Do-Si-Do That Stranger Round and Round

But Forget About Fourth Grade Gym Class—Square Dancing in Los Angeles Is a Party

My favorite moment in a square dance usually comes at the end—dozens, sometimes hundreds of strangers, standing in a circle, holding hands, smiling, laughing, and—gasp!—talking to each other.

In a world where we spend our time staring at cellphones instead of looking into each other’s eyes, and often consider strangers mere inconveniences, it is a rare, welcome moment. So whenever I’m feeling lost and stressed in this overwhelming, sprawling metropolis, I know that the antidote will be a night of square dancing.

There’s a reason that most cultures, for most of history, …