Ceder Square Dance System (CSDS)

CSDS (Ceder Square Dance System) is a comprehensive program that incorporates under one roof all the facilities needed by square dance callers ... Read More

Sd – A Square Dance Caller’s Helper

Sd is a computer program that lets callers enter choreography and displays the results of each call which greatly speeds up the process of writing and dramatically reduces errors. The ... Read More

SqView Music Management Program

SqView is a music management program for callers, cuers and line dance leaders. It is specifically designed for the music management and performance needs of those groups. The program also ... Read More

Callarama

Callarama is a “checker mover” program to help callers work out choreography by showing animated figures moving in response to calls entered by the caller. Callarama has defined the standard ... Read More

Successful Experiences using the 12 Week Condensed Teaching Method

This story recounts the results of three years of experience with the 12-week Condensed Teaching Method (CTM) - sometimes also referred to as the Condensed Teaching Order (CTO) ... 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

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

Seating Can Change The Social Atmosphere of a Dance

This account from Jerry Junck describes a seemingly trivial change in the way dancers are seated during breaks which he believes has improved the social atmosphere of the group and ... Read More

Social Square Dance (SSD) Alphabetical Call List

Thanks to Kurt Gollhardt for producing this single page that alphabetically lists the calls used in the new CALLERLAB Social Square Dance program. The sheet highlights the calls from the ... Read More

Jeff Priest’s Singing Call Figures for Teaching

Jeff Priest has produced an outstanding set of books to assist callers teaching in the Basic through Plus programs. These books contain singing call figures which each feature only one ... Read More

Promotional Video – This Is Modern Pattern Dancing

This 6 minute promotional video shows some of the top modern callers, a variety of dance floors, ages, and dress. and shows how square dancing has evolved from its earliest ... 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

Community Dance Journals

The CD Journal (formally titled CDP Journal) is published several times a year by the Committee for Community and Traditional Dance (CCTD). The Community Dance Program Journal is aimed at ... Read More

Digital Music Presentation (Handout)

These handouts (Digital Music 101 and 102) were created for a presentation at the 2018 CALLERLAB Convention in Albuquerque. Digital Music 101 deals with the Windows considerations for downloading your ... Read More

Three Promotional Videos From Sweden

Three short promotional videos posted to YouTube by Jon Hansell Nilsson from Sweden. All are under two minutes long ... Read More

CALLERLAB Online Teaching Resource

The Choreographic Applications Committee has created this resource site to assist those who are teaching square dancers. Its intent is to collect in one place all the information about each ... Read More

Hilton Equipment Repair Service

Dick Bull was the lead technician at Hilton Audio for over 25 years. He now operates an equipment repair service for Hilton products ... 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

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

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

Dancing For Your Health

This newsletter article describes some studies and articles that discuss the health benefits of dancing ... Read More

Rocky Mountain Recruiting Plan

This detailed recruiting plan was abstracted from the CALLERLAB Marketing Manual. The report includes some success story examples and the Rocky Mountain Recruiting Plan is one of them. This article ... Read More

ARTS Letter Containing Promotional Materials (Aug 2017)

This letter from the ARTS organization contains promotional materials and plans useful to clubs planning to start a new class ... 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

Caller’s Service and Supply

Specializing in the repair of all models of Hilton Audio equipment. Also specializing in the sales and repair of Williams Sound hearing assistance systems ... Read More

Keith Rubow’s Dance Recordings Site

This site permits you to purchase recorded dances done by a variety of callers as well as some special festivals such as AACE, PACE Extravaganza, and Heartland. In addition there ... Read More

So You Want To Be A Caller

This article from Paul Cote provides an overview of what is involved in becoming a caller. If you're thinking about learning to call, this article will give you some insight ... Read More

This Is Your Brain On Dancing

This article is actually a promotion for Arthur Murray Dance Studios, but it lists a variety of studies that support the benefits of dance for brain health. The studies apply ... Read More

Struggling Up The Cliff (on becoming a caller)

This newsletter article from a new caller describes what it's like trying to learn to call, and what support and resources would be useful to a new caller ... 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

Hilton Audio

Hilton Audio is a primary site for purchasing specialized sound equipment related to square dance calling ... 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

