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Hi everyone! I'm working on a story called Square Dance Stand In, but there's a couple of snags I've run into.
The first is, does anyone know of any square dancing that only uses two couples? My story has two couples, but then I thought I remembered there being four couples ... and now I'm not certain of either. Also, the main character is supposed to stand in for someone else to help the others prepare for the contest, then eventually get roped into entering the contest, but is that too predictable? Any suggestions on how to make it a little less predictable? Would it help to post what I've written so far to be able to answer my questions better?
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Square Dancing
Not knowing anything about it myself, I did the obvious: turned to Wikipedia, which suggests that you have to have four couples. So two possible ways around it would be either to have two 'background' couples who don't feature much, or see if any bright sparks can think of a similar style of dance that only requires two couples.
While your outlined scenario may be predictable, predictability is fairly commonplace in TG stories. Let's face it, if the protagonist starts the story as male, we all know that by the time of the last sentence he will be crossdressing at the very least. If the protagonist happens to be a teenager, fairly androgynous and not as well developed as his peers, it's a fair bet he'll turn out to be intersex.
So, how to make it slightly less predictable? Perhaps the girl he's standing in for has periods of ill health, so no-one's sure if she'll be able to make it or not. Obviously we'll know the protagonist ends up taking the girl's place, but if there's considerable doubt among the characters until fairly late, that make the outcome less predictable (to them at least!)
Or perhaps have the protagonist alternate between standing in for a male dancer and a female dancer (perhaps one couple have differing commitments so can rarely attend training at the same time), and by the end of training it turns out he's better at the female dancer role than the male...
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
sure
Two couples could work. I know nothing about square dancing but if it is usually 4 pair you could make this a demo thing. An intro to a festival/travelling show, country music/country show band, market for clothing etc... A little tight knit troupe would get around the pressured to stand in thing, or at least make it more logical.
Just some thouughts.
Kristina
I've done square dancing and
I've done square dancing and a set really wants four "couples," or eight people total. The moves are all standardised, so that a caller in another part of the country means the same figure you're used to when he or she calls it. While some particular figures might not have you interacting directly with members of all four couples, a tip (dance) would almost never be so constrained that you wouldn't interact with each of the other seven people to some extent.
Around here, it's not uncommon for people of either sex to fill out a set if they're short. Where that's the norm, rather than the exception, there'll be a convention for designating wether one is dancing as a "Beau" or a "Belle," perhaps with style of name tag, or colour of ribbon. The better dancers can switch back and fourth at will, but having learnt to square dance as a woman, I always found it way too confusing to try dancing from the other side, though some of that may be baggage from my pre-transition youth. :) That said, I'm told there are some clubs that are way more...traditional, I guess. Some clubs only admit married couples, and they don't swap partners between tips, I've heard, though those may only be tales to scare young dancers.
When I think of competition dancing, I generally think more of Ballroom Dancing, where the couples only dance with themselves during the dance. I haven't done that, though, so I can't say for sure.
The only dance I can think of where the initial sets are made up of two couples is contra dancing, but that quickly devolves once the dance starts as you end up switching which couple is in your set with each repetition of the dance (half the couples are moving down the hall while the other half move up, then reversing when they get to the end of the line of couples). I've also never heard of a contra dance competition.
Miranda
Predictability Does Not Matter
What matters is how the story is told and the depth of the characters. Ninety percent of all stories are based on predictable situations. What separates the good ones from the less then good ones is how the author handles his subject and presents his characters. They breathe life into the story. The plot line simply provides them with a stage upon which to act.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Absolutely
Well said.
Two couples
Well, it all depends on what you mean by "square dancing". If you mean traditional dancing, there are a lot of two-couple sets, one of my favourites being the Dorset Four-Hand Reel. It starts with the women back to back facing their partners.
Walk a reel of four until the men are facing in the middle (basically one and a half reels). The men step to each other, the step being an odd little bounce called a rant, then turn and step to their partners, who step back.
Walk a reel of four taking alternative right and left hands, women to the middle. They step to each other, and to their partners, as before.
Another reel and a half, stepping, finishing as the first reel, then a reel and a half stepping and giving hands. Middles step to each other, step to partners, swing your partner.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for your feedback, everyone! Definitely got some great ideas that I think will help me get this story moving again. :)
Actual square dance competition
I am a professional square dance caller (it's how I make my living). The actual adult competitions are entered by teams of eight people. Usually it is NOT four couples, but eight people. Very rarely is it four actual couples. At the higher levels, ALL the dancers are quite adept at dancing either the Beau (boy's) or the Belle (girl's) role. Further, dancers at these levels can switch-hit (change roles) in an instant.
The teen competitions are run a bit differently. There are some which follow the adult format (eight people on a team, and one's gender does not necessarily pre-determine the role danced). However, it is not as common for teen dancers to switch roles instantaneously (because they have not yet had decades of dancing experience). There are some teen competitions where you enter the contest as a couple. The actual square (team of four couples) is decided by random draw shortly before the event starts.
To make your story exciting, believable and/or relevant, you can make the lead character the ninth person on a competition team. This person serves as a hot backup and does not know which role (or even whether) he/she will dance during the actual competition. Note that an actual high-level square dancer can easily dance either role. Perhaps you can make it more interesting if the lead character is not an actual dancer but a timer, or a coach, or styling instructor, or an equipment handler, or a costume consultant ... and might be asked to fill a role on an emergency basis. "Costume consultant" is a real stretch, as at the higher levels the dress code is completely absent. Timer or even Travel Agent would be believable.
Since square dancing is more about the friendships than the dancing, it makes infinite sense for your ninth dancer to just be a friend of one of the eight team members. There is no requirement that the team members be part of an actual couple. The most recent national competition was won by a man, his wife, his daughter, and then five randomly assorted friends ... all of whom had been friends for at least 25 years. I think there was only one actual man, and only one couple relationship, on the winning team. Many of the winning dancers are actually in couple relationships , but their partners were not contestants. Not everyone is interested in dancing the higher levels and/or competing.
I would say that square dance competition is less than 1 percent of the overall square dance picture, i.e. it is the exception rather than the rule. But the general public understands the idea of competition, so go ahead and pretend that every square dance is a contest (even though that's the complete opposite of reality). It'll make a good story.
Best wishes for a successful story.
there is also round dancing,
there is also round dancing, where couples dance, along with other couples