After 23 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, I moved to Southeastern Florida in August 2004. On occasion, I call a bit for the South Florida Mustangs & am looking for other calling dates/clubs in the area!

Calling Modern Western Squares since 1989, I was club caller for El Camino Reelers in Palo Alto and taught beginners classes for Foggy City Dancers in San Francisco where I also did some calling/teaching for Midnight Squares.

I am also a caller coach, working with both new and experienced callers. I've been on the staff of the GCA callers' school, Rhythm Records callers' school, and the Northeast callers' school.

I am a member of CALLERLAB, and a past president of the Gay Callers Association. I was a member of the Santa Clara Valley Callers Association. I am BMI & ASCAP licensed. I call everything from fun nights through C1. I also call Contras.
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Anne was born and grew up in Peterborough, Ontario, of Scottish parents who shared with her their interest and  talent in music.  They all played instruments in the home, and Anne who has been playing since age 7, has a musical expertise that extends to the accordion, saxophone, and clarinet.  As a teenager, Anne and her Dad played at a local dinner club (background music for dining).

Anne's parents were very much into ballroom dancing.  As a child Anne knew nothing of square dancing.  After finishing high school her parents took square-dancing lessons.  When a local Mainstream caller was having a weekend dancing campout that her parents were planning to attend, they invited Anne to come along to swim, enjoy the outdoors, or whatever since she had no specific plans for that weekend.  It turned out that the dance was one person short of an additional square and Anne was drafted to fill in.  After three days and a lot of push, pull, and shove, she was dancing (almost at Plus level) - and she was hooked!

Anne began dancing at the local Mainstream club, enjoying it immensely and became friends with local dancers, Jean and Dave Johnstone.  Dave approached her one night to ask if she might be interested in dancing a higher level.  Anne exclaimed that she thought she was dancing the top level!  She did not know there was anything higher, and when she was invited to go with them to Toronto she was really excited at the prospects.  She did go and hardly understood anything said the entire evening.  After it was all over she was acutely aware that there's a a lot more to square dancing than she had ever dreamed, and thought, "That's for me!"  Anne started calling in 1976 for a children's group and has progressed to call for all dancing levels from Basic to C4.

A strong "home" program for Squares Across the Border Monday through Thursday complements an equally busy traveling schedule on the weekends that may find her calling anywhere from Vancouver to Florida, Boston to San Francisco and across the miles to Japan and Europe. Some of the calling highlights she is really proud of are her calling assignments at the numerous IAGSDC Conventions in Canada and the United States, the Canadian Challenge Convention, the National Challenge Convention, and the Academy of Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts. Anne's relaxed style and easy listening voice have won her many square dance friends at all the dancing levels.

Anne resides in Burnaby, British Columbia, with her son Todd.
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Betsy Gotta of North Brunswick, New Jersey has been square dancing for 57 and calling for 46 years. As a full-time caller Betsy currently calls regularly for 5 square dance clubs, Basic through C3B. She calls all programs from Contra through C-3B and is an accredited Callerlab Caller Coach.

Averaging approximately 300 dances/classes per year, she has also attended the last 48 consecutive National Square Dance conventions, and called at the last 46 of them. In addition to her regular home calling program, Betsy travels throughout the United States & Canada for guest calling engagements, weekends, festivals, SD camping groups, and callers' schools. Her weekends include Wakefield , VA, Cherry Ridge, PA, Rehobeth, DE, Harper's Ferry, MD, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Cleveland, San Diego, and Toronto.. Her festivals have included the Richmond Festival, the Border Booster Festival in Montreal, Peel the Apple in New York, Star Spangled Festival in MD, Stars and Squares Forever in Washington, DC, Palm Springs Dance Fest in CA, Crack the Crab in Baltimore, MD, and Stars Across the Border in Toronto, Ont. She has done callers' schools and clinics in NY, NJ, DC, FL, WI, MN, OH, PA, Canada, and England. Betsy also is the featured caller for instructional videos produced by Square Dance Videos Inc. and sold by Gottadance Videos, and has recorded for County Line and Desert Gold Records. Betsy is currently serving her 4th term on the Board of Governors and has just completed her first term on the Executive Committee of Callerlab, was a member of the Executive Committee of Legacy, was the General Chairman of the 1992 New Jersey State Square Dance Convention, and helps her husband Roy teach round dancing. She is a founding member of the Callers' Council of NJ (and its current President), a charter member of the Square Dance Council of NJ (and its current Chairman), and with her husband Roy, a member of the Northern NJ Round Dance Leader's Council and Roundalab.

