Keeping the spirit of round dancing alive

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This article was published 15/04/2015 (3917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Armstrong recalls one of the first dates he went on with his wife, Bev, over 50 years ago.

“I arrived at her place, and they all said, ‘We’re going to a dance!’ and I said ‘Oh…great.’”

The dance they went to was a country square dance and the experience surprised him.

“People were so friendly,” he says, “and I had a marvelous time. Back then, in rural communities, square dancing was an activity where people would get together for a party.”

Now, over 50 years later, he’s still hooked on dancing, only a slightly different kind —round dancing.

“Round dancing is the other half to square dancing,” Armstrong explains.

Round-dancing is similar to ballroom dancing, except all moves are pre-choreographed and cues are announced by a caller.Brian and Bev fell into teaching dance by accident. After dancing with groups of friends in square-dancing clubs for a number of years, they decided to share their love of dancing by teaching easy levels, along with other couples, who taught harder levels.

“We’ve been teaching for about 12 years now,” Armstrong says. He and his wife call themselves ‘B & B Rounds.’

Brian and Bev teach round dancing lessons almost every Sunday from January to March from noon to 4:30 p.m at Roblin Park Community Centre.

On average, about 14 couples attend each week. People once wore special outfits for round dancing but not anymore, Armstrong says.

“Ladies’ crinolines that went underneath their skirts used to cost more than $200, and then you’d still have to buy the skirt over top of that,” he says. “Now people just come in wearing shorts or whatever they want.”

As couples become busier and have less time for activities such as dancing, Armstrong, who is 75, is eager to keep the tradition of round dancing alive, and eager for more couples to come out and experience the fun.

“I’m going to keep going as long as I can,” he says.

Anyone interested in learning more about round dancing, or to find out details on when the next set of lessons is coming up at Roblin Park can call Armstrong at 204-475-6430.

Amanda Thorsteinsson is a community correspondent for Charleswood.