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

Browse Items (161 total)

  • Collection: Traditional western
Document

The Varsovienne in the Southwestern United States

Master's thesis looking in detail at the history and widespread appearance of this classic couple dance throughout the southwestern part of the US. Since couple dances formed an important part of an… View item
Sound

The Girl I Left Behind Me (clip) - Lee Bedford, Jr.

In his brief look at the development of singing calls, Tony Parkes cites the publication of this dance in 1925 as "the earliest description of a singing square I've found so far (in fairly shallow… View item
Moving Image

The Dancing "Silver Spurs" - 1951

This is an excerpt from a half-hour film, made in 1951 by Standard Oil, about the Silver Spurs, a performing dance group from Spokane, WA. The group was founded in 1947 by E. S. "Red"… View item
Moving Image

Texas Whirlwind - Rickey Holden

Holden teaches the figures, starting with a review of Catch All Eight, a traditional figure from West Texas that became part of modern square dance: right hand turn halfway around, then left hand turn… View item
Document

Texas Whirlwind - detailed calls

This is the detailed transcription of calls for Rickey Holdlen's version of the Texas Whirlwind. It illustrates the fast-paced nature of traditional Texas squares, the caller keeping up a non-stop… View item
Still Image

Texas Starlings - teenage dancers, 1947

This photo shows the Texas Starlings, a teenage group of square dancers, in Austin, Texas, 1947. The accompany article fromFoot 'n' Fiddlemagazine describes a session by Herb Greggerson for teens in… View item
Document

Texas Squares at Pinewoods

In the late 1940s, the Country Dance and Song Society was best known for its work focused on English country dances and ritual dances. Starting in 1949 (see cover of the CDSS newsletter) and then at… View item
Document

Texas Square Dances - Rickey Holden

This is a detailed description of three Texas squares, presented by Rickey Holden as an exhibition dance at the fourth annual New England Folk Festival, November 15–16, 1947. Holden based much of his… View item
Sound

Texas Square Dance Music - Henry Hudson

This is the 1946 album, 78 rpm, issued by Texas musician Henry Hudson and his Fiddle Band. Hudson recorded on the Henlee label, sometimes with his band being called the Pioneer Fiddle Band. He worked… View item
Document

Texas Square Dance Festival regions

Texas had a history of square dance contests going back to pre-World War II days. The dance festivals and contests continued into the late 1940s, evidenced by these articles from Foot 'n' Fiddle… View item
Document

Texas Square Dance Contests

These are a series of newspaper clippings made by J. Olcutt Sanders, documenting Texas square dance competitions. (Unfortunately, most of them are undated.) We assume that these are from Fort Worth;… View item