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

Browse Items (69 total)

  • Collection: Historical squares
Document

Polonaise - Grand March

This is a detailed look at the history of the Polonaise, known in the US as the Grand March. Thee name "polonaise" speaks to Polish roots. The author cites a 1685 description of the dance,… View item
Website

Peter Beemer manuscript - Idaho

This is a collection of mid-19th century dance tunes from a remote Idaho location; as such, it is a useful record of the music being used for dances of the period. This website also contains… View item
Moving Image

Parisian Varieties Quadrille

Mid-19th century quadrille, five figures, with music including waltz, polka, and mazurka.Les Variétés ParisiennesA new Quadrille, composed by the "Société Académique… View item
Moving Image

Paine's First Set Quadrille (1815) - Quadrille Club

Danced by the Quadrille Club, under the direction of Ellis Rogers. The fourth figure (Trenis) has been omitted here.For comparison, this collection also includes the same dance performed by Nederlands… View item
Moving Image

Paine's First Set of Quadrilles, 1815

Paine's First Set of Quadrilles 1815 Nederlands Historisch Dans-en Theaterensemble, artistic director Maria Angad Gaur Performance: Jane Austen Bal, The Netherlands 2006 Part 2,3,4,5 and 6 only danced… View item
Moving Image

Mr. Pastry Dances the Lancers

Richard Hearne (aka "Mr. Pastry") was an English vaudeville performer and a regular performer in children's shows on the BBC starting in the 1950s.Here he mimes being part of a set dancing the… View item
Moving Image

Monterey Polka Quadrille

The Monterey Polka Quadrilles by Charles Durang (1848) (Finale [Figure 5] - Colonel May)Reconstructed by Richard Powers (1983)Music by Fleeting Moments Waltz & Quickstep Orchestra (courtesy of… View item
Moving Image

Marlbrouk Cotillion

This dance turns up in the Revolutionary War years of the United States. Here it's danced by a group of students from Brigham Young University. Note the bouncy rigadoon step, which originated in… View item
Document

Les Quatre Berceaux - related documents

This item gathers together various documents related to the videotaped performance of the dance, Les Quatre Berceaux:• Instructions, as interpreted and explained by John Ramsay with assistance… View item
Moving Image

Les Quatre Berceaux - cotillion for 6 couples

“Les Quatre Berceaux” (The Four Cradles) was presented by Dance Discovery at the Missouri History Museum in conjunction with an exhibit on Napoleon. The group reconstructed the dance from… View item
Moving Image

Les Lanciers or Duval's 2nd Set. No.4 & 5

Intended as an introduction to Regency quadrilles for new members of Quadrille Club, the steps used in the Grand Chain have been simplified by leaving out the `Ballotes' called for in the origional… View item
Moving Image

Les Lanciers de Quebec - Quebec Lancers

This video illustrates the first two figures of a Quebecois version of the Lancers Quadrille, danced at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in January, 2009. The tune and the name for the first figure… View item