Square dance club aims for fun, exercise

Boys run, couples circulate, pass the ocean, promenade, bow to your partner and yellow rock. Square dancing is more than “swinging your partner round and round” and “do-si-do.”

The Grande Paraders, the Lansing-area square dancing group, started in 1972 and has 32 members. When the group advertised lessons, Gayle Arndt took the opportunity to reignite her interest in the dance.

“I remembered how much fun I had square dancing in gym class,” said Arndt, president of the Grande Paraders. “I got into it also for the physical fitness and it’s a great way to meet new friends.”

Square dancing is comprised of dancers and a caller, with four couples (eight people total) making up one square and following the calls. There also are different styles of square dancing, including traditional and western, with the traditional style being more repetitious and for those who are more interested in dancing occasionally.

“It’s strictly for fun,” Arndt said. “As a club, part of our goal is to promote (the) art of dance.”

Fifty years ago, Mason residents Pat Myer and her husband, Ed Myer, began square dancing, and they joined the Grande Paraders as a way to continue something they enjoy.

“I figured it was a good way to get exercise, have fun and meet people,” Pat Myer said.

Some people think they aren’t going to enjoy square dancing. That was the case for Holt resident John Sklar when his friends first tried getting him interested.

“Some men think they’re not going to like it. I was one of them,” Sklar said. “All of them just have to try it. If you don’t, then you won’t know if you like it.”

One of the most common misconceptions of square dancing is that the music used is strictly western, but that’s definitely not the case. Not only do the Grande Paraders dance to a variety of music, but they also have themed dances, including luaus and circus nights.

“We dance to all types of music,” Arndt said.

After a few hours of square dancing, the dancers have been around the floor more than a time or two.

“One night is the same as walking five miles,” Sklar said. “Which do you want to do? Have fun or be bored?”