Hurd’s Instructional Library – Capital Carousels Round Dance Club

2019/2020 Dance Season Wrap-up

Anyone else in need of a haircut these days? I just might let Eileen loose on mine. It couldn’t look any worse.

Seriously though, I hope everyone is staying healthy through this stressful time. Who would have thought in early February, when we first heard of a new virus on the other side of the world, that our lives and dance season would be affected so quickly?

To recap our past season, we did have very successful Fall & Winter sessions with another Capital Caper workshop in October, featuring Steve & Irene Bradt, followed in December by the annual Christmas benefit dance in aid of Parkdale United’s “In From The Cold” program.
Several new dances were taught to the two dance groups in addition to those taught at the Caper. If your memory needs refreshing, these dances are listed in the “Dance Cuesheets” link when you select “Dance Season” in the main menu.
Many thanks to our teachers Pat, John, Marg, Ziggy, Jenny, Susan & Doug.

Now here’s some good news courtesy of Arlo. Some of you may be aware that Pamela & George Hurd have an instructional website which was accessible for a fee. To lift dancer’s spirits and weather the Covid19 storm they have decided to open the site up to dancers free of charge. I have spent some time going through the site in a download frenzy and think I now have pretty much all of the material downloaded. I will start uploading some of the dances we are familiar with to Dropbox once I have their titles updated to indicate phase level and rhythm. Head to “Videos” in our website’s main menu, enter the password and you’ll be able to access them from there. There is also information there on accessing the Hurd’s website directly if you wish.

At last the weather is more spring like these days which I hope will help lift people’s spirits. Stay safe and healthy everyone and let’s hope we will be dancing again in the Fall.

Thanks For The Interest….4-6 Interest Group!

Originally posted by Donna Stewart May/14/2016 12:46 PM

For 5 weeks this spring, some of our dancers with a common interest to learn more dances being done internationally at the phase 4-6 level got together to learn dances via the Hurd’s Instructional Library. We learned the phase 4 rumba of the Shibata’s called “Something Stupid” and the Armstrong’s phase 5 foxtrot called “Capone”. With many of us in the common place of learning unfamiliar figures, with a collaborative effort, we helped each other along and learned something new to boot! We also had a dance program where we danced to dances we don’t do very often as well as a few new ones! Everyone seemed to enjoy the concept of learning from video and watching the Hurd’s demonstrate the figures although we did have some difficulty with the audio. We all seemed to help each other out though and we saw more and more participation and interaction of our dancers as the weeks went on which is what we were striving for.
We danced at a new dance facility for many of us, the Greenboro Community Centre in the east end. It is a nice facility with ample parking. Our room has a wall mounted TV which everyone had no problem watching and also had air conditioning on those days when it got a bit warm. A small kitchenette area for refreshments as well. Special thanks to Ziggy and Jenny for covering refreshments for this venture.
The momentum for this new approach to learning seemed to grow week to week! I appreciate the support which our loyal band of followers provided to me with everything from encouragement of what was being done, to helping with setup and cleanup of the hall. Thank you so much gang!
As you know, a decision as to whether to continue with this group will be made by the Capital Carousels Executive Board this summer. As I had mentioned before to our group, if you enjoyed this and would like to keep it going, mention it to one or more board members! Having a united voice may just tip things in our favour! I will certainly let you know the results of the meeting.
In any event, I would like to thank those dancers who came every week, those who came when they could and also to those who came to at least give it a try. I am glad you have had a chance to experience dance instruction in a new way and hopefully, we can continue to do so as a new level club for Capital Carousels for our 2016-2017 dance season!

4-6 Interest Group Starts This Monday!

Originally posted by Donna Stewart April/08/2016 06:52 PM

This Monday we will be starting our Phase 4-6 Interest Group using the Hurd’s Instructional Library for instruction! I have setup a new section of the website devoted just to this group where you can find the latest programs, cuesheets of dances taught and a location map for Greenboro Community Centre. We will have a dance program, a 40-45 minute set for instruction and a coffee break. Please bring your own coffee/tea cups as we continue our efforts to reduce waste and safe the environment. When you arrive at Greenboro there is an ample parking lot so you should not have issues with parking. Please enter the main entrance and turn left walking down that corridor. You will walk past a reception desk and we will be located in the last room at the end of that corridor on the left side.
As I have mentioned several times, we will be running this on a 5 week trial to see just what interest this type of format may generate. At this point we will definitely be focused more on phases 5 and 4. My general rule here is that if you feel quite comfortable with your phase 4 figures and are looking to increase your exposure to phase 5, this will probably be a good fit for you. Our first teach will be a phase 4+2 rumba to guide us in gently! If you are curious and wonder what we are about, come out and check us out for a week. Capital Carousels understands this is a new concept for our dancers here, but these teaches available through this online service are helping dance clubs who have lost their cuer/instructor and they want to keep current. Dancers are also utilizing this service as well to keep up their skills and keep current if their clubs have closed up. We really aren’t doing anything new here.
Capital Carousels is looking forward to seeing where this may take us! Please join us this Monday! We will see you at 2PM!

