Tech Squares is a square and round dance club at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1967 and is still holding dances today.[1] Tech Squares dances high-energy modern Western squares in an "all position" style, with no dress code or couples requirement. It has many student members. The club dances the Plus program, but many members also dance advanced and challenge levels.
Tech Squares is well known for doing difficult and ambitious choreography, and for having an achievement-oriented mindset. At a time when many Modern Western Square Dance clubs are finding that the long learning time for a high degree of proficiency does not attract a sufficient number of newcomers to the activity, Tech Squares thrives on high-proficiency dancers.[2] This appears to be because it is in a college setting (MIT), and is populated by college students and other like-minded people who derive gratification from learning new things.[3] The technological orientation of these people may also mesh with the subject matter of sophisticated Modern Western Square Dance choreography.[4] A great many Tech Squares members dance proficiently at high Advanced and Challenge levels. The Tech Squares beginners' class, touted on its web page as "faster than any other class that we know of", goes from zero to a reasonably rigorous Plus program in 13 weeks.
HistoryEdit
Don Beck, Bill Mann, and Judie Beck (later Kotok) had the first meeting for what would become Tech Squares on March 6, 1967. The group (part of the MIT Outing Club) was to dance the new "Western" style squares (not traditional square dance); Don Beck was to be the first caller. The second meeting was March 13 and they were two girls short of a square. On the third meeting, March 20, the new club had its first complete square. Admission was $.25 per person. By the fourth meeting, March 27, there were two full squares. Every week new people would show up needing to be taught the basics. If the group was short a few dancers, scouts would be sent into the hallways of MIT to round up unsuspecting students to fill up the squares. In September 1968 Don Beck returned to school, and schoolwork eventually forced him to cut back on his calling. Sans caller, the group began to wane.
The same month, Veronica McClure and an MIT freshman, Charles Hatvany, attended a traditional square dance that the Outing Club was holding as part of its Introductory Activities weekend. The caller, Tex Wilson, thought he had been invited to call a "Western" square dance, so he was happy to see Veronica and Charles come through the door in "Western" attire. Later that school year, in 1969, Veronica and Charles organized the square dancers into a separate MIT "club" (made possible because Charles was a student). Tex had done such a good job calling for the MIT crowd that Veronica and Charles asked him to become the caller. Veronica was the club's first cuer, and designed the banner for the new club.
The group danced with no name for some months and then chose the name Tech Squares. A 1969 ad in New England Square Dance Caller magazine announces Tech Squares' first big dance. It offered a "Ph.D. in square dancing from MIT" and the dance was a big hit.[5]
Dennis Marsh became club caller in 1970. Tired of teaching new people every week, Dennis ran the first "Krash Kourse". This was before Callerlab had formed to standardize the curriculum, so Dennis decided which calls club members would be expected to know. The class Tech Squares runs today, twice a year in September and February, is modelled on that original course. Ted Lizotte is the current Caller and Teacher.
^Karagianis, Liz (Summer 2003). . MIT Spectrum. Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
^Hapgood, Fred (1993). Up the Infinite Corridor. Addison Wesley. pp. 21–23.
^Aguilar, Alexa (2007-12-10). "New generation of square dancers intrigued by its math concepts". Chicago Tribune. pp. 2–1, 2-5. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
^Baker, Clark (2007-11-29). . Archived from the original on 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
External linksEdit
Official Tech Squares web site
August 31, 2023
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tech Squares news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guidelines for companies and organizations Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Tech Squares news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page September 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Tech Squares is a square and round dance club at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology It was founded in 1967 and is still holding dances today 1 Tech Squares dances high energy modern Western squares in an all position style with no dress code or couples requirement It has many student members The club dances the Plus program but many members also dance advanced and challenge levels Contents 1 Significance 2 History 3 References 4 External linksSignificance EditTech Squares is well known for doing difficult and ambitious choreography and for having an achievement oriented mindset At a time when many Modern Western Square Dance clubs are finding that the long learning time for a high degree of proficiency does not attract a sufficient number of newcomers to the activity Tech Squares thrives on high proficiency dancers 2 This appears to be because it is in a college setting MIT and is populated by college students and other like minded people who derive gratification from learning new things 3 The technological orientation of these people may also mesh with the subject matter of sophisticated Modern Western Square Dance choreography 4 A great many Tech Squares members dance proficiently at high Advanced and Challenge levels The Tech Squares beginners class touted on its web page as faster than any other class that we know of goes from zero to a reasonably rigorous Plus program in 13 weeks History EditDon Beck Bill Mann and Judie Beck later Kotok had the first meeting for what would become Tech Squares on March 6 1967 The group part of the MIT Outing Club was to dance the new Western style squares not traditional square dance Don Beck was to be the first caller The second meeting was March 13 and they were two girls short of a square On the third meeting March 20 the new club had its first complete square Admission was 25 per person By the fourth meeting March 27 there were two full squares Every week new people would show up needing to be taught the basics If the group was short a few dancers scouts would be sent into the hallways of MIT to round up unsuspecting students to fill up the squares In September 1968 Don Beck returned to school and schoolwork eventually forced him to cut back on his calling Sans caller the group began to wane The same month Veronica McClure and an MIT freshman Charles Hatvany attended a traditional square dance that the Outing Club was holding as part of its Introductory Activities weekend The caller Tex Wilson thought he had been invited to call a Western square dance so he was happy to see Veronica and Charles come through the door in Western attire Later that school year in 1969 Veronica and Charles organized the square dancers into a separate MIT club made possible because Charles was a student Tex had done such a good job calling for the MIT crowd that Veronica and Charles asked him to become the caller Veronica was the club s first cuer and designed the banner for the new club The group danced with no name for some months and then chose the name Tech Squares A 1969 ad in New England Square Dance Caller magazine announces Tech Squares first big dance It offered a Ph D in square dancing from MIT and the dance was a big hit 5 Dennis Marsh became club caller in 1970 Tired of teaching new people every week Dennis ran the first Krash Kourse This was before Callerlab had formed to standardize the curriculum so Dennis decided which calls club members would be expected to know The class Tech Squares runs today twice a year in September and February is modelled on that original course Ted Lizotte is the current Caller and Teacher References Edit Official Tech Squares web site Karagianis Liz Summer 2003 Square Dance An American folk custom thrives at MIT MIT Spectrum Archived from the original on 2007 12 10 Retrieved 2009 07 28 Hapgood Fred 1993 Up the Infinite Corridor Addison Wesley pp 21 23 Aguilar Alexa 2007 12 10 New generation of square dancers intrigued by its math concepts Chicago Tribune pp 2 1 2 5 Retrieved 2007 12 11 Baker Clark 2007 11 29 Tech Squares early history through the New England Square Dance Caller magazine Archived from the original on 2018 02 17 Retrieved 2007 12 11 External links EditOfficial Tech Squares web site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tech Squares amp oldid 1155672611, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
