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Let’s look at similarities:

Both dance forms have a caller who teaches and calls the dances. Both are community dances where you dance with many folks rather than with just 1 partner. The caller plans the evening program and has overall responsibility for the entire evening. The caller is responsible for the success of the dancers on the dance floor. The dancers are responsible for listening and responding to the caller with the appropriate dance action. The gentleman does not have all the responsibility and pressure to lead his partner in the dancing. He does not have to be creative and think about what he’s going to do next to entertain his partner and ensure she enjoys dancing with him. There is no fancy footwork either. All the dance moves are done by simply walking or shuffling to the beat of the music. The only exception is the swing, which can be done with a simple walking step or with a buzz step. The buzz step allows one to swing faster and more energetically. The footwork there mimics riding on a scooter, where the weight is on the right foot and the left foot pushes and propels you around. Even those who can’t hear the beat at all can actually square dance or contra dance. There are lots of dances moves which are shared by these two dance forms. A contra dancer or square dancer can learn the other dance form quickly and easily. You will find both square dancing and contra dancing all across the country and around the world too.

Now for the differences:
Dancing

Contra dancing is done in long lines. You dance with your partner and 1 other couple. After each iteration of the dance or 64 beats of music, you and your partner move on to meet another couple and repeat the dance with them. In that way you dance with your partner and lots of couples in the line. Because the dance repeats, the caller eventually stops calling the dance so the dancers can listen and enjoy the music without the voice of the caller. The enjoyment is in the grove, the trace of the dance, not the complexity. The caller only calls as long as necessary to ensure the dancers are successful on the dance floor. Most dancers change partners at the end of each contra dance, although that is not required. There is a great deal of swinging in each and every dance, anywhere from 8 beats to 32 beats out of 64 beats of music. This is what the dancers like most as it gives them an opportunity to interact with their partner and frequently others in the set as well. This makes contra dancing very vigorous and energetic.

Modern western squares are done in 4 couple squares. You dance with your partner and 3 other couples in your square. In a patter square you will keep your original partner and you have a working partner as well at any point in time. In a singing square, typically, you change partners each time through the figure and end up with your original partner for the ending. The fun is in the surprise factor and in being able to work together as a team of 8 to successfully execute the calls. There is also lots of fun in recovering from mistakes and omissions and the “creative choreography” required to recover! There is very little swinging at a square dance as compared to the contra dance. A typical square dance swing is once around, twice if you are really fast, and off you go! The singing call may or may not include a swing and it may be omitted entirely from a patter square. It depends on the caller really. There are many square dance clubs in the area and each club has their own culture. You will want to attend dances at the various clubs and see which fits your personality best. There are groups which are primarily couples based and you dance with your partner for every dance. There are groups where folks change partners frequently and which more singles attend so they are better for singles. Some groups actually use a card system to ensure everyone dances all night long, including singles. There are groups which cater to the gay and lesbian crowd. Some groups are more focused on the social aspects of the club and not so much on the dancing while others are great for the hard core dancer and the dancing is more challenging. Some groups consist primarily of older dancers and are targeted at the older dancer while others have a greater mix of age and are much more dynamic and energetic. There is something for everyone.

The Caller

The Contra leader will start with a walk thru at the start of each contra dance. Once dancers are accustomed to the sequence of figures, then the music starts. At a typical 3-hour contra dance, there are 11 to 12 dances in an evening. The caller presents an evening consisting of mostly duple minor improper contras and may include 1 or 2 dances of other formations as well: circle mixers, Sicilian circle, triplets, mescolanza, 4 couple square, grid squares, triple minors, proper contras, and the newest thing, zia’s.

