Dance club hopes to continue its legacy
By CHRISTINA YOON Special to the Daily Press
MARINE PARK Scattered around Marine Park are locals involved in the usual park activities such as tennis, basketball and barbecues. But few park regulars know that it is also home to one of Santa Monica’s hidden gems and oldest traditions.
The Red Ribbon Squares, Santa Monica’s official square dance club, will begin its new season of weekly classes on Sept. 16 in the park’s clubhouse. Longtime members hope that by working in partnership with Santa Monica Parks and Recreation, they can get new members to get as hooked on square dancing as they are.
“Any organization has trouble recruiting young people,” said Ruth Needle, a former president of the Red Ribbon Squares and the club’s current visitation chairper-son. “Our goal by working this year with parks and rec. is to attract a wider audience, though usually word of mouth works best.”
The club will hold an eight-class session, costing $42 for Santa Monica residents and $46 for non-residents. Students can enroll online at recenroll.smgov.net or through the SeaScape newsletter, delivered free to local mailboxes throughout the year and available for free at most city facilities including the Ken Edwards Center and the public library.
The club has held classes and dances out of Marine Park since it opened in 1959. In 2001, then mayor Michael Feinstein awarded the Red Ribbon Squares with a commendation naming it the official square dance club of Santa Monica. The goal of the classes is to introduce newcomers to square dancing and line dancing, familiarizing them with the formal square dance calls and moves. Needle said that although everyone who tries the class loves it, it’s often difficult to get students to return.
“It is a commitment,” she said. “You can’t learn it in one or two weeks. But we do a lot of line dancing, which is easier, you don’t need a partner and you don’t need the big fancy petticoats.”
Members of the Red Ribbon Squares attend the classes, calling themselves “angels,” to help the new dancers. Although it does take time to get the moves down, Needle is confident that anyone could become an expert, even with no dance experience.
“If you can walk you can dance,” she said.
Santa Monica engineer Lisette Bauersachs tried the square dance classes for the first time this summer with a friend and fell in love instantly.
“It’s so much fun I can’t even begin to say,” Bauersachs said. “I’ve already signed up for the next season.”
Despite the challenge of learning the calls and moves, Bauersachs, who had no previous dance experience, was hooked as soon as she learned about the tight-knit community that formed the club.
“Their members are so warm and welcoming, and even though they’re experts they were so sweet to us,” she said.
In addition to the artistic aspect of square dancing, Bauersachs was surprised to find that it was quite a workout as well.
“One woman had a pedometer while dancing and at the end she had walked three miles,” she said. “And you don’t even know it. You blink and the next thing you know it’s 9:30 and you have a lot of fun.”
The truly dedicated students continue to take classes for several months until they are expert enough to become a member of the Red Ribbon Squares. Needle estimated that most people could get to that level in less than a year.
“About nine months,” she said. “You can have a baby, or you can learn to dance.”
Members of the Red Ribbon Squares have the privilege of participating in the club dances at Marine Park, which are led by square dance callers hired from around the world.
“The good callers sign contracts a year in advance,” Needle said.
The dances are held on the second and fourth Saturday of every month to alternate with a West Los Angeles square dance club called Heels and Souls.
The events sometimes have themes, such as this month’s Aloha Night, and last all evening, providing refreshments and a chance for members to socialize. Alcohol, however, is prohibited.
“I don’t care how much you drink, you lose your balance and your equilibrium,” Needle said. “You don’t want to be on someone else’s toes.”
Although no beginners are allowed at these dances, they’re encouraged to come to watch the mastery of the members.
“We were told that come September they’ll have their formal dances,” Bauersachs said. “I’m dying to see them dancing in their full regalia.”
Members not only dance together but also partake in the time-honored traditions of the club, many of which have been around since the Red Ribbon Squares were started in 1950 by Bob Bevan and his wife Betty.
One tradition still upheld today is an individualized, intricate badge worn by all of the members with different parts signifying things such as positions held in the club and the number of visits they have paid to other clubs. In years past, the club had a “sheriff” who would make sure that all members wore their badges at the dances to avoid a fee of 25 cents.
“That was when a quarter could still buy a cup of coffee,” Needle said.
Bauersachs, who hopes to someday become experienced enough to be asked into the club, said that these traditions are as much a part of the appeal of the club as the dancing.
“There are all these requirements, which I find fascinating,” she said. “I was just like, ‘Wow! I just thought I signed up for a class.’”
Both veterans and the newly converted recognize the importance of spreading the word about the square dance classes to continue the traditions and culture of the Red Ribbon Squares.
“You need the next generation to come in or it’ll die out as an art form,” Bauersachs said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 30, 2008. Read the original PDF.