Sharing ideas and experiences for the betterment of Square Dancing
When planning for a class, regardless of program, one of the earliest decisions is to determine the order in which calls will be taught. This article collects information about a number of teaching orders and some tutorial information on the principles of building an effective teaching order.
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.
Cal Campbell has organized a collection of singing calls and documented them in the form of three Excel spreadsheets: Basic Part 2, Basic Part 3, and Mainstream. In all there are over 400 singing call figures.
Cal Campbell has an archive page where he has been posting a large collection of square dance documents and materials. Items include various Sets In Order Yearbooks, articles and books he has written over the years, collections of modules and singing call figures, party dance material, and more. Some of the documents and books have been long out of print. An extremely valuable archive page.
In this one hour video presentation Barry Johnson provides a comprehensive introduction and overview of the Social Square Dance (SSD) program. He draws on his own personal experience, the observed experiences of other groups in his area, and stories from around the US. He discusses not only the benefits of using the program but also the obstacles that may have to be hurdled and strategies for dealing with them. The presentation provides a practical guide to using SSD successfully.
Daryl Clendenin is well known caller and Accredited Caller Coach who has taught countless caller schools. Daryl has long felt that more emphasis should be placed on the skill of patter calling with the music. That is what is commonly referred to as “sounding like a caller”, or sometimes “chanting”. Daryl has created some recordings that new callers can use to learn how to practice making that sound. The main recordings can be downloaded at the link above. Below is a sample clip to give you an idea what they sound like.
The Mainstream Caller’s Notebook is collection of choreographic ideas designed to help you provide more entertaining dances at the mainstream level. The material is meant to be most useful anytime after the dancers
have completed a full set of mainstream square dance lessons.
Have you wondered if it might be possible teach beginner dancers via Zoom? Ray Brendzy has been doing just that during the pandemic. He has made video recordings of his lessons available online. Using these recordings you can brush up on your own dancing, or lead non-dancer friends through the lessons. The videos show a group of 4 dancers doing the calls.
Dottie Welch has amassed a large collection of singing call figures on her website. They are organized by level (Community Dance through A2) and housed in individual PDF files. Within each file, most are organized by the CALLERLAB recommended teaching order for the level.
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 pertaining to square dance teaching. The program is designed to give the well-qualified square dance teacher an actual credential that could be recognized not only by the square dance community but educational and recreational institutions as well. The CSDT program is meant to be voluntary, challenging, credible, and fair.
The pandemic spawned a multitude of online tutorial sessions for callers. In this video presentation Clark Baker discusses the theory and practice of hexagon dancing.
The pandemic spawned a multitude of online tutorial sessions for callers. In this 20-minute video Don Beck discusses the elements of smooth dancing and how to create it.
This website honors the 34 nominees to the Sets in Order American Square Dance Society Hall of Fame. Dorothy Shaw was the first person named, in January 1961, and successive nominations took place through 1983. The site includes the Gene Anthony portrait of each inductee, along with biographical information, audio files, links to interviews and awards, and additional photographs.
Lorne Smith from Calgary, Alberta is one of the most prolific Zoom callers. He has supplied a cabling diagram describing how the various sound and computer components need to be cabled together for calling over Zoom. He shows two options: the first shows running Zoom and your music player on the same computer; the second shows running Zoom on one computer and the music player on another.
At the virtual Annual General Meeting held in March 2021 Mike Seastrom delivered an inspiring keynote address focusing on the importance of making sociability a more prominent element of our square dance activity.
Kip Garvey, a world-class caller, caller coach, and recording artist presents three documents discussing various elements of FASR (Formation, Arrangement, Sequence, Relationship).
This booklet is a compilation of the most frequently asked questions pertaining to partners and their individual responsibilities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic all callers suddenly found themselves with lots of time on their hands. Jeremy Butler and Ted Lizotte decided to use some of that time productively and provide a series of online lectures to further caller education. A wide variety of topics and speakers were covered.
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 offer these tools to help all clubs better promote and increase our activity.
This presentation handout contains details from the education session delivered by Mike Hogan and Justin Russell on strategies for rebuilding.
This article contains a link to the inspiring keynote presentation Ted Lizotte and Paul Cote gave at the 64th NSDC in 2015.
This panel will discuss SqView – how to get it, how to use it, and how to fix some common problems you may encounter with the program.
During the pandemic a long series of online seminars called the Corona Learning Assistance Seminar Series (C.L.A.S.S) was presented. One of them, delivered by Jeremy Butler, explained the planning and process they went through to introduce the Social Square Dance (SSD) system to their club.
