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

Browse Items (1938 total)

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The Roberts - couple dance

Couple dance that was part of the regular program of dances at many New England dances. Here it's being danced by the New England Chestnuts performance group at the berth of the USS Constitution in… View item
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The Route - Bob Dalsemer

Recorded at Dare To Be Square, Seattle, 2009 View item
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The Route - Rickey Holden

Rickey Holden calling a classic square dance figure, alternately called The Rout or The Route. Rather than a full walkthrough, he gives only a general introduction, setting up the dancers for some… View item
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The Route - Tony Parkes

The caller is Tony Parkes; musicians are Yankee Ingenuity (Jack O'Connor, mandolin; Mary Lea, fiddle; Cal Howard, bass; Peter Barnes, piano), joined by Steve Hickman, fiddle and harmonica. Filmed… View item
Document

The Rural Square Dance in the Northeastern United States: A Continuity of Tradition

This doctoral thesis in folklore is based on a study of square dances in New York state, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Especially interesting are the descriptions of traditional dances, based on the… View item
Document

The Saturday Square Dance and Fish Fry in Dogtown

Cultural historian and old-time fiddler Linda L. Henry has done extensive research into the history of black string band music and dance in Warren County, Tennessee, halfway between Nashville and… View item
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The Shuffle - Phil Jamison - Southern Appalachian squares

Phil Jamison led a workshop session on square dances from the southern Appalachians, focusing on dances from different communities in that region. Phil described this simple figure as a common dance… View item
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The Singing Caller

This book went through three editions from 1944 to 1951, testimony to the popularity of singing square dance calls in that period. The Table of Contents shows many familiar dances; others are set to… View item
Website

The Slave Roots of Square Dancing

This is an easily-read summary of a scholarly article by Phil Jamison on the African-American roots of southern Appalachian dance and, in particular, the pivotal role played by African-American… View item
Sound

The Slow One - Dudley Laufman

Dance as called by Lin Cady, though Dudley said he's at a loss as to the title since it was always done at the same speed as every other square. He identifies the tune as Solomon Levi, though the… View item
Document

The Square Dance Caller

This is one of the most successful efforts to describe in detail just what is involved in being a good square dance caller. (Tony Parkes, in his Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century,"… View item
Sound

The Square Waltz (clip) - Carson Robison

music by the Pleasant Valley Boys View item