tT CAME OUT OF THE PIONEERS’ LIVES

How does Canadian square
dance ditter from U.S. version?

sees discussions with differ-
ent people, I realize there is
still quite a bit of confusion
about what the Canadian
square dance really is.

Here-are some of the ques-
tions I have been asked:

+ “In what respect does it
differ from ‘American?’ It’s so
monotonous in its repetition of
steps and movements, isn’t the
whole thing a hoedown?

+ “The Canadian dance is
not the only one with calls,
Louisiana was settled with
French long before the Acad-
ians. How could one stage such

_ & dance without it being bore-

ee ee

some?”

Here are my answers:

“I have never suggested that
the Acadians settled Louisiana,
but they did take the square
dance there when driven out of
Acadia.

“True, it is not the only dance
with calls. But I say the qua-
drilles, reels, and the like, that
were brought to Canada by the
early pioneers became the Can-
adian square dance because of
the calls — in two languages,
which fused the two into one
common dance.” ‘

t % 5° %

It was not because of lan-
guage alone, however. The calls

arose out of the life and work:

of the people — and still do —
as for instance: “All around the
hall, English, Irish, Scotch and
all” in the grand chain.

The callers used everyday life
making fun at the holes and
bumps in the road, the wagon
wheels, the dip and dive of
the ocean wave, as, for instance:

+ Dance with the fellow with
a hole in his sock.

+ The hen go tickle the roos-
ter, the rooster tickle the hen.

+ Turn your turtle dove, now
the one you love.

+ The Irish girl swing Mul-
ligan and Finegan.

And so on endlessly — with
fun and wit.

Such calls showed the hard-
ship of their lives, on rivers and
seas, lumberjacks, harvests,
threshing, weddings and the
fun and whoopee when their
toil was over.

The music was also of their

lives. What musical Don would

mame his composition, The
Crooked Stovepipe or Turkey
in the Straw? I do not’ know
ef any dance that*is so much
of the people in both music and
dance as the Canadian square
dance.

Can it be staged? That is
really begging the question
when we have for so long stag-
ed every human emotion. It is,
of course, not a stage dance. It
belongs on the floor of a work-
ers’ dance hall. On stage it
should be a perfect portrayal
of what it is — not a burlesque
of what it is believed to be.
I see no reason why it could not
be staged with color and dram-
atic impact.

The background of Nova Sco-
tia and the lives of the people
at its birth, the driving out of
the Acadians and all such fea-
tures would make a fine set-
ting. There is no set costume
attached to it such as the beau-
tiful costumes of the Ukrainian
and Hungarian dances. But I
see no reason why, for a stage,
they should not wear costumes
of the period.

5 © 2 5o3 503

Is the whole thing a hoe-
down? The latter is a misno-
mer. The term “hoedown” is

really the name forthe whole :

evening’s dance which compris-

‘ed waltzes, polkas, two _ steps,

schottisches, and so on. If any
part of a square dance could be
called a hoedown it would be
the third figure. To make all
figures a hoedown would be
like a man swearing all the
time — his damn loses its
punch.

It should be understood that
the square dance is composed of
three figures or changes.
first is the opening, address,
bows, march, promenade, etc.,
the timing is to the march or
step — with the call to suit.

The second change would be
a mere figurative and intricate
movement, bringing out the
grace and deportment of the
dancers. The music should be
suitable ‘to the calls to be made
—that depends on the calls.

The third figure is the wind
up — or hoedown: This of
course should be lively and high
stepping, the kind of music
and calls that would 1ift the
dancers off their feet. Swing
Them High.

The main thing to remember
is that not only are there three

figures, but there are three
factors —, music, dancers and
caller — and all must be in

time as one unit to get the best
out of a square dance, because
it’s a group dance — timing is
its essence.
t nw Bos
We must not be too severe in

The_

our criticism of the young peo-
ple who want whoopee in such
dances. They pay for it and
callers give it to them. The
Yankees are not the only ones
who burlesque it, we are also
guilty.

We must remember: the Can-
adian square dance was and is
a growth. Our main concern is
to keep its growth Canadian.

Does repetition make it mon-
otonous?

Sometimes both caller and
dancers make it so. The same
criticism could be applied to al-
most. any dance — even ballet.

