Dances

You are dancing at the "Basic" program level of Square Dancing, so you're looking for dances that advertise "Basic". Usually dances have several levels; a dance that alternates Basic-level dancing with Mainstream-level dancing is listed as Basic/Mainstream or B/MS for short. Even better if there is a separate hall or room dedicated to Basic dancing. That means you get to dance every tip. When there are combined levels, you'll have to sit out when a higher level tip is called.

If a dance lists itself as "New Dancer Basic", it's obviously meant for you. However, generally if a dance mentions Basic (and doesn't say "Full Basic") it is most often set to your level, ie, the level that your club and other clubs have reached in the teaching order by the time the dance happens.

You should check out the calendar on eoDance.ca to see all the dance events that are coming up in our area.

Dancing Outside the Club

In order to become good dancers, you need to embrace opportunities to dance outside the club. This is a great way you to meet new people, hear different callers, strengthen your dancing and just have fun.

However we have a wide dance area, so be prepared to drive. Clubs are located from Belleville to Cornwall along the 401 corridor, to the Ottawa area running along the 417/17/07 from Carleton Place to Russell and up into Pembroke. The closest clubs are a 50- to 60- minute drive from the Kingston Club.

Open Dances: On the side bar at right are a few suggested dances that you would enjoy. You can't imagine the fun of dancing with a complete bunch of strangers who are in the same boat as you. They won't remain strangers for long.

Visit other Clubs: Check out the dance nights of other local clubs on eoDance.ca. If they dance the Basic level, drop in on them and have some fun. Get some of our dancers to go with you and go as a group, share driving, etc. The other club will love to see you and it will encourage them to make a return visit to us. More People = More Fun. Sometimes you might wish to call ahead to give them a "heads up" and also to make sure they are dancing that night.

Callers

Most local callers are members of OACA, the Ottawa and Area Callers Association. This group not only tries to help one another progress as callers but we can share a common teaching philosophy. Aside from minor personal variations, local callers generally teach the moves in the order recommended by CallerLab. Thus callers know how far along you are and will call up to that level or slightly below it to be sure. For major dances, we decide at our monthly meetings what is the highest level move that we can use for that dance.

(CallerLab is an international standards body that provides education and guidance to callers and maintains lists, definitions, and other information).