Square Dance

Dear non-square dancer!

Modern American Square Dancing is a dance, which originates from the colonization of America more than 200 years ago.

Elements from the different dances of the European immigrants were mixed together. To allow everyone to participate, the individual movements were announced by a caller.

This principle is still unchanged. However, this development led to a lot of chaos since each area danced their "own" square dance. For this reason the large number dance movements was grouped together in various dance programs during the middle of the 1970's by CALLERLAB , the umbrella organization of all square dance callers. This standardization is allowing anyone who has learned to square dance participating anywhere in the world today.

Of course the music has changed a bit since the beginnings. Today, besides the classic country and western melodies, you can also dance to popular rock or pop songs and even techno. In Germany, there are about 400 clubs, several others all over Europe like in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, and the UK. In addition, square dancing can be danced on virtually every other continent in the world. Everywhere they are looking forward to visitors from other clubs, because all square dancers are one big family.

This is particularly evident in events (so-called special dances), whereof several each weekend are taking place in Germany alone. And there one can meet his friends from many parts of the republic, or during the so-called Jamborees from other countries of Europe as well.

Most clubs also educate students once a year. You meet weekly for about 2 hours and practice to listen to his word: the caller's. Because, unlike in a normal dance classes, you do not learn any sequence of figures, but only the 69 basic movements of square dancing. It is up to the caller's imagination to decide in which sequence they should be danced. In addition, a square always consists of four couples who dance together and that‘s what makes it even more fun.