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

Browse Items (349 total)

  • Collection: Northern squares
Website

Karl Byarski - Michigan fiddle and dance recordings

Paul Gifford is a researcher and musician with a particular focus on tradition Michigan fiddling. He writes:---I put up a large collection of home recordings of fiddling made by Karl Byarski, of… View item
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Keith Blackmon & Pony Boy

Nils Fredland led a workshop session that included many dances from the Keith Blackmon collection at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, Durham, NH, January 19, 2013. Here, he speaks briefly about… View item
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New River Train

Nils Fredland calls a singing square set to this well-known bluegrass song. The dance comes from the repertoire of Keith Blackmon, a square dance caller in the Twin Tiers region of southwest New York… View item
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Bully of the Town

Nils Fredland calls a singing square from the repertoire of Keith Blackmon, an upstate New York square dance caller. The dance figures are the familiar Cut Off Six, also known as Divide the Ring. A… View item
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San Antonio Rose

There are many versions of singing squares set to this popular tune. Here, Nils Fredland calls one from the repertoire of Keith Blackmon, an upstate New York square dance caller. A selection of… View item
Website

Prince Edward Island - quadrilles

Bowing Down Home is a detailed website devoted to the fiddle traditions of Prince Edward Island. The site includes videos, photographs, music files, and interviews (both as audio files and as… View item
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Dick Leger - Have I Told You Lately That I Love You

Dick Leger was known as "The Man with the Guitar." This clip shows him having fun with the dancers: "I can't believe I'm doing this!" Recorded at the York Contra… View item
Sound

Four Leaf Clover - Larry Edelman

The dance is called by Larry Edelman, appearing at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. He credits this to Ed Gilmore. View item
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Dick Perry Orchestra - dance photographs

These photographs show the Dick Perry Orchestra playing for a dance at the Putney (VT) Town Hall. The group turns up in many newspaper stories from the 1950s and 1960s. View item
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East Meets West (clip) - Lawrence Loy

Lawrence Loy was from western Massachusetts but this recording, with its apt title, shows the influence of the western style of dance, with changing choreography. After generic opening figures, two… View item
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Buffalo Boy Go Round the Outside

Lawrence Loy is the caller, working with Carson Robison and his Old Timers. (Click on the Additional Files link to hear the audio clip.) You can also download the cover or the instructions from inside… View item
Document

IOCA Barn Dance 1942

Events sponsored by the IOCA, the Intercollegiate Outing Club Association, provided the introduction to square dancing for many young dancers. Students from colleges and universities in the Northeast… View item