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

Browse Items (1929 total)

Sound

Cumberland Square Dance - Frank Kaltman

Editor's note: We have classified this as Northern / New England but in reality the dance is a traditional English square.Tony Parkes comments: The dance is Cumberland Square. The caller is Frank… View item
Sound

Crooked Stovepipe (clip) - Gene Gowing

This is the start of Gene Gowing's recording of a classic New England singing square. Gowing half sings, half chants the figures, in somewhat the same manner-- though less melodiously-- as his… View item
Moving Image

Crooked Stovepipe - Tony Parkes

This dance was taught by Tony Parkes as part of his workshop session on New England Square Dances, recorded November 19, 2011, at the Dare To Be Square Weekend, John C. Campbell Folk School,… View item
Moving Image

Crooked Stovepipe - Tod Whittemore

The caller is Tod Whittemore; musicians are Randy Miller, fiddle; Peter Siegel, mandolin; and Bob McQuillen, piano. Danced during a Retrospective session at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend,… View item
Sound

Crooked Stovepipe - Dudley Laufman -

Live recording, Bernardston, Massachusetts, with Dudley Laufman calling. He introduces this by noting, "First dance I ever called, when I was a kid." Music by the Fall Town String Band: Ed Phelps and… View item
Sound

Crawdad Song (clip) - Bob Van Antwerp

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Document

Cowpuncher's Square Dance Call - response

Folklorist Sam Hinton has some fun with the poem. If it is to be taken literally as an example of a dance call, Hinton calculates that the cowboys are dancing at a speed greater than 20 miles per… View item
Document

Cowpuncher's Square Dance Call

Poem that appears to be square dance patter from traditional western square dancing View item
Document

Cowboys' Christmas Ball controversy - Anson, Texas

Square dancing is not just about a dance; as a social activity, the subject inevitably reaches into broader questions about society at large. So it is with the Cowboy's Christmas Ball, the preceding… View item
Document

Cowboys' Christmas Ball - Anson, Texas

Poem written in 1890 describing the Cowboys' Christmas Ball in Anson, Texas. For more information about the author, see this website on cowboy poetry. The Ball continues, following the original rules… View item
Document

Cowboy Songs and Dances

This is an excerpt-- the dance part; a later song section is omitted-- from an article that includes the author's experiences at a cowboy dance in 1903. The author includes typical patter heard… View item
Moving Image

Cowboy Medley Square - Silver Spurs

Caller Red Henderson, who founded the Silver Spurs youth dance troupe, here calls a "cowboy square dance," mixing together figures based on traditional western square dances. The film dates… View item