Timing for the Basics
From Set in Order, American SD Magazine

Have you ever been bothered by what you felt was too fast dancing? Movements coming so fast that you were barely into one call when the next call came along? For the newer dancer this sometimes happens because it takes a little longer to reason out what the caller has said and that stage of competency known as automatic reaction has not yet been reached. Essentially, there is a time while you are doing one basic that is the correct time for the next call to come along. This allows you to comfortably finish one movement and then, without stopping, simply move into the next basic without hesitation, static or stop and go, blending one basic movement with the next. This is one phase of smooth dancing.

In order to accomplish this, a caller needs to know how many steps it will take, how many beats of music to allow, for each basic movement. He realizes that if you are standing still (i.e., head couples in a static square) that it will take so many steps (eight) to do a right and left thru. However, if you are already in motion, moving toward another couple who is also moving toward you, when the call right and left thru comes, the blending process cuts the number of steps from eight to six. The caller knows this and allows for it in his calling. This is timing.

If you take fewer than the number of steps required for comfortable dancing, you are cutting the timing. In the beginning, the caller often allows the newer dancer more beats to do certain movements while the learning process is in effect. This is stretching the timing.

Now, about that caller who is calling too fast. A good, normal tempo for square dancing today is between 128 and 130 metronome beats per minute. To determine the tempo, take a watch with a sweep hand and, starting at 12, count 60 seconds around the clock, back to 12 again. As the clock hits the 12 with your first beat of the music, go and. Then with each succeeding beat during the 60 seconds, count one, two, etc. As the sweep hand reaches 12, your count will be the tempo of that particular piece of music. You can achieve the same results by going for 30 seconds or sometimes even 15 seconds, multiplying your number of beats by 2 or 4 as applicable.

It takes a prescribed number of beats to do each movement. These beats are listed for some selected figures as a portion of this article. If a lady's chain takes 8 beat of music, this is what a caller will normally allow you. If he is calling at a comfortable tempo of 128 to 130 metronome beats per minute, then you should be just completing one movement in time to move without pause into the next. Now let's say that for some reason, the caller changed the tempo of the music, slowing it down to 112 metronome beats per minute. This would be quite slow by today's standards. But let's say that instead of allowing 8 steps for a lady's chain, that he gave the dancers only 6 or 5 beats of music. Tempo-wise the music would be going slowly but from a timing standpoint, you would be racing to complete the movement in a fewer number of steps. The impression you would get would be that of constant rushing - a rat race.

On the other hand, let's say that the caller moved the tempo up by increasing the speed control to 140 metronome beats per minute. Too fast, you say. Let's suppose, at the same time, he allows the dancers more beats than usual, say 9 or 10 to do a lady's chain. Here is an example that even though the tempo was much too fast, you would find yourself with more than enough beats to do a specific basic, and as a result, you would feel unchallenged or perhaps uncomfortable in a constant stop and go atmosphere.

It's easy to see that sometimes when a caller might be right on the button calling to accompaniment that is set at 130 metronome beats per minute, but who is cutting the number of beats required for comfortable dancing, that you feel rushed or, at that same speed, if he were to allow you more than the required number of beats, that you would be standing and waiting for the next call after most of the commands. On the other hand, sticking to a comfortable tempo and allowing the comfortable number of beats adds up to a good marriage of timing and tempo.

You might be interested in checking your own timing with the following list, supplied by Callerlab and arrived at after several years of deliberation and study. A number of abbreviations are used in the list. For example, SS refers to Static Square, a full square of 8 people from a Standing Start. A Box is when two couples are facing each other in fairly close quarters. For example if, from a Standing Square, the head couples step forward, turn their back on their partner to face the side couples, man No 1 with lady No 3 as his partner are facing couple No 4 in a box. Other abbreviations will be explained as they come up.

OW - Ocean Wave. FL - Facing Lines. TFL - 2 Faced Line.

Callerlab TIMING - THE BASIC PROGRAM - Revised January 01, 2008