During the pandemic a number of Zoom discussion groups emerged dealing with a variety of square dance topics. One was aimed at new callers and was hosted by Don Beck and Dan Lyke. On October 31, 2020 their guest speaker was Clark Baker who delivered a fascinating presentation on the history of computer programs designed to assist callers in creating choreography. As a person who developed one of the first – if not the actual first – such programs, Clark brings a unique, well informed insight to this piece of square dance history.
This article points to information about the CALLERLAB Board of Governors (BOG) and the Executive Committee (EC)
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 editions in not containing social information, cartoons, sewing tips, advertising, etc.
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 may have to address along the way. The Social Square Dance Committee has published the SSD FAQ document to address these questions.
This paper by Paul Hartman appeared in American Square Dance magazine in 1974. It describes how square dancing evolved to become what we now call Modern Western Square Dancing during the period from just after World War II to the early seventies. This period was marked by changes in the style and philosophy of square dancing and the influx of many new calls. These new calls were called new “basics”, hence the title of the paper. The paper describes how the process of introducing these new calls shaped the dance we know and culminated in the formation of CALLERLAB with the explicit mission to provide some management and control of the process.
Useful resource for all callers that includes singing call figures, modules, articles on sight calling, and other miscellaneous information on learning to call.
During the COVID-19 pandemic a number of Zoom caller groups emerged. These sessions typically provide tutorials and/or discussion on topics of interest to callers. The Orange County Callers Association website is hosting a collection of recordings of such sessions. A wide variety of topics and speakers are covered.
Bob & Dorothy Simpson and Darby Love, in Nanaimo, BC created a whole series of videos they titled “Dancing In The Garage”. They are aimed at people who can’t assemble an entire square – or maybe not even another couple. This story explains how they went about creating the series and designing their choreography to provide a dance experience for one couple – or even individual people. Their objective was to minimize the use of phantoms, which differs somewhat from many other offerings that assume at least 4 real people.
This story by two of SSD’s most prominent practitioners goes over the rationale and usage of the system and how it has been shown to address square dancing’s most prominent problem: recruitment and retention.
This book is an authorized biography of a true square dance legend: Marshall Flippo.
This is the story of some people who wanted to hone their dancing skills, and formed a club to help them do it.
Square Dancing is an overwhelmingly social activity. Therefore, it is essential that square dance groups create a social environment that feels welcoming, engaging, and safe. Events in recent years have caused shifts in social norms that raise questions about what “welcoming, engaging, and safe” actually means. CALLERLAB has acted to provide guidance in this area. The result is two documents, one providing an overview of objectives and a handbook of procedures, and a second containing a template process that clubs could adapt for handling instances of inappropriate behavior.
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 people using the system in the field.
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 to 1990.
This is the story of Cuesta Squares which is an LGBTQ club that dances in San Luis Obispo, CA. It is different in that it is told by a new member and relates his experiences learning to dance with the club. It is an excellent example of the importance of the social environment of the group to the success of the club.
The linked page shows a list of all the people who have served as Chairman Of The Board of Governors and their years of service.
Each year CALLERLAB holds a convention that provides great opportunities for education and networking. The linked document shows a list of past conventions and their locations.
The Milestone is one of CALLERLAB’s most prestigious awards. To be eligible for the Milestone one must have worked in an uncharted field of square dancing and effected positive change that has stood the test of time. Additionally we look for unselfish contributions, professional leadership, and having had broad influence in the square dance activity. The link takes you to a list of Milestone winners.
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 a focus on choreography, but also containing other topics of interest to European callers. The list below covers editions from 1988 to 2001. Click on the title to view a pdf of the scanned edition. Earlier pdfs are not full-text searchable but later ones are.
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 topics of interest to callers. The list below covers editions from 1984 to 1989. Click on the title to view a pdf of the scanned edition. The pdfs are not full-text searchable.
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, but also containing other topics of interest to callers. The list below covers editions from 1984 to 1989. Click on the title to view a pdf of the scanned edition. The pdfs are full-text searchable.
This document shows the history of the CALLERLAB Board Of Governors since 1975.
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 the title, it dealt primarily with choreography and new calls. The list below covers editions from 1972 to 1992.
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 of the scanned edition. The pdfs are full-text searchable.
Before the days of computers callers would write or work through choreography using “checkers” or “dolls”. The checkers were usually colored pieces of plastic to represent the 8 dancers. The caller would push them through the various call actions by hand. This procedure was tedious and error prone. So most callers developed “checker cheats” to simplify moving the checkers and reduce errors. The sources below are collections of some of these checker cheats.
Saddlebrook Squares of Tucson, AZ and their caller Larry Kraber have made and excellent set of teaching videos for the Mainstream and Plus programs. These videos are available online or can be ordered on a DVD.
CALLERLAB has a rigorous examination process for awarding credentials to caller coaches. Coaches who pass are authorized to advertise themselves as a CALLERLAB Accredited Caller Coach. This document lists the current ACC’s as of the publication date.
