The dancin' TOT

TOTS Senior Baseball Network

60-and-over baseball

Is it Allemande left or is it Allemande right?

There's one player on the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) who can tell you exactly what to do when the above words bellow out of a caller's mouth.

Bob Royer, 76, has been a member of the TOTS since 2004. He feels right at home on the baseball field at Udall Park, but he really feels at home on the dance floor. A member of the Square and Round Dancing Association of Southern Arizona, along with his wife, Elaine, the former Nuclear Engineer can certainly "engineer" his way around the dance floor as he high steps it in a square to the music and to the instructions of the caller, who unleashes a poetic verse of which the participants follow, making their next move -- all in unison, all of them connecting with their partner and going around and around.

"It's not really high-stepping," says Royer. "I have two left feet. It's the hands. You use your hands. If I had to rely on my feet to get the job done, I'd be in trouble."

So, what the heck does Allemande left mean? Well, it means: A move in which two facing dancers take their left hands or forearms, turn halfway around to the left, let go, and step forward. 

Okay, I got it!

Surprisingly, Bob and Elaine are not alone when it comes to Square Dancing. There are 17 clubs in the SARDASA. Bob and Elaine are members of the Swinging Saguaros and dance up a storm every Thursday at the Tanque Verde Lutheran Church. Bob was recently caught on film, so to speak, and a picture of him, making a move on the dance floor, showed up in the Arizona Daily Star.

Three days a week on the ball field and a night of dancing on Thursdays, keeps Bob in shape.

So, Bob... Keep dancing and playing. And remember: You Allemande left on the dance floor, but you make your first move out of the batter's box to the RIGHT!

Photo: Above photo, Dancin' Bob Royer.