You could say Lila West was born square dancing.
In fact, West was born the day after her parents spent the night twirling around a dance floor, and with a deep-rooted family history of dancing, it was surely already in her blood. Her parents and grandparents met at square dances, and West and her siblings grew up going to dances at least once a month.
West, a Hadley resident and teacher at Hampshire Regional High School, still enjoys square dancing, but now also calls at dances, including at a recent event in Ashfield.
“It just happened by accident,” West said on her first time calling a dance. “There’s this one song where the caller has a dramatic pause, and everybody has to wait, and then they kick in, and you keep going. The caller was sort of being a wise guy and taking too long, so I got playfully irritated and I sang the rest of the song.”
West explained that in square dancing, songs are made up of instructions for different dance moves, strung together in different patterns. If you go to enough dances, you can eventually recognize the patterns, and at this particular event in Chesterfield, she knew the song well enough to step in, take the mic from caller Bob Livingston, and call the rest of the dance.
“Before the pandemic, we would have monthly dances in the fall and spring, and what happens is that if you have been many many times, it’s like hearing your favorite songs on the radio. You know the words and you sing along,” West said.
West has certainly been to enough square dances to be able to recognize the patterns and call a dance herself. She said that square dancing is a big tradition in her family; when she was growing up, she and her siblings would dance often and use special occasions as an excuse to hold a dance.
“My sister and I both had graduation parties with dances; we have thrown my parents an anniversary party as a square dance and my cousins got married and had a square dance,” West said.
Not only did square dances play a role in celebrating the family’s big moments, West said, but square dances also helped shape the trajectory of her family. Her grandparents met at a square dance, and West’s grandmother told her that after her grandfather asked her to dance, she knew they would spend the rest of their lives together.
“When he held me in his arms I knew that’s where I belonged,” West recounted her grandmother telling her.
She said square dances now have a different “vibe” than they did when she was growing up, and are certainly different from when her parents and grandparents grew up.
West said back in the day, her parents could go square dancing every weekend if they wanted to, and often had different options for dances on the same night. Now, square dances do not occur as frequently and are held as special events rather than weekly or even monthly.
She added that as callers, band members, and regular dancers have aged and been unable to travel to square dances as frequently, the events don’t happen as often, but when they do, they see even more attendees than when they were held on a regular basis.
These post-pandemic events also see a lot more newcomers, West said. While she misses the feeling of dancing with partners who also know the dances, she’s happy to teach new dancers and prove “anyone can square dance.”
West has danced with partners who are blind, deaf, old and young.
“Anybody can do it. Really, everybody is welcome,” West said. “You don’t have to know how.”
After that first accidental calling, West began gradually calling more frequently. Callers at other dances would invite her to lead a song or two, and she grew more and more confident in her ability to call. Eventually, she was asked to call a dance on her own and lead a square dance for some local Girl Scouts.
As a caller, West said she prefers simpler dances that are easier to teach and easier for dancers to get into a groove with.
“I want everybody to feel good about being there,” West said. “I love the songs that everyone can sing along to, I love the patterns and how once you can see the way the dance is gonna play out physically, you can just follow the pattern and it feels like riding a bike.”
West said she encourages everyone to try square dancing.
“There’s no better feeling. When I was a kid, I would describe it as flying,” West said. “When you’re going fast, and when everyone’s enjoying it and the music, songs and beat, it’s just fun … It’s always a good time and I’m in my happy place there.”