Cory Geishauser provides some ideas for stimulating socialization by getting people to ask questions about each other.
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 that approaches the representation of 310,000 dancers throughout the United States. USDA is an organization formed by dancers, for dancers, and is under the operational control of dancers.
The United Square Dancers of America published this open letter with guidance on handling dances during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
CallerToolBox is a Windows program callers can use to organize their choreography and make it easy to find sequences for specific purposes. Callers can enter their singing call figures, modules, zeros, getins, getouts, or full patter sequences into the database. It is delivered with a database preloaded with many useful sequences.
During the COVID-19 pandemic all callers suddenly found themselves with lots of time on their hands. Jeremy Butler and Ted Lizotte decided to use some of that time productively and provide a series of online lectures to further caller education. A wide variety of topics and speakers were covered.
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 turned the whole square dance population into such people. This article provides a collection of recordings specifically aimed at people dancing by themselves. Some are in the form of a “virtual dance” where you can see other couples dancing along with you in their living rooms. Some are more in form of a demo couple showing you the moves.
Ed Foote provides some hints about dancing Wheel Thru successfully.
Ed Foote provides some hints about dancing Spin Chain and Exchange the Gears successfully.
Ed Foote provides some hints about dancing Load The Boat successfully.
Ed Foote provides some hints about dancing Load The Boat successfully.
Ed Foote writes about some relative common but nevertheless bad combinations to avoid when calling Advanced.
Ed Foote describes the ins and outs of Dixie Grand along with a couple of pages of sequences that illustrate various ways a sight caller can use it.
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 for 30 years. He created the National Advanced and Challenge Convention which for decades was a highlight on the calendar of most challenge dancers. He is a CALLERLAB Accredited Caller Coach and has run or served on the staff of hundreds of caller schools across North America and around the world. In 2008 he received the Milestone award, one of CALLERLAB’s highest honors. He writes prolifically and has published articles in most of the major square dance magazines, often as a regular monthly columnist. He currently writes a column for American Square Dance called All Things Considered. Below are pointers to a number of these articles as well as some education material from his caller schools.
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 30-second spot featured a different music style and a slightly varied message. Click on the button below to see links to the MP3 files so you can hear what they sounded like. If you’re considering doing radio spots, they provide a terrific example.
Association of Nova Scotia Square and Round Dance Teachers Newsletter. Published semi-annually in conjunction with each meeting. Each issue includes handout material for the caller workshops. Digital issues available since 1992 with an index. Most issues contain lots of choreo examples.
There are two YouTube channels that collect videos related to square dancing and square dance history: squaredancehistory, and squaredancehistory2. The first (squaredancehistory) contains 100 video clips recorded at the November 2011 Dare To Be Square weekend held at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.. The second (squaredancehistory2) includes videos illustrating the many styles of square dance and some interview material explaining the evolution of MWSD.
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 program of square dancing, joined by dancers from New York, Chicago, Ohio and Wisconsin. Assisted at the mic by caller Dave Taylor, who calls for a group of young dancers, Kopman provides lucid responses to the host’s questions, and he provides clear demonstrations of the differences between traditional and modern square dancing.
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 owned by Buddy Weaver. Listeners are welcome to listen (stream) or download any of the podcasts. Use the podcasts for dancing in your home or for research – it is provided to you at no charge.
This two-page document from Cal Campbell explains two different procedures for resolving a square from ocean waves.
The video was created by a member of the Cal Poly Country Line Dancing Club and includes clips from when Darren Gallina, Square Dance Caller was teaching them. It shows young people having a lot of fun with dance activities, and square dancing is part of it.
This document was produced by a CALLERLAB Ad Hoc committee to provide guidance to callers who would like to call for children in a school environment. It was assembled by callers with considerable experience in that area.
This promotional video was produced in 2019. It shows an attractive collage of slides depicting dancers having fun over a soundtrack of Dan Nordbye doing a singing call.
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 emailed to you, or you can view past editions on their website at https://www.behindthemikewebsite.com
The purpose of this summary article is to provide a searchable index of the table of contents entries for past Behind The Mike issues. This will make it easier to zero in on editions that have material of particular interest to you.
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 the SSD experimental lesson program.
Newer callers or people wondering what might be involved in learning to call are interested in what kind of educational material might be available. This article summarizes available caller training materials.
In order to design choreography callers must have an intimate knowledge of the characteristics of each call they use. The purpose of a Call Analysis Sheet is to provide a format for analyzing each call and documenting that information. Three examples are provided.
This summary article aggregates a great deal of material on the use of modules in square dance choreography. Modules provide a powerful mechanism for creating and presenting square dance choreography and they are a tool that all callers need to be familiar with. This article provides a brief overview of what modules are, an introduction to the terminology involved, and pointers to many other sources of information.
