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

Browse Items (1940 total)

Website

Santa Monica audio

Square dance caller and music producer Buddy Weaver has an original recording of the dances called at the famed "World's Largest Square Dance" in Santa Monica, CA, in 1950. He has… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - World's Largest Square Dance

At the time, it was the world's largest square dance event. Santa Monica, California, was celebrating its Diamond Jubilee in square dance style. Lloyd Shaw was invited to be the Grand Marshall of the… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - program listing

The program was announced ahead of time in Sets in Order magazine, and it's an excellent list of common dances and prominent callers of that era. At the dance itself, a round dance was inserted after… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - official program

This is the official program for the 1950 Diamond Jubilee square dance in Santa Monica. Our website has many other items related to this important event in square dance history. View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - interview with Dan Allen

"Calling All Folk Dancers" was a weekly radio show created by California caller Mildred Buhler. The next show after the Santa Monica dance included an interview with Dan Allen; this is a… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - interview with Bob Osgood

As part of his extensive series of interviews with notable figures in the square dance world, Bob Brundage conducted a lengthy interview with Bob Osgood. Included here is the part of that discussion… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - Don Ward comments

The Trad-Dance-Callers listserv in 2008 had a discussion that touched on the Santa Monica dance. Don Ward was a participant in that event and he shared a few memories with the group. View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - Sets in Order

Bob Osgood was editor and publisher of Sets in Order; he was also one of the prime organizers of the Santa Monica event. Here is his magazine's story about the dance. View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - Let's Dance

Cover story about the Santa Monica dance from Let's Dance magazine View item
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Sandy Bradley 3 - Why'd you stop?

Sandy Bradley was a dynamic and exciting guitar player and caller who gave many northern dancers in the 1970s and early 1980s their first taste of fast-moving traditional western squares. She stopped… View item
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Sandy Bradley 2 - Keeping it fun

"The thing that I thought was crippling people's attitude toward dance was rules. 'You have to do THIS, you have to swing like that, you have to get it right!'" It… View item
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Sandy Bradley 1 - Getting started

Sandy Bradley interviewed by Bob Dalsemer. After a brief discussion of the fun of watching the room come together in a dance, Sandy discusses how she got started as a musician and then a square… View item