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

Browse Items (1940 total)

Sound

Square Dance Time - Tommy Cavanagh

Two clips from Tommy Cavanagh's "Square Dance Time" album., excerpts from "Hoedown Boogie" and "Boil that Cabbage." Callers in Great Britain from time to time… View item
Document

Square Dance Timing for Callers: Philosophy

New England caller Dick Leger, "the man with the guitar," believed strongly in fitting calls to the musical phrase. In this, he was sometimes an outlier in the modern square dance community… View item
Moving Image

Square Dance Tonight - with Elisha Keeler

This 1949 film features caller Elisha Keeler of South Salem, NY. Keeler was featured in The New Yorker in a brief "Talk of the Town" piece in 1949 and then was given a lengthy profile (some 5,000… View item
Website

Square dance tunes and calls

Audio recording of interview by Alan Lomax with Alan Robertson in the Mississippi Delta View item

Square Dance Video collections

There are thousands of videos on sites such as YouTube that show modern square dancing. Several individuals have done their own collecting, presenting many videos on one location. Andy Abeles is based… View item
Website

Square Dance Videos - MWSD

Caller Matt McGovern <matt@mattmcgovern.net> has started a YouTube channel devoted to modern square dancing, including his own videos and those contributed by others. This collection offers a… View item
Website

Square Dance Videos (West Coast) - Joe Dehn

A collection of several hundred videos videotaped by Joe Dehn, mostly from West Coast MWSD conventions, illustrating a variety of styles, callers, and programs. Among the many dances, you might… View item
Document

Square Dance Week - Austin, 1949

The photo shows Marlys Swenson giving a square dance lesson to Austin's "Mayor Tom," who has proclaimed the week of March 20-26, 1949, as "Square-Dance Week." The Additional File is the accompanying… View item
Still Image

Square Dance with Soul

See the accompanying booklet for the text that was included with this record, released by Folkways in 1969. View item
Sound

Square Dance With Soul

Two audio excerpts from the album Square Dancing With Soul by Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, originally released on the Folkways label in 1969. The comments are from the booklet released with the… View item
Document

Square Dance with Soul, booklet

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

Square Dance—A Social Recreation Aid (1937 article)

Article explaining the basics of square dance, the importance of the caller, the structure of a set, appropriate music, two methods for how to swing, and sample dances. Dance directions are given for… View item