President Ronald Reagan made square dancing the National Folk Dance between the years 1982-1983.

 

Over 31 states have passed laws designating square dance as "the state dance," "the state folk dance," or "the state American folk dance."

 

Square dancing evolved in the United States when immigrants who came to this country sought to dance together.  Each group had their native dance, yet they wanted to dance together.  With true Yankee ingenuity, one person would stand up and “call” the next dance steps. The American Square Dance was born. 

 

Today, square dancing is danced all over the world.  The calls are always in English. So you can dance in Holland, Japan or South Africa equally well.   There are national conventions and competitions.  There are clubs for every age group.  Web sites and web rings are dedicated to it.