Look at newspapers and online events this fall, and you’ll see a generous sprinkling of square dance events. Is it making a comeback? With the Champlain Valley Fair's second-year effort to host the world’s largest square dance, and lots of local events in Rutland County, the answer, simply, is yes! Like line dancing, square dance is having a moment.

First, the reader should know that there are two styles of square dance. The kind most people were exposed to as children, which is also the type that is most associated with fiddles, barns, and country music, is “traditional” square dance. In this form, the caller repeats a set pattern three to five times during the dance, with couples taking turns being active in the pattern. Music is usually played live with fiddles, guitar, and sometimes keyboards, and is old-timey or traditional in nature.

Modern western square dance has its roots in the traditional form but expands upon the simple repertoire, with dancers learning up to 50 different calls or movements in the first-level “Mainstream” program. There are additional levels for the dancer who really enjoys square dancing and wants to keep adding to their level of mental stimulation and challenge. The dancers never know what the caller will call next, unlike in traditional square dancing, in which a set pattern repeats.

A square dance series involves coming to workshops for 15 or so weeks to learn all the calls, which build on one another, like other dance sessions. Along the way, a new social life takes hold, since it is a ‘team sport!’ In modern western square dance, the music could be anything from blues to Broadway, with everything in between. The focus is on modern music, with the occasional country or roots piece. In modern times, the tendency is to have more dancers who really like the stimulation of interesting calls to varied music, rather than just an occasional night out to dance.

Regardless of which style you prefer, there are opportunities to do both soon in Rutland County. For the traditionals, there is live music and a community square dance at the Brandon Town Hall on Sunday, Sept. 20 from 4–6 p.m., as part of the statewide square dance tour, sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council.

To add to the fun, there will be a modern square dance demonstration in the middle of the Brandon dance, showing the difference between modern and traditional. The Cast Off 8’s Square Dance Club will be showing what modern is like, so those who attend can see both styles. The Cast Off 8’s will start their series for new dancers at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Lothrop School in Pittsford. This is approximately a 15-week series. The first two sessions are free for those checking it out! (www.Castoff8s.com)

There is also a benefit dance for the Fair Haven High School Band at Orwell Town Hall from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19.: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/live_feeds/12984509

So many opportunities to get out, get active, get social, and join the square dance resurgence!