Dancing to "the Most Influential Man in Square Dancing"

Lee Kopman is the grand old man of modern square dancing--the guy who wrote most of the calls and who continues to influence the square dance world as well as calling dances (although mostly now on the east side of the Mississippi). We are lucky to have the chance to dance to this creative choreographer. As CD Vise pointed out, we're also lucky to have his wonderful wife, Lilith, with us and dancing with us, sharing her delightful personality.

While we were out on our morning walk, we ran into Terry and Linda from the RGV. They are right now camping in a brand new A-Liner, but there are planning to give up on it and buy a Lance trailer instead (Linda likes the idea of having a bathroom).

They were at the C-1 workshop from 10-noon. David Hefron is here also, although without Heidi, who is still in San Diego. They are in the process of moving to Austin, where David has a new engineering job. We had four squares of C-1 dancers this morning. Lee taught us a brand new call he has written called "Top It Off." It has interesting choreography and even more interesting variations. It usually starts with a tidal wave and all trade, but it can be called from other formations, starting with a call that puts dancers in a tidal wave. For example, from a column you can "Hinge It Off." From point to point diamonds, the caller can call "Cut It Off" or Flip It Off," which gives everyone a chuckle.

This afternoon Ken stayed home and rested while I went over to the A-2 workshop, where I danced with Marty. We had five squares. Lee taught "Top It Off" to the Advanced dancers and also introduced another new call: "Bring Us Together," which is another different way to get a static square to lines facing.

Tonight we went to the A-2 dance and were 20 minutes late, because the dance started at 7:00 instead of 7:30, which is when dancing started on Friday. We only missed one tip, and we stayed for the two C-1 star tips at the end. It's always rewarding to dance to Lee, and especially fun to dance with some of the great dancers we've met before as well as with new friends.


We start dancing at 9:30 tomorrow morning. After the two hour final dance, we'll pack up, eat lunch, and head out. We stopped by the office today and arranged for a late check-out.