Square dance Square dance A square dance is a dance for four couples (eight dancers in total) arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances were first documented in 16th-century England but were also quite common in France and throughout Europe. They came to North America with the European settlers and have undergone considerable development there. In some countries and regions, through preservation and repetition, square dances have attained the status of a folk dance. The Western American square dance may be the most widely known form worldwide, possibly due to its
Youth square dance consists of four "boys" (or "gentlemen") and four "girls" (or "ladies"), who maintain this identity throughout a dance tip. The caller uses this to address calls to a subset of the dancers. In addition, a relatively small number of calls, but ones that are commonly used, involve a different dance action for the boys and girls. However, for this to work it is not necessary that the biological sex of the dancers match the roles that they are playing at any given time, e.g., it is possible for a woman to dance the "boy's part". At the typical adult club,