New Dancers From The Home Schooling Community

Caller Ian Craig describes how Silver City Squares in Oregon experienced a sudden influx of new dancers by connecting with the home schooling community in their area ... Read More

New Dancer Marketing Website with Free Promotional Videos

The CALLERLAB Marketing Committee teamed up with Sleight Advertising of Omaha, NE to create a new professional web site and series of videos available to callers, clubs and local associations ... Read More

Keep Those New Dancers

This article by Mike Seastrom was published in edition 2022-6 of Claudia Littlefair's Alberta Chatter Newsletter. Mike provides numerous ideas for keeping new dancers enthused about coming to lesson nights ... Read More

Innovative Program For New Dancers Revives Dying Club

This is the second year that our Strathmore club, just east of Calgary, used ‘The Nest’ program for new dancers. What this method has meant for us in Strathmore is ... Read More

BC Westsyde Squares Recruits 29 New Dancers

This story describes how Westsyde Squares in British Columbia used marketing savvy and well targeted advertising to recruit a large new contingent of dancers. It contains a lot of great ... Read More

New Dancer Coordinator

Does you club have an officer who has the job of organizing and catering to your new dancers? If not, you should think about it. This document describes what the ... Read More

Teaching New Dancers (eBook)

The 18 dances featured in this short book use only four basics. Circle Right/Left, Forward & Back, Arm Turns, Star Right/Left. These four basics are used in big circles, line ... Read More

New Dancer Promotion

Report from Bill and Marge Webb, Brecksville Squares. They report information of actions the club took to increase the number of new dancers in the club. Very helpful information for ... Read More

New Dancer Class (Washington State)

This report was received from Robert Hurst with a report from Don Wood regarding a New Dancer class in Washington state. The report indicates that good advertising, hard work, and ... Read More

Recruiting Old & New Dancers (Belles and Beaus-Pomeroy, OH)

The Belles and Beaus of Pomeroy, Ohio had a new dancer group of 7 couples and 3 singles in 2002. Their success in recruiting was attributed to two activities. Several ... Read More

New Dancers – (Crosstrailers – Warren, OH)

We have enjoyed thirty-seven new dancers (students) for lessons this year ….. thirty-seven! Our lesson nights have ten to eleven squares, and yes, they are a bit noisy with all ... Read More

Accelerated New Dancer Class

This report is from the Hubs Square dance Club in Geauga County, Ohio and their caller, Ray Miller. It concerns the Hubs and their accelerated square dance class for the ... Read More

Two Couple Calling For New Callers

Kip Garvey explains how new callers can practice and develop their choreography skills by calling to two couples. This allows new callers to focus better on many fundamentals of call ... Read More

USDA News

USDA News is the National square dance Newsletter of the United Square Dancers Of America and is published quarterly ... Read More

News ‘N Notes Caller Note Service (Advanced)

This article points to editions of News 'N Notes (Advanced) produced by Ed Foote. This publication was a caller note service with a focus on choreography, but also containing other ... Read More

News ‘N Notes Caller Note Service

This article points to editions of News 'N Notes produced by Al Brundage, Earl Johnston, and Ed Foote. This publication was a caller note service with a focus on choreography, ... Read More

United Square Dancers of America (USDA)

The UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA, INC. (USDA) was formed on June 26, 1981, during the National Square Dance Convention held in Seattle, Washington, and has grown to the size ... Read More

Behind The Mike Newsletter

Barry Wonson edits an Australian caller newsletter called Behind The Mike. It consistently presents a wealth of useful information for callers and dance leaders. You can subscribe to have editions ... Read More

Alberta Chatter Newsletter

The Alberta Chatter newsletter is published every six to eight weeks. It contains articles on promotion, member retention, and general interest articles, as well as a regular column by a visually impaired dancer, ... Read More

Enticing New Callers

Here is a report from Arlene M. Kaspik about the New Callers Seminar that took place during the ILLINOIS SD CONVENTION, July 30, 2016, in Itasca. We are so incredibly ... Read More

Otonabee Squares – Success Starting a New Club (2009)

Report from Jean and Howard Lander about their success in starting up a new club in Peterborough, Ontario. The report contains much interesting information about how they advertised, promoted, and ... Read More

Recruiting Success – New Zealand

A number of clubs in New Zealand have had much better success than usual attracting new dancers this year. None of us are quite sure why, but we think it ... Read More

New Class Promotion, South Milwaukee, WI

Hard work and perseverance has paid off for the 49’ersSquare Dance Club of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are 24 new dancers in their 2002-03 class. Their promotional efforts started in ... Read More

Gnat Boxers (Wooster, Ohio) New Class

The Gnat Boxers of Wooster, Ohio have 22 members in their new dancer group for the 2002-2003 dance year. They have 4 singles, 2 men and 2 women, and 9 ... Read More

