Square Dancing  

Square Dance   Do Sa Do   Flutterwheel   Reverse The Flutter   Pass The Ocean   Right and Left Through  

The term "square dance" is often used in general to refer to the Western square dance. On this website we will discuss the differences between the two types of square dancing.

A square dance is a variation of a folk dance with 4 couples a total of eight dancers, arranged in a square, one couple on each side. Starting with couple #1 facing opisite of the music and going counter clockwise and eventually ending with Couple #4. Couples #1 and #3 are known as the lead couples, Couples #2 and #4 are called the side couples. Each square dance begins and ends each sequence with "sets-in-order" in the square formation. The square dance was first done in the 17th century in England, but square dancing was quite common in France, and all through Europe. The act of square dancing has become associated with the United States of America only due to the historic development of the dance. 19 U.S. states have claimed it as their "official state dance".

The different movements involved in square dancing are based on the movements and figures used in the traditional folk dances. Some of the traditional square dances include the Morris dance, the English Country Dance, the Caledonians and the Quadrille. Square dancing has been enjoyed by people around the world for several centuries, and people all over the world have been involved in the continuing development of the square dance. Square dancers are prompted through a what's called a "sequence" involving various steps, usually referred to as "square dance choreography" preformed by a square dance caller to the beat of the music. The caller always leads the dancers, but "usually" never participates in the square dance.

Square Dancing Types

the two broad categories of square dance are:

1. Traditional square dance, which is also called "old time". The traditional square dance is not standard and can be divided into many styles. The New England and Appalachian styles have been well documented and both have survived to the present. There are also several other styles; some styles have been around or been brought back in recent years, some have not. A traditional square dance is often presented in combination with contra dances or with some other form of freestyle "couple" dancing. Quadrille is a decendant of "New England type" square dances, and the old New England callers sometimes call their squares "quadrilles."
2. Modern Western square dance, which is also referred to as "Western", "contemporary Western square dance", or "modern American square dance". The roots of modern Western square dance where established during in the 1930s and 1940s by Lloyd Shaw, who solicited the definitions from callers all over the country in order to preserve traditional American folk dance. Since the 1970s modern Western square dancing has been encourage and systematized by the "International Association of Square Dance Callers". Modern Western square dancing is sometimes displayed in repeated rotation with round dances.