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

Browse Items (456 total)

  • Temporal Coverage is exactly "2000 -"
Website

When Vermont barn dances were all the rage

"Someone's grandparents always seem to remember one, and sometimes you can still find the scuffs and scrapes of shoes and boots on the floors. But where'd those hoedowns go?" This… View item
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History timeline - square dance and CALLERLAB

At the annual CALLERLAB convention, in April 2025, caller Clark Baker was asked to lead a workshop on the history of square dance and of CALLERLAB. Clark has been calling nearly 50 years, mostly at… View item
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Baltimore Square Dance

Beginning in 2013 the Baltimore Square Dance is a key event in the vibrant Baltimore Old Time Music scene. Monthly dances are attended by all ages, featuring bands and callers from around the region… View item
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Oak Grove Barn

This newspaper article takes a detailed look back at a well-loved venue, the Old Grove Barn in San Antonio. The hall hosted dances from the mid-1930s into the 1960s. Events included a high school… View item
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Bob Dalsemer – Contra and square dance writer and caller

Bob Dalsemer is an internationally-known square dance and contra dance caller and writer. Bob called dances for more than five decades in 33 states, Canada, the Czech Republic, Britain, Belgium,… View item
Website

Appalachian Square Dance Callers Making the Scene More Welcoming

This radio story (and transcription) originally aired November 26, 2023 as a part of Inside Appalachia by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. The story highlights one group of callers and musicians in… View item
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Seated Square Dance, Janine Smith

Caller Janine Smith (MD) calling a seated (sitting) square dance in a video created during the pandemic lockdown when dancing in person was impossible. Janine got her inspiration for this form of… View item
Document

Circle Up Zine (Volume 1) - A collection of square dances and thoughts towards promoting inclusivity

This is a square dance calling resource that features inclusive square dance adaptations, in the form of a printed zine. When caller/dancer/organizer Becky Hill envisioned the project, she enlisted 17… View item
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Too Hot Mamas - Chapel of Love Singing Square

This video is an excerpt of the Singing Square dance Chapel of Love. Singing squares use altered lyrics of popular songs to insert dance choreography instruction into the song. Based on the song,… View item
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Squares at a Contra Dance

Beth Molaro, Asheville, NC, discusses calling squares in the context of a contra dance. In the early 2000s, many contra dancers were not fans of squares, so she offers advice about what kinds of… View item
Website

A Look at Southern Squares

Bill Martin writes: "These many pages represent all the information I could find about Southern mountain square dancing. Over the years I continue to find errors and clueless guesswork here and there.… View item
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Two Leaf Clover - video

THis video illustrates the Two Leaf Clover figure that can be called as part of a big set. View item