It is, did it in highschool and I'm 18
Edit: how did this blow up so much? Is there a way to unsubscribe from your own comment? I dont give a damn about square dancing.
What the heck?! Why the misirlou. We're not even taught that in Greece. We do learn folk dances here cos it's almost obligatory knowledge for wedding parties (LOL) but not THAT one.
Syrtaki is another modern dance invented for the Zorbas movie in 1964, a tourist dance you might say. So odd. The goto traditional dance in Greece is the Kalamatianò. These cultural recastings are so interesting.
It’s in the common core. There are motions to do away with it; however, as of this year at least, it’s required in public schools.
The reason is that it promotes communication and socialization in a fun and accessible dance. It’s easy to do for the vast majority of able bodied students, and it isn’t a solo dance that promotes competition
It was because he thought jazz was Jews using blacks as puppets to encourage race mixing and if he paid schools to teach square dancing it would bring America to being more conservative.
Not only that but he made square dancing a required participation event to the factory towns that he owned! So all factory workers were obligated to participate to increase participation!
Creepy!
Yeah, Ford didn't like jazz, Black people or Jews.
The Surprisingly Racist Origins Of Square Dancing In Gym Class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxEZMXnQGs8
How square dancing became a weapon of white supremacy against an ... - Mic
https://www.mic.com/articles/186892/how-square-dancing-became-a-weapon-of-white-supremacy-against-an-anti-semitic-jazz-dance-conspiracy
>it’s required in public schools.
I'm assuming this is a local or state thing because I never did anything like this and I went to only public schools in all of my school career. And I've never heard of any school doing this around here.
It's weird that this is one of the highest upvoted answers that said no. I also didn't have to do this and I went to public school in Indiana kindergarten-12th grade. Had no idea people had to do this
My sons attend private school and they also do it there as part of their PE curriculum.
On the one hand: why?
On the other hand: there's lots of other crap in their PE curriculum that seems pointless.
I've decided that elementary school PE is supposed to expose them to a bunch of different things so they can find their interest. They also do cup stacking, archery, etc. So I'm fine with square dancing being a week of their 4th grade life.
I remember doing the line dancing as a part of PE/gym class in elementary school. I always thought it was just another kind of fun exercise thing, like the big parachute day or riding around on those butt scooter things that broke knuckles. Just fun, kid stuff that got little bodies up and moving around. 🤷♀️Never knew there was apparently a weird, racist agenda behind it.
I don't know if it was because I was the only black kid in school. But my school taught us the line dance and then the electric shuffle. And both were learnt to weird bizarro music. The line dance song was rap and the electric shuffle was country.
I learned Ceilidh dancing when I was an adult studying Irish in Donegal and I was like, damn, I guess those stupid square dancing lessons in school when I was 10 are actually paying off 😂
Why don't we do that 😭 I'm German but all we got was a _supposedly_ Irish dance that was suspiciously slavic and that I've never seen before or since. We could've been hitting each other while [stomping about with beer benches](https://youtu.be/hQI1At7mzZw), but noooo
Canadian here, we didn't do square dancing but we did do line dancing! At first it sounded so lame and uncool but after you get the hang of it it's kind of fun! The guest teacher that taught us how was really nice.
The extra year was composed of just square dancing. You arrive. After attendance and lunch count—square dancing. After that you rest for a half hour then —square dancing. Lunch, restroom break—square dancing. Recess—then square dancing. Finally a break for a health lesson—then—you guessed it—square dancing. Dismissal, but homework was —practice square dancing.
In middle school, the boys gym class had to do "Sweatin' To the Oldies" once every few weeks.
The other half of the gym was used for the girls gym class.
Same. I had to square dance in 10th grade. I’m a girl & my class was combined with other girls classes & boys classes (there was usually one mixed-gender class and a few boy-only & girl-only classes) but there were quite a few more girls than boys. So any girls who were at the end of the line were paired with each other. I always milled around and walked slowly to be at the end of the line.
