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

Browse Items (29 total)

  • Subject is exactly "Northern / Maritime"
Document

Four dances from Gaspé

This is a detailed description in French of the four dances documented in the Grand Chain - Grande Chaîne video. It was created by Hélène Gaulin, the caller in the video. View item
Website

Grand Chain - Grande Chaîne

Note: The link will take you to the home page featuring a documentary by Guy Bouchard about "Traditional music and dances from the tip of the Gaspé peninsula." Interested viewers can stream the… View item
Document

Cape Breton Dance Halls

This undergraduate thesis looks at the dance halls of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Traditional music and dance plays an important role in the life of the communities there, and the dance halls function… View item
Website

Inverness County Dance Project - Cape Breton

The Inverness Country Dance Project was created in 1986, a detailed ethnographic look at the music and dance traditions of Cape Breton. Now housed at the Beaton Institute, a "cultural heritage… View item
Document

Cape Breton Caller Interviews

Jørn Borggreen is author ofRight to the Helm, a detailed study of Cape Breton square sets as observed in 14 communities. The book, now in its 4th edition, provides documentation of the figures for… View item
Website

Prince Edward Island - quadrilles

Bowing Down Home is a detailed website devoted to the fiddle traditions of Prince Edward Island. The site includes videos, photographs, music files, and interviews (both as audio files and as… View item
Moving Image

Mabou Hall Square Set - Cape Breton

View item
Moving Image

Dance - Scotsville Fire Hall, Cape Breton

Documentation of a dance in Scotsville, a small community in Inverness County, Cape Breton. The second half of the video is from a different venue, and includes music and step dancing. View item
Website

Cape Breton - Inverness Country Dance Traditions

This is a collection of 59 audio and video files collected in 1986 by Barbara Leblanc and Laura Sedowsky for the Canadian Museum of History to document local music and dance traditions. Files include… View item
Moving Image

Fiddlers' Festival dance - Cape Breton

We're not sure where this event took place. The musicians here are Brian MacDonald and Hilda Chiasson.This is one of a large collection of videos posted on Facebook by the Cape Breton Music Media… View item
Moving Image

Mabou Dancers

The Mabou Dancers are a performance group that shows the 3rd figure of the Mabou set. Here they are performing in the Mabou Community Hall. View item
Moving Image

Inverness Set - 2nd and 3rd figures

Great example of square dancing at a house party, an authentic setting. It's common for squares to be done at house parties. Lots of well-known locals in the video. The musicians are Howie… View item