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

Browse Items (499 total)

  • Collection: MWSD
Sound

Joe Lewis - Callers Class

This is a fragment of a callers' class led by Joe Lewis; unfortunately, we do not know the location or the date. Lewis comments, "When a lot of people suddenly do the same thing wrong, the… View item
Still Image

Joe Lewis - photo

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Sound

Joe Lewis singing

Joe Lewis modified an accordion and used it to accompany himself on singing calls. He also used it to accompany his singing of songs as an entertainer after (or during) the dance. These two were… View item
Sound

Johnny Barbour - Hash, live recording, 1958

Johnny Barbour 1958 – Track 1 Comment by Jim Mayo This tip is, I believe, from a group of files shared with the Square Dance Foundation of New England by Stig Malmo from Denmark. Stig has been… View item
Moving Image

Jon Jones - CALLERLAB history

This CALLERLAB History / Heritage / Tradition session in 2005 included comments from Herb Egender, who was one of the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers with Lloyd Shaw. Jim Mayo was the second speaker,… View item
Still Image

Joseph Fadler photographs

Joseph Fadler took hundreds of photographs for Sets in Order magazine. This is a selection from the Fadler Collection at the University of Denver. It includes photos of dancing, women's attire, and a… View item
Moving Image

Just Because - Jim Mayo

Jim Mayo calls a series of hash figures at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. Unlike the more traditional figures associated… View item
Still Image

Kirkwood Lodge ad - 1954

This advertisement is for Kirkwood Lodge (Osage Beach, Missouri), the venue sponsoring the second annual Les Gotcher Square Dance Institute. The 1950s saw a dramatic increase in the number of square… View item
Moving Image

Larry Edelman - square thru variations

Larry Edelman writes, "It’s a drill that I picked up from an issue of SIO, probably from 1959 or so. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t note which issue or year. If it had an author attributed to it, I… View item
Sound

Learn Square Dancing - Ed Gilmore

This is a track from Ed Gilmore's instructional square dance LP, "Learn Square Dancing," released on Decca in 1956. The album included instructional segments such as this with short practice pieces… View item
Moving Image

Lee Kopman - MWSD Challenge-4 Dancing

This video is of dancing at the AACE (Academy of Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts) event in Milwaukee, WI in June of 2010. The CALLERLAB dance program is Challenge-4. The caller is Lee Kopman. View item
Still Image

Lee Kopman calls

This "Wordle" is an illustration of how frequently calls written by Lee Kopman appear in modern square dance calling. The size correlates with the frequency of the call's use, Readers interested in… View item