MCASD Promotion and Recruitment Campaign

This story describes the encouraging results of a cooperative dancer recruitment campaign sponsored by the Metropolitan Chicago Association of Square Dancers (MCASD). Over several years this campaign has driven a ... Read More

MCASD Toolbox Collection

The Metropolitan Chicago Association of Square Dancers (MCASD) hosts a "toolbox" page that lists a variety of items that are useful for promoting square dancing and recruiting new dancers. They ... Read More

Sample Radio Ads From Montana

Hunter Keller voiced four professional radio spots to advertise his beginner classes in Montana. Their first usage generated about 25 new dancers and a second round an additional 16. Each ... Read More

SSD, MS, & Plus Call Booklets from North Shore Squares

North Shore Squares is a new club that dances in Evanston, ILL. Despite only being active for 18 months or so they already boast 55 members. They elected to use ... Read More

Teaching an SSD Class

This Winning Ways story from a newer caller explains how she is using the SSD program to teach new dancers ... Read More

NNJSDA Keynote Addresses From Roy and Betsy Gotta

At the Northern New Jersey Square Dance Association annual convention in 2018, Betsy and Roy Gotta delivered individual keynote addresses. Together, these presentations provide a wealth of insights and suggestions ... Read More

How Rounds Are Scheduled Can Be Important

Jerry Junck reports on an observation from a club on Vancouver Island. Their format involved having a round between tips and they noticed that new dancers had difficulty getting into ... Read More

Restructuring El Camino Reelers Classes

El Camino Reelers in the San Francisco area was suffering a steady year-by-year decline in dancers and decided to reinvigorate their membership with a new approach to recruiting and teaching ... Read More

Mountaineers 2017 Class

This year, Jim Langdon introduced the Rocky Mountain Recruiting Program to the Mountaineers. Although we had been doing a lot of the pieces of the program, we adopted the entire ... Read More

Small Town Club Has 5 Squares of Beginners

The Town of Strathroy has a population base of about 8,500, located about 35 km west of London, ON. Including some surrounding rural areas the natural catchment area is about ... Read More

Approaching Malls With Vacant Storefronts for Demo Spaces

Check out this article in today's Chicago Tribune. Our club reached out to a local shopping mall with lots of empty storefronts. The management company was very interested in bringing ... Read More

Recruitment

Some ideas from Tim Marriner on the subject of recruiting new dancers to a club ... Read More

Teaching Styling

Presentation on the how's and why's of teaching styling to new dancers. How styling can help you and your dancers to succeed. Functional styling that helps dancers succeed and feel ... Read More

Using The 12 Session Twice Per Week Program in Red Deer, Alberta

For the 2014-15 square dance season, the Red Deer Square Dance Club decided to try something new and untested for introducing New Dancers to square dancing. Instead of the usual ... Read More

Experience Using the Nest System in Calgary, Alberta

The Banff Trailers Club dance every second Saturday, and have New Dancer lessons every Monday night. Each September several New Dancers would join, but due to factors such as illness, ... Read More

Signs Speak Volumes

IDEA: This article abstracted from the November 2015 edition of the Alberta Chatter newsletter describes how a club uses innovative signage as an aid to recruiting new dancers ... Read More

Accelerated Learning Program for Squares (ALPS)

The ALPS program that I have been using for the last several years is not original to me. It is an adaptation of a number of different concepts such as ... Read More

Ohio – Class Promotion

At the meeting of the Central Ohio Council of Dance Clubs (COCDC) on May 4, 2009, it was announced to the council representatives that we were forming a group to ... Read More

Class In 3 Days – Four Corners Area

So in the fall of 2003 the club decided to try a different approach. We had heard about the accelerated lesson program at the 52nd National Square Dance Convention® and ... Read More

Larkspur Tam Twirlers – Invite Public

Realizing a marketing opportunity in having the non-dancing public see a large Saturday dance, the club recently advertised their dance to the general public. Non-dancers were invited to attend at ... Read More

Valley Trailers

During the early 1990’s, the Valley Trailers Square Dance Club of Northridge, California had lost much of its membership from earlier years. The club had also fallen on bad times ... Read More

Multi-Cycle Success

There is some good news for square dance clubs that want to grow. A solid solution is available to help any club willing to be smart and progressive. But the ... Read More

Recruiting Success – Square Benders (2002)

The Square Benders are currently one of the larger clubs in the Milwaukee, WI area with 22 couples and 13 singles. Their 2002-2003 new dancer group has 5 couples and ... Read More

Multi-Cycle Teaching Method

The AL e MO Squares, 150 members strong, will celebrate their 25th Anniversary in May 2003. They are holding an Anniversary Dance and through personal contact, by club members, they ... Read More