The caller at a modern western square dance, for the most part, the same caller calls for the group at every dance. The group, known as a club, has guest callers when their primary caller is unavailable. There are some square dance clubs who do hire in different callers for each or most of their dances. There is no walkthrough before the dancing starts. The dancers are expected to know a particular set of dance moves and the caller is expected to call material they already know. The caller calls for the entire duration of the dance because the dancers don’t know what the caller is going to call ahead of time and are not supposed to anticipate the calls! The caller’s goal is to surprise the dancers with fun and creative choreography that they can dance successfully and will find interesting. The longer patter square is typically followed by a singing square. The goal of the singing call is for the dancers to just relax and enjoy the music. There could be some repetition in the figure called for a singer and the choreography might be simpler. The caller typically presents material in the formation of a 4 couple square. They may occasionally call 6 couple, hexagon or progressive squares. After each tip, there is a short break, about 5 minutes or so, for socializing.

New Dancers

At a contra dance, anyone can attend without any prior experience. Most dances have a 30 to 60 minute introduction for new dancers. That covers just enough to give the new dancer some very basics, enough to help them know where and how to line up and generally what to expect and some pointers. For the most part all the regular dancers are very helpful and will actively seek out new dancers to dance with during the evening. The new dancer essentially learns by dancing with the experienced dancers and through the repetition. This also means that the caller has to call to the general level of the floor. A new dancer attending a dance of primarily experienced dancers can feel overwhelmed and intimidated very quickly. The experienced dancer at a dance with a high percentage of new dancers will mostly likely find the dancing too rough or unsatisfying. The dances at the beginning of the evening tend to be easier and build on one another and in complexity as the evening progresses in order to incorporate the new dancers on the floor as gently as possible. Lots of new dancers leave at the break and the dances in the second half of the evening are typically more challenging.

For modern western square dance, new dancers must learn the square dance moves thru a series of lessons before they can attend a regular dance of a particular level. While the lessons are lots of fun and you will meet lots of folks, the regular dances are even more fun! At the regular dances there is no teaching, or very little. Dancers square up, the music starts and the caller calls! Different clubs dance at different levels (typically mainstream, plus, plus DBD, challenge and advanced). Once you have learned to dance at a given level, you can dance at any club dancing at the level you have attained. Experienced and proficient contra dancers can learn the mainstream material very quickly, in as little as 8 weeks. Learning time for those with no dance experience will vary and depends on each person. The complete mainstream program is most typically taught over a period of 24 weeks.

(Posted with permission from Eva Murray)

(http://www.evamurray.com/contrasquare.html)

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When most people hear the term “square dancing”, they immediately think back to their memories of school dance programs, where they tried to interpret what to do upon the commands of “do-si-do” and “allemande left.” For many, to be excited about square dancing meant you had to be a fan of old-time country music and dress up in traditional dresses and duds.

But square dancing has evolved quite a bit since the days of the ho-down and come out of the honky tonks and into the mainstream.

Modern square dancing has been around for a long time, evolving from various types of dancing in the United Kingdom and continental Europe as well as North America. Modern and traditional square dancing are similar in that both involve groups of eight, all interpreting and responding to the calls.

What sets modern square dancing apart is that participants focus on mastering the individual steps, each of which are given names, rather than an entire dance. The Caller strings these steps together, with the dancers reacting to the calls. Part of the fun is not knowing what steps will be called next. No two dances are ever the same.

Not only does this evolution of square dancing make it much more exciting, it also makes it easier for the beginner to jump in and get involved.

Even the clothes people wear no longer fits the style long associate with square dancing. While some people enjoy donning those traditional-style clothes, all a participant really needs are comfortable shoes and clothing.

Not a fan of country music? Modern square dancing can employ any type of music, from classic rock, easy listening and classical, as long as it is up-tempo.

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There are over 100 square and round dance clubs across Ontario, most of whom have weekly dance nights where you can participate in a regular dance program. Clubs may host special dances on Theme Nights, or others  such as Valentine’s Dances. You should be able to find a club within driving distance no matter where you live.

You don’t have to worry if you aren’t an accomplished dancer. Square and Round Dancing has been described more like “walking in rhythm.” There is no fancy footwork to contend with, instead you form patterns with other dancers.