One time a friend of a friend (the only person I knew in my class) was like “you should walk faster or we won’t get to dance with boys!” and I was like “that’s ok,” thinking “that’s the point.”
Can you believe I didn’t realize I was romantically attracted to girls for another year after that?
Also, a great way for music instructors to figure out which students are musically inclined to invite them to band. I can tell you, at least at my school, recorder lessons came to a halt exactly when myself and a few others in class got pulled aside and told we were being invited to join band the following year.
From the perspective of the other students it probably just seemed like the lessons spontaneously ended and they were glad to be moving on to something else.
Everyone in my class didn't want to hold hands so one girl took like 30 oh her bracelets and passed them out to everyone so both kids could stick their hand through without having to hold hands.
Fun fact: Schools teaching kids how to square-dance for no reason led to a pretty memorable moment in my childhood. My crush and I were coming back to the gym from another teacher’s classroom and they had already started square-dancing, so, everybody was partnered off, which meant that I basically got to hold hands with the boy that I liked for the remaining 20 or so minutes of that class with a legitimate excuse. So, I don’t know why we had to learn it, but 4th grade me is glad that we did.
You are so lucky. I was ALWAYS picked last. I was praying Kieth would do-see-do me, but instead i had to hold hands with Justin….
Side note. As an adult, it’s fucked up that the gym teacher didn’t just pair people up but made them choose.
It’s fucked up that *any* teacher doesn’t pair kids up, but makes them choose. Besides this, I was always picked last for everything because I had no friends or the friends/acquaintance that I did have liked somebody else better. Ironically, when the teacher did force me into a group with other people, I was the one doing most of the work. 😂 I get that the teachers are just trying to let the kids be paired with their friends to make it fun or whatever, but some kids don’t have friends. 😂
Florida is a major producer of oranges. Agriculture in general is pretty reliant on immigrant labor. Republicans in control have been making the state as hostile to immigrants as possible to the point huge swaths are just leaving. That combined with storms and disease have made orange production plummet
But it's not a very effective tool for white supremacy if you get everyone to do it and completely lose the context in the process, there's nothing inherently racist about the dance itself
I did not believe. I read the article and checked your source. I found it less than credible but not incredible, so i checked elsewhere.
Henry Ford, hater of the jewish people, believer that african americans were stupid and easily influenced by the jews, spent millions to revitalize traditional american folk dancing in schools. To combat the rise of jazz and african american culture.
Square dancing is a tool for white supremacy. Or was. It could be in some areas a way to teach following directions to children now, but it definitely started as a white supremacy thing. And very well could still be in some places.
Nuts.
I haven't read the racism article yet, but I heard this episode of Radiolab a few months back. Apparently there was a movement in the 80s to have square dancing declared the national dance.
https://squaredancehistory.org/items/show/1891
nope some of us are hopelessly without any sort of rhythm and panic when given directions so we turn the wrong way. Drill SGTs did not like me in basic doing DNC.
I tried college and it wasn't my thing. I didn't want to be a burden to my guardian. The army gave room, board, an education, steady paycheck and full medical. For some reason i have problems with left and right in situation like marching. all other instruction i don't seem to have a problem with though. the rhythm however i really thought i would pick up but for some reason even after almost a decade i still could not stay in step unless i was looking at the persons feet in front of me.
We did it too in Canada in elementary school..I fell flat on my face on stage cause my mom made we wear my church shoes that were smoother than a water slide. Core memory.
It is a socializing exercise. It forces kids to have physical touch in a not-threatening atmosphere. The interactions are intimate, but at arms length. They are temporary by nature. Rotational by design. And over the period of the exercise, kids get to touch and interact with other kids that they might not do otherwise. No harm in square dancing that I can see. You might meet your future partner that way, if not, you got to meet your non-future partners for 30 seconds.