Effects of Cognitive Leisure Activity on Cognition in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

This article documents a Japanese study on the effects of engaging in dance activities, or playing musical instruments, in individuals displaying symptoms of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Their overall conclusion: ... Read More

Dancing can reverse the signs of aging in the brain

"In this study, we show that two different types of physical exercise (dancing and endurance training) both increase the area of the brain that declines with age. In comparison, it ... Read More

Morrison Grand Squares – Zero to 60 in Two Years

Morrison Grand Squares in Morrison, IL went from zero to 60 members in just two years. This item shows how they did it and provides details of their marketing plan ... Read More

Happy Time Squares, Lawrence KS

In four years the Happy Time Squares in Lawrence, Kansas, went from zero to 140 members! ... Read More

Duke City Singles and Doubles – a Revival Story

In 2012 the club was very close to folding due to lack of members so new club leadership took responsibility to develop a growth strategy. The result – by 2017 ... 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

Learning To Dance Without a Caller

This summary article from Julian Pritchard describes the various teaching and dancing recordings their group has been using to learn and to dance in the absence of a live caller ... 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

Bob Brundage Interviews

This summary article contains a table (see below) that contains links to the interviews that Bob Brundage did with a wide variety of notable people in the square dance community ... Read More

IAGSDC History Wiki

The IAGSDC is an umbrella organization for square dance clubs around the world that serve the LGBTQ community. Their History Wiki presents a wide range of historical information about LGBTQ ... Read More

Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS)

The CDSS site contains material about a variety of country dance forms including square dancing, contra dancing, and English country dancing. In addition to historical and cultural information, there are ... Read More

Lloyd Shaw Foundation

The Lloyd Shaw Foundation preserves and shares a diverse range of dance and music traditions with an inter-generational audience. We develop leadership in traditional dance and music forms, and sponsor ... Read More

Square Dance History Project

Despite its popularity, the history of square dance has been sparsely documented. Only a few currently published and available books offer any detailed discussion of the development of this form ... Read More

Sets In Order Archive

The Sets In Order magazines are one of their legacies that comprise in these pages the history of modern square dancing. Bob began publishing SIO in 1948 and the last ... Read More

As I Saw It – Bob Osgood (book)

This book was compiled and edited by Paul Moore. It describes the life and career of Bob Osgood, one of the founding fathers of MWSD and through that lens provides ... Read More

Using Hearing Assist System To Slave One Amp To Another (Handout)

This handout from the CDLS session at the 2017 CALLERLAB convention explains how to slave one sound system to another using a hearing assist system. This avoids having to string ... Read More

List of Sound Equipment For Square Dancing (CDLS 2017 Handout)

This 2-page document lists some of the commonly used sound equipment used for square dancing and where it may be obtained. It is a handout from a presentation at the ... Read More

Step By Step Through Modern Square Dance History (book)

This book traces the development of Modern Western Square Dancing from its earliest origins through to the present day. Understanding the evolution of our activity can shed valuable insights for ... Read More

Managing Dances With SqView

This 27 page PDF document describes in detail how to install and use the SqView music management program on a laptop computer ... Read More

CALLERLAB Program Documents

This summary points to the primary program-related documents that have been officially published by CALLERLAB. This includes program lists, call definitions, timing charts, lesson checklists, teaching tips, formation charts, standard ... Read More

Nuts And Bolts (book)

Kip Garvey presents the principles of calling current day square dance for readers interested in understanding underlying concepts and technique with emphasis on the technical aspects of choreography. This deep ... Read More

Standard Contract for a Calling Date

This PDF file contains a boilerplate standard contract you can use when arranging a calling date ... 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

Stages Document from Women In Calling Committee

This document was produced by the Women In Calling Committee to assist and inform women callers regarding issues that are unique to women callers ... 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

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

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

Using Yard Signs to Promote Square Dancing

How the Swinging Sugar Squares of Evergreen Park, Ill. effectively used yard signs to attract more interest in their classes ... 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

Health Benefits Article Posted by Ontario Square & Round Dance Federation

This article was posted on their website by the Ontario Square and Round Dance Federation. It discusses the health benefits of square dancing and also contains links to other materials ... Read More

