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

Browse Items (1938 total)

Moving Image

Central City, Colorado - 1955

The caller featured here is Ray Smith; we have not yet identified the fiddler and piano player. By 1960, Al "Tex" Brownlee was the caller and he used recorded music.Dancers:Couple 1: Dave Chandler and… View item
Still Image

Central City dancers, 1967 & 1968

The first picture is a 1968 publicity photo taken of the square dancers, used by the Central City Opera Association to send to local newspapers:back row: Sharon _?_, Gary Schaub, Larry Wylie, caller,… View item
Still Image

Central City - photographs

This collection of photos documents the young dancers who performed in the summers in Central City, Colorado. As opera-goers left the theatre, the dancers would swoop down the main street and bring… View item
Still Image

Central City - more photographs

Janie Chandler writes: "My mother, Carol Case, formerly Carol Chandler, originally Carol Angevine, was a Colorado square dancer from way back.The video I watched (from 1955) was a year before my… View item
Document

Cecil Sharp at Pine Mountain Settlement School

Cecil Sharp first encountered southern Appalachian dancing at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky on August 31, 1917. (See here for Sharp's notes that day in his diary.) The event became… View item
Moving Image

Catskill Mountains square dance - 1950s

Short clip showing teenagers dancing; the caller plays accordion, joined by a fiddler and a drummer. You can see the men turning the ladies under as they pass them on a grand right and left. View item
Sound

Catch All Eight (clip) - Fenton "Jonesy" Jones

Music by the Cliffie Stone Band View item
Sound

Catch All Eight - Louise Winston

This is an interesting example of a modern square dance call turning up in the repertoire of a caller deeply involved in the New England traditional square dance scene. Louise Winston was one of the… View item
Document

Catalogs

This collection of seven catalogs from the 1950s and early 1960s illustrates the range of materials offered to participants in the early square dance boom years, from recordings to clothing to badges… View item
Document

Carl Sims - Milestone Award

Other entries in this archive discuss the establishment and early years of American square dancing in Japan. Caller Carl Sims played a significant role in developing modern square dancing there,… View item
Still Image

Carl Ewing giving Pappy Silver Spur.jpg

The Silver Spur was an award established by Bob and Becky Osgood, and awarded to individuals whom Osgood felt should be honored; Lloyd Shaw was the first recipient of the award. View item
Moving Image

Caribbean Quadrille - Dominica

This is but one example of a quadrille tradition that has been kept alive in many Caribbean islands, here performed by Dominica Oversea Nationals Association (DONA) - Quadrille Dancers. View item