# Did you learn square dancing in elementary school? Did anyone ever tell you why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960 "2004-02-19T05:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/81 "2016-01-06T04:54:27Z")
No, thank God! I still barely really know what square dancing is, except for [this excellent classic example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9SrXRNPRCA) that we’re probably all familiar with! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/82 "2016-01-06T05:14:18Z")
> [@porcupine](#): > > I remember having square dancing in grammar school. I also remember learning “The Hustle.” I don’t know which was worse. We did square dancing in high school, and as mentioned above, it was about the only time we had gym with the boys. Also it was the early 80s, so when aerobics/“Physical” hit we had to do some pretty crazy shit – I remember a side-to-side pogo stick move to “Da Do Do Do De Da Da Da” that left me scarred by The Police. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/83 "2016-01-06T07:09:20Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > My burning question to those who have already posted… Have you USED these skills since you learned them? Ever? Even once? Yes, actually I have. Mid-way through college I felt a need to expand my social life, which was combined with my roommate of the time getting the occasional postcard in a mysterious foreign language. The language was irish Gaelic, the postcard and invitation to Irish social dancing, and through that I met two boyfriends, one of which became my husband, wound up learning to play bagpipes, and picked up a little bit of Gaelic. Irish social dancing isn’t exactly like square dancing - there’s no caller and a few other differences - but there are some definite overlaps regarding dance moves. It helped get me started and I didn’t feel completely lost. However, I expect I am very, very much the exception to the rule. I also like weird stuff like folk music, too. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/84 "2016-01-06T08:14:04Z")
It had its use, especially first or second generation immigrants. If people only paid more attention to some of the basic lessons in primary school, they won’t be doing a number of crazy things as adults. My two favorites are switching the Star Spangled Banner with America the Beautiful or some other song before a sporting event, and cheering madly at the stupid way the artist sang the national anthem. ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/85 "2016-01-06T11:51:08Z")
Early 1970’s, fifth grade, Chicago, co-ed gym class. We were made to pick our dance partners. I - the tallest girl & the last one picked - was paired up for the duration (2 weeks) with the shortest boy for an extra layer of humiliation. Square dancing as part of the phys. ed curriculum is still going strong in the region as my sixth grade daughter just went through it in her co-ed class. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/86 "2016-01-06T12:35:59Z")
I think the music teachers used dancing to teach kids to hear and feel rhythm. Square dancing is the simplest dance to teach and requires no coordination. They are just teaching kids to move their feet to a beat. Didn’t most of you dance at your wedding? A basic box step? It was a lot easier if you had danced even a little bit in grade school. I learned basic dancing in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Square dances, waltzes ( in junior high) very simple stuff. Waltzes were the first time that I ever held a girl in my arms. pretty cool stuff for a young teen. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/87 "2016-01-06T13:56:34Z")
When I went to elementary school (starting in the 50’s) there was no “PE”–we had Recess. But every day we left our classrooms for Music Class–with the same teacher every year (but one). On Friday we danced. Mostly square dances, although we also learned the minuet. The teacher populated the squares so nobody was left out. (Except for the Baptist kids who Did Not Dance.) Quite enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/88 "2016-01-06T15:36:21Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > As I recall out torture was called the “progressive barn dance”. It wasn’t dance and it sure wasn’t progressive - we had to hold hands with girls …yuck. Progressive is a term meaning that you change partners during the dance. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/89 "2016-01-06T15:53:11Z")
The real question here is why were you being taught dance in school. If you’re teaching dance then square dance makes a lot of sense. You don’t need to remember a lot of steps (the caller tells you what to do). This also makes it easier for you, and your teacher, to know if you’re doing it right. It also doesn’t require too much boy/girl contact which students may resist (as opposed to traditional ballroom) It has a good beat and a fast/fun pace which also helps to use up excess energy in a way that is much more fun than dodge ball. Personally if schools are going to be teaching music and art I think dance should be used. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/90 "2016-01-06T16:18:19Z")
Grade school, 50s, Kansas City, Kansas. I don’t know if it was square dance per se, but it probably was. There was always one girl with cold clammy hands. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/91 "2016-01-06T16:28:16Z")
I went to grade school in the northeastern US in the early 70s. There was one teacher, a nice older gentleman, but he was well known because he made his class do square dancing. He taught 4th or 5th grade so everyone in 3rd grade was absolutely **terrified** they’d get assigned to him simply because of the utter embarrassment of this\*!\* His class never even did it in front of any other classes, you could just her the goofy music and dancing every so often when walking past his classroom. Shudder… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/92 "2016-01-06T16:28:50Z")
> [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](#): > > Here’s another one: in elementary school P.E., did anyone else ever have to stand in a circle and hold a giant parachute, and kids would be assigned to take turns running underneath the parachute? Tell me it wasn’t just us! Yup, we had to do the square-dancing thing in about 1st to 4th grade. We also played with the giant parachute in the cafeteria. This was in Northern Nevada. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/93 "2016-01-06T16:33:07Z")
