Avery is a new Square Dance Caller that has been a part of square dancing for almost 10 years, but only picked up the mic a few months ago.

Avery's parents met at a Square Dance Convention in Washington D.C., and were avid Challenge-level square dancers until Avery was born.  They elected to take a hiatus from the activity, only getting back involved after they sent Avery to college, and waiting until he had graduated to get him involved in the activity.  

Avery Arnold started square dancing in 2015 with the Wrong Way Squares, learning up to the Plus level.  From there, he took Chuck Witt's Advanced 1&2 lessons with now CALLERLAB Executive Director Teresa Berger, and attended the 2017 Noblesville, IN Convention & WIPAC, where he had the opportunity to dance to National Callers Tony Oxendine, Tom Miller, & Jerry Story.  Avery also began to attend the Power Plus DBD weekends & Autumn Adventure A2 weekends with Eric Henerlau, which sharpened his overall square dance knowledge.  This prompted many people to ask Avery "when are you going to become a caller?"; a question Avery had become skillful at dodging.  He has entertained the idea, but understood what was involved and preferred to remain a dancer for the time being. 

Avery continued to be a proficient Advanced dancer, attending local club dances like the Star Righters, Village Squares, Southside Squares, Swinging Sugars Squares, Recyclers, and B'n'B Flosmoor.  His parents also organized a Plus DBD tape group in their basement, and regularly held dances that were mainly comprised of dancers under the age of 30.

In 2019, Avery's role in square dancing would begin to change.  His parents organized a group to learn Challenge 1 (C1) off of a Ken Ritucci blast recording, which led to . It was also during this time that he was asked to take on the Vice President position at his home club, the Wrong Way Squares.  He was also convinced by Eric Henerlau to call a pre-written sequence at Autumn Adventure that year, which gave Avery a taste of what it's like to be behind the mic.

Though the COVID Pandemic would slow down his plans, Avery continued to learn what he could, and helped local caller Ken Burke host a virtual square dance event for over a year.  In 2022, the Chi-Town Squares was able to devise a plan to hold C2 lessons by International Caller Sandie Bryant, where Avery gathered even more Square Dancing knowledge.  Avery began to regularly attend Chi-Town Squares events, especially their Monday night A2/C1 Workshop.  Avery was still considering being a caller, but felt it was more important to focus on learning C2 at that time.  

In 2024, Avery finally embraced the fact that if he became a Square Dance caller, he would be able to directly grow square dancing by teaching new students.  The Wrong Ways Squares wanted to do a Demo in a local parade, and the only way it would happen is if Avery called it.  So with a significant amount of help from Chuck Witt, Accredited Caller Coach Barry Johnson, and some persuasive convincing from Caller Travis Cook, Avery became a member of CALLERLAB, the International Association of Square Dance Callers.

Since then, Avery has called two parade demos for the Wrong Way Squares, has filled in as a guest caller for many Wrong Way Lessons, and has been invited to call a sequence at a few dances by some callers, such as Bobby Poyner, Tom Davis, and Romney Tannehill.  He has also called one dance, and is scheduled to call for the Star Righters again in November.  Other than lessons, his most recent calling escapade was at the General Butler Bash in KY, where he took part in a guest spot for new callers.

As a dancer, Avery was also asked by Challenge Caller Coop Belini to learn C3-A, which is currently the highest level that Avery has learned; having now been exposed to over 550 calls and approximately 50 concepts.  He is still new to dancing this level, and reviews his flash cards as often as possible, as well as attend as many C3-A dances as are available.  He looks forward to being a proficient C3-A dancer.

Avery currently spends most of his time practicing square dance calling, reviewing his square dance definitions, or attending square dance events for his club or with his girlfriend, Savanna, who is also an Advanced level square dancer.  Outside of Square Dancing, Avery is a professional lighting consultant for non-residential lighting, and takes pride in the environmental impact his work has had over the years; creating extensive energy savings across the Midwest.  He also enjoys craft beer, bourbon, scotch, and most types of food.

Avery hopes to help grow square dancing in NWI, and create opportunities so that everyone is able to experience Modern Square Dancing.