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Topeka, Kansas, while not one of the many U.S. states to lay claim on the square dance as their state dance, does boast the official headquarters of Callerlab, otherwise known as the International Square Dance Caller Association, the largest square dance association in the United States, boasting members from as far away as Germany and Saudi Arabia. Its history is as American as America’s love affair with square dance, as American as Dr. Lloyd, “Pappy” Shaw.

Dr. Lloyd Shaw, a man largely regarded as single-handedly keeping square dance interest alive in the early part of the twentieth century, worked for the Cheyenne Mountain schools of Colorado throughout the early 1900s. During that time he developed an appreciation for square dance, its history and particularly the caller’s art, later taking to travelling, documenting dancing and calls, writing books and eventually giving hugely popular seminars on his chosen subject.

Graduates of Pappy Shaw’s master classes started classes of their own, keeping the web of knowledge and interest growing. It’s likely the founding fathers of Callerlab felt Dr. Shaw’s benevolent shadow upon them when they convened almost twenty years after his death to create the charter for The International Square Dance Caller Association.