At some point in elementary and middle school we were taught not only square dancing but waltz, the foxtrot, and probably several other dances. None of them were anywhere close to as much fun as dodge ball. Anyhow, turning to Google to understand why such an outdated form of dance is taught in so many schools, I found that [it’s purported to be Henry Ford’s fault](http://www.history.com/news/square-dancing-a-swinging-history): > [@](#): > > By the late 19th century, waltzes and polkas, which allowed couples to get close without raising too many eyebrows, had supplanted group-based dances in urban ballrooms. Even in the country, square dancing was beginning to seem dated, particularly when the jazz and swing eras dawned. In the 1920s automaker Henry Ford resolved to revive the tradition, which he considered an excellent form of exercise and a way to acquire genteel manners. He hired dancing master Benjamin Lovett to develop a national program, required his factory workers to attend classes, opened ballrooms and produced instructive radio broadcasts for schools throughout the country. [More detail:](http://www.save-squaredancing.com/history.htm) > [@](#): > > Around 1928, Boards of Education all over the United States endorsed their square dancing program. Almost half the public schools in America began teaching square dancing and other old fashion dancing. Not only was this great exercise, but Ford and Lovett felt square dancing corrected the missing fun and teamwork that one-on-one dance lacked. Ford and Lovett felt that having square dancing in schools would help train children in manners, courtesy, and social training, a quality Henry Ford wanted to see excel in people. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/94 "2016-01-06T16:37:16Z")
Just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be any additional reasons to hate Henry Ford… ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/95 "2016-01-06T16:41:01Z")
> [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](#): > > Here’s another one: in elementary school P.E., did anyone else ever have to stand in a circle and hold a giant parachute, and kids would be assigned to take turns running underneath the parachute? Tell me it wasn’t just us! I also did this\*!\* And because it was the less litigious early 70s we didn’t just run underneath it, but we got to lay on top of it and get throw up into the air like a trampoline\*!\* ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/96 "2016-01-06T16:55:28Z")
I just scrolled through from the beginning of this thread, \*certain \*I would find my response when it was started but I didn’t. Can’t believe I missed the chance to do si do down memory lane. We learned it in 4th grade and it was \*not \*part of PE, IRR. Just weird old Mr. Duncan’s idea of a good time (I thought then; now I know it was part of the curriculum for whatever reason.) I recall thinking it was \*kind \*of odd at the time, but actually quite fun. On the other hand, it was fun because I was able to do it easily. Probably torture for those poor kids that couldn’t catch on. Good grief, I still remember some of the songs "Duck for the oyster (duck duck duck!) "Dive for the clam (dig boy, dig!) “Whirl Whirl twist and twirl Jump all around like a flying squirrel” Oh wait, that last on is Bugs Bunny. Anyway, it’s funny how square dancing was a common thing during a certain era. We also learned the dance with the poles - tinikling sticks I think they are (?) although that might have been a Girl Scout thing. Also also we did the thing with the parachute, which we thought was just the greatest. Jeez, we were dumb as cats. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/97 "2016-01-06T17:03:52Z")
I thought I answered this thread 12 years ago, but I guess not. We did square dancing and the parachute thing in elementary school (Virginia, the 1970s). IIRC, it was the kind of thing we did when it was raining. Seemed really weird and dated even back then. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/98 "2016-01-06T17:19:31Z")
Yep! Not part of P.E., but we learned it as part of, IIRC, our unit on The Westward Movement, which also included California History and the [Mission Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_4th_Grade_Mission_Project). I was in 4th grade at the time, which puts it at roughly 1978-9? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/99 "2016-01-06T17:34:33Z")
> [@lgorden](#): > > Square/line dancing was not the weird part. (I actually liked it; had a crush on one of the girls…) > > What I MUST have an explanation for is why–when we were sitting out and watching another crew dance, we had to sit on each other’s laps. I am not making this up. Half the time out, I would be sitting on a girl’s lap. The other half of the time, a girl would be sitting on mine. We only did this when we were doing the dancing; never in any other PE activity, or on any other occasion. It had some connection with the dancing, but I cannot find any reference to a dance custom that involved boys/girls sitting on laps when sitting out. > > Of course if the girl thought I was gross, she would sit clear out at the kneecaps, and with as little of her weight on my legs as possible. (Don’t say it!) And being shy, I did the same because I didn’t want to creep the girls out. > > What the heck was going on?? (No, the teachers were not perverts; they were quite normal in every other regard. And they were highly regarded.) > > This happened around 1974, fourth grade. The teachers were about 35 years of age at that time, so they would have gone through college around 1960. > > OK, now you can ask: No, nobody got pregnant. (Probably because we sat out on the kneecaps… 🙂 Oh, I forgot to mention . . . . WTF??? 😛 I actually don’t think there was anything nefarious about it but the image of some goofy boy sitting on little Sally’s lap is just cracking me up. That, and if they tried to do that today parents would be thrown into a tizzy. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960/100 "2016-01-06T17:47:36Z")
> [@AvariceAngel](#): > > When I was in junior high (1996-1999), we had to do square dancing. We may have done it several years, but the only time I can remember is during sixth grade when we did 1-2 weeks of it. This was in preparation for a week-long camping trip with other local schools where one of the activities was an all-school square dance. Girls and boys mingled, and I remember everyone thinking it was a little lame, if not particularly offensive. We also did the parachute thing, though in slightly younger grades. > > Does anyone remember a warm-up exercise done to an embarrassingly bad song called “Chicken Fat”? The lyrics were somewhat like “Take that chicken fat back to the chicken, go you chicken fat, go away! Go, you chicken fat, go!” We did this in grade school gym. Ugh. We did square dancing in music class all the way through elementary school. My mom had the Chicken Fat record and exercised to it. I still remember the words. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-learn-square-dancing-in-elementary-school-did-anyone-ever-tell-you-why/229960.md?page=6)