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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Grey Eagle Square Dance with the New Lost City Ramblers

This program appeared on German television during the 1966 European tour by the New Lost City Ramblers, with Roscoe Holcomb, the Stanley Brothers, Cousin Emmy and others. See article by Philip Gura in… View item
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Nouvelle Anglaise, contredanse française

This dance is Nouvelle Anglaise, acontredanse française published in Repertoire de Bals, de la Cuisse, Paris, 1762. The music is Sur L'Air du Tambourin de Daquin.The 18th centurycotillonandcontredanse… View item
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La Nouvelle Carel, French cotillion 1762

Cotillion, La Nouvelle Carel, Le Repertoires de Bals, de la Cuisse, Paris, 1762Here is another dance from the same collection, performed by a different group. View item
Document

Cotillon / Cotillion / Contredanse Française

referring to a dance in our collection:The dance is a contredanse from de la Cuisse, published in 1762. It was not called a cotillion in France. Once de la Cuisse had published his collection, the… View item
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Paine's First Set of Quadrilles, 1815

Paine's First Set of Quadrilles 1815 Nederlands Historisch Dans-en Theaterensemble, artistic director Maria Angad Gaur Performance: Jane Austen Bal, The Netherlands 2006 Part 2,3,4,5 and 6 only danced… View item
Document

La naissance du cotillon et du quadrille, contredanses françaises

Article (in French) by Simonne Voyer, who is the author of La danse traditionnelle dans l'est du Canada: quadrilles et cotillons. For a translation in English by Susan Kevra, click here. View item
Website

Late Eighteenth-Century Social Dance (article)

Article that provides a summary of 18th century dance, including the contredanse française, a dance for four couples in a square. Also offers links to documents in the Library of Congress… View item
Website

Nineteenth Century Social Dance (article)

Library of Congress overview of dance history, including links to specific books in their collection. View item
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Lake of the Ozarks (photo)

Photograph of the square dance team, caller, and musicians. Click here to see a video clip of this exciting dance group in action, performing on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. View item
Website

Stan Winchester - C4 Singing Squares

Stan Winchester was a MWSD dancer who created a large body of singing squares for the C4 community. These dancers sometimes share a series of recorded audiotapes with prerecorded calls, and Winchester… View item
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Challenge Square Dancing - C4

This half-hour video was shot at the Fall Berkshires C4 Weekend in Lenox, MA on October 22, 2011. It contains dance sequences and interviews with avid C4 dancers who describe the more complicated… View item
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Vic Ceder - MWSD patter tip with all dance programs

Called by Vic Ceder at the Fall Berkshires C4 Weekend in Lenox, MA on Oct. 22, 2011. A group of volunteer dancers returned from their lunch early to dance a special tip in which each sequence was from… View item