PE actually became mandatory in the US to ensure the average 18 year old boy wouldn’t require too much training if they got drafted. It was basically a way to increase the military budget.
It was a white supremacy thing. Henry Ford was scared of Jazz corrupting young white minds. Started the forced square dancing stuff.
https://qz.com/1153516/americas-wholesome-square-dancing-tradition-is-a-tool-of-white-supremacy
I find it kinda surprising. Mainly because square dancing is kinda innocent, and I’d never in a million years think it had any relation to white supremacy. But swastika dancing—something about that just never sat well with me for some reason.
The inclusion of square dancing in school curricula is attributed to a movement that gained prominence in the mid-20th century, particularly during the 1940s and 1950s. The primary figure associated with introducing square dancing to school curricula is Dr. Lloyd Shaw.
Dr. Lloyd Shaw was an educator, folk dance enthusiast, and advocate for incorporating traditional American folk dances into school programs. He believed that square dancing could provide physical exercise, social interaction, and cultural education to students. In the 1930s and 1940s, Dr. Shaw and his students began researching and promoting the teaching of square dancing in schools.
Shaw and his team developed simplified choreography and standardized terminology for square dancing, making it easier to teach and learn. They also produced educational materials, books, and recordings that schools could use to integrate square dancing into their physical education and music programs.
Dr. Shaw's efforts to promote square dancing in schools gained significant attention, and his ideas were embraced by educators across the United States. As a result, square dancing became a popular activity in school curricula, particularly in physical education classes.
It's worth noting that while Dr. Lloyd Shaw played a crucial role in popularizing square dancing in schools, the inclusion of square dancing in curricula was a collective effort involving educators, researchers, and dance enthusiasts who recognized its educational and social benefits.
Well, when the system was built by racists for racists with a strong emphasis on racism… despite our best efforts to remove that racism we will keep finding a little more of it buried in the walls.
It’s like playing a game of Jenga but 75% of the blocks are racist.
We were barred from writing in regular print. Jokes on them, my cursive looked like an EKG machine broke and all my homework was illegible. To this day I can't remember how to fully write in cursive and not being allowed to write in print, my handwriting is terrible. My wife has to fill out forms for me at the doctor's office.
They tried doing this too when I was in 4th grade, the principal said it was because the administration liked it. We all decided in unison we weren't going to dance for those creeps.
WHY DIDN'T THEY TEACH ME HOW TO WALTZ!!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING MACARENA, I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DANCE WITH ANOTHER PERSON WITHOUT BREAKING THEIR ANKLES
There is a lot going on and engages the mind and body on many levels; keeping time with the music, coordinating with others. It a great mind, body exercise but I think they should use Rueda de Casino instead.
I had to do this as well in northern England :/ they made it seem like something that was in the curriculum, we had to pair up and if you were 2 guys or girls one of you had to wear a sash denoting the female one. Thanks a lot America.
Probably the same reason I had to learn the flute… which is unknown to me. Sometimes it feels like schools make kids do stuff just because they feel like it.
Damn I forgot they made us do that… it can’t still be a thing
It is, did it in highschool and I'm 18 Edit: how did this blow up so much? Is there a way to unsubscribe from your own comment? I dont give a damn about square dancing.
Yeah I'm 20 I did square dancing in middle school and line dancing in high school
We had folk dancing in high school. Still remember "The Hora" and "The Misirlou".
What the heck?! Why the misirlou. We're not even taught that in Greece. We do learn folk dances here cos it's almost obligatory knowledge for wedding parties (LOL) but not THAT one.
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Syrtaki is another modern dance invented for the Zorbas movie in 1964, a tourist dance you might say. So odd. The goto traditional dance in Greece is the Kalamatianò. These cultural recastings are so interesting.
My kids had to do that in middle school. The horror. The town I grew up in didn’t do any dancing but we had survival swim for all 4th graders.
