Leonard Willenbring had a hard time getting his wife to the dance floor. Judy was sure that square dancing was for squares. But by the third lesson, she was hooked, and the Willenbrings have been following a caller’s lead every week for 20 years.
The Willenbrings dance with the Single Circles Square Dance Club, which began in 1981 as a social group meeting in an apartment complex in Brooklyn Park. Neighbors and friends got together to learn new steps and have fun. The gathering grew by word of mouth, and as the need for more space became apparent, the club moved through different locations in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and on to Maple Grove.
The name Single Circles comes from the advanced call “single circle to a wave,” the first part of which prompts a couple to join hands. It seemed an appropriate name for a group with open arms to all who seek friendship.
“A number of people who do not know square dance calls ask if we are a singles club,” says board member Jane Simpson “We probably had more singles dancing in the beginning, but we certainly have a great mixture of people now, some of which met through square dancing and got married.”
Where marriage is an extreme bond formed in Single Circles, friendship seems to be the more common tie that binds this group. Although the dancing is key, the lifelong connections made while promenading are mentioned again and again. Warm hearts and friendly conversations were the final sell for Judy Willenbring approximately two decades ago, and that welcoming environment has drawn a younger generation as well.
Tenth graders Joanna Grunnes and Ali Gratz first tried dancing with the club at the State Fair and have attended lessons and Friday night dances for about a year. “It may sound like it’s for old people,” says Grunnes, “but it’s fun for young people, too.”
Now a chartered club with the Square Dance Federation of Minnesota, Single Circles holds regularly scheduled lessons and dances with up to 120 dancers. “We have about 70 calls in our basic and mainstream level of dancing,” explains Simpson.
She claims they don’t play favorites with dances, but they do favor the calls that prompt dancers to “whoop and holler.” For instance, the song, Who the Heck Is Alice? requires that dancers shout back at the caller—you guessed it—“Who the heck is Alice?”
“Or, another favorite is Fisherman's Luck,” Simpson remembers, “because the caller steps up the speed each time he goes through another verse and we are whirling by the end.”
No matter the pace, square dancers always look organized. Their boxes, made as four couples face the middle, start square. And no matter how many lines, circles or Busby Berkeley geometric formations they make, they always come back to the same shape they started in. A caller guides them through each sequence of steps, turns, spins and partner changes, and everyone obeys.
“The key is you need to use your ears and brain to listen and tell your body what to do, which is aerobic exercise,” Simpson says. “Then you are laughing nearly all the time, which has been called jogging on the inside.”
It’s no wonder the Mayo Clinic calls it “a perfect way to forget your troubles, because it is virtually impossible to think of anything else while you square dance.” The physical and mental requirements of square dancing make it a healthy activity, but it also has a social component that solitary fitness endeavors can’t provide.
Young and old Single Circles square dancers are likely to welcome new dancers and make fast friends on Friday nights for another 30 years. That’s a lot o’ whoops and hollers!
