Square Dance Ethics

Square dancing behavior is based on a long tradition which has been evolved and modified over the years. We no longer follow the pattern which many people visualize as an overall-clad hillbilly prancing to "Turkey in the Straw" while someone yells "Do-Sa-Do" with a bottle of moonshine waiting in the corner.

From cooperative barn raisings and basket socials we have come to the modern social function where class distinctions, social position and cultural background are replaced by a desire to join in with the GOOD GUYS and participate in an activity which excites us mentally and yet exhausts us physically to the point that it acts as a therapy and is thus recommended by many doctors. Especially is it a fine activity to reunite couples who were drifting apart with their own separate interests. So join in, lose your pompousness, enjoy life, learn to dance and HAVE FUN.

As a BEGINNER you will join a class to be taught by a CALLER who will soon become your idol, and you will learn to follow his every command. He will instruct you in the art of LISTENING so that you will be a cooperative dancer not interfering with the pleasure of a group called a SQUARE. He will remind you that because of the large amount of hand-to-hand contact to be fastidious in your grooming (freshly bathed, deodorized, trimmed fingernails), appropriate in dress (long sleeved shirts for men, no bare midriff for women), and concentrating so completely on executing the figures of the dance that all of your everyday worries are gone.

You will be taught DANCING (not dances), both square and round dancing, learning to not fall over your own two feet nor step on other people, and learning to be polite enough to not interfere with the movement of the others in your square. You will be taught - and use - a courtesy turn and will not be guilty of forcing a girl to run to keep up in a star figure. You will be taught the art and practice of Consideration for others.

Of course you will have to be enticed, forced or tricked into attending your first class session - but that is usually replaced by an excited, enthusiastic, Go-Go-Go-where-can-we-get-more-lessons-faster attitude.

Square dancers will generally follow a fairly set pattern - they become "badge happy", the wife makes matching dress and shirt outfits, they are rough in their dancing, they jerk and pull, hold on for dear life to their partner, they jump and hop (partly because of poor floors) - but they are eager. We've all been through it and expect it of others. We only hope they progress out of it before they get their feelings hurt or give up.

Each class will usually have one or two couples who emerge as the leaders and often set the pattern for the floor to follow. This is why it is good to have some helper couples - experienced dancers - to show how to keep the squares lined up with the walls of the room, not spread the squares out too far, how to identify your corner and opposite, how to keep in your correct position, how to smoothly cut into a square (of friends only, please), and how to be a desirable dancer.

As a CLUB MEMBER, you have added responsibilities in helping to keep the square dance activity growing, active and alive. FRIENDLINESS is the biggest factor --greeting people, inviting strangers into your square, meeting new people (many of them are worth knowing and some become good friends), and doing your share to make yours a friendly club. But share this responsibility with others in your club - visitors like to know that your club has more than one friendly couple. Besides, you will want to have at least one or two tips per evening set up when you can dance with your special friends (don’t become a martyr - we don’t want to lose you from square dancing). In you own square (with your special friends and by mutual agreement) is the time and place if you want to try out your ability to twist, to twirl on a chain, to wind up and unwind on a dip and dive, to do the special "cutting up" of fun dancing which is not appropriate when dancing with strangers or at a round-up type of dance. In a square with your friends, you may dance more relaxed or more vigorously, as the occasion dictates. Politeness and consideration of others is the keynote.

At about this time in the life of a square dancer, there is a ‘plateau of learning" when the dancer thinks he knows all there is to know about dancing. He’s a "hot shot"; likes to show off, anticipate the caller, kick, saw wood on the see-saw, twirl the girl all the way around the square, flip the girl on a right and left grand, not properly execute a courtesy turn, devise fancy ways to end a promenade, reverse direction on a right and left grand, and generally going through the "growing up" period of square dancing. Unfortunately, this is as far as many dancers progress and is the picture that much of the public sees as modern square dancing. Again, we hope they progress out of it in time to continue giving and receiving pleasure from square dancing.

When you have been elected to office in your club, do the best you can, use your imagination and promote your club whenever possible. Introduce visiting clubs and VIPs and let the guests go first if you have a refreshment line.

Quarreling has no place on the dance floor, either between members of a square or between husband and wife. If it is a matter of interpretation of a dance - ask the Caller. If you foul up the dancing and can’t pick up or recover, go back to home position. Disagreement over CLUB DRESSES has lost many potential club members, so beware of this. Internal club problems and club policies have led to the downfall of many clubs. Callers can be replaced and most club decisions can be amicably resolved. Your Association will generally be able to help with club problems if you will only ask.

After having been in square dancing for some time, you will be asked to participate in a presentation of square dancing for the public - at a PTA meeting, a church social, a hospital visitation, business men’s club, a store opening, a TV program, etc. Here’s where you get to show off!

Now that you are "on stage", you wear you fanciest and prettiest clothes, doll up in a costume to show that you "belong", and prove that you are an experienced dancer. You keep time with the music, you've learned to count and be in the right place at the right time, you lead gently but firmly, you release your partner at the correct time facing in the right direction, you move to one side to facilitate a smooth maneuver, you watch and follow the lead of the number one couple in your square, you slide your feet when promenading, and on a swing the girl leans out to counterbalance the centrifugal forces.

As visitor you should attend, and as a member you should join clubs which do the level and type of dancing you enjoy. Generally, dancers who belong to only one club will soon drop out. Moderation is recommended in many things, and in square dancing moderation in the number of new figures and routines to be learned is essential to the continuation of this recreation for many dancers.