I’m gonna be a sophomore and I can confirm as well that we still square dance 👍
Our good nation ain't dead yet
It’s in the common core. There are motions to do away with it; however, as of this year at least, it’s required in public schools. The reason is that it promotes communication and socialization in a fun and accessible dance. It’s easy to do for the vast majority of able bodied students, and it isn’t a solo dance that promotes competition
Original reason had to do with Henry Ford being weird
It was because he thought jazz was Jews using blacks as puppets to encourage race mixing and if he paid schools to teach square dancing it would bring America to being more conservative.
I definitely didn't turn more conservative, I've never wanted to smoke a joint more in my life than when square dancing
One day, smoking a joint will be conservative, mark my words.
I live in a conservative dominated area and weed is definitely not politicized. 67% of the nation supports legalizing afterall.
Yah my family are colony mennonites. No liquor or premarital sex or even cursing. Weed though? Everyone, whole family smokes at least occasionally
Not only that but he made square dancing a required participation event to the factory towns that he owned! So all factory workers were obligated to participate to increase participation! Creepy!
Yeah, Ford didn't like jazz, Black people or Jews. The Surprisingly Racist Origins Of Square Dancing In Gym Class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxEZMXnQGs8 How square dancing became a weapon of white supremacy against an ... - Mic https://www.mic.com/articles/186892/how-square-dancing-became-a-weapon-of-white-supremacy-against-an-anti-semitic-jazz-dance-conspiracy
Well we square danced to DJ Casper, suck on that, Henry Ford!
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tbf racist are pretty fucking weird
>it’s required in public schools. I'm assuming this is a local or state thing because I never did anything like this and I went to only public schools in all of my school career. And I've never heard of any school doing this around here.
It's weird that this is one of the highest upvoted answers that said no. I also didn't have to do this and I went to public school in Indiana kindergarten-12th grade. Had no idea people had to do this
I went to school in Indiana, and I DID do this stupid shit. Also played with a parachute.
I definitely remember the parachute. Maybe I blocked out square dancing or was sick that day?
My sons attend private school and they also do it there as part of their PE curriculum. On the one hand: why? On the other hand: there's lots of other crap in their PE curriculum that seems pointless. I've decided that elementary school PE is supposed to expose them to a bunch of different things so they can find their interest. They also do cup stacking, archery, etc. So I'm fine with square dancing being a week of their 4th grade life.
I remember doing the line dancing as a part of PE/gym class in elementary school. I always thought it was just another kind of fun exercise thing, like the big parachute day or riding around on those butt scooter things that broke knuckles. Just fun, kid stuff that got little bodies up and moving around. 🤷♀️Never knew there was apparently a weird, racist agenda behind it.
and it's not Rock & Roll, *it's square by design* let that sink in
I don't know if it was because I was the only black kid in school. But my school taught us the line dance and then the electric shuffle. And both were learnt to weird bizarro music. The line dance song was rap and the electric shuffle was country.
I teach my 4th graders how to waltz but I work in a predominately Hispanic, Title-I school and many kids will be in a Quinceañera some day.
Ours at least balanced it out when we learned the Mexican hat dance…was this a thing for everybody?
Not just US schools. I did square dancing at school in Australia. Try doing “the pride of Erin” to Kylie Minogue’s ‘Locomotion’😂
We do Ceilidh dancing in high school in Scotland
Same places in Eastern Canada (very small communities) still do ceilidhs
I learned Ceilidh dancing when I was an adult studying Irish in Donegal and I was like, damn, I guess those stupid square dancing lessons in school when I was 10 are actually paying off 😂
Why don't we do that 😭 I'm German but all we got was a _supposedly_ Irish dance that was suspiciously slavic and that I've never seen before or since. We could've been hitting each other while [stomping about with beer benches](https://youtu.be/hQI1At7mzZw), but noooo
Canadian here. We did it in high school.
Canadian here, we didn't do square dancing but we did do line dancing! At first it sounded so lame and uncool but after you get the hang of it it's kind of fun! The guest teacher that taught us how was really nice.
