Tassie's king of square dancing still calling the shots

Seventy years on, he remains one of the pastime's greatest exponents in Tasmania - if not Australia.

Mr Whiteley has been 'calling' - directing the moves of dancers - for 66 years.

He is believed to be the longest square dance caller in Australia.

Aged 89, he still calls monthly for a group of dancers from his garage in Turners Beach - a 10-minute drive from Kindred, where he and wife Shirley first established the 'Tassie Twirlers' dancing club.

"There was a great square dance boom in the '50s and the halls were crowded," Mr Whiteley told The Examiner.

"Our club was in the Kindred Hall.

"We had the hall full and they were dancing in the supper room and outside on the grass."

The square dancing boom died down after the 1950s.

The introduction of television drew participants elsewhere, and live band accompaniment was no longer viable. But square dancing wasn't done with yet.

"There was another big boom in the '70s," Mr Whiteley said.

"I was calling to 20 squares - eight people in a square - in the Dreamland Upper Burnie and to 20 squares at the rowing club in Ulverstone."

Mr Whiteley's honour roll makes for impressive reading.

He was co-convener of Hobart's national square dance convention in 1976, and became a life member of the Australia Caller's Federation and the State Square Dance Society in the early 1990s.

A golden microphone award honoured 50 years of calling in 2009, and he was chosen to open the Diamond Jubilee national square dance convention in 2019.

Mrs Whiteley, who passed away in August, shared the passion across every season of a marriage that spanned seven decades.

Through square dancing, they made friends all across Australia, and became joint patrons of Square Dance Society in 2005.

They had four daughters plus grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"Shirley certainly was [a huge part of it] - she kept me in order," Mr Whiteley said.

"We ran beginner's classes for years, every year. We both worked hard at it."

Square dancing may not enjoy the same popularity it did decades ago, but there are plenty of Tasmanians who still understand its pull.

Mr Whiteley enjoys its social nature as much as ever, and joked that some things may have even changed for the better.

'It keeps my brain active - I work with choreography and [enjoy] the fellowship," Mr Whiteley said.

"When we have an afternoon dance they bring cream cakes and all sorts of things.

"When we danced at the club at Kindred we had coffee and biscuits - now they're bringing cream cakes which I don't object to."