Browse Items (921 total)

Nils Fredland calls a contemporary composition as part of the "Square Dance" Retrospective session at the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH. The musicians are Old New England (Bob McQuillen piano; Jane Orzechowski, fiddle; and…

To the tune of "There Is a Tavern in the Town," Dudley Laufman calls as part of the "Square Dance" Retrospective session at the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH. The musicians are Old New England (Bob McQuillen piano; Jane…

Dudley Laufman calls as part of the "Square Dance" Retrospective session at the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH. The basic figure is shown below, but you'll see the dancers starting to anticipate the calls and getting…

The first picture is a 1968 publicity photo taken of the square dancers, used by the Central City Opera Association to send to local newspapers.

People in the photo are;
back row; Sharon _?_, Gary Schaub, Larry Wylie, caller, Les Brown, and…

Photograph of participants in 1964 square dance leadership conference organized by Bob Osgood at UCLA, along with a roster of participants. Jim Mayo describes this event in his 2003 book, Step By Step Through Modern Square Dance History:---"Bob…

Four covers for Bob Osgood's Sets in Order magazine, drawn by famed cartoonist and animator Chuck Jones, who was a square dance enthusiast in southern California. There are many more. See an article on Cartoon Brew website about Jones and the…

Douglas Kennedy succeeded Cecil Sharp as director of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. He visited the United States in 1939 to teach dancing and to observe what he could while in this country. While he was in the south, a Smoky Mountain square…

Scholarly presentation by noted dance researcher Elizabeth Burchenal and published in the Journal of the International Folk Music Council. Burchenal begins her talk thus:

"The term "folk dance" as used here does not refer to "popular dance" or to…

Another dance from "A Night at Sunny Hills," a series of records "for experienced square dancers," released in 1951. As the name suggests, the Allemande Hash contains variations on allemandes, starting with "Allemande thar" and including some from…

Album cover, inside text, and a related record label. This recording, from 1951, illustrates what was considered appropriate material for experienced square dancers at that time in southern California, one of the hotbeds of interest in square dance.

The dance was created by Ed Gilmore, who ran a hardware store in Yucaipa, CA, when he started his calling career. The dance was published in 1950 in Square Dancing: The Newer and Advanced Dances, by Bob Osgood and Jack Hoheisel. The dance spread from…