A Guide To North Dakota

Abe Sauer gives a glipse of his new book, How to Be: North Dakota-A Guide to the Plains. Here's a bit of his explanation of square dancing:

SQUARE DANCE!
Like polio and Flag Day, square dancing was largely eradicated in America by the late 20th century. Yet, a healthy number of square dancing groups still operate in the state, where it is the official dance.
American square dancing is derived from the folk dances of numerous immigrant cultures, including those of the British, Caledonians, and Skuares, a forgotten culture known for its inability to make anything but a right turn.
From the beginning, the dance was controversial.
In 1923, the popularization of the square dance move "Allemande Left," led to harsh punishment by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Many religious leaders have forbidden square dancing for its similarity to sex. Sexually transmitted dances are common.
As with many things North Dakotan, the name, "square- dance," wastes nothing. It at once describes the motion through which the dance is performed while at the same time describing the social position of those performing it.

As a person who unfailingly sucks at square dancing during wedding receptions (although I did cause a guy to get kicked in the groin while dancing to the Farmer's Daughter), that made me laugh.