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

Intro to Easy Round Dance Teaching and Cueing

for Callers and/or Their Spouses
by Bob Fry

Place everyone on a big single file circle with the ladies in the lead facing Line of Dance. Now have everybody start with their left foot and do a LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT in place. Do this about four or five times. You will see and sense when they feel comfortable with this. Now switch lead feet and have everybody for a RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT in place. Doing this until they are comfortable with.

Now, starting with the left foot and shifting weight each time have them do a LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT & HOLD one count. Here on the hold count all your weight should be on your left foot with your right foot slightly raised off the floor. Tell them to place their right foot back on the floor and repeat this process until they are comfortable with this. Then switch to the right foot as the lead and repeat the process. This usually takes only four or five time both ways. You are now ready to tell them that we are going to do a LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT & HOLD and then a RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT & HOLD. At this point the new teacher/cuer can cue the movement and you can get you first experience with timing.

Notice, we still have not progressed around the dance floor. But we are now ready to show the LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT & HOLD as STEP, CLOSE, STEP & HOLD and you have your very own first Two-Step. So take this and start building right here. This is your foundation. Starting with left feet do a STEP, CLOSE, STEP & HOLD, shift to right and do a STEP, CLOSE, STEP & HOLD. Say OK Gang, I am now going to cue this as Two Forward Two-Steps and the we will now progress down the Line of Dancing doing Two-Steps.

Now stop the circle and have the ladies start with their right feet and the men with their left feet and have them dance Two-Steps around the Line of Dance. You are now ready to move the men up with their partners. Tell them, for the time being, just to put arms around each others waist and starting with the ladies right feet and the men's left feet have them do Two-Steps around the Line of Dance as couples. I then have them join lead hands as it is a natural transition in the they already had their other arms around each other's waist. Here I teach my first positioning - Semi-Closed, have them make a kind of "V" still facing down Line of Dance.

Pick some easy 4/4 time music and have them dance to the music in this progressive circle while you cue them bearing in mind round dance cueing is just like square dance calling in that it must be timed. By doing this the first time round dance teacher/cuer is learning along with his class. Pick out a couple that is dancing on time with the music and you will find that they are doing your counting for you just like square dance calling.

Be sure and give rest breaks frequently and try not to have your dancers on the floor longer than 12 or 15 minutes at a time.

Get them back on the floor and have them do Forward Two-Steps down the Line of Dance. Change your music often to get them used to different tempos. Now cue your dancers to do Two Forward Two-Steps blend in and Face each other and down the Line of Dance do a SIDE, CLOSE, SIDE, TCH and then Reverse Line of Dance do a SIDE, CLOSE, SIDE, TCH.

Do not even teach the Butterfly Position at this time because they are really learning and this is the first night and they are at this point in time on a personal high.

Now I say gang again I am going to cue Two Forward Two-Steps and Blend in and Face, but when you Face we are going to do another movement and I will cue it thusly In Facing Position do a SIDE, CLOSE & STEP FORWARD and a SIDE, CLOSE & STEP BACK. Sure at this juncture you run into your first confusion. Why? Because we have not yet told the ladies about translating. So here I explain that round dance calls are directed to the men because the ladies are smart enough to translate and to the opposite. That's all I say other than to tell them that a box would be danced thusly: SIDE, CLOSE & STEP FORWARD and of course the lady will translate the step forward into a step backward in that it is the natural movement. Then when I say SIDE, CLOSE & STEP BACK the lady will naturally translate the step forward. So our Box is cued SIDE, CLOSE, FORWARD and SIDE, CLOSE, BACK. Do not dwell too long on the translating business and you will be OK. In fact, just pass it off the way I did as a humorous sort of thing.

So lets see what we now have. We have Two Forward Two-Steps, Blend in and Face do a Full Box to the wall then do SIDE, CLOSE, SIDE, TCH down the Line of Dance and back down the Reverse Line of Dance.

At this juncture, I add more step that can be talked just as in square dancing. After the Two Forward Two-Steps, Blend in and Face, do a Full Box to the wall, Side, Close, Side, Tch both ways then look down that Line of Dance and Strut Forward Four Steps, then back to the Forward Two-Steps. Here now you are actually dancing and you have only spent approximately fifteen minutes with them.

Now teacher/cuer, here is something that is most important to remember - give facing directions whenever possible. Get in the habit of doing this early on in your teaching career and you'll find success will come your way easy.

We are now ready to dance our first routine. Most round dance records have an eight beat or two measure wait before beginning. So have your dancers at the ready, stay in Semi-Closed Position, note we still have not taught the intro. That comes about my third lesson. So being we have not taught the intro, wait two measures before you start your cues. At about the sixth beat of music say "Do Two Forward Two-Steps" (this will take 8 beats of music). At about beat 6 say "Blend and Face and Box to the Wall" (this again will take 8 beats). On beat 6 say "Look Down That Line of Dance and Strut 4". Teachers/cuers do not worry about actually counting these beats, just pick out a couple that is dancing with the music and you will find that they are doing your counting for you. By watching their movements in your sub-conscious you will automatically pick out the right beat to give your next cue on. It's just like square dance calling. We have used thirty-two bets of music and by repeating the routine we now have the 64 bears that composes most round dance tunes. At this juncture I then vary the Strut 4, bearing in mind that we are still facing each other. I have them Back Away Three Steps and Clap and go Together Three Steps and Touch. That timing gives us the 32 beats of music in the routine.

Can't you at this point recognize that we almost have the complete teach of Frenchy Brown and that is just the first night of instructions.

Just before closing and as a teaser for the next week's lesson, I say hey gang, all night long we have been dancing around in a big circle going counter clockwise, but suppose they told us we would have to go clockwise and couldn't use the whole hall but would be limited to only two square feet of space.

Let's now see if we can go the other way and using only two feet of floor space allotted us do Two Forward Two-Steps and complete the circle. To your surprise you will then find you have a Turning Two-Step without a teach.

On the second lesson night I generally show TWO SIDE CLOSES and a SIDE & THRU. And then I teach a DOUBLE HITCH or HITCH 6. That's all the steps I show the second night. I put these steps together in routines that we taught the first night. At the half way point in the second nights lesson I announce gang you are now going to do your first honest to goodness round dance. Because I have had them dancing to cues and not routines, I can very safely cue "Frenchy Brown" without a teach just by talking them thru the Reverse Line of Dance positions. They have already learned to put their faith in me so the teach comes easy. You probably have already guessed that my success so far has been that I get them to listen to cues rather than to routines.

Each succeeding night I teach two or three difference movements and blend it into a routine. About the third night I teach another easy one such as Open Vine Four then I teach a rather hard one such as the Scissors. I have had great luck at just explaining the steps and also showing once or twice but once your students have learned to place their faith in you, you then have it made. You can easily see my stepping stones to dancing. About the tenth week you can teach and cue new dances that will probably only require the teaching of one new step.

I make programs for all my dancers and when I teach a new dance, I print the cues on the program so the dancers will have them to take home. I encourage everybody to tape the lessons and dance.

Roundalab Journal, June 1980