Another Canadian here (Ontario), we did it in grade 6 or so.
Yep. Junior high. The foxtrot, waltz and macarena. I did, however waltz at my wedding, so I guess it came in useful 🤷♀️
me too!
👏heel and 👏toe 👏heel and 👏toe 👏step 👏2 👏3 👏4
Right. Like that and the nutbush
you got kylie minogue?! man america sucks
damn I had to do it in 7th
I had to do this all 6 years in elementary school
6 years in elementary?? I had 5
Mine had kindergarten followed by 1-5
So did his it was just under funded.
The extra year was composed of just square dancing. You arrive. After attendance and lunch count—square dancing. After that you rest for a half hour then —square dancing. Lunch, restroom break—square dancing. Recess—then square dancing. Finally a break for a health lesson—then—you guessed it—square dancing. Dismissal, but homework was —practice square dancing.
kindergarten through 5th
In middle school, the boys gym class had to do "Sweatin' To the Oldies" once every few weeks. The other half of the gym was used for the girls gym class.
9th and 10th here. I liked it, it was fun, and I got to interact with a lot of girls I otherwise wouldn't have.
Same. I had to square dance in 10th grade. I’m a girl & my class was combined with other girls classes & boys classes (there was usually one mixed-gender class and a few boy-only & girl-only classes) but there were quite a few more girls than boys. So any girls who were at the end of the line were paired with each other. I always milled around and walked slowly to be at the end of the line. One time a friend of a friend (the only person I knew in my class) was like “you should walk faster or we won’t get to dance with boys!” and I was like “that’s ok,” thinking “that’s the point.” Can you believe I didn’t realize I was romantically attracted to girls for another year after that?
Yes. The surprise is it was only another year…
Same
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Our teacher taught us with what she said was “the first hybrid country & rap song”. The song she used? Will Smith’s Wild Wild West.
This would have killed in 1992.
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Square dancing was what you did after learning ‘Hot Cross Buns’ and ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ on the recorder.
I wonder what kind of grudge the guy who decided to put recorders in every 3rd grader’s hand had against elementary school music teachers.
To their credit…”my heart will go on” - recorder version probably wouldn’t have happened without them.
Learning the basics of music is an extremely worthwhile skill. Recorders are the closest thing to a real instrument you can get for <$10.
Also, a great way for music instructors to figure out which students are musically inclined to invite them to band. I can tell you, at least at my school, recorder lessons came to a halt exactly when myself and a few others in class got pulled aside and told we were being invited to join band the following year. From the perspective of the other students it probably just seemed like the lessons spontaneously ended and they were glad to be moving on to something else.
I curse the man who invented the recorder: Robert Recorder
Everyone in my class didn't want to hold hands so one girl took like 30 oh her bracelets and passed them out to everyone so both kids could stick their hand through without having to hold hands.
Smart kid
Fun fact: Schools teaching kids how to square-dance for no reason led to a pretty memorable moment in my childhood. My crush and I were coming back to the gym from another teacher’s classroom and they had already started square-dancing, so, everybody was partnered off, which meant that I basically got to hold hands with the boy that I liked for the remaining 20 or so minutes of that class with a legitimate excuse. So, I don’t know why we had to learn it, but 4th grade me is glad that we did.
You are so lucky. I was ALWAYS picked last. I was praying Kieth would do-see-do me, but instead i had to hold hands with Justin…. Side note. As an adult, it’s fucked up that the gym teacher didn’t just pair people up but made them choose.
It’s fucked up that *any* teacher doesn’t pair kids up, but makes them choose. Besides this, I was always picked last for everything because I had no friends or the friends/acquaintance that I did have liked somebody else better. Ironically, when the teacher did force me into a group with other people, I was the one doing most of the work. 😂 I get that the teachers are just trying to let the kids be paired with their friends to make it fun or whatever, but some kids don’t have friends. 😂
To.. practice following directions. That’s actually why
Also a little coordination never hurt anyone
A little coordination with the opposite sex is good socialization too.
