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

Browse Items (42 total)

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"Abilene lift" - Rickey Holden

Caller Rickey Holden calls and dances the "Abilene lift," a style of movement created and popularized by west Texas caller Bob Sumrall. The 1-2-3 shuffle of feet gave the dancers a smooth movement;… View item
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American Squares

Charley Thomas edited the early issues of American Squares. The April 1952 issue marks the transition to Rickey Holden as editor. Later issues were edited or overseen by Rod LaFarge and Frank Kaltman… View item
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Foot 'n' Fiddle  (Texas)

This journal was started in 1946 by Marlys Swenson (later Marlys Waller) and Anne Pittman, joined by Olcutt Sanders as another editor. It is among the earliest square dance magazines—Rod… View item
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Sashay newsletter, Vermont, 1953

Sashay was a country dance bulletin published by musician Emerson Lang, of Danville, Vermont. It's clear from the contents that Lang's readers were open to many styles-- mention is made of squares,… View item
Document

Song of the HIGH-LEVEL Dancer - poem

The push for "high level dancing" appeared in the 1950s as square dancing took off. Some dancers wanted ever-more-challenging programs and they were often reluctant to dance with less-skilled dancers.… View item
Document

A Brief History of "Hash"

This is a chapter from Instant Hash that appeared in American Squares magazine. Litman and Holden define hash as "a mixture of figures which come one after another so quickly that often there is no… View item
Document

Abilene Lift - Rickey Holden

An early description by Rickey Holden of the so-called "Abilene lift," a distinctive style of incorporating a two-steps into square dance movement. View item
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Al Brundage, Shaw, Rickey Holden, Ed Gilmore

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Alamo Style

This 1949 description of "Alamo style" balances comes from Rickey Holden, who coined the term to describe the figure. Holden points out that the action itself had been around for a while.… View item
Document

Box the Gnat - a short history

Box the Gnat - a short historyby Tony ParkesNobody seems to know when "box the gnat" took on the standardized meaning it has today inrecreational square and contra dancing. In Instant Hash (1962),… View item
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D. B. Hendrix correspondence

A Selection from the Papers of David B. Hendrix, Smoky Mountain Square Dance Callerby Bob DalsemerIn 1999 the John C. Campbell Folk School received a donation of several boxes of papers from the… View item
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Denver Wagon Wheel / Triple Duck - Rickey Holden (dance)

Caller Rickey Holden teaches the "triple duck" figure, also known as the Denver Wagon Wheel. (In his "Square Dances of West Texas" book, Holden credits the figure to Joe Lang, of… View item