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The Western New York Federation of Square and Round Dancers

About Us

The Western New York Federation of Square and Round Dancers is a regional organization of dance clubs in the Rochester area, as well as parts of the Buffalo and Finger Lakes regions. The Federation’s purpose is to promote interest in round dancing and square dancing through a variety of activities, and to provide a forum for coordination among its affiliated clubs as well as the Callers Co–op or Rochester. The Federation’s executive Board meets with club representatives most months to keep clubs up–to–date and help coordinate inter–club activities.

The premier Federation–organized event is the annual Dance–O–Rama festival, generally held on the first weekend in May. A new dinner dance event is being planned for September.

If you are new to square dancing, be sure to click HERE for an overview of this enjoyable and healthy activity.

Our Clubs

Just about every evening (and even some afternoons) there is a club dancing somewhere in our area: Auburn, Batavia, Bath, Campbell, Chili, Dalton, Fulton, Geneva, Henrietta, Penfield, Penn Yan, Pittsford, Rochester (Commons Way, Maiden Lane, Mt. Read Blvd.), Snyder, and Webster. For contact information on our affiliates, see Club Listings and Caller Listings elsewhere on this website.

Many of these clubs offer instruction in square dancing and/or round dancing. Clubs often begin the season with an “Open House” event geared to those with no dancing experience at all. Most of these occur in September but some occur in January. Click HERE for a listing. Most clubs that hold an Open House also offer instruction for beginners.

Our Website

Green buttons on the “Federation” page will take you to details about our organization and its activities, including meeting dates, meeting minutes and other items of interest. Scroll this page to find seasonal articles.

Our Facebook Page

For announcements, photos and “late-breaking” news you can follow us on Facebook at Square Dancing Rochester.

Quarterly News

This web site is also home to our quarterly online news publication, the Promenader. There you will find schedule information, articles, and flyers covering the activities of our many round and square dance clubs. A new issue is posted every three months — on the first day of March, June, September, and December. Each new issue contains fresh news and updated schedule information, open house and class listings.

Support for New Dancer Recruitment and Retention

The WNYF helps its member clubs to attract and retain new dancers by reimbursing part or all of their promotion and recruitment expenses. This support comes via two different programs. The program descriptions and downloadable forms are provided in the “WNYF Forms” section (or click HERE).

Helping Clubs Increase the Number of Dancers Who Visit From Other Clubs

Banner Stealing is a fun way for clubs to draw visiting dancers from other clubs. Dancers from your club attend another club’s dance and, by demonstrating dancing skills and good will, earn the right to bring home their “traveling” banner … then dancers from the other club will have to come to one of your dances to earn it back. It’s a great way to enlarge your circle of dancing friends. The WNYF facilitates this attendance-boosting activity by identifying participating clubs on the WNYF website (on the CLUBS page) and by publishing the Banner Stealing Rules.