In 2001, at the IAGSDC Convention in Vancouver, Betsy received the Golden Boot Award, for her efforts to bridge the gap between gay and straight square dance clubs.

In 2006, at the CALLERLAB Convention in Charlotte, Betsy received the Milestone Award, CALLERLAB's highest honor, for her numerous contributions to the square dance activity.
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Bill shows his joy of camaraderie through dancing in his lively, colorful calling style.  Comfortable with calling and teaching from easy level through the Challenge 2 programs, Bill is able to entertain dancers and leave them wanting more. Since starting as a teacher and caller in 1984, he has developed his own trademark style with specialty squares dances like true “Hexagons” and with older traditional style moves mixed in with modern choreography.

Calling Albuquerque, New Mexico his base of operations for over 21 years, Bill has gained the friendship of dancers all over North America and Britain in calling at over 70 festivals, flyins, and conventions. He lives in a Brady Bunch-style home in Albuquerque with its own dance hall, and with his biggest supporter, Danny Lee.
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Dayle was introduced to square dancing over spring break in 1981. His parents took him to a dance to watch. Having been raised to recognize patterns, he was immediately drawn to the dancing and the caller. His parents took him home, gave him a book to learn the calls and took him to a dance the next night. He screwed up every call and repeatedly apologized to his partner. He went home and studied, and the next night went to another dance and “got it.”

Back at college, Dayle joined the local square dance club and met Norm Shaffor, one of the Pittsburgh area callers. Norm took Dayle under his wing and the two were inseparable for the next 3 years. They haven’t been able to pry the microphone out of Dayle’s hands ever since.

In 1984, Dayle moved to the Washington DC area and became the caller for a singles club. There, a DC Lambda Squares member heard Dayle call and asked him to call an “audition dance” for DCLS . At the dance, Dayle took 20 seconds to change records between tips. When he turned around, everyone was squared up immediately for the next tip. He immediately thought “Ah … my people!!”  He’s been their club caller for the last 25 years.

Dayle has had the honor of calling for six IAGSDC conventions starting with NYC’s Peel the Apple, in 1989. He’s also called numerous fly-ins and weekends for Independence Squares, Lambda Squares, Chesapeake Squares, Times Squares, Iron City Squares, Chi-Town Squares, Cleveland City Country Dancers and Boston Uncommons, to name a few. Dayle is the club caller for DC Lambda Squares and Baltimore’s Chesapeake Squares. He is a proud member of GCA and CallerLab.  Dayle calls through Mainstream through C3B.

When not calling, Dayle loves hanging out with his 2 beautiful daughters Callie and Erin, his Girlfriend Kathy Z and his fun little puppy Kadon.
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Deborah Carroll-Jones was an elementary teacher for 7 years before she quit to begin her family. Deborah began square dancing in 1979 and began her caller apprenticeship in 1982. She called her first dance in 1983 and has been calling full-time since 1984. Deborah calls through A-2.

She received professional vocal instruction from Dwaine Douglas in Walnut, CA from 1990-1997. He has been instrumental in developing Deborah's 3+ octave range and adding variety to her singing style.

She has a daughter, Erin (21), who cued round dances for a few years in her teens, but then quit to pursue other interests. On June 24, 2001, Deborah married Jon Jones, a world-renowned caller and Accredited Caller Coach. They work together as well as separately and now reside in Texas.
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Born in the mountains of Western North Carolina on April, 21, 1965, I have been exposed to blue grass music and Appalachian style square dancing from a very early age. In high school, I danced with the high school clogging team in the senior precision division and won several competitions.

