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No Experience Necessary Dances

It is likely at some point you will need to call a ‘No Experience Necessary Dance’. At this dance you assume that the dancers know NOTHING, and you teach them everything they need on the spot. Typically they are 2 hours. Calling these dances is really quite different than normal dances, however it is almost EXACTLY what you do at a ‘first square dance lesson’. The good news is that the choreography at these dances is VERY simple (typically you only teach them ‘circle moves’ (No lines of any kind)). There is no interesting resolution, so if you have not mastered that, it does not matter. However some things are significantly harder

  1. You need to have a VERY CLEAR idea what you are going to teach and in what order. You want to ‘keep things moving’ which means you always have to know what you are going to teach next.
  2. You have to WATCH your squares carefully and ADAPT your calling to the dancers (slowing down as needed). Do NOT get hung up on finishing figures ‘on time with the music’.
  3. You want to PRAISE the dancers when they succeed, and NEVER LET FRUSTRATION come into your voice on the mic. PATIENCE, REASSURANCE and ENTHUSIASM are the only emotions the dancers should see from you.

The order of things

  1. Get them into squares. This works better with angels. Ask your angels to find a newcomer and get into a square. They will take it from there. If you have even one square formed, you can point to it and ask the rest to replicate it. If you have no angels, then tell people to couple up, boy on the left, girl on the right, and find three other couples to face (they will form some sort of a circle/square and you can tell them to line up with the walls of the building). The hardest part of this is when you have many single people, in which case people will mill around, hesitant to couple-up. Ask them to raise their hand if they need a partner. If you have a gender imbalance, you can point out that anyone can fill either role, but warn them that the roles ARE different and you should probably STICK with one role the whole dance. Ideally if girls need to dance as a boy, you get angels to do that.

  2. Teach partner and corner, and squared set and home. Next, tell them about their partner (the person next to them they are holding hands with), and corner (the person on the other side). Ask them to introduce themselves, and to remember these people. Teach them heads and sides, have the heads (sides) come into the middle.

  3. Teach them hand-holds. Boys reach out to partner palm UP, girls reach out palm DOWN. All hand holds are OPEN (you are not grasping, just touching cupped palms).

Tip: while Dosado is traditionally one of the very first calls taught, I DO NOT use Dosado in my no-experience-necessary dances. The reason is that it is an AWKWARD move (you back up back to back) and it has VARIATIONS (angels will be tempted to do a swing or a highland fling instead). It also does NOT set you up for an Allemande Left (technically at the end of the dosado, you are facing your partner not your corner). For all these reasons I use TURN YOUR PARTNER BY THE RIGHT, instead of dosado in early choreography.

Tip: Minimize the use of LEFT and RIGHT in any explanations. MOST people, including myself, can’t effortlessly point left or right on command (they have to think about it), INSTEAD when a RIGHT hand is needed say SHAKE (most people will EFFORTLESSLY reach with the right hand when asked to shake hands). Avoid talking about LEFT. The only time you will be tempted is when explaining Allemande Left. INSTEAD tell EVERYONE that you face AWAY from your partner, and that BOYS reach out with the hand closest to their CORNER, and GIRLS reach ACROSS with the hand they were holding their partner with (notice I never mentioned left). (We don’t teach star thru in no-experience-necessary dances, but again I teach it by saying EVERYONE reaches out with the hand they were holding their partner with, again no need to talk about left or right).

Tip: Teach pass thru (or any no-hands move) by teaching pull by (the handed version of the call) first. When I learned pass-thru they said to ‘pass right shoulders’ which is correct, but has never been helpful to me in the moment (because LEFT and RIGHT are not instinctive). So teach pass thru as a ‘pull by without hands’ (and in a pull by you reach out with your SHAKING hand). Notice this explains pass-thru without ever using the word ‘right’ or ‘left’.

Tip: have the music on whenever you are not talking. This is a dance, and it is SIGNIFICANTLY more fun if the music is on, then when it is off, so have it on unless you are explaining something. If the dancers are moving, the music should be on.

  1. Teach them ‘turn your partner by the right, allemande left’, Face your partner, SHAKE hands, walk around them holding hands, reach out with opposite hand to your corner turn them with the other hand (which is an Allemande left). Repeat it, and square set.

Tip: Teach them ‘default’ actions. When in doubt, WALK FORWARD and ALTERNATE hands.

  1. Teach them promenade. After an Allemande left, reach out to your partner and SHAKE their hand (right hand). WITHOUT letting go girls turn around to face the same direction as the boys, and hold left hands UNDER the right. Walk around the square until you get home (where you started).

