Square Dance History Project
The rich story of North American square dance finally has a home in the digital age.

Santa Monica 1950 - World's Largest Square Dance

Direct from Paramount, here is newsreel footage of the event. It conveys more powerfully than words what it looked like when 15,200 dancers filled the streets of Oceanside Boulevard on that July evening.

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Click thumbnail image at left to go to SDH item details for the video above.

Santa Monica SIO.pdf

Bob Osgood was editor and publisher of Sets in Order magazine; he was also one of the major organizers of the Santa Monica square dance. This is his magazine's coverage of the event.

Jumbo Jamboree (Santa Monica).pdf

That's Lloyd Shaw on the cover of Let's Dance, the monthly publication of the Folk Dance Federation of California. This item is the magazine's coverage of the big event.

Diamond Jubilee 1950 - 1.jpg Diamond Jubilee 1950 - 2.jpg

Here is the audio of Cal Golden calling the Arch of Three at the Santa Monica dance. The audio clip starts with Lloyd Shaw introducing the caller, then a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and just about to head overseas to Korea. The complete audio from Santa Monica is also available.

Santa Monica - Osgood interview.pdf

In 1996, nearly 50 years after the event, caller Bob Brundage spoke with Osgood as part of his ongoing effort to collect interviews with leading figures in the square dance world. This excerpt from that interview focuses on the Santa Monica event and the preparations leading up to it.

Santa Monica interview.pdf

Caller and choreographer Dan Allen was present at Santa Monica; three days after the event, he was interviewed by Mildred Buhler for her weekly radio program, "Calling All Folk Dancers." This transcription captures his comments on the event he had just witnessed.

Santa Monica 1950 Pgm.pdf

As published in Sets in Order magazine, here is the program for the Santa Monica dance. The program had been published in advance so that dancers could become familiar with the figures that they would encounter. During the evening, a round dance was programmed after every three squares.

Santa Monica 1950 - World's Largest Square Dance