I learned very early in that experience that competition takes all the fun out of dancing. During this same time, my parents started taking lessons for Western Style Square Dancing. My father was very reluctant at first but soon became the biggest fan of square dancing.

I tagged along with mom and dad to dances and especially the big festivals in Gatlinburg, TN and Myrtle Beach, SC. I was treated like royalty by all their friends and just loved the fun with no competition, this really grabbed my attention. Then one night in 1981 at an all plus dance in Hendersonville, NC, I tagged along with my parents and they needed one “man” to dance so 7 dancers would not have to sit out….. ALL PLUS…. I agreed to give it a try and I have been square dancing ever since that night.

In the fall of 1983, the club caller for a local club had an accident a few nights before the first night of class. He called and asked if I was willing to use his equipment and get the class started for him. I met with him the night before the class and he explained how to get everyone started and what to teach. His injury was worse than originally thought and I ended up teaching and graduating my first class in the Spring of 1984. I received my 25 year certificate from Callerlab this year.(2009)

Currently I call from the mainstream program through A2 and I am currently studying to add C1 and C2 to that list. I enjoy teaching new dancers just as much as calling the opening tip of a weekend-long festival, fly-in or convention. One square on the floor or 50 squares on the floor, it is all fun and exciting.

I currently live in Fairview, NC with my partner, our two cats and three parrots. We both enjoy square dancing along with traveling, scuba diving and many other activities.
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John was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He began his calling career there in 1969. Four years later a change in his day job brought him to Northern Virginia. He currently resides in Sterling near Washington D.C. John regularly calls every program from Basic through C-3B as well as party nights.

John has worked to develop a strong program in his community. The program includes home clubs ranging through Challenge 2. In addition to these clubs, John also teaches classes and workshops to support the continued growth of these groups.

This home program is accented by John's out of town calling commitments which have taken him all over the United States and Canada, and overseas to Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, and Australia.

Becoming a full time caller in 1979 gave John more time to work at his chosen profession. Consequently he has chaired committees as a Callerlab member, and is serving an elected term on the Board of Governors. John is currently the Chairman of Callerlab. He is very proud to be serving in this capacity. John enjoys serving as a clinician, panelist, and presenter at workshops and schools for callers.

During his career he has been a regular contributor to various square dancer and caller publications, he has appeared on television a variety of times, and as a talented singer has served as a recording artist for Sets in Order, 4 Bar B Records, and Red Boot Records.

John is always working to expand his music and choreographic knowledge, as well as his showmanship abilities in order to bring you the best square dancing possible.
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JR began square dancing back in 1978 in his home town of Haverhill MA. His first club was the Dancin Singles. It was a young 16-year-old girl that got JR into the world of square dance. If she only knew. JR learned the entire MS through plus program in about 3 months and was soon the envy of all the single ladies in the square dance world, even if 99% of them were over 60 years old.

JR also took to round dancing pretty quickly and before you knew under the mentorship of Carol McGee, wife of Bill McGee, JR's first teacher and caller, he was soon cueing round dancing at the club and around the area.

It was during a trip to Cambridge, MA with the club JR first visited, the a TECH Squares at M.I.T., that discovered that young people also enjoyed the world of square dancing.

Over the time that JR lived in Boston he considers himself very fortunate to have learned and danced to some of the great names of square dancing such as Jim Mayo, Don Beck and Jim Pulaski to name just a few.

It was at a class night at MIT in 1999 that JR overheard some people talking about going to a dance in New York City and that the club there was GAY. "OMG, NO WAY" JR thought to himself. There were actually gay square dance clubs. With this revelation JR decided to attend the 1999 Peel the Pumpkin fly-in.

Shortly after the fly-in, JR moved to Key West, Florida for work. Then in 2000 when he decided to attend the IAGSDC in Baltimore, his first gay convention, he meet Kent Hunt who was from Atlanta. Well after JR told him he would be moving there shortly, they decided that Atlanta needed a gay square dance club. About 6 months later JR received a phone call from Kent saying they were putting together a group and meeting at his living room. He accepted the invitation and joined the first 8 people dancing to tapes.

