Social Square Dance (SSD) Teaching Guide

In 2016 CALLERLAB authorized the formation of the Sustainable Square Dance Committee and charged it with the task of developing materials to support callers interested in exploring the use of the experimental lesson system that has come to be known as Sustainable Square Dance. (Note: In July 2020 CALLERLAB announced this system and the supporting Committee were renamed Social Square Dance - SSD. Only the name has changed. All existing supporting materials still apply.) Earlier versions of this system have been in use in some areas for quite some time under the name Club 50. In 2021 the CALLERLAB membership voted to approve Social Square Dance as an official CALLERLAB dance program.

This system is designed to create a 50 call entry program that can be taught quickly, roughly 12-14 weeks, and yet serve as a realistic destination program for long-term square dancers. While the idea of a shortened entry list is certainly not unique to this system, its design differs in providing a mechanism for keeping dancers in the entry program for at least 2 years, and in many cases, forever.

The publication of the SSD Teaching Guide represents the first deliverable to assist callers in using this system. It provides a lesson plan and sample choreography to help callers entertain dancers with a limited number of calls for a long period of time.

The link takes you to the most current edition of the guide - Version 35.