About CALLERLAB

CALLERLAB is the international association of square dance callers. We are club callers, festival callers and traveling callers. We are active callers who share an interest in preserving and promoting the best of square dancing. Through our work on committees and attendance at annual Conventions, we have done much to make square dancing a popular worldwide recreation.

CALLERLAB exists to improve square dancing: To recruit, promote, and maintain the square dance activity. As an organization of square dance callers, it is our mission to provide education and guidance to the leaders of our activity. CALLERLAB also maintains a suggested list of dancing programs, from Mainstream through C-3A.

CALLERLAB Profile

CALLERLAB is an organization of leaders in the square dance community, a group of leaders dedicated to recruiting and teaching new dancers to appreciate the joys of square dancing. As callers, we have a responsibility to take an active role in promoting and perpetuating our square dance activity.

CALLERLAB is always striving to improve our activity. If you are a caller who likes to make things happen, then we need you to get involved in CALLERLAB and its policy making decisions.

CALLERLAB Members are dedicated ambassadors for the square dance community. Recruiting and teaching new dancers is one of the most important contributions we can make to the activity and is vital to the success of the square dancing. It is our job, as callers to convince new dancers that square dancing is, indeed, fun.

CALLERLAB held its first convention in 1974, however, the roots of CALLERLAB go back to the mid-1960's. CALLERLAB has been working in many ways to help square dancing since then. To help everyone understand CALLERLAB and what CALLERLAB is doing, we offer the following list of accomplishments.

Universal Dance Programs. More than 20 years ago, CALLERLAB members developed dance programs that have been accepted world-wide. These dance programs let you go anywhere in the world and dance.
Universal Call Definitions. CALLERLAB members documented and negotiated an international agreement on the definition of all the calls we use. For the first time ever, calls were taught the same way in California as they were in New England—or "old" England, Germany, and everywhere else.
Publications and Training Material. CALLERLAB has printed and published thousands of pages of documents and other materials to assist callers and dancers. These documents and materials are used by dancers and callers everywhere, including the members of other square dance and caller organizations.
Supporting the National Square Dance Convention. CALLERLAB members are featured in nearly all of the calling slots at the National Square Dance Convention and conduct caller training sessions at the Convention.
Training New Callers. CALLERLAB has established a Caller-Coach program to improve caller skills and thereby better serve dancers. CALLERLAB also provides a broad range of caller training sessions at its annual convention.
Music Licensing. When BMI & ASCAP threatened clubs in the U.S. with license fees for every dance, CALLERLAB and ROUNDALAB, working together, negotiated a new form of licensing so dance leaders could take over this obligation from the clubs.

CALLERLAB Mission Statement

The CALLERLAB Mission Statement is: As a professional organization, drawn together by our love of the activity, we work to serve square dancing and associated dance forms by providing professional leadership, educational materials, and a common means for exchanging communications through a central office and a yearly international convention. We do this by fostering:

1. Open communication among callers, dancers, and leaders of the activity.

2. High standards of dance practice, responsibility, and ethics among all leaders of dancing.

3. Continuing education and training of callers and associated dance leaders, by establishing standard curriculum, training materials, and accreditation standards.

4. Increased awareness of the fun and benefits of square dancing and associated dance forms

5. Cooperation with other organizations promoting recreational dancing.