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

Browse Items (1925 total)

Sound

Pussy Cat -Red Bates - 1973

The 1973 singing call, Pussy Cat, Windsor Records #4173, was recorded by Bruce Johnson; it is one that became a Red Bates trademark. The figure was difficult in a unique way. The challenge was the… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 1973 Patter

Our 1973 clip is from a dance at the Longmeadow, MA, square dance club a short distance from where Red lived at that time. He starts with a Scoot Back and Circulate combination and in the second half… View item
Sound

Gentle On My Mind, Red Bates, 1968

In the 1968 singing call, Gentle On My Mind, the interesting and unusual figure was called by Red just as it was recorded on the Wagon Wheel label #113 by Don Franklin View item
Sound

Red Bates 1968 Patter

The next clips we have are from another dance at Newton Pavilion seven years later. By then the calls Swing Thru and Spin the Top had been added to the call vocabulary and Red makes use of both in… View item
Sound

Woman in Love - Red Bates, 1961

The singing call, Woman In Love, is a classic and Red uses the figure as it was recorded by Dick Leger on Grenn record #12128. Tempo is a characteristic of calling that underwent considerable change.… View item
Sound

Red Bates 1961, Patter

By the time of our first clip from a 1961 dance at the Newton Pavilion in Newton, NH, Bates was a busy caller working dances throughout New England. The choreography is very representative of MWSD at… View item
Sound

Daisy Alamo patter - Robby Robertson

This is a live recording of Robby Robertson teaching a "Daisy Alamo" combination of a Daisy Chain and an Alamo Style progression, followed by calling a dance with those figures. (The dance itself… View item
Website

Square Dance Legislation Collection

The Square Dance Legislation Collection consists of manuscript materials (1975-present) documenting the history of legislation to designate the square dance as the national or state (folk) dance. The… View item
Document

Clarence Haller - Ralph Page correspondence

These letters were sent from Lucile and Clarence Haller, Indiana square dance caller, to Ralph Page, the dean of New England dance callers at the time. They are clearly interested in learning more… View item
Sound

Patter - Clarence Haller

This is the last dance of an evening program hosted by Clarence Haller in Evansville, Indiana. Haller calls a succession of traditional figures including Cut Off Six, Arkansas Traveler, and Take a… View item
Sound

Patter Calling - Ed Gilmore

This is a short clip of patter calling by Ed Gilmore. The choreography is the classic Ends Turn In that was created by Ed in 1951. View item