Just Around The Corner

Originally posted by Donna Stewart April/02/2016 12:25 PM

Yes, we have a few events which are just around the corner indeed! Coming up first will occur a week from this coming Monday in fact-Monday, April 11! Our 4-6 Interest Group learning some popular international dances being done worldwide through the Hurd’s Instructional Library! We will be learning a dance via video instruction with George and Pam Hurd. This will be shown via a large wall mounted TV in a room large enough for dancing. We will start with some warmup rounds and then run the video, starting and stopping it as we go to practice. The Hurd’s will be demonstrating the entire dance and walking us through the dance in sections as well with good demonstration of the figures. We will also have a break time and some dancing to finish off the program. We will be starting with a 4+2 Rumba which I think you will enjoy. It is a new concept for us, but we will not know how it will work if we don’t try it out! If you feel fairly comfortable dancing at our Wednesday club this might be something you might like to try out! We hope to see you there. Check out our Coming Events section on our website here for the flyer.
Come the end of April, Swing Into Spring will be on the agenda in Prescott! Square and round dancing will be featured with separate halls for both. David Goss and Ulla Figwer will be back with some more excellent dances to teach us! Get your registration in and specify your dance levels you would prefer. All that’ll be left is the dancing! Check out our Coming Events section for the registration form if you still need it!
Our Spring Session is just 4 weeks in length this spring. It will run from the week of Apr 13+14 to May 4+5. On May 11+12 we have a special treat with JL and Linda Pelton, cuer/instructor couple from Dallas, Texas coming to spend a couple of days with us at our clubs. They will be teaching a dance on both days and both of these dances will be able to danced at both clubs. We encourage our dancers to come out to both days, meet JL and Linda and learn some new dances! We will also be having a potluck lunch on Thursday immediately after our dance day at Parkdale. Please bring your favourite potluck dish and let’s enjoy a lovely lunch together! Best news is, although this is not a part of our regular session, it is actually cheaper! We ask for $5 per person for both days! What’s not to like!
And lastly, our 2015-2016 Dance Season closes on Wednesday, May 18 with our final dance of the season-open to both our Wednesday and Thursday club members. All dancing and a short meeting in between. More talk of this dance to come!
As you can see, we have lots still to come in our season. Please check the front stage area for flyers of upcoming events. We have lots that will be happening after our dance season ends even. Keep your dance shoes handy! You will be needing them!

Tags: Hurds Instructional Library, 4-6 Interest Group, Swing Into Spring 2016, JL and Linda Pelton

Coming-Phase 4-6 Dancing!!

Original posting by Donna Stewart March/06/2016 02:54 PM

Have you ever thought you might like to be learning some dances beyond a phase 4 or 5? Do you see some videos at that level on the internet or being played on programs at dance festivals and wished you knew how to dance them? Well, some of us have thought that too and we have thought of a way to learn some of those dances and taught by top notch instructors as well! Starting Monday Apr 11 thru Monday May 9, for 5 consecutive weeks we will start a 4-6 group where we will learn this level of dance via videos! The Hurd’s Instructional Library to be exact! For several years now, George and Pam Hurd have been videotaping their teaches they do during their dance season in Mesa, Arizona and making them available thru a yearly subscription online. These are excellent teaching videos with a demo of the dance, and then divided into parts e.g Intro, Part A, Part B etc. Providing excellent instruction, demonstration of the figures and a point for the dancers to practice. It has been used by many people or groups of people who have lost their club, instructor or both and it’s a way to keep up all the latest dances while keeping up their skills.
During our 5 week session, you can expect some dance time of primarily higher level 4s and 5s and perhaps a few 6s. We will have ample time for dance teaches with Donna as moderator, running the video. This group will function as highly interactive, learning together and helping each other with the steps. We will be easing in with a nice 4+2 rumba which will be a nice blend of challenge and fun. I believe you will really enjoy the dance.
At this point, this is called the 4-6 Interest Group. The 5 weeks is being used as a trial to see if it is a concept we would like to continue. As it is a very new dimension to our current dance structure, we will see how things proceed along as we go. After our 5 weeks is over, the club will determine if it will be plausible to continue in the fall.
The sessions will be held at Greenboro Community Centre, 363 Lorry Greenberg Drive in Ottawa. It is easy to find and ample parking. It is a nice size room with a 55″ wall mounted TV, where the video will play from. As this is a trial run, the cost will be $7/person per day or $14/couple per day. We will not have a session fee at this point.
If this is something you have been hoping for, please come out and see for yourself. If it is something you hadn’t really thought about, but feel you would like to see how it works, come out and try! Dancers who feel quite comfortable dancing at a phase 4 level and have some basic knowledge of phase 5 figures might be interested in this. All you can do is try it out! Hope to see you Apr 11!