WBEZ Curious City: Square dancers are trying to get more Chicagoans to do-si-do

WBEZ radio story about square dancing:

 https://www.wbez.org/curious-city/2025/09/24/square-dancers-are-trying-to-get-more-chicagoans-to-do-si-do

 "Square dancing was once so popular that the Chicago area had a dedicated center. It’s waned in popularity, but local clubs are keeping it alive. 

...

In Chicago, you could find square dances throughout the week. Paul Collins, a sought-after caller for square dancing and folk dancing, remembers learning to dance in the 1950s by watching his parents..."

 

9/30/25 UPDATE: a second episode about square dancing:

https://www.wbez.org/curious-city/2025/09/25/friendship-set-to-music-curious-city-goes-square-dancing-on-the-south-side

 "...square dancing’s African and African-American roots often get lost in popular accounts. Some of the first callers and musicians were enslaved Black people..."

Tractor Square Dancing video

Saw this featured in Tribune columnist Eric Zorn's blog:

Mathematics of Square Dancing - Chgo Tribune Dec10'07

This article in the Chicago Tribune
is about a class at North Central College in Naperville, called the Mathematics of Square Dancing. There's also this video on the Trib website. Short quote from the article:

"It's math in motion -- you're walking through mathematics and would have no idea you're working with concepts that most college math majors don't study until their fourth year," says math professor David Schmitz, describing square dancing as "solving a Rubik's Cube."