There’s just nothing like a good old-fashioned square dance.

Except, maybe, a good modern square dance that works the body and the brain.

That’s what the North Country Squares Dance Club in Morrisonville has offered for nearly 50 years, co-president Celeste Roy says.

Beginners learning calls at a class in the North Country Squares clubhouse.

The club offers a style of square dance, Modern Western, that was considered pretty new at the time of its 1961 founding. Even today, Modern Western is probably not what most people envision when they think of square dancing. Usually, one thinks of sweeping the hay out of the barn and kicking up the gingham skirts for an evening hoedown.

The gingham skirts may still be twirling, but the old barnyard bash is not what Modern Western is about, Roy says. That’s the traditional, or “Eastern” style, she says, which involves more basic movements.

“Now that we do this Modern square dancing, we can do this three hours a night and it’s the equivalent of 5 miles of walking,” Roy says. “We move every part of our body — it’s like going to the gym.”

The chance of memory loss and other cognitive impairment affected by aging is drastically decreased for square dancers as well, she says.

There are 68 possible calls square dancers must focus on and recall, so “it’s fantastic for the memory.”

Learning these calls takes some effort. Prospective members begin a course to learn these calls in September, and “graduate” at the end of January — with cardboard caps and all.

“Mainstream” or basic call classes are held Wednesday and Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m., with another hour-long class called Mainstream Plus for more experienced dancers directly following.

“You can dance anywhere in the world — even if you go to Japan, the calls are in English.”

“Angels,” or members who have already graduated, also attend classes to help beginners and to refresh their own memories. Angels receive special charms for each year they help out after graduating, and members can receive charms for participating in other events as well. Roy, for example, wears a bucket charm on her nametag for participating in an event in Vermont — known for its maple syrup.

North Country Squares co-president Celeste Roy shares photos of past graduates. Prospective members must attend classes for several months to learn all 68 calls.

Participants pay $5 for each class, and once they graduate as full-fledged square dancers, they pay a yearly membership fee of $35. This allows them to attend the dances held at the clubhouse every other Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. — and do-si-do to their heart’s content.

“Everybody knows each other,” Roy says. “It’s like a family.”

A typical Modern Western dance event will feature breaks of round dancing between square dances. Just as a “caller” leads square dancing, a “cuer” directs the round dancing steps, which is more of a ballroom style. Round dancing cue classes are held Sunday afternoons.

Bob Labounty has been a caller and call instructor for the Squares for 36 years. To become an instructor, one must attend a course at a Callerlab location and learn all 68 calls well enough to teach them.

Callerlab calls are international, co-president Dick Crawford says. Once you’ve learned the calls, he says, “you can dance anywhere in the world — even if you go to Japan, the calls are in English.”

“We move every part of our body — it’s like going to the gym.”

Crawford says he’s always enjoyed dancing, having learned various styles over the years including ballroom and line dancing.

“I came here wanting to keep active,” he says. “I’m either dancing or playing volleyball six to seven nights a week.”

Both Crawford and Roy graduated and became members in 2005, and soon after were chosen to be co-presidents.

There are about 114 members, Roy says, and 50-60 can be expected to turn out for any given dance. Once a year, the Squares host an Apple Blossom Festival at their clubhouse, located on the Clinton County Fairgrounds since 1973, and invite dancers from across North America. The festival brings in upward of 150 people to camp out and share a special weekend of square dancing, at the end of which a king and queen are crowned.

Prospective "Squares" learning calls in an evening class at the clubhouse.

Owning their own clubhouse — which is unique for a square-dancing group, Roy says — allows the Squares to host events like these and socialize with other clubs. Square-dancing clubs often engage in banner-raiding, where a visiting club will steal the hosting club’s banner, and the latter will have to pay a visit and steal it back.

Pointing to a half-dozen or more banners displayed on the clubhouse walls, Roy adds, “look how much we’ve accumulated!”

The club hosts a number of fundraisers throughout the year, both to benefit their group as well as charities and local people in need. The Squares also put on a demonstration dance for seniors in the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh. Roy keeps an album updated with photos from past events, and points out several of elderly hospital patients smiling and clapping.

“They were tapping their feet and remembering how they did old barn dances,” she says.

“They teach the dogs to square dance!”

The Squares enjoyed a “golden age” in the mid-70s, Roy says, when as many as 25 squares would take turns dancing — one square alone consists of four couples.

Students learning steps in a class at the clubhouse — they must learn all 68 possible calls before "graduating."

“It’s a tradition that keeps going on,” she says. “Just at certain times, I think people forget about it.”

To get a new generation involved in square dancing, Roy says the group will work on recruiting more young people next year, especially students. She hopes to reach out to local schools, like Plattsburgh State, and give demo performances to grab students’ attention.

The Squares’ clubhouse hosts other events as well. Wendy Gilchrist helps instruct a class Friday evenings in English country dancing, an elegant, “gentile” style of dance. Roy says the Squares rent out the space Mondays and Tuesdays as well, to a dog obedience course.

“They teach the dogs to square dance!” she jokes. “They have a dog demo at the fair every year. They practice square dancing all year for one event.”

Young, old, or even canine, square dancing is a fun and healthy activity for everyone, Roy says — and the North Country Squares are always welcoming of new faces.

 

Have you ever been square dancing?