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

Smoke on the Water (clip) - Pancho Baird

Pancho Baird's big hit. This project contains videos of the dance. This link will provide a list of other Pancho Baird recordings on this website. View item
Moving Image

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Jim Mayo, MWSD 3b

Along with its companion video (MWSD 3a - Swing Thru), this set of videos documents one tip in Jim Mayo's workshop on Modern Western Square Dance, recorded November 19, 2011. Having just introduced… View item
Document

Southern California Square Dance "Gold Rush"

This essay, from the program booklet of the 1976 National Square Dance Convention, provides an overview of early square dancing in southern California. That year's NSDC was held in Anaheim, CA,… View item
Sound

Spinning Wheel - Selmer Hovland, 1954

Excerpt from another live recording of Selmer Hovland at Kirkwood Lodge View item
Still Image

Square Acres - square dance barn

This set of photos documents the construction of Howard Hogue's large square dance barn in E. Bridgewater, MA. It was one of the first and certainly the most active of the commercial square dance… View item
Website

Square Dance - live recordings

In cooperation with the Square Dance Foundation of New England, SDHP has created a page on the Internet Archive with live recordings of some 300 evenings of modern square dancing.Although most files… View item
Still Image

Square Dance and Folk Dance (Japan)

Cover and first page of book that Winfield Niblo helped get published in Japan. Niblo played a key role in bringing American square dance to Japan in the time immediately after World War II. ---Edited… View item
Website

Square Dance Articles - Buddy Weaver resources page

Buddy Weaver has collected on his website a series of transcriptions and printed essays by numerous well-respected square dance callers. On this site, you'll find pieces by Doc Alumbaugh, Ed… View item
Moving Image

Square Dance at the Aqua Barn, Seattle

Kappie Kappenman, caller; Vivian Williams, fiddle; Phil Williams, guitar; Judy Webster, bass, videoed in the early 1990s by Phil's brother, Mike. The tune is Ragtime Annie. Vivian and Phil… 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
Still Image

Square Dance attire

This is panel #21 of the set of Square Dance History panels created for the Square Dance Foundation of New England. It illustrates the various styles of clothing worn by modern western square dancers… View item