Browse Items (916 total)

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…

Barden

PUSH YOUR PA AND SHOVE YOUR MA P.53From Wes McVicar’s 75 More Square DancesMusic: Doc Boyd's jigThird changeINTRODUCTIONThe first couple balance The first couple swing.FIGUREGo down the center split the ring,Lady go gee and gent go haw,Push…

Article by Mildred Buhler with brief biography and accomplishments of Lloyd Shaw

Ray Smith was the "Caller of the Month" in Let's Dance magazine, published by the Folk Dance Federation of California, Northern Section.

In this 1949 article, caller Jimmy Clossin describes some of the distinguishing characteristics of west Texas square dance:

"Many people think when Western Square Dancing is mentioned that we have only one type in the West. That is not true. While…