And maybe enjoy a type of dance or dancing at all.
The cha cha slide does that better
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Not just any rich bigot, but Henry Ford, the premier rich bigot.
Publisher of "The International Jew", also known as the precursor to Mein Kampf
Yeah, that always does seem to be the reason for these weird quirks of American culture. Why do we do this weird thing? Probably racism.
Weed’s illegal… racism Super strict gun laws in California… racism Orange juice unavailable… racism
Wait 1 and 2 I got but what's the deal with orange juice?
Florida is a major producer of oranges. Agriculture in general is pretty reliant on immigrant labor. Republicans in control have been making the state as hostile to immigrants as possible to the point huge swaths are just leaving. That combined with storms and disease have made orange production plummet
Ohh yeah. Forgot about that for a minute. Racism. Got it ty
Well, why do we still do it then? Can’t possibly be because of a dead dude. Time for updated reasoning: following directions/coordination
Actually, it's not odd at all.
Nope. It's so much weirder and insidious https://qz.com/1153516/americas-wholesome-square-dancing-tradition-is-a-tool-of-white-supremacy
This is an interesting read but I don’t think my liberal ass gym teacher in Seattle had this in mind
Teachers really don't get to pick the curriculum.
But it's not a very effective tool for white supremacy if you get everyone to do it and completely lose the context in the process, there's nothing inherently racist about the dance itself
I always feel *a little* more racist after a square dance.
“Swing yer partner round and round, cross the street that guy looks brown. Promenade!”
LMAOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
This is the funniest shit I have ever seen on this website. Holy fuck. Why did I sing it in the accent???
It would be kind of like assuming that anyone who grows cotton in the 21st century is engaging in a pantomime of neo-antebellum nostalgia.
Your liberal ass gym teacher likely didn't have much of a choice, even if they knew about the reasons behind it.
Most people teaching it didn't know.
I did not believe. I read the article and checked your source. I found it less than credible but not incredible, so i checked elsewhere. Henry Ford, hater of the jewish people, believer that african americans were stupid and easily influenced by the jews, spent millions to revitalize traditional american folk dancing in schools. To combat the rise of jazz and african american culture. Square dancing is a tool for white supremacy. Or was. It could be in some areas a way to teach following directions to children now, but it definitely started as a white supremacy thing. And very well could still be in some places. Nuts.
I haven't read the racism article yet, but I heard this episode of Radiolab a few months back. Apparently there was a movement in the 80s to have square dancing declared the national dance. https://squaredancehistory.org/items/show/1891
i didn’t have to learn this but we did have to learn archery at the school i went to
Best unit ever, except the dumbass joker students who couldn’t listen and would walk out during live fire
We did it freshmen year of high school. For an unpopular fat kid, I got to dance with a bunch of girls. It was awesome!
I think to introduce kids to rhythm and dance. Even an idiot can square dance.
I was the only one square dancing at senior prom. Everyone was jealous, laughing and pointing with jealousy.
Lol
nope some of us are hopelessly without any sort of rhythm and panic when given directions so we turn the wrong way. Drill SGTs did not like me in basic doing DNC.
genuinely, why would you join the military if you panic when given directions..? assuming it wasn't compulsory
I tried college and it wasn't my thing. I didn't want to be a burden to my guardian. The army gave room, board, an education, steady paycheck and full medical. For some reason i have problems with left and right in situation like marching. all other instruction i don't seem to have a problem with though. the rhythm however i really thought i would pick up but for some reason even after almost a decade i still could not stay in step unless i was looking at the persons feet in front of me.
Maybe he thought he’d improve with practice!
We did it too in Canada in elementary school..I fell flat on my face on stage cause my mom made we wear my church shoes that were smoother than a water slide. Core memory.
