Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 5, 1993 TAG: 9311040190
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BECKY HEPLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"Square dancing releases a lot of joyous energy," club member Bill Richardson said. "That's why we're a group. We're hooked on it."
The group's been hooked for quite a while. The old Time Music and Dance Group formed back in 1980, and even that group had ties to the Hoorah Cloggers and Sunday Night Clogging, a weekly event in Squires Student Center back in the early 1970s. The members were people moving to Blacksburg and discovering one of the treasures of this region - its music and dance culture.
The Sunday Night Clogging stopped when Squires closed for renovation, which also quieted the Hoorah Cloggers. When the group reformed, the members wanted to concentrate more on the traditional square dancing rather than just the clogging and flatfooting that had been the staple of the earlier group.
Not that those skills aren't being used anymore. "You have to do something in a four-couple square when the active couple is doing their part of the dance," Richardson said.
Members also saw a renewed club as an outlet for the numerous old-time musicians in the area. "You just can't believe all the talent that's right here close at hand," said Ginger Wagner, another club member.
Richardson said the members became proficient in several areas, once they started learning the dance. They would go to various Southwest Virginia communities where square dancing was still part of the towns' entertainment, talking to and learning from the locals.
Richardson is now a caller, and he's learned to play three instruments: fiddle, banjo and guitar.
Square dancing has several variations, and the most traditional is the "big circle" dance. Western swing dancing evolved from the four-couple square dancing and contra dancing, a New England derivative, is more like line dancing. What they all have in common is friendly music and callers who create the dance by hollering out instructions for the next step.
The group sponsors several music jams, including informal get togethers and Tuesday evening banjo-and-fiddle jams at Roni's on Main Street. But the mainstay is a monthly dance, usually held at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School gymnasium. (The summer dances are held outside). "We try to get callers from outside the area so we can do some new things," said Wagner.
The dance this weekend will feature caller Susan Girardot, from Seattle, Washington and the Konnarock Critters, a White Top area band of regional reknown. "Even if you don't come to dance, do come for the band," Richardson said. "They're great."
And there's no need to sit it out, even if you have no idea how to square dance.
"The caller will explain the moves before the dance begins," Wagner said. She explained that the callers usually do one new move per dance and the dances build on the moves already learned, so beginners aren't hit with lots of instruction immediately. Plus, the dancing crowd is pretty forgiving and will help out during the dance if someone is really confused.
Don't forget your dancing shoes.
The next square dance is Saturday night at 8 at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School. Admission is $4 per person. Baby-sitting services are available at $1 per hour per child. The last waltz is at 11 p.m.
by CNB