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

Browse Items (1942 total)

Document

Shoo-Fly Swing and La Boulangère

Compilation of sources that reveal the similarity between La Boulangère, a European dance around 1800 and the only dance mentioned by name by Jane Austen, and the Shoo-Fly Swing, its American… View item
Document

John Ramsay - Set Running, a Southern Folk Dance

This article, written in 1987 and updated in 2013 by longtime dancer, caller, and organizer John Ramsay, presents his views on what has been termed "set running," a style of dance that was… View item
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Quadrille Club Anniversary Quadrille

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Royal Scotch Quadrilles - 5th figure

Comments from Susan de Guardiola: The Royal Scotch Quadrilles were written by London dancing master Thomas Wilson in response to the (in his opinion, undeserved) success of The Caledonian Quadrilles,… View item
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Lancers Quadrille - Le Visite

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Website

Irish set dances - a list of examples

Clarebannerman channel on YouTube (once there, enter "set clarebannerman" in the search window) Clare Set Newport Set Corofin Plain Set Kilfenora Plain Set Mullagh Half Set (two couples) Enniscorthy… View item
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Clare Plain Set

The August set dancing weekend in Kilrush, Co Clare, features outdoor ceilis in the town's market square. The Glenside Ceili Band were the featured musicians on Saturday afternoon when they played… View item
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Kilfenora Set

At the Kilrush set dancing weekend, the Glenside Ceili Band plays music for the Kilfenora Set at an outdoor ceili on the town square. View item
Document

Irish Set Dances - an introduction

An introduction to Irish Set DancesSet dances are danced by four couples arranged on the sides of a square. and, occasionally, in “half sets” of two couples opposite each other. Sets are almot always… View item
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Irish House Dance

Lengthy text describing set dancing, as well as video footage taken at a house dance Two hornpipes played by Tony MacMahon - Accordian, Paul McGrattan - Flute, and Kevin Glackin - Fiddle. From… View item
Document

Ed Gilmore - Square Dance Callers Instruction Course - 1949

[Buddy Weaver has digitized an hour-long audio recording of Gilmore leading a callers' class. It can be found here.]This is the text of the syllabus of Ed Gilmore's class. It contains plenty of… View item
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Quebec - Baie Saint-Paul, #1

Footage from Baie Saint-Paul, in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, taken at the "Centre hospitalier de Charlevoix" on January 5, 1974, by Guy Landry. Dance historian Pierre Chartrand describes this as… View item