Western Square dancing
Square dancing involves sets of four couples per square formation, and a caller tells you what moves to do. In the mainstream program you will learn 69 moves and families of moves (variations of a move). . No prior dance experience is required, as during your lessons you will learn all the steps.
This program is recognized throughout the world as standard, and the calls are always in English. So dancers are able to go anywhere and be assured of being able to dance any mainstream dance.
Casual attire is appropriate. Men are expected to wear shirts with long sleeves. The best shoes for dancing have smooth bottoms that provide a bit of slip & slide. Soles with a lot of grip are not recommended, nor are shoes without heel backs.
Come either with or without a dance partner. Dancers normally mix and match to insure that everyone gets out on the floor.
There are higher levels of square dancing: Plus is the next level and adds another 32 moves beyond mainstream. But many of those are combinations of mainstream moves with one name.
Round dancing
What is round dancing? The short answer is… FUN! This style of dancing uses ballroom dance steps choreographed to the music. A cuer prompts the dancers so all of the couples dance the same figures simultaneously.
There are 6 levels of round dancing called phases. Phases 1 & 2 are the easiest and include two step and waltz. Higher phases include additional waltz figures and other rhythms such as cha cha, foxtrot, rumba, slow two step, etc.
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