Square and Round Dancing has changed significantly from what you may remember. The changes are discussed here.

Dancers of all ages enjoy what has been described as “terrific aerobic and mental exercise.” Many couples are involved, but one can come out as a solo and be teamed up with experienced dancers.

Square Dancing is no longer only done to country music. Any music with a lively rhythm (even Jingle Bells at Christmas time) will do.

All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes. (Men usually wear long-sleeved shirts.) Much like the music, country and western fashion is not required, although many continue to dress up for the fun of it.

The benefits, both health-wise and socially, of becoming involved in square and round dancing are many.  What might start as just a night out, could lead to lifetime friendships with those in the club.

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Square Dancing Terms

Allemande Left:
Corners face and take left forearms. Walk around each other to own position.

Angel:
An experienced dancer who attends classes to fill out squares and help the caller demonstrate the proper way to perform various moves.

Circle Left:
Dancers designated by caller join hands in a circle and walk to the left.

Circle Right:
Same as Circle Left going to the right.

Corner:
Lady on gentleman’s left. Gentleman on lady’s right.

DBD:
Dance by definition. Callers will test the dancers’ knowledge of calls by performing them from various starting points, or from non standard positions.

Do-Si-do:
Partners, or those designated by the caller, face. Walk around each other passing right-shoulders and then left shoulders back to own position.

Forward and Back:
Three steps forward. High tens and back to position.

Head Couples:
Couples with their back or facing the caller, also known as couples 1 & 3.

Home position:
A dancer’s position in the square dance formation at the beginning of a session.

Honor:
Partners, or those designated by caller, face. Ladies curtsy and gentlemen bow.

Hot Hash:
Another term for a patter call, the caller will announce moves rapidly and without pausing.

Ladies Chain:
Ladies designated by caller walk to each other and take right hands. They pass by, dropping hands and give their left to that lady’s partner in his left hand. The gentleman place their right arm around the lady’s waist and turns her counter-clockwise to face the other couple. Ladies chain back the same way.

Partner:
The lady to the gentleman’s right and the gentleman to the lady’s left.

Patter call:
The caller uses the music as a background for prompting the dancers’ moves.

Promenade:
Partners, or those designated by the caller, cross hands in a skating position and walker counter-clockwise to position with the right arm over the left.

Rectangle dancing:
Square dancing with six couples instead of four.

Side Couples:
Couples 2 & 4.

Singing call:
The caller actually sings parts of the song, intersperse with the moves.

Square your sets:
A call for dancers to return to home position.

Star by the Right:
Couples, or those designated by the caller, walk to each other and join right hands in a star formation and walk in the direction they are facing (clockwise).

Level of Calls

Basic:
The simplest and most straightforward, such as “allemande left”, “right and left grand” and promenade.

Mainstream:
Calls a level above basic.

Plus or Mainstream Plus:
A step above mainstream, involving a series of related moved. They can appear complicated at first but are easy and fun once you learn them.

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Physical exercise has an anti-aging effect on the hippocampus region of the brain — an area that controls memory, learning and balance. A new study, comparing different forms of exercise — dancing and endurance training — undertaken by elderly volunteers for eighteen months, shows that both can have an anti-aging effect on the brain, but only dancing corresponded to a noticeable difference in behaviour. This difference is attributed to the extra challenge of learning dancing routines.

As we grow older we suffer a decline in mental and physical fitness, which can be made worse by conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. A new study, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, shows that older people who routinely partake in physical exercise can reverse the signs of aging in the brain, and dancing has the most profound effect.

“Exercise has the beneficial effect of slowing down or even counteracting age-related decline in mental and physical capacity,” says Dr Kathrin Rehfeld, lead author of the study, based at the German center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany. “In this study, we show that two different types of physical exercise (dancing and endurance training) both increase the area of the brain that declines with age. In comparison, it was only dancing that lead to noticeable behavioral changes in terms of improved balance.”

