LOCAL
T e xas i con
Square Dance Across Texas Gym Class Leads to a Lifelong Passion
T
hink back to elementary school. The prospect of gym class may have had you thinking of dodgeball, basketball, or climbing that rope all the way to the ceiling. The last thing on your mind was dancing – especially square dancing. But there was your PE teacher saying you were going to try something new. You were skeptical as you were placed in a square, standing right next to a girl – a GIRL! Once in a while you even held hands or touched. The guys squirmed and the girls giggled as the teacher tried to explain do-si-do, allemande right, promenade, and swing your partner. It had you and all your classmates worried about the classic boy/girl contagion of the ages, COOTIES! We survived cooties, though, and found that holding hands was kind of nice. Before the coronavirus pandemic, you could find a square dance club getting together on any night of the week, except Sunday, all across the state. In Amarillo, for example, the Danc’n Center close to downtown hosts clubs Monday through Saturday. A caller leads the couples through a
14
AUTHENTIC TEXAS
by Eric Miller
PROMENADE Eileen and Jerry Holbrook are ready to dance the night away. | Courtesy of Holbrooks
