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A square dance is a dance for four couples (eight dancers) arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances were first documented in 17th-century England but were also quite common in France and throughout Europe. They came to North America with the European settlers and have undergone considerable development there. In some countries and regions, through preservation and repetition, square dances have attained the status of a folk dance. The Western American square dance may be the most widely known form worldwide, possibly due to its association in the 20th century with the romanticized image of the American cowboy. Square dancing is, therefore, strongly associated with the United States of America. Nineteen US states have designated it as their official state dance. The various square dance movements are based on the steps and figures used in traditional folk dances and social dances from many countries. Some of these traditional dances include Morris dance, English Country Dance, Caledonians and the quadrille. Square dancing is enjoyed by people around the world, and people around the world are involved in the continuing development of this form of dance. In most American forms of square dance, the dancers are prompted or cued through a sequence of steps (square dance choreography) by a caller to the beat (and, in some traditions, the phrasing) of music. The caller may be one of the dancers or musicians, but nowadays is more likely to be on stage, giving full attention to directing the dancers. The American folk music revival in New York City in the 1950s was rooted in the resurgent interest in square dancing and folk dancing there in the 1940s, which gave musicians such as Pete Seeger popular exposure.〔Szwed, John, (''Alan Lomax: The Man who Recorded Music'' ), Penguin, 2010. Cf. (p.144 ): "Margot Mayo was a Texan who pioneered folk music in New York and spearheaded the revival of folk dancing and square dancing there in the 1940s"〕〔Cf. Cantwell, Robert, ''When We Were Good'' (1996), Harvard University Press, (pp. 110, 253 ).〕〔 ("To Hear Your Banjo Play" ), film short, 1947 with Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry, Margot Mayo's American Square Dance Group and others. Written by Alan Lomax and narrated by Pete Seeger.〕 ==Main types of square dances== Terminology: In the United States, in general, people go to square dances and call it square dancing. In England, Ireland and Scotland people go to all sorts of dances at which some of the dances will be square dances, but they don’t say that they are “square dancing”. Conversely, people not familiar with the various different forms of dance may ask for an evening of square dance meaning simply a barn dance where many different formations of dance are used. It is possible to go to one of these “square dances” and not do a single actual square dance all evening! 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「square dance」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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