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14 | OHCC LIVING | AUGUST 2023 | Village Squares e Village Squares is a Modern American Square-dancing Club. We dance on Wednesdays starting at 6:30 pm. At our dances, we enjoy a variety of music types, everything from pop to traditional country to Broadway musical to contemporary country music, rock, Motown, techno, and hip-hop. While Village Squares is one of the oldest clubs at Ocean Hills Country Club, each year in January, we begin a new class to introduce new dancers to the fun of square dance. Our classes bring dancers who don't know an "allemand-le" from a "dosey-do" to square dancers in real "Dance Mode" on the dance floor in real life. Dancers may start because a friend and neighbor invited them to an introduction and they continue to square dance because it is fun. ere is a group of people who volunteer their time each week to ensure that a class has the best possible learning experience and is enjoyable. is group of experienced dancers is commonly referred to as "Angels". Angels provide the class members with their first real look at Village Squares. Our Angels are enthusiastic, and enjoy dancing. Angels are not teachers. We have a professional caller to guide the club. Angels put out a guiding hand with a smile so students can see where to be in the square and know that Village Squares is a safe welcoming environment to learn Square Dance. Angels help students maintain their orientation in the square which is a good skill for a dancer to develop. When I started square dancing, the Angels made it fun for me. e hand out from an Angel was very important to my progression as a square dancer. Everyone can make a mistake square dancing - even Angels. What Angels did for me was let me know that I could get back in the dance. I am very proud of our Village Squares Angels. We have an excellent dance floor here at Ocean Hills. For me, without the Angels it would just be wood planks. I want to thank our Angels. Angels make Village Squares part of our entertainment for the week. I look forward to seeing you on the Dance Floor. ~ Robert Gross, Robert.gross@cox.net or (619) 846-4002 In preparation for our big show next March, the OHCC Dance Troupe is busy perfecting the dances and steps we have learned so far, and we continue to add new dances and moves to our repertoire. Recently, the tap dancers reviewed/ learned a particular series of steps called a "Shirley Temple." It got me to thinking about this amazing young actor/dancer/singer who started dancing at the age of three, becoming so famous at such an early age that she had a dance step named aer her. Born Shirley Jane Temple, April 23, 1928 in Santa Monica, her mother encouraged her to develop her singing, dancing and acting talents, and in September 1931, enrolled her in Meglin's Dance School in LA. While at the dance school, Temple was spotted by a casting director and signed to a contract in 1932. She was Hollywood's #1 box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938, appearing in 29 films from the ages of three to ten, then in 14 films from the ages of 14 to 21. Temple retired from film in 1950 at the age of 22, when she met and married Charles Alden Black. She appeared on television shows in the late 1950's to early 1960's and then went on to sit on the boards of several corporations and organizations, including the Walt Disney company, Del Monte Foods, Bank of America, and the National Wildlife Federation. She began her diplomatic career in 1969, when she was appointed to represent the United States at a session of the United Nations General Assembly. She was the United States Ambassador to Ghana 1974 - 1976, then U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia 1989 - 1992, the first and only woman in this job. She received numerous awards and accolades over the course of a long life. So, back to the Shirley Temple tap step. Apparently, this move (flap R, heel L, heel R, pull toe L, heel R, toe L, heel R, reverse to the le, if you really want to know) was repeated in so many of her iconic movies that it eventually became known as the Shirley Temple. ~ Janie Arens, Janie.Arens@comcast.net, (206) 465- 2578 Ocean Hills Dance Troupe Temple in Glad Rags to Riches (1933), age 3

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