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

Browse Items (74 total)

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

Traditional Square Dance Figures

One section of the Lloyd Shaw Foundation's website provides detailed instructions (and source information) for 20 figures from traditional Western and southern Appalachian squares:Arkansas… View item
Moving Image

Carcassonne big set, #2

This is another example of traditional southern Appalachian big set square dance, recorded by John Ramsay in Carcassonne, Kentucky, September 19, 1991. With relatively few examples on our site of… View item
Moving Image

Carcassonne big set, #1

This is an excellent example of traditional southern Appalachian big set square dance, recorded by John Ramsay in Carcassonne, Kentucky, September 19, 1991. ("Big set" is the name given by outsiders;… View item
Website

Mountain Dance Trail - West Virginia

Created by folklorists Gerry Milnes and Becky Hill at Davis & Elkins College in Augusta, West Virginia, the Mountain Dance Trail is a statewide effort to support local square customs. The project… View item
Moving Image

Kentucky Set Running - 1993

Notes by John Ramsay: "The Kids From The Country, a country dance team from Silver Creek School in Berea, Kentucky demonstrate "running a set" or Set Running. Their music teacher, Mr. Barton, is the… View item
Moving Image

Appalachian Big Set - Berea- 1993

The Berea Festival Dancers, with caller Teresa Lowder, perform an Appalachian Big Set demonstration at the 1993 Mountain Folk Festival, Berea, Kentucky. The group is introduced by their director, John… View item
Moving Image

Barn Dance - Wisconsin

This is video from an Old-time Barn Dance held in the O'Brien Farms beautifully refurbished barn in Brooklyn, WI. Music provided by the Ambrosia Dance Band (Chuck Hornemann, Paul Kienitz, Peter… View item
Moving Image

Big Set 2 - Phil Jamison

Phil Jamison calls at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. Figures included in this version include right hands across, Georgia… View item
Moving Image

Big Set 1- Phil Jamison

Phil Jamison calls at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. This southern Appalachian dance kicked off the Friday night session… View item
Moving Image

Shoo-Fly Swing (instruction) - Phil Jamison

See the notes elsewhere comparing this dance with La Boulangère, the only dance mentioned by name by Jane Austen. Phil Jamison led a workshop session on square dances from the southern… View item