It also applies to nature, the
same mating call every year,
the chirp of the robin, the pirou-
ette of the cock bird, the male
peacock for instance. We do
love making much the same as
granddad — is it monotonous?
Out of all these things are song,
music ahd dances made.

ARTHUR MOULD

BOOKS

Page of history

The totem art of the Native Indians reached its height =
the early days of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the 1
American Company on the Pacific Coast, and this totem pole 0° re
the northern mainland of British Columbia clearly reflects ©”

Russian colonial influence.

7 .

Events which led to summit meet
woven into Ehrenburg’s novel

NYONE who wants to appre-
ciate fully the great events
which finally brought the
leaders of the Four Great Pow-
ers together at Geneva should
read Ilya Ehrenburg’s novel
The Ninth Wave (obtainable
here at the People’s Coopera-
tive Bookstore, 337 West Pen-
der Street, price $2.25 plus tax).

It is a sequel to The Storm

which chronicled the wartime

fight against the Nazis through
the lives of characters in many
parts of Europe. We now meet
many of these characters again
in the epoch of the cold war
and of the growth of the world
peace movement.

The richly worked-out plot
of the novel takes as its start-
ing point a spying and _ terror-
ist outfit directed by the apo-
plectic, Red-hating Senator Low
of Mississippi.

The novel traces the intrigues .

of this outfit as they affect the
lives and characters of hun-
dreds of people in the United
States, the countries of Western
Europe and the Soviet Union.
_ And it conveys with its wide

range of vision a vivid impres-
sion of the tide of popular re-
sistance to the plans of the
atomaniacs. The ninth wave,
according to Russian popular
belief,
all—it is the point at. which
the outraged conscience of man-
kind rises to its full height, and
drowns the intrigues of Sena-
tor Low and others like him.

But this is no political tract.
Ehrenburg manages to convey
the authentic flavor, life, char-
acter and speech of Mississippi
lynchers, of New York business-
men, of West German adven-
turers, and of the common de-
cent folk of these lands as prob-
ably no other living writer
could do.

At the same time he takes

us deep into the life of the’

Soviet people, into their world
of extraordinary vitality, and
gives us a glimpse of the im-
mensity of socialist construc-
tion, a great human sea “full of
noise, singing, rushing on, ex-
traordinarily vast.”
x 1°3 soa
On starting to read the book,

is the largest wave of.

.

WHAT WE SAW
SOVIET UNION

“

Nigel and Mona MORGAN

Just Returned from a Tour of the Soviet Union

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18-8 p.m.
PENDER AUDITORIUM

Auspicés: Greater Vancouver Committee, Labor-Progressive Party

IN THE

HEAR

i

PACIFIC TRIBUNE _— SEPTEMBER 16, 1955 oe

prenbure

the reader may wish E on

would stay poe va
of his characters, .
could get to know ben
But the effort of getting fe
to the book will be well 78° to
ed. As Ehrenburg ib vrselVe5
his theme, we fin now
entering a gold mine of of .
ledge of human life, both
good and of the bad: rable
Perhaps the most meme cle
character is Sablon, the x
journalist, sent by ae wich
Senator’s press age?
is a cover for aieuaee can
Soviet Union, so that se 3
tell the world “how Ru ow Pe 0°
preparing for war an he
ple dislike the regime. 6fi8
Faced with the reality ° mun
people on the way bOnCOs, eee
ism, Sablon, an hones
dualist, refuses to WIIG ne
his bosses dictate. At re old
time he fears to discat
ideas. For weeks he T¢
ask questions or 8° P pe
simply sits and eats ices . bis
Moscow parks, or stays
hotel, writing about
hood memories.
They're so | ony ind, he
‘that it’s posifively®: se
complai But I w'

a Communist, he eee way
But in Prague, °F Si plot
to France, the pores plete

meets Bill Coster, Sos
ly corrupt, cynical Wij it
‘swilling American hac® spi
the pay of Transoc, tne ‘
the beans and reveals fo!
aims of the organizatlo " pect
which they have pees
workin

The Deets reaches its ct Hee
in the World Peace ;
Warsaw, which Ebr re wore
leading figure in
peace movement, is
to describe. ‘

The British avai tbe
of Lawrence an al
given us a ce ane
‘very reasonable price
wail for other rortheomi"e,
translations of 5° na ,
which they are to P¥ 0 on

CYRIL oun