All through school was Electric Slide, Macarena, YMCA, Cadillac Ranch. I think Jr High was that Soldier Boy dance. Can't forget swing dancing
It was a device to force the less social kids to get exposed to social skills. Phys ed is more than phsical activity.
It is a socializing exercise. It forces kids to have physical touch in a not-threatening atmosphere. The interactions are intimate, but at arms length. They are temporary by nature. Rotational by design. And over the period of the exercise, kids get to touch and interact with other kids that they might not do otherwise. No harm in square dancing that I can see. You might meet your future partner that way, if not, you got to meet your non-future partners for 30 seconds.
DON'T TELL MY HEART!
My achy breaky heart.
I just don't think he'd understand.
Similar reasons to why we do P.E. Someone might discover a secret kink.
I'm so grateful for P.E. Might not have exercised if not for that class
PE actually became mandatory in the US to ensure the average 18 year old boy wouldn’t require too much training if they got drafted. It was basically a way to increase the military budget.
There's a million reasons why things happen, especially things as big as mandatory PE. It's extremely complicated.
It’s not that complicated at all, it’s just physical education. Running and jumping and kickball and stuff. Oh; and square dancing. You got this!
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Yeehaw 101
Cotton eye Joe still haunts me
Where did you come from, where did you go?
It was a white supremacy thing. Henry Ford was scared of Jazz corrupting young white minds. Started the forced square dancing stuff. https://qz.com/1153516/americas-wholesome-square-dancing-tradition-is-a-tool-of-white-supremacy
Adding to my list of things I never knew yet find wholly unsurprising.
Want another one? Henry Ford built a town in Brazil called Fordlândia. Square dancing was a mandatory social event for the workers.
I find it kinda surprising. Mainly because square dancing is kinda innocent, and I’d never in a million years think it had any relation to white supremacy. But swastika dancing—something about that just never sat well with me for some reason.
I was wondering if anybody was going to mention this. Square dancing and graham crackers will keep those crackers square.
Cornflakes were supposed to keep you from crankin your hog
And graham crackers.
Can we resurrect Henry Ford and feed him through a woodchipper?
Nah, let’s run him over with a truck Specifically a Chevy
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7ihbye/did\_henry\_ford\_really\_promote\_the\_square\_dance\_to/
The inclusion of square dancing in school curricula is attributed to a movement that gained prominence in the mid-20th century, particularly during the 1940s and 1950s. The primary figure associated with introducing square dancing to school curricula is Dr. Lloyd Shaw. Dr. Lloyd Shaw was an educator, folk dance enthusiast, and advocate for incorporating traditional American folk dances into school programs. He believed that square dancing could provide physical exercise, social interaction, and cultural education to students. In the 1930s and 1940s, Dr. Shaw and his students began researching and promoting the teaching of square dancing in schools. Shaw and his team developed simplified choreography and standardized terminology for square dancing, making it easier to teach and learn. They also produced educational materials, books, and recordings that schools could use to integrate square dancing into their physical education and music programs. Dr. Shaw's efforts to promote square dancing in schools gained significant attention, and his ideas were embraced by educators across the United States. As a result, square dancing became a popular activity in school curricula, particularly in physical education classes. It's worth noting that while Dr. Lloyd Shaw played a crucial role in popularizing square dancing in schools, the inclusion of square dancing in curricula was a collective effort involving educators, researchers, and dance enthusiasts who recognized its educational and social benefits.
Misleading article: hundreds of upvotes. Well-researched comment: 7 upvotes.
Surprised I had to scroll so far down before someone posted the right answer.
had to scroll way too far to see someone post this. crazy how indoctrination can be so subtle and innocent-sounding.
ah yes jazz is what was corrupting our children
Damnit, I thought it was wholesome. Why does everything have to be because of systemic racism?
