Durlacher of the Top Hands and one of the city's best callers. Ed's instructions are always larded with bits of salty humpr. Pefore the tyro or the visitor visi-tor can gasp out his surprise, he has acquired a pretty fair idea of some of the simple dances? How Durlacher Does It Take a typical Durlacher-ealled dance. Here's how it went: Durlacher alerted his dancers with a cowbell and announced that "Honolulu Baby" would be the next dance. "Face your partners," he Intoned, In-toned, "but don't get the horrors-Just horrors-Just face them." The seven musicians started playing. play-ing. Durlacher began, "First gents to the right, circle, then hands around. Swing with the other fellow's fel-low's lady. When you have swung go back where you belong and swing with your Honolulu Baby. "Oh, you swing her around, you swing her up and down. Promenade Prome-nade with your lady. Your arm across her waist, and you promenade prome-nade to place promenade with your Honolulu Baby." Gain Popularity The square dances, which are more popular this year than ever, also attract Walter S. Mack Jr., president of the company, which sponsors the square dances,, and Mrs. Mack. Both, watch the proceedings pro-ceedings intently, Elsewhere in the eity thousandi of couples who are not square-dance square-dance addicts take part in social dancing sponsored by another company com-pany In conjunction with the park department. Favorite band leaders, Including Tommy Ryan, Sonny Dunham, Dun-ham, Larry Clinton, Alvino Rey and Ray McKinley play nightly on weekdays in a project begun for service men in the war and continued con-tinued at the request of the park department and by popular demand. |