[MWSD] Chesapeake Squares

I went up to Baltimore to dance with Chesapeake Squares tonight. Their caller is Dayle Hodge.

It was an interesting night. They're a gay club, with a (generous) 2 hour dace time that covers Mainstream through (combined) Advanced. There were 2 MS squares and one+ for Plus and A2.

The night went (more or less): Dancer's Choice (plus tonight), MS, A, Plus (I think - this tip might not actually have occur, MS, Short A, MS (tag-team called by the 2 callers in training of the club, with Dayle watching over them, mic-in-hand to pull their bacon out of the fire if needed), 'hot hash' MS (IE: calling as fast as the calls can be done - faster than Callerlab's suggested beat count, allowing for as little space between them as possible.

I danced arky for most of the MS/Plus and Man for the A tips.

My A is still nowhere near what it should be. My arky MS/Plus is pretty good, but is still susceptible to: the occasional slide through failure, a likelihood of allemanding left to my partner rather than my corner, and more vulnerable to weakness in the square than when I'm dancing 'normal'.

This was a much touchier (in the touchy-feelie sense) club than the Minnesota Wild Roses (see an entry about them sometime in Mid-March)... each tip ended with a group Thank You (cross-armed in and out)(as opposed to the Tech out-only) FOLLOWED by a whole series of one-on-one hugs... about 20% of the time, a front-back couple (what's the term?) in a square awaiting further calls (while, say, the other square cleans themselves up), there'd be some sort of flirtatious contact.

I can't say it was all unpleasant, though there were few people there I found attractive. There were times it was a bit over the top, but I gather that the club culture is fine with that. I completely understand why Tech isn't that way, though I can't really say I'd be upset if it had more of it; I know that many would be, though, including the 'Tute, and I'm fine with it being different that way from most of the other social circles I hang out in.

My caller list has been appropriately updated.

(Oh! One of the dancers there went one of the Boston Uncommons fly-ins and expressed dismay that Tech wasn't a gay club and thus that the Tech dancers there were less likely to be appropriate flirtation targets. :)

[MWSD] Chesapeake Squares

I went up to Baltimore to dance with Chesapeake Squares tonight. Their caller is Dayle Hodge.

It was an interesting night. They're a gay club, with a (generous) 2 hour dace time that covers Mainstream through (combined) Advanced. There were 2 MS squares and one+ for Plus and A2.

The night went (more or less): Dancer's Choice (plus tonight), MS, A, Plus (I think - this tip might not actually have occur, MS, Short A, MS (tag-team called by the 2 callers in training of the club, with Dayle watching over them, mic-in-hand to pull their bacon out of the fire if needed), 'hot hash' MS (IE: calling as fast as the calls can be done - faster than Callerlab's suggested beat count, allowing for as little space between them as possible.

I danced arky for most of the MS/Plus and Man for the A tips.

My A is still nowhere near what it should be. My arky MS/Plus is pretty good, but is still susceptible to: the occasional slide through failure, a likelihood of allemanding left to my partner rather than my corner, and more vulnerable to weakness in the square than when I'm dancing 'normal'.

This was a much touchier (in the touchy-feelie sense) club than the Minnesota Wild Roses (see an entry about them sometime in Mid-March)... each tip ended with a group Thank You (cross-armed in and out)(as opposed to the Tech out-only) FOLLOWED by a whole series of one-on-one hugs... about 20% of the time, a front-back couple (what's the term?) in a square awaiting further calls (while, say, the other square cleans themselves up), there'd be some sort of flirtatious contact.

I can't say it was all unpleasant, though there were few people there I found attractive. There were times it was a bit over the top, but I gather that the club culture is fine with that. I completely understand why Tech isn't that way, though I can't really say I'd be upset if it had more of it; I know that many would be, though, including the 'Tute, and I'm fine with it being different that way from most of the other social circles I hang out in.

My caller list has been appropriately updated.

(Oh! One of the dancers there went one of the Boston Uncommons fly-ins and expressed dismay that Tech wasn't a gay club and thus that the Tech dancers there were less likely to be appropriate flirtation targets. :)