So you've mastered Plus level. You can hit your squares reliably, recover from a botched call without panicking, and maybe you've even started recognizing choreography patterns before the caller finishes the phrase. You're ready for Advanced—but what you're not ready for is the shock of walking into an A1 or A2 dance and realizing how much the game changes.
This guide is for intermediate dancers making the leap into Advanced (and eventually Challenge). Here's what actually shifts, what skills to build now, and how to avoid the common mistakes that send promising dancers back to Plus-level comfort.
The Real Difference: It's Not Just Harder Calls
Advanced square dancing isn't simply "Plus with more vocabulary." The entire texture of the dance changes.
| Aspect | Plus Level | Advanced Level |
|---|---|---|
| Tempo | Moderate; forgiving pauses | Faster; minimal recovery time between calls |
| Tolerance for breakdowns | High; squares often restart casually | Lower; frequent breakdowns disrupt the evening |
| Etiquette expectations | Social and relaxed | More formal; finishing squares properly matters |
| Body flow emphasis | Present but forgiving | Critical; poor mechanics slow the square |
| Mental load | Manageable in real time | Requires anticipation and pattern recognition |
If Plus feels like a friendly conversation, Advanced is closer to a collaborative sprint. The good news? That intensity is exactly what makes it exhilarating.
Know the Landscape: CALLERLAB Program Levels
Before you commit, understand where Advanced sits in the official hierarchy. CALLERLAB, the international association of square dance callers, maintains standardized dance programs:
- Mainstream — the entry point for most dancers
- Plus — the traditional "second tier," where many social dancers plateau
- Advanced — split into A1 and A2, introducing significantly more complex formations and concepts
- Challenge — C1, C2, C3A, C3B, C4, where dancing approaches an athletic art form
Most dancers who "go Advanced" start with A1. Don't rush into A2 until A1 choreography feels routine rather than reactive.
Building Your Advanced Vocabulary
At the Advanced level, calls aren't just longer—they're more structurally complex. You'll encounter concepts like fractionalizing, concentric formations, and multiple-plane thinking.
Here are representative A1/A2 calls that illustrate the jump in complexity:
- Checkpoint — dancers work in two overlapping groups simultaneously
- Coordinate — requires precise identification of leaders, trailers, and ends in lines
- Relay the Deucey — an extended, flowing call with multiple parts and changing roles
- Spin Chain the Gears — builds on Plus-level knowledge but adds timing and position layers
- Trade By — while this appears in Mainstream, Advanced variants and surrounding context make it mechanically demanding
Pro tip: Don't just memorize definitions. Study how these calls resolve. Advanced dancers often recognize the ending formation before the call is complete, which buys precious fractions of a second.
Three Skills That Separate Good Advanced Dancers
1. Mental Image Training
Advanced dancing frequently demands that you execute calls from unusual or distorted formations—boxes offset by 90 degrees, lines with mixed facing directions, or waves that don't look like the diagrams in your head.
Practice visualizing formations without moving. Many committed advanced dancers run through sequences mentally during commutes, while waiting in lines, or before falling asleep. Start with simple Plus-level sequences, then gradually introduce A1 calls. The goal isn't perfection; it's building a flexible, three-dimensional mental model of the square.
2. Corner Awareness and Spatial Reorientation
At higher levels, losing track of your corner is one of the fastest ways to break down a square. After every call, develop the habit of briefly confirming:
- Where is my corner?
- What is my position relative to the center of the set?
- Am I a lead, a trailer, an end, or a center in this formation?
This sounds exhausting. Eventually, it becomes automatic—like checking your mirrors while driving.
3. Recovery Protocols
Even expert dancers break down. The difference is that advanced dancers have strategies for recovering without stopping the square.
Learn one or two reliable "get out" approaches:
- The default home position: If lost, return to your home spot and rejoin from there if possible
- The shadow follow: Pick the dancer you should be paired with and mirror their movement until you reestablish position
- The graceful exit: If recovery isn't happening in two beats, step to the outside and let the remaining six dancers finish—then rejoin at the next resolve
Stopping the entire square should be a last resort, not a reflex.
