Square dance animates group

By Kelsey VanArsdall
Staff Writer

When most people hear the words "Krazy Eights" they think of the card game, but to a select group of Purdue students, faculty and alumni those words mean square dance.

The group gathers every Monday night in the Mechanical Engineering Building to laugh, have fun and practice the almost 70 dances learned during the semester.

The members learn moves like the "circle left (or right)" and the "allemande left." The dancing involves partners but many times two couples will join together to complete a move.

"The steps are not hard to learn; they are just confusing," said Gail Fehrman, a freshman in the School of Agriculture who joined the club this semester.

Fehrman, who learned the Virginia Reel over the summer, said she has always wanted to learn how to square dance.

The dancers gather to swirl and twirl to mostly country music, but it’s not uncommon to hear some '60s music and even rap.

Daryl Merril is the club's caller; he instructs the dancers on which moves to execute. Merril started out in the club as a dancer and offered to be the caller when a previous one left the club.

In addition to the Monday night meetings, the club sponsors a dance each semester. The members are also encouraged to attend dances hosted by other clubs in order to improve their steps.

The club members also dance at functions around town.

"We do demos for different organizations," said Shirl Sereque, who has been in the club the longest. "We’ve danced at the mall, some local nursing homes and McDonalds."

Sereque said that each time the club members dance at local places they get a badge, called a dangle, to wear on their outfits.

Although the club is small — just 11 students and eight faculty and alumni — they've bonded because of their similar interest.

"The thing that makes this club the most fun are its members," said Nancy Ott, the club's president and a senior in the School of Science.

Ott, who started dancing with the club when her friend invited her during her junior year, said that the members come from many backgrounds but are tied together with a love for square dancing.

The Krazy Eights Square Dance Club was organized in 1942 under the name Folk-a-Whirlers, and it has continued to change and grow since.

The steps currently involve only square dance moves but originally its members learned polka, waltz and hoe-down dancing.

Since 1942, the origin of the Krazy Eights name has been lost, so the members aren’t sure what the name represents.

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