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It’s hip to be a square dancer

Oregon elementary school program gets town on its feet

The Columbian
Published: May 26, 2015, 5:00pm
4 Photos
Mark Ylen/Albany Democrat-Herald
People participate in a community square dance May 12 at Jefferson Elementary School in Jefferson, Ore. Oregon designated the square dance as its official state dance in 1977.
Mark Ylen/Albany Democrat-Herald People participate in a community square dance May 12 at Jefferson Elementary School in Jefferson, Ore. Oregon designated the square dance as its official state dance in 1977. Photo Gallery

JEFFERSON, Ore. — Forget separate class periods for music, P.E., history and leadership. At Jefferson Elementary School, Kevin Lake and Shawn Cooke combine them all in one lesson: square dancing.

Lake is the school’s music teacher, and Cooke does P.E. They teach separately, but once a week they join forces for a music-and-movement class they call Physical Harmony.

In that class, for one month each school year, fourth- and fifth-graders learn how to promenade, do-si-do, allemande left and right, and other basic square dance moves.

They get extra practice with Lake in their music classes, and caller John Luna comes out to help. It all comes together once a year in a giant community dance in the elementary school gym.

This year’s, held May 12, marked the 12th consecutive community square dance. More than 300 people attended.

The elementary school’s counselor, Hershel Olmsted, brought his string band, Wild Hog in the Woods, to accompany Luna’s calling with the sounds of fiddles, banjo and hammered dulcimer.

Oregon designated the square dance as its official state dance in 1977. The Oregon Blue Book’s explanation: “The pioneer origins of the dance and the characteristic dress are deemed to reflect Oregon’s heritage. The lively spirit of the dance exemplifies the friendly, free nature and enthusiasm that are a part of the Oregon character.”

Plus, said Madeleine LaCrosse, 9, whose partner of choice Tuesday was her father, Mathieu: “Once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy.”

Lake, the music teacher, said it all gets back to Olmsted, the band leader and counselor, who used to teach P.E. He thought square dancing, which is part of the elementary curriculum, would make a fun extra unit.

It’s neat to see how many lessons the students can take away from a few spins on the dance floor, he went on. Would-be wallflowers learn to participate. Soloists practice teamwork and cooperation. Often, Lake said, it’s the troublemaker or the class clown who suddenly gets serious about leadership and helping everyone through a complicated pattern.

Square dancing, he said, brings everyone into the mix — including about a tenth of the 3,000-some population of Jefferson.

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