Workshop update - 6/22/2024
Thursday workshops July to December 2024: Detailed workshop information is available on the club calendar page. Workshops will continue to run from 6:30PM to 9:30PM (or whatever time we run out of energy to dance!). Lawrence and Dan will continue to call for us, alternating from week to week rather than in two-week blocks. We will have round dance instruction from 6:30 to 7:00 on nights that Lawrence is calling; square dancing will start at 6:30 on nights that Dan is calling.
Workshop update - 3/3/2024
Thursday workshops through June 2024: Dan and Lawrence have agreed to run workshops for us through the end of June. Lawrence's workshops will include round dance instruction from 6:30PM to 7:00PM and square dance tips with round dances between for the rest of the workshop. Dan's workshops will be square dancing only at this point. More details on week to week sessions are available on the club calendar.
​
March 7 & 14 - Lawrence Johnstone
March 21 & 28 - Dan Lyke
April 4 & 11 - Lawrence
April 18 & 25 - Dan
May 2 & 9 - Lawrence
May 16 & 23 - Dan
May 30 - TBD
June 6 & 13 - Lawrence
June 20 & 27 - Dan
Workshop update - 2/18/2024
Workshop Thursday 2/22/2024: Doug Saunders will call and cue for us at this workshop. Round Dance instruction will run from 6:30PM to 7:00PM with 'class-level' Plus at 7:00PM.
​
Workshop Thursday 2/29/2024: Dan Lyke will call our workshop this week. We will still start at 6:30PM with 'class level' Plus dancing. The calling level will move to full Plus at 8:00PM and continue to 8:30PM. Our rescheduled Pie Night will follow from 8:30PM to 9:30PM.
Workshop update - 2/3/2024
Workshop Thursday 2/8/2024: We'll have Lawrence Johnstone back for this workshop session. Round Dance instruction will run from 6:30PM to 7:00PM with 'class-level' Plus at 7:00PM.
​
Workshop Thursday 2/15/2024: Dan Lyke will call our workshop this week. We will still start at 6:30PM. At Dan's last session, he arranged for Doug Saunders to cue rounds for the first 30 minutes and at the end of the Plus session. This is not currently scheduled for this workshop, but may happen again depending on Doug's availability.
Workshop update - 1/20/2024
Workshop Thursday 1/25/2024: Lawrence Johnstone returns to call and cue for us. Round Dance instruction will run from 6:30PM to 7:00PM with 'class-level' Plus at 7:00PM and full Plus after that until 8:30PM when we'll break for our regularly scheduled Pie Night social.
​
Workshop Thursday 2/1/2024: Our resident guest caller, Dan Lyke, will call this week. It will be great to have Dan back with us. His last 'fifth-Thursday' workshop in August was a terrific success. We will still start at 6:30PM but we'll only be square dancing at this workshop, both 'class-level' Plus and full Plus.
Workshop update - 1/15/2024
We're pleased to announce that Lawrence Johnstone of Ukiah has agreed to call our workshop for Thursday 1/18/2024. Lawrence is a familiar face; he has called hoedowns for us and is club caller for our sister club at Monroe Hall, Singles and Pairs. He will continue our current workshop schedule starting at 6:30PM continuing the Round Dance instruction that has been underway and we'll switch to 'class-level' Plus at 7:00PM and full Plus later as needed by dancers in attendance.
​
We're very grateful for Lawrence's help during our transition period. He has our sincere thanks.
Press release - 1/12/2024
Circle ‘n Squares would like to let the square dance community know that our relationship with Steve Minkin as club caller has come to an end. Steve has been helping us with square and round dance instruction and skill-building workshops for the last 22 years and so this will be a big change for us. Please watch this space for week-by-week updates on the schedule and content of our workshop sessions as we develop short- and long-term plans to replace Steve. At this point, workshops WILL be held on Thursdays at Monroe Hall, most likely at the usual starting time of 6:30P, but how we will dance is still being worked out.
​
We wish Steve all the best as he continues his illustrious career as caller and cuer.
Workshops
Circle 'n Squares holds regular workshops on Thursdays at Monroe Hall from 6:30P to 9:30P. We normally alternate between square dance tips and round dances. Since the end of our last SSD class last spring we have spent the first part of the workshop dancing at SSD level, and week by week, introducing Plus calls one or two at a time to bring our SSD dancers up to Plus level. The later part of the workshop is called at full Plus level.
​
Workshops are included in the dues that members pay each month; guests are charged a fee of $8.00 per workshop session. [Anyone interested in joining the Club should speak with a current Club member at a workshop.] Guest fees are waived for members of any other square dance club who'd like to join us on the first Thursday of the month.
​
Square dancing is learned in groups of eight, called a 'square'; round dancing is learned as a couple. Both dance forms traditionally define a 'boy' role and a 'girl' role, but any person can learn to dance either role and many of the best dancers can do both.
Circle 'n Squares club caller:
Club caller position is currently open.
Resident caller: Lawrence Johnstone
Lawrence is one of the most experienced and sought after callers in the region. He has generously added Circle 'n Squares to his regular calling duties at Singles and Pairs (our sister club at Monroe Hall), Oakmont Squares in Santa Rosa, and VacaValley Ramblers in Vacaville while we search for a new club caller. We are all very grateful for his help.
Resident caller: Dan Lyke
Circle 'n Squares is pleased to announce that we've arranged for Dan Lyke of Petaluma to call for our workshops. Local square dancers may know Dan from dances he's called around northern California, or as host (with Don Beck) of a series of pandemic-era Zoom sessions for callers, or as a software guru with credits in Toy Story movies. We're thrilled to have Dan join us and encourage any SSD or Plus dancers looking for dance time to join us on any Thursday evening.
