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
Website

Square Dance Legislation Collection

The Square Dance Legislation Collection consists of manuscript materials (1975-present) documenting the history of legislation to designate the square dance as the national or state (folk) dance. The… View item
Document

Square Dance Lessons - Doc Alumbaugh

A series of photographs with text illustrating basic square dance figures. This set, incomplete at the moment, appeared in a Rochester, New York, newspaper in 1950; Alumbaugh led a series of… View item
Document

Square Dance Magazines

This short article from 1996 provides a brief summary of the leading square dance magazines, as well as background information about the founders. View item
Moving Image

Square Dance promo video

This video promoting modern square dance was produced by CALLERLAB in 2022. It's interesting to note that thepromo focuses more on the social aspects of square dancing than on choreographic… View item
Document

Square dance publications

This website contains numerous examples of the many square dance publications — newsletters, journals, magazines— that have been created over the years. (See Items 1033 – 1073 for examples.) There are… View item
Website

Square Dance Radio Network

This weekly show focuses on modern square dancing, and is hosted by Dayle Hodge and Barb Jarvis. They describe their mission thus: "The Square Dance Radio Network provides entertaining and educational… View item
Sound

Square Dance Radio Spots

These are three radio ads that promote "modern American square dance." Each features a different well-known caller at the time: Don Armstrong Arnie Kronenberger Al Brundage They were created… View item
Website

Square Dance Resource Net

This is an extraordinarily rich and detailed website, filled with information of interest to anyone with a serious interest in square dance. The emphasis is on modern rather than traditional squares,… View item
Moving Image

Square Dance Revival - Australia, 1980

Television documentary that looks at square dancing in Australia. Mention is made of the boom years of the early 1950s an the start of square dancing there, but this focuses on a revival around 1980.… View item
Sound

Square Dance Time - Tommy Cavanagh

Two clips from Tommy Cavanagh's "Square Dance Time" album., excerpts from "Hoedown Boogie" and "Boil that Cabbage." Callers in Great Britain from time to time… View item
Document

Square Dance Timing for Callers: Philosophy

New England caller Dick Leger, "the man with the guitar," believed strongly in fitting calls to the musical phrase. In this, he was sometimes an outlier in the modern square dance community… View item

Square Dance Video collections

There are thousands of videos on sites such as YouTube that show modern square dancing. Several individuals have done their own collecting, presenting many videos on one location. Andy Abeles is based… View item