Experimental Lesson Systems

This article summarizes several experimental approaches to teaching new dancers known to be in use at the time of writing. All of these systems are aimed at the recruiting of ... Read More

SSD to Plus Teaching Plan

This Winning Ways story describes the plans Kurt Gollhardt used to move some of his SSD dancers who were ready from SSD to Plus ... Read More

KnowledgeBase Statistics

The KnowledgeBase currently contains 354 articles grouped into 3 categories and described with 44 different information tags. The graphs below depict KnowledgeBase traffic for the years indicated. "Views Per Month" ... Read More

Tim Marriner’s Caller Education Materials

Tim Marriner was a CALLERLAB Accredited Caller Coach who created and published a large quantity of caller educational material over the years. Tim generously made this wealth of informative articles ... Read More

Education Recordings About Singing Calls

The following education session recordings from past CALLERLAB conventions deal with Singing Calls. Topics such as musical presentation, singing with others, and singing call choreography, etc. The selections included here ... Read More

Education Recordings On Sociability

The following education session recordings from past CALLERLAB conventions deal with the social aspects of square dancing, encouraging sociability and socialization ... Read More

SSD FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Those who are considering use of the Social Square Dance (SSD) system usually have many questions about how it works, the best way to implement it, and the issues they ... Read More

SSD Documentation and Support Materials

This article collects in one place documentation and materials that support the use of the SSD system. Some were created by the CALLERLAB SSD Committee while others were created by ... Read More

Virtual Square Dances and Recordings

There have always been pockets of people who find themselves unable to assemble a whole square, or sometimes even another couple, but who want to dance anyway. The COVID-19 pandemic ... Read More

Ed Foote – All Things Considered

Ed Foote is a well known caller who has been calling since 1965. He was a founding father of Challenge dancing and served as Chairman of the CALLERLAB Challenge Committee ... Read More

CALLERLAB COVID-19 Information Page

Last Update: 2022-11-29 17:06:19 (EDT) CALLERLAB is working hard to keep up with the ramifications of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this page is to provide you with ... Read More

Facebook Stories About Using Social (formerly Sustainable) Square Dance (SSD)

Dean Dederson posted a question in the Sustainable Square Dance group in Facebook. The answers provided by Barry Johnson and Joni Micals constitute an excellent Winning Ways story on using ... Read More

CALLERLAB Square Dance Marketing Manual

This square dance marketing plan has been developed by CALLERLAB members in support of our mission: “To foster the art of square dance calling, and improve caller skills.” Just like ... Read More

PINTEREST Page With Square Dance Material

This newsletter article describes a Pinterest board established by the Canadian Square and Round Dance Society (CSRDS) that contains material useful in the promotion of square dancing ... Read More

Call Me Crazy (Book)

This 178 page book presents a Step By Step Process For Calling And Teaching Modern Western Square Dances. if you've ever thought you might like to be a square dance ... Read More

66th US National Keynote by Eric Henerlau

This article contains the text of a keynote address by Eric Henerlau at the 66th US National in Cincinnati in 2017. It is full of great ideas for growing square ... Read More

Collection Of Marketing and Recruiting Articles

Claudia Littlefair is the editor of the Alberta Chatter newsletter. This edition provides a wonderful compilation of a number of articles dealing with advertising, marketing, promotion, and recruiting ... Read More

Media Articles on Square Dancing

This summary article contains a table that points to a number of media articles about square dancing or people involved in square dancing. They frequently contain information useful in the ... Read More

CALLERLAB Convention Audio Recordings (as of Oct 31, 2018)

Each year the CALLERLAB Convention provides two full days of education and information sessions. For many years audio recordings have been made of selected sessions, and latterly some have also ... Read More

CALLERLAB Convention Video Recordings (as of Aug 18, 2022)

Each year the CALLERLAB Convention provides two full days of education and information sessions. For many years audio recordings have been made of selected sessions, and latterly some have also ... Read More

Operation Frontier – 2015, Milford, OH

If you think it’s inevitable that square dancing is destined to decline, ask any member of Frontier Squares from Milford, Ohio – and they’ll offer a different opinion ... Read More

Success Using Fast Track in Edmonton, Alberta

An account of how using a Fast Track program helped to reinvigorate the Country Sunshiners club ... Read More

Condensed Teaching Order

In 2012 CALLERLAB commissioned an Ad Hoc committee to work with ACA to document a condensed teaching system that some callers had been using successfully for some time. The Press ... Read More

Sight And Module Resolution Systems Document

This document is a compendium describing dozens of known systems for resolving squares, including both sight and module based approaches. The objective was to document as many systems as possible ... Read More

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Welcome to the CALLERLAB Square Dance KnowledgeBase Share your ideas with other people and make something new. (Colin Greenwood - Radiohead) If you have questions or suggestions for content, or ... Read More

