Modern western square dance dance, like traditional square dance, is directed by a "caller". In modern western square dance the caller strings together a sequence of individual "square dance calls" to make a figure or sequence. These calls are the building blocks of the choreography that is danced by the individuals – square dancers – in the squares. There are eight people (four pairs of males and females, traditionally) in each square; at a dance there may be many squares. Generally speaking, each of these squares dances independently of each other, with the exception of specialty or "gimmick" dances, where there might be some
Modern western square dance developments, competition from other forms of recreation/entertainment, increased expense, elimination from public-school curricula, changed society, changes in music and recording (personal computers, laptops, personal recording of music), impact on square dance music "industry" Square Dancing in the UK has seen diminishing numbers of dancers since the 1990s as the activity has failed to attract sufficient numbers of younger dancers. There is a great deal of debate as to how to arrest this decline, or even if the decline should be addressed and accepted as inevitable. British dancers tend to be older people - this is in contrast to countries such