Elderly volunteers, with an average age of 68, were recruited to the study and assigned either an eighteen-month weekly course of learning dance routines, or endurance and flexibility training. Both groups showed an increase in the hippocampus region of the brain. This is important because this area can be prone to age-related decline and is affected by diseases like Alzheimer’s. It also plays a key role in memory and learning, as well as keeping one’s balance.

While previous research has shown that physical exercise can combat age-related brain decline, it is not known if one type of exercise can be better than another. To assess this, the exercise routines given to the volunteers differed. The traditional fitness training program conducted mainly repetitive exercises, such as cycling or Nordic walking, but the dance group were challenged with something new each week.

Dr Rehfeld explains, “We tried to provide our seniors in the dance group with constantly changing dance routines of different genres (Jazz, Square, Latin-American and Line Dance). Steps, arm-patterns, formations, speed and rhythms were changed every second week to keep them in a constant learning process. The most challenging aspect for them was to recall the routines under the pressure of time and without any cues from the instructor.”

These extra challenges are thought to account for the noticeable difference in balance displayed by those participants in dancing group. Dr Rehfeld and her colleagues are building on this research to trial new fitness programs that have the potential of maximizing anti-aging effects on the brain.

“Right now, we are evaluating a new system called “Jymmin” (jamming and gymnastic). This is a sensor-based system which generates sounds (melodies, rhythm) based on physical activity. We know that dementia patients react strongly when listening to music. We want to combine the promising aspects of physical activity and active music making in a feasibility study with dementia patients.”

Dr Rehfeld concludes with advice that could get us up out of our seats and dancing to our favorite beat.
“I believe that everybody would like to live an independent and healthy life, for as long as possible. Physical activity is one of the lifestyle factors that can contribute to this, counteracting several risk factors and slowing down age-related decline. I think dancing is a powerful tool to set new challenges for body and mind, especially in older age.”
This study falls into a broader collection of research investigating the cognitive and neural effects of physical and cognitive activity across the lifespan.

Source: Frontiers. “Dancing can reverse the signs of aging in the brain.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 August 2017.

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The waltz won’t do. Nor will the rumba.

Looks like the good old-fashioned square dance, AKA contra dancing, accompanied by a fiddle and a helpful caller, could keep older brains firing on all pistons.

At least that’s the conclusion of a Colorado State University study that tracked what happens to “white matter” in the brains of older adults.

The CSU research team found that dance training in contra or English country dancing — think square dancing, but in lines — seems to have a positive effect on the fornix, a white-matter tract in the middle of the brain that is basically the brain’s wiring. The fornix connects the hippocampus to other areas of the brain and seems to play an important role in memory, researchers say.
The quality of a brain’s wiring deteriorates as people age, causing disruptions in the transmission of electrical that control everything from emotions and movements to complex reasoning, lead researcher Aga Burzynska said.

Burzynska’s team found that integrity of the fornix increased in the dance group, while integrity declined in half of the other participants involved in other activities.

Maybe because dance training incorporates exercise, social interaction and learning, the fornix got healthier in the dance group, Burzynska said.

“Our brain does age,” she said, “maybe faster than we previously thought, but it seems that there are things we do that can modulate it. The lifestyle that people choose can predict the decline.”
But it’s not just any dance that will save brains. Researchers said contra dancing is best because it “minimizes lead-follow roles. Instead these social dances required participants to move between partners during each dance.”

Contra dance is a folk dance made up of long lines of couples. Throughout the course of a dance, couples progress up and down those lines, dancing with other couples in the line. The dance is led by a caller who teaches the sequence of figures in the dance before the music starts. But key changes are made during the course of a dance, which means participants have to stay on their toes.

The fiddle is considered the core instrument of the dance but other stringed instruments such as the guitar, banjo, bass and mandolin are also brought into play.

