September 15, 2026 (Tuesday)

Square dancing is a social or partner dance that developed in America but has its roots in 18th century French social dances such as the Quadrille and the cotillion. Calls of "running sets" of moves were popularized in 19th-century Appalachia where the caller gave cues to the sequence of moves in the running set so that dancers did not have to memorize the sequences. By the 20th century square dancing was being supplanted by waltz, polka, jazz and swing dancing. Some say that the survival of square dancing can be attributed to Henry Ford when in 1920 he decided to revive square dancing. A quote from the link above: Ford"... hired dancing master Benjamin Lovett to develop a national program, required his factory workers to attend classes, opened ballrooms and produced instructive radio broadcasts for schools throughout the country."