Tech Squares holds a number of square dancing events.
Weekly Dances
This is the main event of the club. We currently meet on Tuesdays from 8:00pm to 10:30pm. We dance every week except on holidays or during extreme weather.
Saturday Dances
These special dances feature well-liked callers and cuers, usually not our regular club caller and cuer. There are currently four dances per year and they often attract members who can’t dance with us during the week. Every 5 years, we hold a special Anniversary Saturday dance. It often attracts club members who haven’t danced with us in a while, so it’s nice to have out old photo albums and decorate the room a bit more than usual. The “dress code” for Saturday dances has changed over the years. In 1993, dancers were told “women in skirts, men in long sleeves” and many of our dancers wore crinoline and Western wear. In 2003, dancers were encouraged to “dress nicer than you would for a weekly dance.” Many women still wore skirts, but the Western wear and petticoats were virtually non-existent. Historical note, these used to be called “Monthly Dances.” There was a time when they were held once a month, eight months of the year, but times have changed and now there are only four held each year.
Classes
This is what keeps the club alive. All of us recognize that we must teach new dancers to maintain an active membership. We teach on our “club nights” in order to ensure a high proportion of angels. This is one of the things that allows us to teach over 100 calls in 13 weeks. Our class runs twice a year, once during the fall semester and once during the spring. The class runs 13–14 weeks depending on the MIT academic calendar. The first 8 weeks or so, we teach Mainstream, the remaining time is devoted to teaching Plus. We pride ourselves on teaching APD (all-position dancing) and DBD (dancing by definition).
We offer PE credit the first half of fall term. The PE class officially meets 8:15-9:45 on Tuesdays.
Class Dance
Bill usually calls a mainstream dance for the class just after the class has finished learning mainstream.
Early Rounds
These round dance classes are currently our primary way of getting new and/or more experienced round dancers. The classes are run from 7 to 8pm and are taught by the evening’s cuer.
Amateur Night
One week in the summer (often August), club members have a chance to call. Usually held during one of the first three weeks in August, this is the night for our club members to try being on the other side of the mike. We still hire a caller and cuer for this night. And regular admission is charged. Although there may also be an organizer to create the night’s schedule, the professionals provide advice, set up equipment, help with sound balance, and are always there to fill in in a pinch. People have trouble keeping the tips short, so plan that the evening may run longer than usual. Although we typically stop dancing at 10:30pm, for Amateur Night we usually dance until 11pm.
Pool Dance
A wonderful Summer diversion in one of the MIT pools! Unfortunately, it is often both expensive and hard to organize, so it often happens only every two or three years. Ideally, it is self-funding, but the club has been known to offer to subsidize the event. Typically, the officers appoint a willing organizer for this event. This person is responsible for investigating cost and availability of the MIT pools as well as organizing the dance proper. Usually, we spend most of the time in a shallow pool and finish with a brief tip in the deep end. This is usually called by one of our club members who are callers. Lately, Bill Ackerman has been handling the calling. The pool dance was last held in 2003 and organized by Sola Grantham. Note it is never held the same night as the weekly club dance. A historical note, according to Bill Ackerman, these pool dances were started by Larry Weinstein at Bulldog Squares at Yale.
Other dances & workshops
Some Tech Squares members run affiliated events at other levels. These are not directly Tech Squares and handle their own finances, but they do usually get rooms through Tech Squares' booking abilities.