Finding his calling, story and slideshow
GREENSBURG – People may be watching the dancers, but all ears are on Larry Fosbrink when he calls a square dance.
“Do si do and then you promenade,’ Fosbrink of Uniontown called out dance steps in between singing the words to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.’ These days, square dancers use all kinds of music for performing.
Under Fosbrink’s command, the dancers – ladies dressed in full skirts with petticoats and gentlemen wearing Western shirts and ties – executed beautiful and exciting steps with infectious smiles on their faces.
Fosbrink also was animated as he sang and made intricate calls to the dances. It’s a language all its own shared by square dancers such as those who recently attended the Westmoreland County 4-H Leaders Kick-off Evening at Gianelli’s II restaurant in Greensburg.
Fosbrink was a special guest at the kick-off along with the two 4-H square dance teams – Bodacious and The Hillbillies – that he coached with help from the Laurel Swingers square dance club. Members of the Laurel Swingers, including Fosbrink’s wife, Sally, were also present to dance with and cheer on both 4-H teams that took blue ribbons at the recent State Farm Show in Harrisburg. It’s quite an achievement considering these youths never tried square dancing before “Uncle Larry’ – as they call Fosbrink – showed them the steps over a six-week training period.
“I was ecstatic,’ said Fosbrink of their win. “I congratulated them when they got the ribbons. The kids learned to dance. They were good.’
Fosbrink is a professional square dance caller but he considers this a hobby. He regularly calls dances in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, working an average three to four nights a week and sometimes five.
Outside the world of square dancing, Fosbrink worked as an insurance adjustor for 34 years before retiring and now works part time in the circulation department of Herald-Standard. Sally Fosbrink worked for Allegheny Power before retiring and also works part time at the Herald-Standard, now as the sales manager’s assistant.
The couple enjoys square dancing so much they have traveled to state and national conventions where Fosbrink has called dances. In fact, they’ll attend a national convention in Charlotte, N.C., this June that will attract as many as 40,000 people.
The Fosbrinks take square dance cruises every other year where Fosbrink is one of the callers. During one cruise, Fosbrink called a dance at a stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Their next scheduled cruise is in 2008, when they will sail the Mexican Riviera.
While it is an American folk dance, Fosbrink noted, “Square dancing is everywhere in the world. You can go anywhere in the world and find a dance and it’s called in English. After the dance, the caller might not be able to have a conversation like you and me, but they call in English.’
The Fosbrinks belong to three square dance clubs: Laurel Swingers in Hunker, Square One in Brackenridge near Pittsburgh and Laurel Highlands Promenaders, a square dance club that travels to different campgrounds.
The couple started square dancing in 1990, when a friend suggested they give it a try. Fosbrink was reluctant at first but his wife noted, “He was hooked after the first lesson and then he decided to go to caller school.’
Fosbrink attended the Northern New York Callers’ College, a five-day workshop for prospective callers, in Hague, N.Y., in 1992 and was mentored by Vic Miller of Greensburg, who now has been calling square dances for 45 years.
Square dance calls include basic, mainstream and plus levels. Basic calls include such commands as “circle left/circle right’ and “promenade’ as well as such colorful names as “Shoot the Star,’ “Slip the Clutch’ and “Wheel and Deal.’ Mainstream calls include “Cloverleaf,’ “Spin the Top,’ “Spin Chain Thru’ and “Recycle.’ Plus calls include “Load the Boat,’ “Relay the Ducey’ and “Spin, Change and Exchange the Gears.’
“We use any kind of music,’ explained Fosbrink. “I’ve got ’50s, gospel, rap. We can use any kind of music. It just has to be 64-beat music so you can put calls to it. And I’m still using 45-rpm records. I’ve probably got 3,000 records.’
Asked what they like about square dancing, Fosbrink answered, “Everything.’
“It’s good for you because you exercise physically and mentally because you have to learn the calls,’ said Sally Fosbrink.
The couple shared information from The Callerlab Board of Governors, Square Dance Callers that noted, “Dancing can burn as many calories as walking, swimming or riding a bicycle. During a half hour of sustained dancing, you can burn between 200 and 400 calories. … In one study, researchers attached pedometers to square dancers and found each person covered nearly five miles in a single evening.’
In addition, the report noted dancing provides cardiovascular conditioning, is a weight-bearing exercise that prevents or slows osteoporosis, can be a part of rehabilitation from heart or knee surgery and offers a social component that solitary fitness endeavors don’t.
Square dancers are known for the costumes they wear that are usually purchased at specialty shops or at conventions. They are Western-style with full skirts for women and long-sleeved dress shirts for men. There are soft shoes for women but street shoes also can be worn.
The Westmoreland 4-H teams each dressed in a specific way when they performed at the 4-H Leaders Kick-off Evening. Bodacious dressed in black and silver gray while The Hillbillies wore red, white and blue.
Craig Blystone of Mount Pleasant and a member of Bodacious said of square dancing, “It’s a good way to have fun with friends. You’re able to meet regularly and have fun.’
Robyn Wright of Greensburg, also of Bodacious, said, “It’s fun and it actually brought us kids closer together. We were friends but now we’re closer.’
Rebekah Baker of Latrobe and another member of Bodacious, worried square dancing might seem a little cheesy but noted, “Once you started dancing and having fun, you didn’t care.’
Of Fosbrink, Blystone said, “I never had any other caller, but you did a great job getting us to where we needed to be.’
Wright added, “He was excellent. We thought all the calls would be hard to understand.’
“But he walked us through it,’ said Baker. “I was so lost that first night in Somerset.’
And of their blue ribbon-win, Blystone said, “I felt good because all of us were going together and I felt good dancing. It was definitely exciting and showed how much work we put into it.’
Lori Johnson of Saltsburg, a 4-H leader whose daughter, Trisha, is a member of The Hillbilllies, commented, “We were so excited that night we could hardly contain ourselves.’
“We were so ecstatic,’ said Wright and Baker together.
Wright said, “We’d only been dancing how long and there were people dancing for years. But we did it because we were taught by the best – Uncle Larry.’
Fosbrink was all smiles but he shrugged off the compliments when publicly thanked at the 4-H dinner.
“It wasn’t me who won the ribbons,’ he commented. “It was the kids.’
And he reminded people to applaud for the youths as they danced as well as reminding the youths afterwards to “thank the crowd that gave you a good hand.’
It was another great night of square dancing for the Fosbrinks.
And there are no plans to stop.
Fosbrink said he’ll continue square dancing “until I die probably or at least as long as I’m able.’