Roughness and Speed - Lloyd Shaw

Fast tempos were apparently much on the mind of the editor of Balance & Swing magazine. After putting a front-page essay on the subject in one issue, the very next issue carried this piece by Lloyd Shaw, arguably the most well-known name in square dancing at that time. Shaw writes, "In some clubs we find the dancers getting rougher and rougher, and faster and faster, until at last, the game completely dies. It is well for us to stop and study the situation, and to realize that roughness and speed are the certain marks of a beginner." He describes how he slowed down the speed of music for his Cheyenne Mountain Dancers exhibition team in order to improve the quality of the dancing, and concludes that 128 beats per minute as "my ideal top speed."