Square dancers cut the rug in Sisters

The Central Oregon Roundup Square Dancers were back in Sisters for their annual event this weekend. They started 26 years ago at the old fairgrounds in Redmond and have danced their way into the hearts of Sisters Country.

Most of the dancers were just at the 36th Annual Diamond Lake Square Dance Festival and are still going strong. Friday was Jamboree night at Sisters High School. The event was for all levels of dancers.

Dave Cooper started the Friday night festivities as cuer for the round dances. Cooper also teaches dance in Bend and Prineville and choreographed the evening's special dance performance. Jamboree nights are supported by a varied group of guest callers and cuers.

After Saturday morning breakfast, the dancers headed out to Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery in Camp Sherman for an impromptu performance. With their microphone and juke box in the back of a Ford truck, they entertained visitors to the hatchery with dances led by caller Jim Steele.

Rushing back to Sisters High School, they made it just in time for the 1 to 3 p.m. dances for the more advanced dancers. The evening dance followed at 6:30 p.m.

Scott Byars, caller, and Erin Byars, cuer, manned the mike on Saturday night.

Young and old turned out for the event. Dancer Juanita Kirzy has been dancing for 45 years. Artificial knees and hips haven't slowed her down. She and her husband started dancing with kids' clubs in Southern California where their two boys were members. They later started the Kountry Kousins for adults. They closed the club 35 years later because everyone had either moved or passed away. When they moved to Redmond, they started dancing with the Red Rocks Square Dancers.

Jessie Shoffner, whose sister, brother, mom and dad all dance, started dancing when she was nine doing hip hop, dance through gymnastics and jazz. A friend started round dance lessons and she got hooked. One of the youngest cuers out there, she started cueing at age 14 and has been cueing for about three years.

She opted not to go to Cuers College due to time constraints. She was in high school and going to COCC taking classes toward a nursing degree.

In Round Dancing an announcer, called a cuer, calls out the steps to the dancers traveling counterclockwise in a circle. The person who calls out the steps for Square Dancing is designated a caller. Advertised events post the dress code for the event and most dancers wear professional dance shoes.

When you come to a square dance, expect to be greeted at the door by a friendly hug. It's tradition in the square dance world. No one remembers exactly how the tradition started, but many believe it is an extension of the bow to the corner dancer at the beginning of a square dance.

Dancer Linda Danner described square dancing as "friendship set to music." Men might resist dancing at first, but once they try it, they're hooked.

Danner once logged seven miles doing square and round dancing.

Four clubs put on the weekend's events: Bachelor Beauts in Bend, Red Rocks in Redmond, Sage Brush Shufflers in Powell Butte/Prineville and the Sun Dance Round Dance Club in Bend.

They are all part of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs.

Square dancing is the official state dance of Oregon, and Governor Kulongoski recently dedicated September 21-27 as Oregon Square Dance Week.