In the wild, wild West Valley, the Trail Dusters gather to dance. Two-by-two they head down Paseo Primario in old Calabasas, 50 to 100 couples on any given Wednesday night, to follow-your-neighbor and swing-that-girl, now right, now left.
“To the best of my knowledge, Trail Dusters is the largest square dance club in America,” says Jeffrey Hausman, co-president of the Trail Dusters with his wife, Margie. Clubs touting themselves as the largest in Texas and the largest in Michigan claim memberships of 150 and 170, respectively. So attendees at national square dancing conventions are “shocked when I say we have 500,” Hausman explains.
Though Trail Dusters has no religious affiliation, members estimate that of the 240 couples and handful of single members in the group, 90 to 95 percent are Jewish. There was no special outreach effort to the Jewish community. “People join because their friends have joined,” says Trail Duster Ron Sobel, “and who are your friends?”
Vice President Gene Seiden adds that one other factor brought him and his wife to the group back in September 1996: “The kids left.” Past president Rebecca Rothman believes that “empty-nest” feeling pushes many members to join: “They need to build up their friendship base again.”
At a recent Wednesday evening workshop class — a refresher course, as regular classes are not held during the summer — more than a few square dancing couples compared their group with a temple chavurah, or group of friends. Flyers lying on a table near the dance action advertised the group’s upcoming weekend retreats, picnics, ice cream socials and game nights, and even a few square dancing events.
The traditional image of a square dance, with men in bolo ties and women in ruffled skirts, is still a part of the Calabasas dances. Yet while traditions endure, these square dancers are an informal breed. “We take a lot of breaks, we nosh, we talk,” Rothman admits. And that country-western square dance music shares air time with, on this night, songs ranging from “Itsy-Bitsy-Teenie-Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” to the Euro-dance hit “I’m a Taxi Driver.” The caller, who sounds to contemporary ears like a cross between a rapper and an auctioneer, instructs the dancers in his rapid fire sing-song, and the dancers respond, in “squares” of four couples each, laughing, joking and keeping up with the caller.
It is an activity as American as, well, air traffic control, one of the only other activities universally practiced around the world in English. For some, it may be hard to get over the idea of square dancing. Lois Seiden recalls, “One guy, his friends started coming to the classes, they told him he’d love it, he should come. He always said ‘Oh, that’s for hicks.’ But once he came to a class … he’s never missed one since.”
Meanwhile, the caller calls: “Load your boat.” The dancers raise their arms in the air, making a train conductor motion and respond, “Woo Woo!”
New classes begin Sept. 5. For more information about
Trail Dusters square dancing, call (818) 344-4155 or visit www.traildusters.net .
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