Used to be that square dancing could be found in almost any American city or town, danced by young and old, black and white, urban and rural folks alike. Today, it’s making a comeback as people re-discover the joy of a foot-stomping, rollicking, barn-shaking dance party.
Never been square dancing before? Don’t worry! It’s easy to learn and requires no previous experience. You don’t need to bring a partner or wear any special outfit. We always have live music and a caller to walk you through the dances.
Who are we?
The DC Square Dance Collective is a group of music and dance lovers who volunteer their time to make the dance happen. We are, in no particular order: Janine Smith, Bradley Kennedy, Stan Fowler, Michael Lyons, Brent Feito, Andie Hunt, Dave Hauver, Anna Purinton, Joel Bluestein, Don Fahey, Jim Serfass, and Lucia Schaefer. Past members include Paul Brown, Julia Feder, Rose Mohan, Brandt Ryder, Kaitlin Rienzo-Stack, Scott Prouty, Gabe Popkin, Kaythi Han, Kathryn Urban, David Koehler-Stanescu, and Cynthia Connolly.
We’re looking for new Collective members! Email dcsquaredance@gmail.com if you’re interested in joining or to learn more.
Booking
Please email dcsquaredance@gmail.com if you are interested in calling or playing our dance, or if you’d like to bring a square dance to your venue.
Partners
- St. Stephens Church is an amazing institution in Columbia Heights, providing affordable event and meeting space for a huge variety of community organizations.
- Many thanks to the Friends of Peirce Mill for organizing our beautiful outdoor dance each summer in Rock Creek Park!
Media
- Thanks to the students at GW for voting us best place to go dancing in Best of Northwest 2025!
- Washingtonian Magazine snapped these sweet pics of our 2024 summer outdoor dance at Peirce Mill ✨
- Here’s a nice Washington Post story from 2019
- Throwback to the early days- Washington City Paper is right, it doesn’t get more wholesome than this
Safe space policy
The DC Square Dance is intended to be a safe, welcoming space for all dancers. Disruptive, aggressive, threatening, harassing, dangerous, or inappropriate behavior has no place here and will not be tolerated. We encourage a culture of proactive consent: If you are unsure whether a particular dancer wants to interact with you in a particular way, ask.
If anybody is behaving in a way that makes the dance less safe for you or for another dancer, please speak with one of the volunteers who help run the dance so that we can address the issue. Volunteers can be found at the front entrance table and throughout the hall. If you wish to make a report after the dance is over, please email dcsquaredance@gmail.com
Other square dances we ❤️ around the mid-Atlantic
- Richmond VA square dance
- Baltimore MD square dance
- Capon Bridge WV square dance
- West Philly PA square dance
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