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

Browse Items (1924 total)

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Cindy - Bob Dalsemer

Cindy is a singing call as called by Maryland Line caller Jake Jacoby in the mid-1970's. The tune seems to be an amalgam of Cindy and Oh Susannah. At the Dare To Be Square dance weekend, Bob… View item
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Duck for the Oyster - Bob Dalsemer - Maryland Line 5

This is what might be termed a semi-singing square. Maryland Line caller Jake Jacoby always called Duck for the Oyster to the tune Little Brown Jug (as played by The Sawmill Boys). Note the Georgia… View item
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Paul Jones - Bob Dalsemer - Maryland Line 1

At the Dare To Be Square dance weekend, Bob Dalsemer led a workshop on "Dances of Maryland Line," a small town in northern Maryland that he visited often in the 1970s. Attentive viewers will… View item
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When the Work's All Done - Bob Dalsemer

At the Dare To Be Square dance weekend, Bob Dalsemer led a workshop on "Dances of Maryland Line," a small town in northern Maryland that he visited often in the 1970s. Attentive viewers will… View item
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Grand Square - Bob Dalsemer - Maryland Line 6

Grand Square was always danced at Maryland Line to one part of the polka tune Bye, Bye My Baby. The late Bob Osgood, publisher of Sets in Order magazine, recorded "Grand Square Quadrille" to… View item
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Ninepin - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls the version of this traditional square dance as he learned it at Maryland Line, MD, back in the 1970s. This was recorded at at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20,… View item
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Gents Three-Quarter Star - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. The dance was composed by the great New England caller Ted Sannella,… View item
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Down Yonder - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls the well-known singing square dance Down Yonder at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. Bob credits the Handy… View item
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Arkansas Traveler with a Cross Trail Thru - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. This version of Arkansas Traveler, with the cross trail figure, comes… View item
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Independence Lancers - Pennsylvania

The Lancers is a form of quadrille dating from the 19th century. It appears in many communities throughout the western world. Here is a version (filmed in Super-8 by Bob Dalsemer, September, 1979)… View item
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Four Little Sisters with a Do-Si-Do - Larry Edelman

Recorded in 1990 by Bob Dalsemer at Lovely Lane Church, Baltimore. The caller is Larry Edelman. Musicians are John Herrmann, Dirk Powell, Dave Grant and Greg Hooven. View item
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Dip 'n' Dive Around the Square - Larry Edelman

Recorded in 1990 by Bob Dalsemer at Lovely Lane Church, Baltimore. The caller is Larry Edelman. Musicians are John Herrmann, Dirk Powell, Dave Grant and Greg Hooven. Larry thinks he learned the dance… View item