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

Browse Items (75 total)

  • Subject is exactly "Southern / Appalachian / Big sets"
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
Document

Let's Square Dance – Claude Chadwick

This 24 page booklet was produced by Claude S. Chadwick, a Texas native and a professor of biology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He begins with an overview of the activity: "All we need for… View item
Document

D. B. Hendrix correspondence

A Selection from the Papers of David B. Hendrix, Smoky Mountain Square Dance Callerby Bob DalsemerIn 1999 the John C. Campbell Folk School received a donation of several boxes of papers from the… View item