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

Browse Items (501 total)

  • Collection: MWSD
Moving Image

Asilomar 1973 - Frank Lane

Three films from Bob Osgood's collection showing dancers at the 1973 gathering at Asilomar, California.The first film shows dancers practicing allemande thar, followed by a round dance sequence (Left… View item
Document

Shredded Hash - Lloyd and Myrtis Litman

Several years after the 1962 publication of Instant Hash by Lloyd Litman and Rickey Holden, Shredded Hash was created by Litman and his wife, Myrtis. An unusual aid for callers seeking choreographic… View item
Moving Image

Four Poster Bed / goal post - Rickey Holden

Caller Rickey Holden calls the a variation of the goal post figures at a workshop in Taastrup, Denmark, August 19, 2005. Instead of having dancers immediately go around one, as in goal post, Holden… View item
Moving Image

10th National Square Dance Convention - Detroit, 1961

Two television stories about the 10th Annual National Square Dance Convention, Cobo Hall, Detroit, recorded June 30, 1961. The reporter in both programs is Shelby Newhouse.The first is a half-hour… View item
Still Image

Square Dance attendance & new calls

This slide contains two graphs, part of a presentation by Guy Steele on "The Mathematics of Square Dance Singing Calls," complete with dancers from MIT's Tech Squares group demonstrating figures. You… View item
Sound

Sally Goodin - Eddie Carol & his Corn Cobbers

Eddie Carol, called by some "the greatest authority on the American square dance In Australia," was a leading Australia caller who specialized in a singing patter style of calling after… View item
Sound

I Wanna Say Hello - Jim Vickers-Willis

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Sound

El Paso Star - Bill McGrath

Bill McGrath was one of the leading callers in Australia, a self-taught patter caller based in Melbourne. View item
Sound

Captain Jinks / Divide the Ring - Leonard Hurst

Two clips from Colorado caller Leonard Hurst, who came to Australia in 1951 to do a series of radio broadcasts. He played an important role in spreading square dance to that area. More information… View item
Moving Image

Let's Square Dance - instructional films, 1950s

In the mid-1950s, Janet R. MacLean, a professor in the Indiana University Department of Recreation, produced a series of six instructional films to introduce square dancing. The films, each… View item
Sound

Pancho Baird - square dance medley

This is a rare home recording made by Pancho Baird, a medley of singing squares: End of the World Alabama Jubilee Rose of San Antone Down Yonder You Call Everybody Darling View item
Document

Bob Ruff - Teaching Can Be Fun!

This 10-page handout is designed for callers interested in leading beginners' classes. Ruff argues that many callers are more interested in the latest flashy gimmick than in learning the basics… View item