Pink Triangles Down Under Day Two

Pink Triangles Down Under
Saturday, February 24, 1996
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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Square Dancing Takes Melbourne By Storm!

Gay & lesbian square dancers from across the USA and Canada will be thrilled to know that San Francisco Bay Area caller Andy Shore taught introductory square dancing to 120 (15 squares) of the over 200 bootscooters attending the Southern Cross Stampede tonight in Melbourne (that's prounced mel-bun), Australia! At the end of his third half-hour teaching segment, the crowd cheered for more lessons so they could dance to a singing tip. With such enthusiasm in the hall, Alex Duncan, event organizer and member of the New Frontier Dance Association -- Melbourne's bootscoot and two-stepping organization -- jokingly (or not?) announced that they already had a name for the square dance part of their group -- the Bent Squares. As we left the hall, many members of NFDA were signing up for potential classes. Andy anticipated that the new Melbourne group would be ready for IAGSDC (International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs) membership in the not-to-distant future.

Square dancing (a first!) at the Collingwood Town Hall in Melbourne

Donna E Teaches The Latest USA Line Dances

By 12:30am most of the Pink Triangles Down Under group was seated on the sidelines (jet lagged and exhausted) as Donna taught the all-to-eager Melbourne bootscooters the intricate steps of Syncopation. Earlier in the evening she had the 200 plus attendees on the floor for the progressive partner dance, Gone Fishin'. Incorporating a bit of line-dance footwork, two-step techniques and square dance calls, each person had the opportunity to meet everyone briefly in the circle.

Neville of NFDA and Donna teaching Gone Fishin'

Southern Cross Stampede:
A Place for Aussies and Yanks, Men and Women

The Southern Cross Stampede was held at Collingwood Town Hall, one of the various former gathering places for local Melbourne city government, now consolidated into one larger building. The expansive wooden floor with a balcony on three sides was perfect for dancing and watching. In Melbourne, these events are BYO (bring your own), so the tables surrounding the main floor were covered with drink and food. The event was attended by an equal number of men and women -- typical for a large gathering like this -- although the bootscoot bars tend to have separate nights.

Melbourne's crowd pleasing Rainbow Cloggers take to the floor

American Dancers Meet Their Homestay Hosts

After an excellent fun-filled and informative morning bus tour of Melbourne, the group met their homestay hosts. For two days, the group will be residing at the homes of local bootscooters as they show us their personal experience of life in Australia. Monday's report will include stories from these individual adventures.

Americans Al and Mick two-stepping at the Southern Cross Stampede

And then some . . .

Our bus tour guide, Michael, stated that Melbourne as a former industrial center of Australia was a lot like New Jersey in the States. Later in the day, we were amusingly surprised to notice the car license plates -- Victoria, The Garden State.

-- JP & CC 2/24/96

AUSTRALIANS SAY: "I'll be back in a tick."
AMERICANS SAY: "I'll be back in a minute."

AUSTRALIANS SAY: "Give Way" to merging traffic.
AMERICANS SAY: "Yield" to merging traffic.

AUSTRALIANS SAY: "That chap was only wearing his y's."
AMERICANS SAY: "That guy was only wearing his briefs."

AUSTRALIANS SAY: "Gum tree"
AMERICANS SAY: "Eucalyptus tree"

Al Schroeder and David Norton missed their connecting flight to Melbourne on Friday. So, they just want to tell their friends and family that they arrived safely in Australia the next day. Let's just say that United Airlines' customer relations department will be receiving a call.

To: Julie and Tom
From: Chip and John
Thanks for the Big Howdy. You'll be happy to know that our tour guide said, "For your protetction, slip--slap--slop (see Day One for description) AND put a condom in the head band of your hat."

Send us a BIG HOWDY !

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