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Traditional square dance is a generic American term for any style of American square dance other than modern Western. The term can mean (1) any of the American regional styles (broadly, Northeastern, Southeastern, and Western) that existed before around 1950, when modern Western style began to develop out of a blend of those regional styles, or (2) any style (other than modern Western) that has survived, or been revived, since around 1950. Traditional square dance can be distinguished from modern Western square dance by the following characteristics: #A limited number of basic movements, or “calls,” enabling the average dancer to join the group by assimilation rather than by taking a series of lessons. #Dance figures (sequences of basic movements) that are called in a set order and repeated, rather than improvised by the caller. (In Southeastern style the caller chooses figures from a repertoire of a dozen or two and can call them in any order, but the order of movements within each figure does not change.) #The use of live music as the norm. In addition, because there is no governing body to set standards for traditional square dancing, each caller decides which basic movements and dance figures he or she will use. There are regional variations in how dancers execute the basic movements, usually having to do with hand or arm position. The same dance figure may have different names in different regions; the same name may refer to different dance figures, or even (in the case of "do-si-do") different basic movements. This lack of standardization does not present a problem to the dancers, because at least one of two conditions is always true: either the caller walks the dancers through the figures before calling them to music, or the event is attended almost entirely by local people familiar with that caller's repertoire. ==Types of traditional square dance== There are at least three broad categories of events that can be referred to as "traditional square dances". # "Survival" dances: There are a few communities in the United States and Canada where one may find dance events consisting primarily of traditional squares, or of traditional squares alternating with some form of couple dancing (such as waltz, two-step, foxtrot, or country/western dance) or solo dancing (such as flatfooting or clogging). Each region has its own way of dancing, playing the music, and delivering the calls (if any); the dancers, musicians, and callers have typically learned their style from prior generations. There may or may not be some standardization of style within a region, but there is no continent-wide standardization across regions. # "Revival" dances: In many cities and college towns there are dance events, open to the public, that consist primarily of Anglo-American group dances. The program may feature mainly squares, mainly contra dances, or a mixture of both. The style of squares chosen depends on the caller and may or may not conform to the local indigenous square dance style—indeed, it may be a blend of various regional styles—but it is likely to be closer to traditional than to modern Western square dance. Musicians and callers typically learn not only from local mentors but also from books, recordings, and travel to and communication with other artists continent-wide; this learning process leads to a certain amount of de facto standardization. # "Fun nights": Many callers conduct programs of easy dancing for people who do not square dance regularly, such as guests at a wedding or birthday party or members of a non-dance organization like a school, house of worship, or civic or social group. Such events are known in the calling trade as "fun nights", "barn dances", or "one-night stands". A caller programming such an event is likely to use a good deal of traditional dance material, even if he or she is primarily a modern Western caller. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Traditional square dance」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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