Browse Items (180 total)
- Subject is exactly "General - Dance and Culture"
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Still Image
Young African Americans Square Dancing - 1952
This photo shows a square dance at the Hallie Q. Brown Center, St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1952. View itemMoving Image
Yee Haw! A Curious Stroll Down Square Dancing’s Memory Lane
A quirky and informative movie of how square dancing has been portrayed in historical, non-theatrical motion pictures aggregated from The Internet Archive. The collection illustrates some of the ways… View itemDocument
Washington Square Dance
The song by Irving Berlin comes from Call Me Madam, a 1950 production. The plot of the musical is, according to a London review, "nonsensical fluff," concerning a Washington society matron appointed… View itemMoving Image
Using squares at a contra dance - Beth Molaro
Caller Beth Molaro, of Asheville, NC, is a well-known caller who loves calling both contras and squares. In this clip, talking with Dennis Merritt, she explains some of her thinking that goes into… View itemMoving Image
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 itemMoving Image
Tony Parkes 2 - Quadrilles and Visiting Couple Squares
In this interview, caller Tony Parkes describes the basic structure of quadrilles, the 19th century dance form that set the pattern for traditional New England squares, and contrasts that with… View itemDocument
Three Styles of Squares - 1951
This 1951 article describes a large and successful square dance festival in Chicago. View itemWebsite
The Slave Roots of Square Dancing
This is an easily-read summary of a scholarly article by Phil Jamison on the African-American roots of southern Appalachian dance and, in particular, the pivotal role played by African-American… View itemSound
The Old Square Dance Is Back Again - Carolina Cotton
For this 1949 recording,on the Mastertone label, Carolina Cotton (aka the Yodeling Blonde Bombshell) was joined by Fenton "Jonesy" Jones. The release was timely, as the late 1940s saw the dramatic… View itemDocument
The Old Square Dance Is Back Again
This is the sheet music for the song recorded by Carolina Cotton and Fenton "Jonesy" Jones. The dance begins with a "Rebel Yell" and is supposed to be played "Brightly, with Hill Billy swing." The… View itemDocument
The Old Folks Danced the Do-Si-Do
This is a detailed look at one iconic figure from American square dance, but as the author points out, the phrase can mean different things at different times and in different parts of the US. Jamison… View item
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