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

Browse Items (1924 total)

Document

Let's Square Dance – Claude Chadwick

This 24 page booklet was produced by Claude S. Chadwick, a Texas native and a professor of biology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He begins with an overview of the activity: "All we need for… View item
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Quadrille français - 1st figure, Le Pantalon

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Quadrille français - La Polonaise - 3rd figure

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Les plaisirs de Varennes - contredanse française

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Contredanse française - pot-pourri of dances

This selection of dances from the period of the French Revolution begins with an introduction (in French). The actual dancing begins about 2:20. View item
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Contredanse française – La réverbère

Dance from the later 1700s, during the reign of Louis VXI (1754-1793), illustrating this dance form that emerged from the cotillon and led to the development of the quadrille. View item

Corky Calkins - two programs

These are two programs of Massachusetts caller Corky Calkins, one from 1965 and the other from 1967. They were noted by Connecticut caller Ralph Sweet who for decades carried a small notebook with him… View item
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American Square Dance - Coronet Films, 1947

This 1947 instructional film, produced by Coronet Films, was created in collaboration with the Chicago Parks District. (Note that Lloyd Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers performed in Chicago in… View item
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Texas Squares at Pinewoods

In the late 1940s, the Country Dance and Song Society was best known for its work focused on English country dances and ritual dances. Starting in 1949 (see cover of the CDSS newsletter) and then at… View item
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Country Dancer, The

journal of The Country Dance Society (now Country Dance and Song Society, CDSS) View item
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Social Dance in the Mormon West

Detailed look at the role that social dance played (and still plays) in Mormon society. The publication includes a lengthy essay by Larry Shumway looking at dance throughout Mormon history, including… View item
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Tennessee Star - David Hendrix, 1951

East Tennessee caller D. B., Hendrix provides directions for this big set variation of the Texas Star. A biography of the author can be found at the related item, "Smoky Mountain Square… View item