  2. Teach them right and left grand.

  3. Teach them circle left. Up to this point you have always told them to face their partner and turn them by the right (shaking hands). Now teach them that you might start with just ‘Allemande left’, but that is ALWAYS with your corner (away from your partner), and hopefully they get the correct hand by the muscle memory you have already built up.
  4. Teach them boys star right. I find it is easier to teach them heads-sides, and ask the heads boys to step FORWARD and touch INSIDE hands. Then ask the side boys to join them. Emphasize that you just walk forward and form a star with the inside hand. (Don’t teach them star left, you will confuse them and you don’t need it). Turn star to your corner allemande left.
  5. Teach them girls star left. Use the same procedure, having just the heads step forward using INSIDE hands, sides join them, turn star to your partner, turn partner right allemande left, RLG, Prom.
  6. Do a SHORT singing call (explaining what it is) (maybe only two or three RING figures, (e.g. one CIR-L, AL, TPR, AL, RLG, PROM, one B-STAR-R, AL, RLG, PROM, one G-STAR-L, TPR, AL, RLG, PROM). BE CAREFUL NOT CALL SWING. Cut the music off when you are done (early).
  7. Teach them about BREAKS. Take a break.
  8. Review everything on the next tip. then
  9. Teach them heads (sides) right and left thru. Teach them pull by (SHAKE HANDS, pull by). Then explain that you want them to turn around AS A COUPLE by having the boys back up and the girls go forward in a SMALL half-circle (don’t worry about hands). Do that a couple of times SLOWLY. When they have the gross body motion right, get the hands involved. After pulling by BOTH people should be reaching out with their left hand (like a right and left grand), touch hands (boy palm up, girl palm down) girls place OTHER hands behind your back, boys, touch your free (right) hand to the hand she has behind her back. Boys back up, girl move forward as before. Tell them that a right and left thru is a pull by and a courtesy turn (each of which are real moves).
  10. Teach them heads (sides) promenade ½. Explain that the sides have to get out of the way. Do H-PROM ½; H RLT; S-PROM ½; S RLT; Face corner, AL, RLG, PROM. This is a Singing call figure! It has extra time (beginners usually need it)
  11. Teach them all into the middle with a cowboy yell. (This is useful if you have extra time, it is also fun).

You now have enough to do a full singing call. Note that you use Right and LEFT GRAND not WEAVE the RING, you do NOT SWING your corner (you Allemande Left your corner and PROMENADE (not swing) your original partner. You use the figure in step 14 for all 4 figures (no progression, which is OK) You can alternate heads and sides, and you can alternate whether you RLT then Prom 1/2 , or Prom ½ and then RLT. You use one of the Ring figures from step 10 for the opener, break and closer. You can also use any of the RING figures for ANY of the 7 parts of a singing call (not just opener, break, closer). It would be good to review all the advice on fixing broken singing calls given before, it is ESPECIALLY likely on these first tips with raw beginners.

Note that for BEGINNERS, REPETITION is a GOOD THING. Thus using the SAME figure in a singing call is GOOD. It gives them more practice, and makes them feel successful.

Adding a Bit more Choreographic Complexity

After getting the first singing call down, the rest is just adding moves and using them. These are the ones that people typically use, and they can go in any order.

  • Ladies Chain (heads, sides, all 4). You have already taught courtesy turn, so a ladies chain is a girl reach out with shaking hand, pull by, BOYS SLIDE into partner’s position and reach out with LEFT HAND (BOYS if you SLIDE, the hand you reach out with is the obvious one (the other one is now far away and awkward to use)). Finish off the courtesy turn as before (boys back up). Note it feels like a ¾ turn.
  • Ladies Center, men sashay. Note that doing this more than twice, feels repetitive, even for beginners, so normally you do a 4 ladies chain, circle left, and then do a ladies in men sashay twice, AL, RLG. If you FORGET to do the 4 ladies chain, you can FIX it by telling them to AL (THIS CORNER (because it is NOT the corner they started with), RLG, BUT ON THE 3RD HAND promenade your partner home).

The sequence

  • 4 ladies chain across;
  • 4 ladies chain back home;
  • Face corner, AL, RLG, PROM

Is another ‘short’ figure you can use.

