Everything about Square Dance totally explained
Square dance is a
folk dance with four couples (eight dancers) arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples. Each dance begins and ends each sequence with "sets-in-order" in the square formation. The dance was first described in
17th century England but was also quite common in
France and throughout
Europe and bears a marked similarity to
Scottish Country Dancing. It has become associated with the
United States of America due to its historic development in that country. Nineteen U.S. states have designated it as their
official state dance.
The various square dance movements are based on the steps and figures used in traditional folk dances and social dances of the various people who migrated to the USA. Some of these traditional dances include
Morris dance,
English Country Dance, and the
quadrille. Square dancing is enjoyed by people around the world, and people around the world are involved in the continuing development of this dance.
Square dancers are prompted or cued through a sequence of steps (square dance choreography) by a
square dance caller to the beat of music. The caller leads, but usually doesn't participate in the dance.
Comparing square dance calls
In this context a "call" refers to the name of a specific dance movement. It may alternatively refer to the phrase used by a caller to cue the dancers so they dance the specified movement, or to the dance movement itself. It mirrors the ambiguity of the word "dance", which may mean a dance event, the dancing of an individual to the playing of one piece of music, or dancing in general.
A square dance call may take a very short time or a very long time to execute. Most calls require between 4 and 32 "counts" (where a count is roughly one step). In traditional square dancing the timing of a call is dictated by tradition; in some regional styles, particularly that of New England, the dance movements are closely fitted to the
phrases of the music. In modern Western square dancing many calls have been given formally specified durations, based partly on direct observation of how long it takes an average dancer to execute them.
Traditional and modern Western square dancing have a number of calls in common, but there are usually small differences in the way they're performed. For example, the "Allemande Left" is traditionally performed by grasping left hands with the other dancer, pulling away from each other slightly, and walking halfway around a central axis then stepping through. In modern Western dance the grip is modified so that each dancer grips the forearm of the other, and there's no pulling (that is, each dancer supports his or her own weight). These modifications make it easier to enter and exit the movement, and thus easier to incorporate into a long sequence of calls.
Traditional square dance uses a comparatively small number of calls—between about ten and thirty, depending on the region and the individual caller. (Many traditional square dance calls are similar or identical to contra dance calls, which are described at
Contra dance choreography). Every dance is explained before the participants dance it, unless everyone present is familiar with it. Participants are made to feel welcome to make mistakes (within limits), and the mistakes can sometimes make the dance a lot more fun.
In modern Western square dance the participants are expected to have learned and become proficient in a particular
program, a defined set of calls. Dancing modern Western square dance is constantly challenging and surprising due to the unknown or unexpected choreography of the caller (that is, the way the caller ties together the "calls" and the formations which result)—unlike traditional square dance, very rarely are two modern Western dances ever alike. Like traditional square dancing, recovering from occasional mistakes is often part of the fun, but dancers are usually encouraged to dance only those programs at which they're reasonably proficient.
Comparing square dance music
The two types of square dance are accompanied by different types of music.
Traditional square dance is danced to traditional "country dance" music: Irish
jigs and
reels for the most part, as well as folk music from
Quebec (Canada),
England,
Scotland, and other countries. The music is almost always performed live by a traditional dance music band, and played on acoustic instruments, such as the
fiddle,
banjo,
guitar and
double bass. "
Old time music" is one form of dance music played at traditional square dances.
Modern Western square dancing is danced to a variety of music types, everything from pop to traditional country to broadway musical to contemporary
country music—even rock and techno. The music is usually played from recordings; the beat is also somewhat faster, as the "perfect" modern Western square dance tempo is 120–128
bpm. At this speed dancers take one step per beat of the music.
Other comparisons
Modern Western square dance is organized by
square dance clubs. Clubs offer classes, social and dance evenings, as well as arrange for larger dances which are usually open to the general square dancing public (for example non-club members). Larger dances sometimes request a strict western-style dress code, which originated in the late '50s and early '60s and is known as "
traditional square dance attire", although it wasn't traditional before that time. Clubs may choose to advertise their dances as requiring less strict dress codes known as "proper" or "casual" (no dress code). Traditional square dance groups are less structured and often have no particular dress code.
Designations
Square dance is the State Dance or the State
Folk Dance of numerous states in the U.S.; see
List of U.S. state dances.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Square Dance'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://square_dance.totallyexplained.com">Square dance Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
