Join
in the fun and friendship of Square Dancing and Barn Dancing
The Pretoria Promenaders Square Dance Club was founded by Rodney Wills in 1990. Members danced weekly until 2003. Tony Tweehuijsen continued to call at Barn Dances in and around Pretoria until 2007. His brother Dominic has been running the Shindig Squares in Benoni and calling at Barn Dances in that area.
Join
in the fun and friendship of Square Dancing and Barn Dancing
Suitable
for couples, families, and singles
The Promenaders danced on Tuesdays between 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm
Square dancing originated in the latter half of the nineteenth century in the New England states of the U.S.A. It spread throughout the world and is now also very popular in Germany, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands amongst other countries.
Professional callers are used to call the movements of which there are approximately 4800 although roughly only about two hundred and fifty are in common use. In South Africa we do not have any registered callers but use CDs and tapes of the calls and music. In this country there are only three clubs: "Pretoria Promenaders" and "Oklahomans" in Pretoria and "Shindig Squares" in Benoni.
The dancing is done with "squares" of 4 couples - two "heads" and two "sides". The caller calls moves that the dancers have learned. The calls are often interspersed in the words of popular songs. The music is recorded or provided by some kind of orchestra and is typically of a Country and Western character.
The degrees of difficulty are graded as Basic, Mainstream, Plus, Advanced 1, Advanced 2, Challenge 1 and Challenge 2. In South Africa about 95% of the time only Basic, Mainstream, and Plus are used.
Barn Dancing uses the same calls and style but is not limited to squares of four couples. It is very popular for parties for all ages.
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