This website is an informational electronic source for Bob van West,  Square Dance Caller & Instructor.  I call at all levels from Mainstream through A1.  I enjoys traveling and have had the privilege of calling and dancing throughout the country as well as around the globe. 


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Learning Modern Square Dancing Is As Easy As "ABC"
  • Square Dance ABC is an introduction to today's Modern Square Dancing.

  • Enjoy three fun, easy beginner square dances with no experience necessary.

  • The A, B, and C dances can be experienced in any order.  (This is the main difference between Square Dance ABC and traditional "lesson-based" approaches. 
    You can do the three beginner dances in any order.)

  • New dancers can start Square Dance ABC at any time (and all the time)!

After attending the individual A, B and C dances, dancers have learned 22 square dance calls.  The next step is the combined "ABC" dance featuring the 22 calls.  New dancers and their friends can join Square Dance ABC at any time by dancing the individual A, B and C dances in any order.

Square Dance ABC spells an easy way for people to try square dancing at any time, with little or no commitment but with lots of opportunity for Fun, Fitness and Friends!

Let's Get Your Group Started Today

NEW - If you have an event you'd like to book, you can do it online via my online
Booking Request Form.

Current Events:
Currently, I have  been calling in the Western United States (including Hawai'i) and have done numerous regional and national square dance conventions.   I am  available for private parties & corporate events (schedule permitting). Bookmark this page (Ctrl + D) and visit often.  Please sign the guest book and tell me what you think of my website.  Thank you for taking the time to visit Squares 'R' Fun.  I hope to "C.U.N.A Square" soon. 

 

Square Dance Classes

Sunday Night
7:00 PM - 8:45 PM
Farmers & Charmers
Wilkenson Center
8956 Vanalden Ave
Northridge, CA 91324
Click Here For Map
Start:  Sept 14, 2008
 
Thursday Night
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Aces & Deuces
Palmdale Senior Center
1002 East Avenue Q-12 (at 10th St.)
Palmdale, California
Click Here For Map
Start:  Sept 11,2008

Be a Square Dance Angel
an article on how to be an Square Dance Angel

Modern Square Dancing:

Modern Square Dancing roots have a long history dating back to the Greens of England, the Royal Courts of France.  People from all walks of life are involved with Modern Square Dancing. Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, Factory Workers, Teachers, Sales Professionals and many more.  Square Dancing reaches out to every ethnic group worldwide. 

If you think we only use Country and Western music think again.  Just about every genre of music is represented in Modern Western Square Dancing today. From Country & Western, Blues, Rock & Roll, Swing, Oldies, Gospel, Show Tunes, Disco and even Rap (yes I did say Rap) are represented.  Here are some songs that may be familiar: "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (The Charlie Daniels Band), "Under The Boardwalk" (The Drifters), "Mack The Knife" (Bobby Darin), "Truly Madly Deeply" (Savage Garden), "If It Ain't Got That Swing" (Duke Ellington), "Long Train Runnin" (The Doobie Brothers), and plenty more. 

I can sum up in one word what Modern Square Dancing is and that's "FUN".  It's the people involved in our activity that makes it so much fun.  Modern Square Dancing is done world wide. Wherever you may travel throughout the world, chances are there may be a Square Dance going on. Once you try it, you'll be hooked.  

Bob's Square Dance Biography:

I started Square Dancing back in September of 1976 with a club that met in the Moyer Recreational Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama called the Heels & Toes.  The instructor for our club was Bart Blake.  I can honestly say I was hooked from the first lesson and still am today.  I got my first "taste" in Calling in 1978 at a Thursday night class in Enterprise, Alabama where I had the opportunity to do a singing call ("Ma She's Making Eyes At Me").  A big thanks goes out to Bart Blake for his encouragement.  There are so many people to thank for helping me along the way.  In addition to my instructor, there was Darryl McMillan, Tex Brownlee, Horace Newberry, Walt Childs, Bob Ruff, Larry McBee, Phil Farmer, the list is endless.

I  started calling professionally in September of 1990 when I attended a Caller's School taught by my friend and mentor Lee Schmidt (known to us all as the "Crawdad Man").  We met every Saturday morning at Lee's home from September through February.  We had a lot of fun learning how to be Callers.  It was intense as well, I thought I knew definitions, and by the end of the class, I really knew them well.  We started out with 9 and at the end of the class, 5 graduated.

 In January, 1999 (as part of my commitment to continuing education), I attended another caller's school taught by Ken Bower and Gary Shoemake.  They are excellent instructors as well as two of the finest Callers and Showmen around.
 

Professional  Memberships:

CALLERLAB  The International Association of Square Dance Callers- an organization of Square Dance Callers dedicated to recruiting and teaching dancers the joys of Modern Western Square Dancing.  Each member takes an active role in promoting the Square Dance Activity and the sport as a whole.
BMI & ASCAP


Orange County Callers Association: is a duly constituted organization of square dance callers, bound together by a general interest in square dancing, square dance calling, a desire to improve and contribute to square dancing in the area, and an interest in the courtesies and ethics necessary to maintain a healthy professional atmosphere in the square dance field. To accomplish those purposes for which OCCA was organized and to further the general interests of the membership, the following policies and procedures shall be adhered to:

 

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This Web Site is the Property of Bob Van West and Squares 'R' Fun - All Artwork Was Done By Me, No Artwork may be copied unless you have the express written permission of Bob van West.  All Rights Reserved 1990-2008