Many of us have fuzzy memories of learning how to do-si-do back in grade school.
Your square dancing experience may have stopped as a kid, but millions of people still do it all over the world, and research shows it can be more than just a hobby. Regular social dancing can help boost your mood, and challenge the mind and body, which is especially important as you age.
Some Vermonters are experiencing those benefits first-hand as members of the Cast Off 8's, a western-style square dance club that formed in Rutland in 1978. It’s one of 11 clubs listed by the Vermont’s Square Dance Association.
The group currently has about 50 active members who meet during the school year on Wednesday nights at the Lothrop Elementary School gymnasium in Pittsford.
At a recent meeting, the dress code was casual. Most people wore sneakers and no one was wearing the poofy skirts you might associate with traditional square dancing.
Also notable? The eclectic soundtrack. Who knew the Commodores classic Brick House had the perfect tempo for an "allemande left?"
Modern square dancing has evolved, said club president Rita Wood of Chittenden.
“Oh, it's much different now. Back in grade school, it's probably like The Turkey in the Straw, the barn dancing, very twangy,” she said. Today, she said club members dance to pop, rock, country, disco, even techno.
"Like chess, with people"
At the start of each new song, dancers on the floor paired up and formed 8-person squares. Orwell resident Peter Tobin served as the dance caller. He stood with a microphone directing traffic while dancers followed his cues.
As he called out moves like right and left grand, star promenade and California twirl, the dancers weaved in and around each other in intricate patterns. Sometimes they chimed in with sounds.
When dancers hear "track two," they make a "toot toot" sound, explained Wood, "and the outside person goes around the outside track, the inside person goes on the inside track.”
It sounds complicated. But Wood said, “Once you learn the calls, it's not. You just have to remember how to do the sequence of calls."
To be able to follow the caller, Wood said beginner dancers need to learn approximately 65 different steps. Time is set aside during weekly dance sessions to go over them.
The mental challenge of mastering all those calls is just one of the reasons Joanne Brown, 81, of Rutland keeps coming. She and her husband started dancing years ago.
“Now I'm single and my husband's deceased, so I keep doing it because I had so much fun, and there was a group that I know, and I could do it!” exclaimed Brown.
Those social connections are important as people age and become more isolated. Just touching another human being — something many seniors get less of as loved ones die — can be crucial to emotional health and well being.
Research shows regular social dancing can also fight depression, and improve memory and cognitive function in older adults.
The social and mental aspects of square dancing are what Allan Greenberg, 85, of Bethel said he appreciates.
"It's like chess with people," he said. “Figuring out where to go. Sometimes the calls are fairly intricate, and it's just knowing how to work together, teamwork, and people have to be gentle and not berate people if they make a mistake.”
There are well documented physical benefits to square dancing too. It can improve balance and motor skills.
Corey Wood, 69, of Chittenden considers himself living proof.
He had a stroke when he was 40 and it was rough, he admits.
“The first couple of years, there was a lot of recovery from it, you know what I mean," he said. "But as I got better, a friend of mine suggested that I go to square dance lessons, that it would help my balance issues. It did. It healed that, it helped me greatly, you know, get my balance back…”
Square dancing helped Wood's coordination and short-term memory as well, he said. He even found love on the dance floor and married a square dancer — Rita, the club president.
“And we just celebrated 20 years! I really enjoy [dancing]. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of fun.”
The Cast Off 8s includes members of all ages. Getting young people and older adults together to form bonds and learn from one another can benefit both groups, studies show.
“I really like that they let you mess up,” said Julie Brown Leonard, who at 10 years old is one of the club's youngest members. "They kind of put you back on track. And I love teaching the new people and helping them.”
As the music died down and the Cast Off 8's prepared to wrap up for the evening, dancers circled around and thanked each other, grinning.
”Everybody smiles when they’re here,” said Bonnie Cohen, 71.
