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

Browse Items (77 total)

  • Subject is exactly "Southern / Appalachian / Big sets"
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
Moving Image

Two Leaf Clover - video

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

Two Leaf Clover - teaching

The audio recording is from a dance at the Ballard Eagles in Washington state. The full audio (two sides of a 45-minute cassette) can be heard on the Internet Archive.Fred Park described the figure… 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
Sound

Bob Dean - dances from Pocahontas County, WV

Bob Dean was invited to be on staff for the 1980 program at American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods Camp, a week sponsored by Country Dance and Song Society. This half hour recording by Ed Durham… View item
Sound

Mountain Grove, VA, Square Dance

Bob Dalsemer collected live recordings of this dance. The featured talent was Rodney Chestnut, caller, with The Rebels Band.Dalsemer described the series in this way: "Mountain Grove, Virginia is just… View item
Document

"Southern Appalachian"- overview of structure

The author describes the overall structure of a southern Appalachian big circle dance: an opening sequence, the second phase with two-couple figures, and the closing sequence that involves all the… View item
Website

Square dance, Helvetia, WV - 1974

https://archive.org/details/gerald-fords-america-297_17473Square dance starts at around 12 minute markhttps://archive.org/details/gerald-fords-america-298_17474This one is a continuation of the… View item
Document

Appalachian Squares

This document comes from the Dixie Folk Institute, 1951, and presents a concise description for many common figures that can be used in a big set. View item
Sound

Running Set - Jim Wilkerson home recording

This is a home recording made by caller Jim Wilkerson. We think WIlkerson was from Ohio, so this particular cut is an interesting example of how dance styles migrate. We typically think of a running… View item
Moving Image

Big set - Silver Spurs

Under the leadership of founder Red Henderson, Spokane's Silver Spurs youth dance troupe here demonstrates a series of figures from the southern Appalachian mountains. Often referred to by the… View item
Website

Alabama Square Dance, 1937

This is a collection of 45 black and white photographs taken at a square dance in Alabama. Photos show dancers, musicians, spectators. View item