Rocky’s Success Story

Three years ago the Rocky Mountain House Whirlaways were struggling to hold their own. This spring they already have 2-1/2 squares signed up and paid for, for next fall, and ... Read More

Recruitment

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

174 Prospecting Ideas

Timberline Toppers is a club that has dramatically grown their membership by creating an effective plan and executing it repeatedly. One element of that plan is to use a variety ... Read More

Timberline Toppers’ Recruiting Plan

Timberline Toppers in Colorado created a recruiting plan that they used repetitively over a period of several years resulting in a dramatic regrowth of their failing club. In 2005 they ... Read More

Moving and Grooving Square Dance CDs for Teachers

This is a set of CDs and guidebooks that can be used by teachers or community leaders as a user friendly resource for teaching square dancing ... Read More

Health Plan Newsletter Extols Square Dancing

SCAN is a health plan that publishes a newsletter for its members. The January 2016 edition contained an article talking about the benefits of square dancing for physical, social, and ... 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

Beginner Dance Party Leaders Seminar – Presentations from 2014

For many years, as a lead-in to the main convention, CALLERLAB has hosted a 1-1/2 day seminar focusing on how to call square dance parties for non-dancers. CALLERLAB has posted ... Read More

What Did You Say?

As square dance callers, we communicate with dancers using several mediums, but primarily auditory. Dancers react to our verbal commands. Due to the increasing age of dancers, statistics indicate that ... 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

Introduction To Mental Image Choreography

Don Beck provides an introduction to his mental image choreography system to the Caller Coach committee at the 2013 CALLERLAB Convention. It provides a quick overview of how the system ... Read More

Newspaper Article: Don’t be a square – dance!

This article printed in the Tullahoma News from Tullahoma, Tennessee provides some interesting historical background and a lot of information on the benefits and appeal of square dancing ... Read More

Using Yard Signs to Advertise

IDEA: Advertising square dance lessons by placing a sign on a lawn or a poster on a telephone pole is not new. But this new twist shows how with a ... 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

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

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

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

Interview Talking Points

Have you ever been asked to give an interview about square dancing? It can often catch you by surprise. This sheet of talking points from Eric Henerlau can help you ... Read More

Promotional Video From Maine

This 28 minute video was produced by Dave Wilkinson in cooperation with the Sage Swingers in Maine. It does a great job of describing a little square dance history, explaining ... Read More

Controlling Choreography With Relationships

This 78 page document is a detailed description of how callers can use dancer relationships as a tool for resolving squares. See the document abstract below for additional details ... Read More

Advertising Brochure Stressing Health Benefits

IDEA: It is a different approach. I am stressing the health benefits of square dancing. The idea is we will get these rack cards professionally printed. We will buy the ... Read More

Dancing Makes You Smarter

This article by Richard Powers discusses the findings of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 which found that dancing offers protection against dementia. Square ... 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

Alternate Lessons Systems Brochure

This brochure was produced by a CALLERLAB Ad Hoc committee. It explains and contrasts traditional lesson structures with multi-cycle and accelerated programs ... 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

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

Dancing For Busy People

This book is an excellent resource for someone planning a party night or beginner dance. “Dancing for Busy People” is a collection of over 400 dances using easy to teach ... Read More

dosado.com

This music site contains a huge collection of the offerings of many of the square dance music producers and permits online purchase and download. The site also has a number ... Read More

musicforcallers.com

Most of the producers of Square Dance Music have joined together to provide this combined website for music specifically produced for use in square dancing. It is an all-inclusive site ... 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

Using Square Dancing For Rehab (2004)

Report from Barbara Blencoe about how her square dance group and activity helped her rehabilitation from a stroke ... Read More

Out Of Sight (book)

Out of Sight is a book that teaches square dance callers how to manage choreography using a mental image system ... Read More

Tim Marriner’s Caller Education Page (obsolete)

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

you2candance.com

This site is designed to introduce non-dancers to the general world of square, round, and contra dancing. It includes demonstration videos, pointers to resources and clubs, and information about how ... Read More

Taminations

This site contains a tool that allows viewers to watch an animation of a call being performed, often from a variety of starting formations. It provides an excellent educational tool ... Read More