26-05-2025
Square dancing club in Glenview celebrating 75 years of do-si-do
It's much harder than it looks, but there are several clubs in the Chicago area where you can learn square dancing.
One of those clubs, Glenview Squares, is celebrating a major milestone.
There are dozens of people on the dance floor at the Glenview Squares dinner dance, but they're organized and orderly.
The group has been do-si-doing for 75 years. It started back in 1950, and there are about 100 members to date.
"We're still here. I'm really proud of us," Janice Cha said.
Cha handles publicity for the group. She's also danced with the Glenview Squares for over 20 years.
"When the music is good, and the calls are challenging me, and when I'm with people I like, I'm in a zone and I can dance without stopping for like three hours," she said.
"It's really a great feeling," Carolyn Lopez said
Lopez is another Glenview Squares dancer.
"It gets you away from other things in your life that could be problems for you."
Cha explains how a square dance works.
"You need four couples, they start in a square, they're all facing each other, and then the caller will begin to, you know, bow to your partner, bow to your corner, and then will give a sequence of calls that move you across the square, across the side, various places ..."
And you can't just get on the dance floor, you have to take classes and learn 50 different calls just to start.
Lopez and Cha said that builds teamwork, and teamwork builds friendships. For them, that's one of the best parts of square dancing.
"The activity is great, being able to have those relationships is really good," Lopez said.
"People just don't know how to connect anymore, and this is a really overlooked," Cha said. "I know square dancing sounds kinda yesteryear, kinda grandparents, but it's kinda really a best kept secret."
The season just wrapped up, but several summer dances are scheduled to keep everyone moving.
Square dancing isn't exclusively tied to country music. The dances feature all kinds of tunes.
