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

Browse Items (1937 total)

Sound

Ed Gilmore - Ends Turn In, live recording. 1958

In this clip Ed Gilmore uses a shortened version of the original Ends Turn In figure that was published in 1951. At that time the Square Thru call that he uses here to set up the lines did not exist.… View item
Website

Mountain Dance Trail - West Virginia

Created by folklorists Gerry Milnes and Becky Hill at Davis & Elkins College in Augusta, West Virginia, the Mountain Dance Trail is a statewide effort to support local square customs. The project… View item
Sound

Push Pa, Shove Ma (clip) - Caroline Oakley

Caroline Oakley, Portland, Oregon, learned to call from her mentor, Bill Martin. Here she is as a beginning caller in a piece by Oregon Public Broadcasting. In this audio clip, she's leading the… View item
Moving Image

Square Dancing on Pike's Peak - 1963

Square dancing at 14,000' — footage put online by the Pikes Peak Library. The actual dance footage starts at 1:17 in the footage, and lasts for about a minute. The added sound track is… View item
Sound

Rod's Right and Left (clip) - Rod Linnell

This dance was recorded on the flip side of Mountain Music Madness, on the Apex label, #9-26431. The band is Don Messer's Islanders. The tune is Debbie's Jig.In her notes, Louise Winston writes, "This… View item
Sound

Pack Up Your Troubles / Three-Quarter Promenade (clip) - Rod Linnell

The tune is Pack Up Your Troubles. Linnell's calls were released on the Rodeo label (Canada, RXP1), with music by The Maritime All Stars. View item
Sound

Presque Isle Eighth (clip) - Rod Linnell -

The tune is Crooked Stovepipe. Rod Linnell: "We used to spend each winter in northern Maine and call dances there and in neighboring New Brunswick. During one of these winters, the Presque Isle club… View item
Sound

Mountain Music Madness (clip) - Rod Linnell

The tune is "I Like Mountain Music," here adapted into a singing call. Recorded on the Apex label, #9-26431. The band is Don Messer's Islanders. In her notes to the dance in Square Dances from a… View item
Sound

Maple Sugar Gal (clip) - Rod Linnell

This clip includes once through the figure, once through the chorus (which comes after each figure), and the closing break, which mirrors the start of the dance.The dance is described in detail in… View item
Sound

I Want a Gal (clip) - Rod Linnell

Released on the Rodeo label (Canada, RXP1), with music by The Maritime All Stars. Note the chorus singing the refrain! View item
Moving Image

Nils Fredland - Bachelor Mill

This dance originated with George Waudby, of Tucson, Arizona, and was adopted by Jimmy Clossin of El Paso, Texas. It is described in more detail in Lee Owens, Advanced Square Dance Figures of the West… View item
Document

Square Dance with Soul, booklet

Liner notes and dance descriptions, the booklet that came with the LP recording View item