It was during a class with one of the tapes that the class was confused. The tapes were just not great and the caller was really not explaining things well. JR jumped in and said " well this is how I was taught this call many years ago," and proceeded to show the group how it was done. JR was then pronounced caller, of course with no experience whatsoever.

With a challenge in hand JR took to teaching himself how to call, pretty much just making it up as he went along. Over time he began to improve and taught the first official class of the Hotlanta Squares.

Since then JR has gone on to call for clubs in the Georgia area. He has called the State, National, and IAGSDC Conventions. He has several regular clubs in the metro Atlanta area he calls for and is excited to be on the 2011 caller staff for the IAGSDC convention in Atlanta, GA..
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I began square dancing in 1983 at the age of 21, with the express goal of becoming a caller. I started calling almost immediately, and before 12 months had elapsed I was hired as club caller for two local clubs. I like to think that dancers today know me for a pleasant singing voice, an exciting high energy presentation style, and a highly technical yet easy to understand teaching methodology.

During the 80s and 90s I called squares full time, traveling extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan. I have now reduced my traveling schedule and work full-time during the day as a Systems Analyst for Technicolor in Camarillo, California. I teach beginner level thru C3a on a weekly basis, and call for special events and local dances on most weekends. In addition to these events I call three to four weeks in Europe every year, and one to two weeks in Japan every few years.

I make my home in Northridge, Ca, a Los Angeles suburb. I have two children, ages 13 and 14, that are proficient at plus level dancing (among other things) and can occasionally be found accompanying me to square dance events.

I have shared the calling privileges for Tinseltown Squares in Los Angeles with Paul Waters for the past ten years. During this time I have tended toward teaching Challenge programs, while Paul has tended toward teaching Beginner and Advanced programs. If you're in West Hollywood on a Monday or Tuesday night be sure to look us up.

I was a featured caller at the IAGSDC Annual Convention for the first time in 1999 - Lights, Camera, Linear Action in Los Angeles. Since that time I have called for over 20 club fly-ins, and many other special events. Gone With The Windmill will be the seventh IAGSDC Convention that I am attending as a featured caller. If you're reading this prior to the Convention, I hope you'll make it a priority to attend. If you're already here, I hope you'll find it a wonderful experience. I'm honored to call for you!!
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"And I'm the one with the low voice".  Whenever introductions take place, this is the statement she makes.  Wait a minute!  Did we say she?  Yes, Saundra Bryant is a female caller whose deep voice is only one of her many assets of her chosen career.
Saundra (or Sandie, as she is affectionately called) has been behind the microphone since 1979, but her introduction to square dancing came almost twenty years earlier.
In 1960, Saundra was inducted into the Hashers Jrs. by her Girl Scout leader and close family friend, Swersie Dumetz Norris.  Swerzie was the caller for both the adult group, the Hashers and the youth group, the Hashers Jrs.  The latter consisted of the offspring, friends, and any other children that could be recruited.  These children's affection for their caller led them to caller "Momma D", what was later shortened to "Mom" by Sandie and several of the other children.
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I started dancing in 1973 in a teen club where I met my future wife Debbie. We started dancing advanced level in 1977 (while we were in high school). A year later we started learning challenge and I developed an interest in calling. I occasionally walked our tape group through some material that I had written. Later I tried 'calling' the material accompanied by taped music. After that, I purchased a Hilton sound system and microphone and jumped into learning how to call.

I started calling in November 1981 (at the challenge level). I currently call at levels Basic through C4. I have taught classes at all levels from Basic through C3B.

I am a self-taught caller and have never attended a caller's school as a student (whether this is good or bad is debatable). However, I have taken about six months of weekly voice lessons, and have learned calling skills from observing other callers and listening to criticism and comments made by callers and dancers.

I have called in 20 states and 7 countries (other than USA).
I've called at the National Square Dance Convention in Birmingham (1985), Houston (1987), and Anaheim (1988).
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