In the 18th century taking lessons with a dancing master was a custom of the old-world establishment, the wealthy and powerful. Among revolutionaries looking to shake off the Crown, dancing symbolized unearned privilege, a let-them-eat cake attitude.
The Puritans were also opposed to dancing for reasons that are probably obvious. Furthermore, in late 18th-, early 19th-century America, "The debate over the morality of social dancing was waged not only between religiously driven adversary and the public, but also between adversary and dance master. The dance master, despite his growing popularity in the post-Revolutionary and antebellum period, was thoroughly rebuked by dance opponents. Regarded by dance antagonists as ambassadors of the devil's work, dance masters were frequently forced into itinerant work, gaining private employment by families and organizations preparing to host a ball." https://archive.ph/krwjc
People into square dancing didn't hire dancing masters, as far as I know, probably because it's a variety of folk dance. Also, square dance callers were usually of dubious origin and motive, as this educational video illustrates, and participants were not above cross-dressing, in a precursor to today's trans-sexual fad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Wlj20y7tw
In the 18th century taking lessons with a dancing master was a custom of the old-world establishment, the wealthy and powerful. Among revolutionaries looking to shake off the Crown, dancing symbolized unearned privilege, a let-them-eat cake attitude.
The Puritans were also opposed to dancing for reasons that are probably obvious. Furthermore, in late 18th-, early 19th-century America, "The debate over the morality of social dancing was waged not only between religiously driven adversary and the public, but also between adversary and dance master. The dance master, despite his growing popularity in the post-Revolutionary and antebellum period, was thoroughly rebuked by dance opponents. Regarded by dance antagonists as ambassadors of the devil's work, dance masters were frequently forced into itinerant work, gaining private employment by families and organizations preparing to host a ball." https://archive.ph/krwjc
OK, so where does square dancing fit in to all that? Are the callers the descendants of the dance masters, chased into the backwoods?
People into square dancing didn't hire dancing masters, as far as I know, probably because it's a variety of folk dance. Also, square dance callers were usually of dubious origin and motive, as this educational video illustrates, and participants were not above cross-dressing, in a precursor to today's trans-sexual fad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Wlj20y7tw