The randomized clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, took four years to complete. The findings were identified in a group of 174 health adults between the ages of 60 and 79 who met three times a week for six months in a gym at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The subjects were randomly assigned to four groups: one participated in aerobic walking, one did the same aerobic walking and took a daily nutritional supplement, one attended stretching and balance classes and one took the dance classes. The dance classes were taught by experienced dance instructors and involved choreographed and social group dances that challenged participants’ cognitive and motor-learning abilities.
Each participant’s white matter microstructure was measured using non-invasive, diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging at the beginning and end of six months of dance classes.

Participants in the exercise-only group, meanwhile, didn’t exhibit the same benefits to the fornix. That leads researchers to be believe that there is more value in activities like dance that provide cognitive and social stimulation in addition to physical activity, a key finding of the study. Researchers also found that those who sat more and exercised less on a daily basis saw steeper levels of brain integrity decline during the six months.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Yuqin Jiao, a CSU graduate student who worked on the study’s findings with Burzyanska. “It shows that when it comes to the effects of aging, it’s never too late to change. I think that’s important information to deliver; that there’s hope.”

A paper on the findings was published March 16 in the journal “Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.“

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Highlighted here are some of the more tangible ways in which the Federation can offer support to clubs, leaders and dancers within Ontario. Various bursaries are available to help offset the cost of recruitment, caller training, new club set-up and leadership training. Each bursary has its own criteria, deadlines and regulations so please pay careful attention to these, which are fully explained on the website.

All applications for bursaries must be routed through your local Association so you must allow sufficient time to meet the various criteria and deadlines of each bursary.

The Federation consists of 6 Associations, listed below. As Northern Ontario and Northwestern Ontario do not have an Association committee, applications from these areas should go directly to the Federation.

• Eastern Ontario Square and Round Dance Association
• Toronto and District Square and Round Dance Association
• Square and Round Dancers of South Western Ontario
• Lakehead & District Square & Round Dance Association

In some cases your local Association may also offer bursaries; please refer to your own Association for information.

The Canadian Square and Round Dance Society (CSRDS) also offer a Caller training bursary and a Leadership Training bursary. Please refer to their website for information.
http://www.csrds.ca/csrds-leaders.htm. An amount of up to $500 is offered.

New Club Bursary
Any person/s wishing to start up a new club (square dance, round dance, line dance or clogging group) may apply to their Federation for help to offset the start-up expenses incurred. The Federation may award, to each successful applicant, a maximum one time grant of up to $200. A maximum amount for any calendar year to be awarded to all applicants is $1000. All applications will be dealt with on a first come first served basis.

Leadership Training Grants
The purpose of establishing a Grants Program is to provide financial assistance for Associations/ clubs or groups affiliated with the Ontario Square & Round Dance Federation to sponsor caller/cuer/ leader training or upgrade the skills of established dance instructors. This is not available to an individual.

Caller/Leader/Instructor Bursary
Any dancer wishing to become a Caller/Leader/Instructor in the different dance categories (square, round, clogging, line, western), or a current Caller/Leader/Instructor wishing to upgrade their skills may apply for a bursary to help offset the expenses incurred. The application form can be found on the website. It must be approved by your local Association before being submitted to the Federation. The Federation may pay up to 50% of the approved costs, to a maximum of $400.

Recruitment Bursary
All member clubs can apply for this bursary to help offset the cost incurred in recruiting new dancers. An amount of up to $200 is available. Again, please read the criteria listed on the Federation website. It will be awarded on a first come basis. As the annual amount given out is limited to $1000, it may be reduced depending on the number of successful applications.

Large event Sponsorships
A new initiative by the Federation is to allocate $500 to towards sponsorship/advertising at large events, some of which draw people from all areas of the province and therefore cover the jurisdictions of different Associations. If any club has knowledge of such events they think meet this criteria, please make the Federation aware of it.

Prepared by Howard and Jean Lander
Publicity and Promotion

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