Women Callers - modern square dance

WOMEN CALLERS IN MODERN SQUARE DANCING
Jim Mayo

This exhibit is a work in progress. While we have many links to examples of women calling on this web site, we know of several others that we hope to add to the collection. As they become available we will add them and provide the links that will make the connections.

There have been women calling square dances for a very long time. They were not abundant in the formative years of the modern square dance movement but several were well known and played important roles. The patter style of delivery focused attention on voice quality and many dancers felt that the higher pitch of most women's voices did not make for comfortable listening in that style.

In spite of that, there were a few widely recognized and highly regarded woman callers in the early years of modern square dancing (MWSD). They were not usually as widely traveled as their male counterparts but often, in their own areas, were very popular. In 1984 Sets In Order magazine published an article written, probably, by the editor, Bob Osgood, discussing some of the unique concerns that women callers face.

In addition to those mentioned in this article, this site has videos of other women callers. These can be found with a search by name. Among them are: Judy Ryder, Susan Kevra, Kathy Anderson, Carrie Masters, Jean Alve, Caroline Oakley, Sandy Bradley and Lori Morin.