Cueing, Teaching, and Leadership

The following information is published with ROUNDALAB's permission from the ROUNDALAB Reference Manual compiled by Richard & Jo Ann Lawson, 1987.

Bob & Martha McNutt

Irv & Betty Easterday

Dear Irv & Betty:

As per request of Anne Brown, member of your committee, I am enclosing for your consideration some of the ideas and methods that have worked for me quite successfully over the years. While I must confess most of the ideas herein contained are not necessarily original with me, as I am sure you will agree, we all have had to learn from the ideas of others as well through our own experience.

We enjoyed a rather long and eventful, and I might add very satisfying, 33 years of teaching, cueing, leading, and of course dancing, which we still enjoy as much as ever. It has been our pleasure to have taught many people of all ages the intricacies of round dancing, many of whom have become successful teachers themselves. We continue active in most of the aspects of the activity, and still believe as strongly as ever that Square and Round Dancing are and should be inseparable.

So much for what we have done, except to say, we are still members of Roundalab and wholeheartedly subscribe to the aims and goals of that fine group. We were long time members of "Legacy" and were the originators of the Washington State Leadership Training Seminars, from which the idea for "Legacy" originated.

With best regards,
Bob & Martha McNutt

In my opinion Square and Round dancing are inseparable. Any attempt to separate them should be most vigorously opposed.

"We always do those things we like well;" put another way, "We like the things we do well." If you are a golfer, tennis player, swimmer, or if you bowl, or play cards, you always try to do your best. The same is true with dancing, to get the most out of dancing we must learn to do it well. To learn to be a good dancer we must learn one step at a time. Let me ask you to accept the next several seeks the following statements.

Round Dancing is no more difficult to learn well than most other endeavors.
Round Dancing can be taught well as easily as most other endeavors.

Now its up to me to prove those statements, and with your co-operation I shall try to do just that, but your must also do your part. (1) You must attend all the lesson periods. (2) Be attentive and to the best of your ability co-operative. (3) Have confidence in your instructor. We will all agree I'm sure that there is no satisfaction in most any activity, until we can perform it with a fair amount of skill and some confidence. Therefore consider this, "to dance with ability and pleasure it is essential that we master the following five elements of the dance."

(1) A feeling for rhythm, (2) The dance positions, (3) The basic dance movements, (4) The basic dance maneuvers, (5) Something about proper styling. It is a thorough knowledge of these five basics that will develop us into good dancers, after that the fun begins. Continued attention to these basics as our experience increases will develop us into excellent dancers. As our lesson period progresses we shall be investigating all of these five basic elements in depth. (We generally start with the basic two step, Rhythm, then move into the basic waltz rhythm.) To develop a sense of rhythm we should listen to a piece of music, you may hum or whistle as you listen, after you become familiar with the tune tap your foot or clap your hands in time with the music. Remember one tap for each beat of the music. Repeat this several times. Next we will break the music down it its individual measures. For the two step the measures will have a 4, beat measure, the waltz will have a 3, beat measure. (Other rhythms may be different and may be explained as they are taught.) Basically the two step is Three foot movements to a four count measure, with no movement or a hold on the FOURTH count. The waltz is three beats to the measure, and is accomplished with an even step, step, close movement.

I would strongly advise anyone who might be contemplating getting involved in teaching Round Dancing to subscribe to the Roundalab recommended teaching progression. After they feel they are competent to teach the higher levels of the dance I would suggest they investigate U.R.D.C. for a better understanding of Rhythms, Positions, Maneuvers, Movements, and particularly Styling.

Cueing a Valuable Tool

For many years cueing was primarily used as a teaching tool, and was a very necessary adjunct for the teacher, after they had progressed to teaching routines either as frills or actually teaching dances. Today the average dancer no longer seems to have the desire or the time to memorize routines and expects to be cued step by step through the entire dances. Therefore it behooves the cuer to become as well trained in this phase of the activity as in any other if not more so. Those who feel that just being able to say the proper words is enough, are not doing justice to the trust placed in them by the dancers. To cue that which has already been danced is worse than no cues at all. To cue too far ahead is also very frustrating experience for the dancer. The cuer who is able to interpret the proper rhythms and timing of the dances being cued are performing the job they are expected to perform and are generally in great demand. However the best cuer in the world is not giving the dancers that which they are entitled to, unless they also understand that which they are cueing.

EXAMPLE: A cuer is doing a fine job at a Round Dance Jamboree, someone has a question as to how a certain movement is to be properly executed. The cuer hasn't the faintest idea, since he/she has never taught Round Dancing, and has never really danced a great deal themselves. It is my opinion that that person is simply going through the motions without any background or experience, in the activity. Therefore it would be well if you decide to become a cuer, because your husband/wife is a caller, to not only be able to read a cue sheet, but be able to interpret exactly what is meant by those magical words you are using.

The truly experienced cuer will know that the real reason he/she is up there is make the dancers happy and better able to enjoy that which they are doing.

Leadership

The moment you decide for any reason to help someone with a dance routine you become a leader and will be regarded as a leader by those you help. When you accept that mantle of leadership you assume a very grave responsibility, to the activity and the people who participate in it. Leadership is not a dirty word nor is something to be avoided in fact most of us are leaders in one respect or another, we should feel proud of the fact that we are considered leaders in an activity such as ours. We are not all teachers and we need not all be officers of the clubs and associations to which we belong, but that does not prohibit us from being leaders.

You are a leader if you greet people when they arrive and if they are strangers take them around and help them get acquainted, dance with them. You are a leader if you accept assignments to help with refreshments, or cleaning up after a dance or meeting, in fact you are a leader if you have pride in your club, and your teacher, there so many facets of being a leader that most of us don't realize we are one, why not enjoy it. You may find that being a leader is a very satisfying way to say thank you to those who helped you when you needed help. Without leaders our activity would indeed be in a very bad way. The rewards of leadership are many not the least of which is the feeling that you too are contributing to this great and wonderful activity which we all love so well.