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

Browse Items (189 total)

  • Collection: Southern Appalachian
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Right and Left Thru and Pokey Four - Jerry Goodwin

Recorded at a square dance on February 7, 1987 at the Prosperity Fire Hall, Washington County, PA. Jerry Goodwin, Caller Mountain Express: Chuck Monticello, fiddle Joe Fry, electric… View item
Document

Revival Squares - video and web links

Recent years have seen the appearance of a new audience for square dances. One important starting point was a series of dances in the Portland, Oregon, area, led bycaller Bill Martinand the Foghorn… View item
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Pull The Lady Through - Phil Jamison

Phil Jamison, caller. This clip includes a walkthrough. Recorded at Dare To Be Square, Brasstown, NC, November 19, 2011 Musicians for this session were Claudio Buchwald and Steve Hickman,… View item
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Promenade the Outside Round - Jerry Goodwin

Recorded at a square dance on February 7, 1987 at the Prosperity Fire Hall, Washington County, PA. The tune is Ragtime Annie. Jerry Goodwin, Caller Mountain Express: Chuck Monticello,… View item
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Peek-a-Boo Square Dance called by Larry Edelman

Larry Edelman calls at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. In addition to the basic figure, which he demonstrates at the start,… View item
Website

Pat Napier interview

This is a short interview (2013) with Patrick Napier, author of Kentucky Mountain Square Dancing. In it, he talks about his experiences as a member of the Berea Country Dancers, working with Frank… View item
Document

Old-Time Revival: Traditional Appalachian Square Dancing Slowly Refinds its Footing in Knoxville

Reprinted by permission of Metro Pulse and Holly Haworth, © 2013 This well-written and lengthy article (available as a PDF through the link above or in an archived version of the original website… View item
Document

Old Time Square Dancing on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

Author Bob Dalsemer discovers a long tradition of the "big circle" square dance on this island off the North Carolina coast, far from the Appalachian Mountains where it is usually… View item
Document

Old Side Door: A Kentucky Mountain Dance

Article by Patrick E. Napier, originally published in 1949, describing a Kentucky dance figure and its setting. View item
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Not Your Grandparents Square Dance

Old-time music and square dancing in Portland, Oregon. Interviews with Bill Martin and Michael Ismerio, and footage from the Old Time Music Gathering, reveal the intimate links between the old-time… View item
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North Carolina Cloggers

Clogging in square dancing has a long history, going back at least as far as Sam Queen's Soco Gap Dancers. It is a form of dance that deserves its own detailed site, but we are including a few… View item
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Nils Fredland - Birdie in the Cage and Seven Hands Round

Birdie in the Cage is a traditional square dance figure and a common one; a search for "birdie" on this SDHP website will bring up more than half a dozen other examples. In this version, each of the… View item