Initially, musicians did not call the dances; however, similar to earlier country dances and minuets, musicians memorized the steps and figures after being taught at dancing schools. The cotillions, introduced by many French dance terminology and figures, were led by American and newly arrived French dancing masters and are still in use to date.
As early as the eighteenth century, enslaved people danced white dances and started dancing European dances. African Americans provided music for whites at dancing schools and balls throughout the century. The African Americans became exposed to European dance figures as dancing masters taught their students.
The earliest dance callers’ references, all of whom were African Americans, can be traced to shortly after the French quadrilles and cotillion’s introduction in America. The suggestion associated with the references is that calling might have evolved in the African American culture, which was an alternative to the formal instructions received by white dancers at dancing schools. Morton Marks and John Szwed suggest that square dance calling is “at least partly rooted in the older tradition in which African master drummers signal and direct dancers” (Jamison, 2003).
As square dance calling was invented, attending dancing school to learn dance figures was no longer essential. Dance calling was a necessity at slave frolics; however, at some point, black musicians started calling out white dancers’ figures as well. Based on Benjamin Henry’s suggestion, the only nuisance in the United States Capital competition of the south wing was a tall, ill-dressed black in the music gallery. The African American “played tambourine standing up, and in a forced and vile voice, called the figures as they changed” (Jamison, 2003).
In the early nineteenth century, free and enslaved blacks played for public dances throughout the country at resort hotels situated at natural springs. One example of such natural springs is the Sulphur Springs Hotel in 1831, where the musicians playing were familiar with the calling practice. The musicians called out quadrilles and cotillion figures and may have played a role in dance-calling dissemination into the Appalachian region.
Reference
Jamison, P. A. (2003). Square dance calling: The African-American connection. Journal of Appalachian Studies, 9(2), 387-398.