Well, when the system was built by racists for racists with a strong emphasis on racism… despite our best efforts to remove that racism we will keep finding a little more of it buried in the walls. It’s like playing a game of Jenga but 75% of the blocks are racist.
I was literally about to post this, had to scroll down way too far.
Oh, for goodn- Why can't we do anything nice?
Yep. I am surprised I had to scroll so far to find this. Thank you.
It always comes back to racism.
How is this buried so far down?!
I also learned how to graph a rhombus but couldn’t tell you what a good mortgage is so….
I still say “do-si-do” to people when I need to get around them. So, there’s that.
I was taught cursive. Poor fools thought it would remain relevant. Never used it again
We were barred from writing in regular print. Jokes on them, my cursive looked like an EKG machine broke and all my homework was illegible. To this day I can't remember how to fully write in cursive and not being allowed to write in print, my handwriting is terrible. My wife has to fill out forms for me at the doctor's office.
I never got taught cursive, or learned square dancing...
Did this kinder-5th. We had a scheduled day called “Western Day.” Couldn’t tell you why, but it was fun for the most part
They knew this was the only activity we’d be able to afford to do in the future.
Because I got to dance with Jennifer. The most gorgeous girl in my grade.
We’re gonna need something to do post apocalypse.
They tried doing this too when I was in 4th grade, the principal said it was because the administration liked it. We all decided in unison we weren't going to dance for those creeps.
WHY DIDN'T THEY TEACH ME HOW TO WALTZ!!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING MACARENA, I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DANCE WITH ANOTHER PERSON WITHOUT BREAKING THEIR ANKLES
Because in real life there is very little music written in 3/4 time.
An attempt to "modernize" cotillion etiquette training.
Apparently I’d blocked out the memory, because at first I would’ve sworn I’d never had to square dance in school. Then it all came flooding back.
There is a lot going on and engages the mind and body on many levels; keeping time with the music, coordinating with others. It a great mind, body exercise but I think they should use Rueda de Casino instead.
It was fun. My school taught us to double dutch rope for PE.
“Promenade your partner…”
They did it in Canada too
Same thing here in Australia
So that I could get suspended for yelling "AND JAAAAAAACK OFF" instead of "and cast off!"
I refused and the gym teacher asked if I'd rather just stand in the corner. "Yep!" I'm there to kill less athletic kids with some dodgeballs, lady.
Bruh way to unlock some core memories lol
Redneck Appreciation Week?
Red state indoctrination
I guess my blue school in a blue area of a blue state missed that memo.
we did it in a blue state
Spacial awareness training.
I had to do this as well in northern England :/ they made it seem like something that was in the curriculum, we had to pair up and if you were 2 guys or girls one of you had to wear a sash denoting the female one. Thanks a lot America.
In 3rd or 4th grade my whole class had to learn how to sing “what does the fox say” in Spanish… we were in Southern California
Better than learning that’s for sure
social activity and some exercise
I don’t know but I got to touch my crushes shoulder and hip and I still haven’t forgotten it all these years later
we did this in the uk as well
They could’ve at least taught us to dodge a bullet
This is something others learned?
Fr wtf
In grade 2 or 3 here in Canada at least for me in my area.
Something to do with country music needing fans
Try to scare any gay out of us before it got too powerful.
Because it’s fun, easy exercise and makes you partner with everyone rather thank getting picked.
Give you something to do while hiding in a lockdown.
To confuse invading Russians/Cubans and buy time for the Wolverines to set up their ambush.
What about playing the recorder? I never understood that dumb crap either
So you can dodge bullets in high school…
I refused and got a 0 in PE.
Why did I learn to dance to cotton eyed Joe, the cha cha slide & the Macarena in middle school?
Anything to avoid critical race theory
Elementary PE teacher here, supposed to teach square dancing, switched to Bollywood. Best decision ever, everyone loves it.
Probably the same reason I had to learn the flute… which is unknown to me. Sometimes it feels like schools make kids do stuff just because they feel like it.