BOISE, Idaho — Coronavirus and the internet have led to a battle for survival for several traditional pastimes.
Among them: The square dance.
It was once taught in elementary schools everywhere. Today, it's struggling to survive.
But Boise's square dancing community is experiencing a resurgence thanks to a dance hall built by club members 45 years ago, by people who refuse to let it disappear.
One of the changes responsible for the comeback? The music. "The music is changing," explains square dance caller Darin Keith. "It's not country all the time....stuff from Pitbull.... current pop hits today from the radio."
Keith has been a caller for 27 years. That means he picks the music and calls for specific dance moves. He's seen a lot of changes in his time. "Don't knock it until you try it," he says.
He has a huge library of custom songs to dance to. "Just this list here, I have 430 tracks on it," says Keith. "This is a Journey song, Anyway You Want It."
The variety of music, as well as the removal of dress codes that used to be pretty traditional, has more people driving through the front gate.
Take Jennifer Lent who did her high school senior project on square dancing, and just kept spreading the news. "I'm helping out with a 4H group that is doing square dancing, so I'm teaching 7 to 11-year-olds," says Lent. "These kids have volunteered and they want to learn how to do it. I've had some young ladies who want to learn to call, as well, so it's slowly coming back."
The walls of the Boise Square Dance Center are lined with special quilts bearing the names of local dance groups. Most of them are from the activity's heyday when the hall was built with all local support and ingenuity, including a toilet paper raffle to raise money.
"The hall bought a train car load of toilet paper," says long time dancer Dianne Bennett, "They decided that was something everybody needed. The first half carload went pretty quickly." But then interest in square dance toiletries dropped off. "They were giving it as door prizes," explains Bennett.
Think of the money they could have made when TP was at a premium during Coronavirus. Speaking of which, Covid nearly shut the place for good.
But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."As much as Covid hurt us initially," says Keith. "It's helping now get people out, cause now they want to socialize."
There's no alcohol, there's no indoor smoking and they say families love it. And who knows, every now and then, what's old is new again. "Don't believe the stereotypes, there's a lot of them out there," says Keith through a sly smile, "It's not just for old people."
So if you want to get off the old social media and the phone clicking and get out, socialize, and have some fun with real people, well, they've got lessons all summer long.
Square dancing is a piece of Americana. So much so that 31 states in the union have picked the square dance as their state dance, including Idaho.
For more information on upcoming dances and lessons call 208-517-8726.