For the past several years CALLERLAB has included a convention session called “A Visit With the Legends”. In each session several well known and pioneer people were interviewed and told “war stories” about their careers and events in their lives. These sessions have proven to be extremely popular with the convention audience. The sessions were recorded, some with audio only, some with video, and some both. While the recordings are all contained in the pages that list CALLERLAB education session recordings, we have created this summary article listing the “legend” recordings so you can find them faster.
This summary article points to some places where recordings of interviews with callers have been collected.
Square dancing is enjoying a surge of interest from both dancers and callers in the greater Chicago area. Clubs in Glenview, Wilmette, Evanston and Arlington Heights, as well as Chicago’s North Side, will be offering classes for beginners and intermediate dancers starting in September. But without callers to lead classes, this uniquely American dance form would be in danger of extinction. Luckily, Chicago has become one of the leading areas in the country when it comes to the number of square dance callers-in-training.
This summary article contains a table that points to a number sources for images and posters related to square dancing. They can be quite useful for marketing or creating flyers.
This chart is provided by Scott Bennett who markets Yak Stack speakers. It shows the proper way to hook up speakers to an amplifier to ensure loading is proper. For Hilton equipment the load should be 4 ohms or greater.
Yak Stak is a venerable name in square dance speaker equipment. It was recently acquired by Scott Bennett who has put out a modernized version with an even better sound.
This Minnesota website is an example that promotes MWSD and serves as an entry point for people who are interested in learning to dance.
This 4 minute promotional video features an interview with caller Dan Sahlstrom of Minnesota describing what MWSD is, what it’s like, who can do it, and how to learn more.
The linked PDF contains 2 articles from the March 2019 edition of the GCA Callsheet. The first, by Barry Clasper, describes the benefits of being a participant in CALLERLAB, and in particular the value of attending convention. The second, by Allan Hurst, gives some tips on doing effective presentations at a CALLERLAB convention.
This document summarizes the results of a survey taken by the IAGSDC of their member clubs to understand what efforts were being made towards recruitment and retention of dancers and which strategies were meeting with the most success.
There are some differences in culture and customs between straight and gay square dance groups. Callers who have never called for a gay group before often have questions about what those differences are, and what they should expect.
This write-up by Clark Baker describes a sight resolution method presented at a 2007 caller school by Dave Wilson. Dave is a big fan of this method because it seems to be easier to learn, uses fewer calls, and is more forgiving when you make mistakes.
Ever wonder what a “technical zero” is exactly? Or what use they actually are? Are you afraid of using them because the results seem unpredictable? In this paper Barry Johnson takes you through what they are, how they work, and how you can use them to benefit your choreography.
The WIC Music List contains music that experienced female callers have found works well for them.
This discussion forum moderated by Cal Campbell has a wealth of material about square dance modular choreography. The purpose of the group is education in the use of square dance modules and the sharing of modules.
The West Coast Square Dancing site provides a great example of effective marketing of square dancing. It serves as a vehicle to promote several clubs in western British Columbia. In addition, they have designed a modified teaching plan called the Flexible Learning Program that allows more student intakes per year and also accommodates people who have to miss lessons due to travel or work.
Daryl Clendenin is a veteran caller who has taught scores of beginner classes. Follow the link to see his detailed 20-lesson plan to teach his MS group for 2018-19. The 92-page document contains his teaching plan and sample choreography for each lesson.
Cal Campbell and Daryl Clendenin discuss how to use the Sicilian Circle formation for teaching – and even as a “square dance” formation – in Modern Western Square Dancing.
When Bruce Holmes was learning to call, he had no luck finding a textbook to help him through the process. Now that he is a caller, he has written the book he wished he had when he was first learning.
Cal Campbell has put up over 200 teaching videos for Community Dance and party night dances. Sometimes the written description of a dance isn’t enough to figure out how it works if you’ve never seen it done. This resource let’s you see how the dances work and how to teach them.
This 79-page caller text was written in 1966 by Jim Mayo, a square dance calling icon and a founding father of CALLERLAB. Despite its original publication date, this is not a historical document. Most of the information and guidance provided is still applicable today.
This 14-page white paper by Kip Garvey explores how understanding the patterns of relationships that occur in normally arranged couples can enhance a caller’s control while sight calling and resolving.
Bruce Holmes, who is the caller for North Shore Squares in Evanston, ILL, has created sets of flash cards for calls on the MS list that are not included in the SSD list. There is a separate set that contains calls from the SSD list. The link points to a PDF file that prints 6 calls on each 8-1/2×11 page. The print is double sided so that when you print the pages the call name is on one side and a dancer-friendly description of the call is on the back. These sets of cards can be distributed to dancers as a teaching aid.