Browse Items (8 total)

Patter tip called by Marie Armstrong, Kittery, Maine, October, 1960. There are some problems with the original tape, resulting in a 5-second gap at 1:48 and a 7-second gap at 2:50. Rather than edit those out, we have left them in place so listeners…

Patter calling is a style of square dance calling in which the caller speaks the words or chants them on a musical pitch, hopefully in harmony with the tune. The classic form of patter is rhyming couplets. Typically the caller supplements the dance…

Ernest Legg (1904-1970) was from Charleston, WV (Kanawha County) Kessinger Brothers were fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975) and his nephew, guitar player Luches Kessinger (1906-1944) "Devil’s Dream" (Brunswick 256) was recorded in February…

Newspaper article (1949) describing dance traditions in Arkansas; includes references to local square dance patter.

Dare To Be Square – Seattle, Washington, 2009Dare To Be Square is a weekend event celebrating square dancing in its many forms. North Carolina callers Nancy Mamlin and Phil Jamison created the event in 2003 and hosted the first few gatherings…

This is a detailed journal article from 1974, now available on the web. It includes a general discussion of Ozark dancing, interviews, photographs, diagrams, and descriptions of two dozen figures and dances, including lots of patter. "Square dancing…

Caller Kathy Anderson is well-known for her fast-moving squares, accompanied by equally lively patter calling. She talks about how she uses patter, what she chooses to include and what to leave out, and why patter plays an important in the dances she…

Allan Brozek, Oxford, CT: "Charles Crabbe Thomas, from Woodbury, NJ, was the publisher of American Squares during the magazine's early years. Most likely, some of these alphabet calls were made up by Charlie so that an edition of the magazine could…