PHOTOS: Pahrump’s Desert Squares are keeping an old tradition alive

John Clausen/Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Members of the Desert Squares club in Pahrump dance at the Bob Ruud Community Center in Pahrump on Jan. 10, 2023.

John Clausen/Special to the Pahrump Valley Times The Desert Squares offered free square-dancing classes earlier this month. New students were coached through the basics of a do-si-do, promenade, sashay and more.

John Clausen/Special to the Pahrump Valley Times The Desert Squares is a 39-member square-dancing club in Pahrump. It's keeping alive a European tradition that dates back to the 16th century.

John Clausen/Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Ned Newberg calls out the line-dancing moves for the Desert Squares at a class at the Bob Ruud Community Center on Jan. 10, 2023.

The Desert Squares, a 39-member square-dancing club in Pahrump, held free beginner square-dancing lessons at the Bob Ruud Community Center earlier this month.

Those who took advantage of the lessons were patiently coached through the basics of a do-si-do, promenade, sashay and more by caller Ned Newberg and the club’s more experienced dancers.

The Desert Squares meet each Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Bob Ruud Community Center. Classes are $7 per person; dancers ages 9 to 17 can participate for free.

No dancing experience is needed to join the club, says Desert Squares President Pepper Jay.

Don’t have a partner?

Don’t worry. Single dancers are welcome, Pepper Jay said.

Beginning dancers are encouraged to stay after 7:30 p.m.on Tuesday to watch the intermediate and advanced dancers perform.

Square dancing can be traced back to 16th-century Europe and involves four or eight couples arranged in a square, and became popular in the New World by European immigrants.

For more information on the Desert Squares in Pahrump, call or text 702-541-0229.

John Clausen is a freelance journalist in Pahrump.