The sequence 

4 LC, CIRC-L, L-IN-M-SASH, L-IN-M-SASH, AL, RLG, PROM

Is a ‘Standard’ ring figure (which can be used anywhere you like in your singing calls.
At this point it is useful to teach them

  • Weave the Ring. Note that I tell them that the definition is that it is a no-hands move, but beginners sometimes have trouble. So I always just tell them to ‘tap hands’ on the way by so that it feels like a right and left grand. I mostly teach this because I accidentally call this during singing calls.
  • Swing. I only teach this if things are going well. It is handy because I will accidentally call this when I am performing a singing call (too much muscle memory). If I don’t teach it I will warn them to IGNORE it if I happen to say it. If I do teach it I tell them that it is OPTIONAL and in particular if you are CATCHING UP, you should SKIP IT. To teach it, have the boys face promenade direction and the girls face the boys (this is where you are right after a weave the ring). BOTH people hold out the arm that points to the center of the square (thus boys left girls right). The boy’s other hand goes under the girl’s arm and supports her back at the shoulder blade. The girl’s other hand rests on the boy’s shoulder. Boy and girl should be OFFSET, right hips should be close. A swing is a full turn walking around each other in a very small circle. If you are OFFSET this should be EASY. After you master the walking round once, you can try it again leaning out SLIGHTLY (boy has to support the girls back to avoid losing balance). To finish the swing you either
  • ‘Girls Flop out’ - let go of hands that were pointing toward center and ‘open up’ until the girls are facing the same direction as the boys. Start promenading (you have to change hands).
  • ‘Twirl out’. - While the boys walk forward, raise the inside hand to form an arch which the girl walks through in a tight circle (feels like a spin), until the girl is facing the same direction as the boy. Let Go. Again change hands to promenade position

It is up to the girl which one of these happens. The first is easier (good for beginners) and has less spinning (a swing and a twirl requires 2 revolutions for the girl). However the twirl out, lets the girl keep moving forward, where the ‘flop out’ requires a change in direction. Twirls also look better. Again the girl decides.

There is almost always a promenade after a swing. After mastering a swing ‘in place’ you will want to be able to do the swing WHILE ALSO MOVING FORWARD. This allows you to get home faster (and not be in the way of the couple behind you). Instead of a tight circle you take bigger steps, going around the square as you move around your partner. This is where you will want to be eventually.

  • Grand Square. I used to think this was too hard for a no-experience-necessary dance, but experience has proven otherwise, and beginners REALLY get excited about it. I have seen it taught with just half the square and then combined. I don’t think this is necessary (and slows things down a lot). The key to helping dancers is to tell them
  • During this move you will ONLY look at your partner, OR your Opposite (NO ONE ELSE).
  • Every time you turn you go from ONE to the OTHER.
  • In particular you NEVER look OUT of the square (since you need to look at your partner or your opposite).
  • In each part, you take three steps and then TURN (to either your opposite or partner).
  • If you start out close to someone (you would run them over), you BACK UP, otherwise your steps are FORWARD.

It is very useful if the caller calls 1, 2, 3, TURN for the first three parts, then 1, 2 3, DON’T TURN, at the mid point. Practice it WITHOUT music so you can go SLOWLY, and do it once SLOWLY before doing it to music. The first time you do it to music SLOW the music down (e.g. 124 BPM), and pick music with a good beat. Encourage everyone to clap on the turns, which keeps people doing it together.

This is more than enough to fill 2 hours. You will probably only need 4 singing calls. The rest of the time is explanation and practice.

Other Teaching Advice

Note that from an instructor’s point of view there is no difference between a ‘first lesson’ and a ‘no experience dance’. The first lesson is the hardest (they know the least). The only other big thing with lessons is knowing how to resolve when the students know very few calls. That is covered in the section on resolution. There is also the question of teaching order for the calls. I ultimately chose my own, based on how common/important they were, but both the Callerlab list for basic/mainstream and SSD are fine. I have used the SSD Teaching Guide, and I like it (it gives a lot of material that lets you call dances when they know very little). My main deviation from that SSD teaches wheel around EARLY and uses pass-thru-wheel-around, instead of right-and-left-thru. I have always found that pointless (you are teaching your students low priority things (wheel around), specifically to avoid teaching something important (right-and-left thru). I think they do this because they think it is easier, but given that they DO teach ladies chain early (even harder), I think they can handle right-and-left-thru. I solve this by teaching right-and-left thru in two steps, (first just the motions, which is a pull by and a wheel around), and then add the hands), but I CALL it right-and-left thru from the start. My main piece of advice is don’t be afraid to change the teaching order. Teach the things that will ‘unblock’ the choreography you WANT to call first.