Square Dance Festival this weekend

It’s time to swing into spring.

Fallen Arches Square Dance Club is preparing to do just that with their annual square dance festival. Dancers from nearby clubs and those as far away as Salt Lake City and Gunnison, Colo., are expected to come to Moab to dance Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22 and 23, in the Helen M. Knight Elementary gym.

Richard Berry, a caller from Cortez, Colo., for weekly local club dances, will be joined by Dan Nordbye, professional square dance caller from Mesa, Ariz.

The two will be calling dances at 8 p.m. each evening.

Experienced local square dancers are invited to join the fun, with registration at the door. Observers will be warmly welcomed with no fee charged.

Most everyone remembers square dancing at some time, perhaps during a PE class in school. Square dance is the state folk dance of Utah, along with eighteen other states. Square dancing is enjoyed by millions of Americans and countless others around the world. Young and old alike can square dance once some basic movements are learned through a series of lessons.

Square dance lessons will begin in Moab on Thursday, Feb. 28, 7 to 8 p.m. at the Grand Center. Interested couples and individuals of all ages are invited to give square dancing a try and learn the basic dance movements.

Circle left, do-si-do, and allemande left will be familiar calls to start the evening. Dress is casual. The emphasis is on fun as dancers develop their skills.

“If you can raise your right hand, count to four and laugh when you make a mistake you have all the prerequisites of being a square dancer,” said Bob Erickson, Fallen Arches Square Dance Club president.

Fallen Arches is the local square dance club with eighteen members. Dances are held 7:30 p.m., Thursday evenings at the Grand Center, beginning at 7:30 pm, or 8 p.m. when classes are held.