Modern Western Square Dance

A historical overview (Herb Egender, translated by Norbert Lindermayr)

It is difficult to trace the roots of modern Square Dance precisely, for they run very deep and branch out widely. Its origins certainly reach back to the English and French ancestors (of the Americans), but traces can also be found among the Scots, Scandinavians, Spaniards and other peoples.

One might assume that dance as such began as an imitative art: prehistoric people simply imitated the ritual dances of animals. Dance probably enjoyed its lowest standing, throughout its history, in classical Greece, where it was regarded as an ignoble and shameful activity. Aristotle is said to have remarked: “No citizen should practise these arts (music and dance) so intensively that they become his profession.” He relegated this pursuit to slaves, freedmen and foreigners. The great Roman Cicero observed: “No one dances unless he is drunk or out of his mind.”

Italy saw a revival of dance in the 15th century, while France is said to be the mother of the modern art. Many of our dance terms reveal this French connection, such as the call “Dos-a-dos”, meaning back to back. The English ancestor of modern Square Dance was undoubtedly the great Morris dance. This dance was performed before an audience by trained Morris dancers – six men in two rows of three each (women were not permitted to take part).

Later, in the 17th century, folk dances became popular in England. Many were row or line dances. Some believe that the Contra got its name either from a mispronunciation of the word “Country”, or from the fact that the dances were performed in two opposing lines or rows. At the time there were also many round dances, some of them resembling the choral dances that were often danced in the naves of English churches.

The French adopted and modified the English folk dances and called them “Contredanse Anglaise”. They also invented a form of dance called the Quadrille, a term originally derived from a card game. It is the Quadrille that is most often called the grandmother of modern Square Dance. History shows, however, that “Dull Sir John” and “Faine I Would” were already popular Square Dances 300 years ago. The French also developed the Contredanse “Française”, a dance performed in a square formation with eight dancers.

The indispensable link to the past were the dancing masters who came to America with their forebears and brought with them the dances of their home countries. One of the earliest documents relating to the dances of that era is a book by John Playford, a musician and dancing master. His work “The English Dancing Master – plain and easy for dancing the country dances, with the tune to each dance” was published in 17 editions between 1650 and 1728 and contained 918 dances.

Meanwhile, couple dances also came into fashion. The French invented a round dance called the “Branle”, as well as the “Gavotte” (a dance in ¾ time) and the “Minuet”. Of all the dances, the Waltz was, in its day, the greatest challenge. Its introduction caused a great stir, since for the first time a gentleman was allowed to hold his partner closely as they glided across the dance floor. This dance hold, today called the “closed dance position”, was for a long time simply known as the Waltz position.

As pioneers settled the American West, they brought their dances with them. Many of the dances of that era were lost or forgotten, but many also survived, especially in the southern Appalachians. At the beginning of the 20th century, dance in America suffered a great decline. Quadrilles and Contras disappeared. The Waltz was “two-stepped”, and the Polka and Schottische were forgotten. Instead, a rowdy form of dance called the “Barn Dance” gained favour, against which the Square Dancers fought a long battle. It took a great industrialist and the head of a small school in Colorado to lift this great folk-dance tradition out of its slump.

Henry Ford used to spend his holidays at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. There he became interested in the dance programme, which was led by a dancing master named Benjamin Lovett. The programme included the Gavotte, Mazurkas, Schottische, Minuet, Virginia Reel and other Square and Round Dances. Ford tried to engage Lovett, who declined because he was under contract to the hotel. This posed no problem for the multimillionaire Henry Ford, who simply bought the hotel, contract and all, and took Lovett back with him to Detroit. In the Detroit region, Henry Ford built up a wide-ranging teaching programme for Squares and Rounds, including radio broadcasts and school programmes. He built a beautiful dance hall in Greenfield Village and named it Lovett Hall. It is still in use today. In 1926, Ford and Lovett published a book that provided inspiration and other material for the many folk dancers who had wished for just such a reference work. The title of the book was “Good Morning”.

One person who seized upon the book and devoured it was the young school principal in Colorado Springs, Lloyd Shaw. Lloyd “Pappy” Shaw recognised that Ford’s book contained only part of the knowledge that existed at the time about American folk dance, and that the rest of the information lay right under his nose, in the small towns and the farming and mining communities of the American West. He set to work carefully, questioning old-timers, collecting dances and tunes, and carrying out research. In 1939 he published the first collection on Western Square Dancing, titled “Cowboy Dances”. He later also published a Round Dance book. He rehearsed with groups of dancers at his Cheyenne Mountain school and took them travelling across the country, teaching them dances along the way which they then performed. In summer he ran courses for new dance leaders, and Western Square Dance began to spread like wildfire. Of course, in those days nobody asked about Round Dance. It was simply taken for granted that one could dance the Varsouvienne, the Schottische, the Black Hawk Waltz and perhaps the Blue Pacific Waltz. There was occasionally a “cue word” for beginners, but there were no Cuers. The dancers knew the dances, just as they knew the figures of many Square Dance calls.

In the 1950s, Square Dance underwent a transition from the traditional style of dancing, in which only one couple was active at a time, to a new concept in which all four couples danced simultaneously. Callers discovered that they could move all the dancers at once, which made dancing far more interesting. Square Thru – known in Contra dances for hundreds of years – was “invented” for Square Dance and introduced in 1955. Other figures quickly followed. Soon there were 16 Basics, then 20, later 32, and by now there are 49.

A great help to this transition was the development of the electronic amplifier, which allowed the Caller to cope with large numbers of dancers. It was no longer necessary to shout; instead, microphones were used, or each square had its own caller. Square Dance records, particularly the small, easy-to-handle 45 RPM (revolutions per minute) discs, replaced “live music” along with all its associated problems, and allowed for far greater musical variety and flexibility.

In 1974, an organisation called CALLERLAB – the international association of Square Dance Callers – held its first Convention. The association has met again every year since then. CALLERLAB’s aim is to spread the principles of fun and friendship established by earlier dance leaders such as “Pappy” Shaw, and to standardise Square Dance figures, timing and styling.

The joy of dancing to good music, and of taking part in an activity that is simply fun, is what has made Square Dancing attractive and long-lived over so many, many years.