the dancers, and to let them wind down. Training to call Calling a modern Western square dance requires a number of different skills and some natural talent; becoming a caller requires training— both educational training and "in front of the microphone" practice. Sometimes people who get the desire to call believe that it is enough to stand up on a platform, and sing the provided text to a square dance song, or call a pre-written sequence of patter. Difficult as even that can be for some, with some natural talent, a good ear for rhythm and timing, an engaging stage presence, and perhaps a robust singing voice, even a beginner can sound good. A caller has two main roles: Teacher Dance caller As a teacher, the caller must develop their educational skills, as well as the educational materials used in class. People skills are very important. As a dance caller, the caller must prepare choreographic material, and must be able to deliver it, whether by memory, or by using written sequences, or by using sight calling. The choreographic material must conform to a strict, basic set of choreographic rules: Bring dancers back to their original partner Bring partners home And keep people dancing smoothly and enjoyably. Caller training is available, and Callerlab certifies instructors. The round dance cuer Round dance cuers recite rehearsed, pre-choreographed sequences of figures. Unlike callers in Salsa Rueda or modern western square dance, who invoke an execution of figures in an unexpected order that varies from one run of the dance to another, a round dance cuer only "cues", i.e., hints each subsequent figure of a predefined sequence, possibly already known to the dancers. The cuer, rather than being expected to call out original, on-the-fly choreography, is expected to know many (sometimes lengthy) dances and lead the floor through each one by appropriately and clearly stating the name of each successive step in the dance just in time to hear it before the last step has finished. Often cuing is from cards which list the steps in abbreviated notation. Cuing each step with proper timing is often tricky, as some dance steps can have very long names ("through-side-close to sidecar" for example), and there are times when a series of quick steps have been placed together, which requires quick speech, while maintaining good diction. Cuers are not expected (or even encouraged or suggested) to add patter.