Call Evolution

In 2011 Clark Baker and Don Beck delivered this presentation on the history of call evolution at the CALLERLAB convention in Las Vegas ... Read More

American Square Dance Magazine

American Square Dance is a monthly square dance magazine published in both printed and digital forms ... Read More

Caller Training Handouts

Caller training handouts: a collection of handouts used in caller training presentations on various topics ... Read More

TV Video Promoting Square Dancing

This six minute video was broadcast on an Ottawa community service channel to promote a new dance series being presented by Wendy VanderMeulen. While done in an interview format, it ... Read More

British Columbia Library of Promotional Materials

This page includes a large collection of promotional materials gathered or created for the BC Square & Round Dance Federation. It includes posters, brochures, videos, music and instructional materials, and ... Read More

Breaking Bread and Building Connections

As square dancers, we know that food unites. Breaking bread together is one of the oldest forms of community interaction. It provides a valuable time and place to socially connect ... Read More

Ian Henzel Plan For Square Dance Recruitment

Ian Henzel is the creator of the Henzel Plan, which is a multi-phase, multi-armed approach to recruiting new people to join square dance clubs ... Read More

CALLERLAB Certified Square Dance Teacher (CSDT) Program

The CALLERLAB Certified Square Dance Teacher (CSDT) Program has been created to provide a credential to callers who are square dance teachers. The program evaluates education, experience, knowledge, and skill ... Read More

Partner Resource

This document provides resource material to support you in your role as Partner, in whatever aspects you choose to participate. Callers without a Partner can also use this document to ... Read More

Sets In Order (SIO) Yearbooks

The Sets In Order Yearbooks each compile a year's worth of the technical information about calls, choreography, and round dances into a single document. They differ from the monthly magazine ... Read More

Jack Lasry’s Notes For Callers

This article points to editions of Jack Lasery's Notes For Callers note service. This publication had a focus on choreography and teaching tips. The list below covers editions from 1969 ... Read More

Notes For European Callers Note Service

This article points to editions of Notes For European Callers originally produced by Al Stevens and later taken over by Lorenz Kuhlee. This publication was a caller note service with ... Read More

Choreo Breakdown Note Service

This article points to editions of Choreo Breakdown. This caller note service was instituted by Bill Peters and was later taken over by Don Beck. As you can infer from ... Read More

Mikeside Management Caller Note Service

This article points to editions of Mikeside Management by Stan and Cathie Burdick. The list below covers editions from 1992 to 2001. Click on the title to view a pdf ... Read More

Lee Kopman on the Phil Donahue Show

Lee Kopman created more calls used in contemporary square dance than any other individual, some 350 or more. In 1980, he appeared on the Phil Donahue Show and presented this ... Read More

Buddy Weaver Square Dance Music Podcast

This podcast is for the purpose of square dance education. These are audio files that have been digitally re-mastered from albums and videos previously released on the various music labels ... Read More

A Step in Time – The American Square Dance (book)

This book traces the history of the American Square Dance from its earliest roots to modern day. It was compiled by reviewing the documents and artifacts donated by the Square ... Read More

Two-Couple Teaching and Dancing Recordings

Tony Collingwood is a caller in the UK who has created an impressive repertoire of 2-couple teaching and dancing material ranging from Mainstream through C3B. These recordings are available free ... Read More

Why We Should Care About On-Line Marketing

This an article extracted from the October 2016 edition of the Alberta Chatter newsletter edited by Claudia Littlefair. In the article Claudia examines the typical strategies various age groups use ... Read More

Multi-Cycle Program X Plan from Gardner Patton

In the past there have been plans that provide for a Program with less calls (ABC, Community Dance Program, Basic 1, etc.) with little thought to moving those folks who ... Read More

All About Modules (book)

This book covers all the bases starting with the new caller just learning how to call and on through the old hands looking for ways to expand their collection of ... Read More

Navigation Information

How To Use This KnowledgeBase There are three ways to navigate the content of the KnowledgeBase: By Categoryusing the menu under the masthead at the top of every page. By ... Read More

Caller Mentoring Guidelines

DOCUMENT: This document was prepared by the Caller Training Committee to assist those callers who are mentoring newer callers ... Read More

Club For Classes – Only

The Boomerangs is a club that is not a club. We are not a dancing club; rather we are a teaching council with multitiered classes. We exist for one purpose, ... Read More

Teen Dancing (Petaluma, CA)

This is a report on teen dancers in Petaluma, CA as reported in the Press Democrat By Janet Parmer ... Read More

Winning Ways (2003/2009/2018) Sage Swingers

In the various square dance magazines and web sites you can read how square dance clubs and national organizations have plans for advertising square dancing, for “improving” our public image, ... Read More