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

Maple Sugar Gal (clip) - Rod Linnell

This clip includes once through the figure, once through the chorus (which comes after each figure), and the closing break, which mirrors the start of the dance.The dance is described in detail in… View item
Sound

Half Way Round (clip) - Rod Linnell

Maine caller with his composition, a singing call set to the RCA VIctor recording of "Back Up and Push." Linnell's version is published in View item
Sound

Arkansas Traveler (clip) - Rod Linnell

Despite the title of the dance, with a reel by the same name, the tune for this recording is Little Burnt Potato, a jig. Rod Linnell, from Maine, was a contemporary of Ralph Page, perhaps best known… View item
Document

Quadrilles in Harlem - 1946

Rod LaFarge was a caller, publisher, and dance historian, interested in all manner of dances. In this account, he describes visiting Harlem on several occasions-- LaFarge lived in New Jersey--to… View item
Document

Rosin the Bow - Vol 2, 1946

Rosin the Bow was a monthly magazine published by dance leader and historian Rod LaFarge. Volume 1, aimed at local dancers, was called Ramapo Rangers. This item contains scans of the complete issues… View item
Document

Ramapo Rangers - Rod LaFarge, 1945

This is a full year of the newsletter issued by Rod LaFarge for his local dancers in northern New Jersey. The following year, LaFarge began publishing Rosin the Bow, a more ambitious commercial… View item
Document

"Social Dancing in America" - Rod LaFarge

This lengthy history of social dance was written by Rod LaFarge and appeared over three years in American Squares magazine. LaFarge begins with a short look at English country dance, moves to dancing… View item
Document

Rosin the Bow  (Rod LaFarge)

The 1947 issue contains an introduction to the very basics of square dancing. It also has a detailed look at what is required for a Girl Scout to earn a Folk Dancing badge. The 1950 issue contains… View item
Document

Do Squares Come from Quadrilles?

This item starts with a 1957 article by Rod LaFarge that takes a strong stand: "the assumption that our present day square dance is derived from the formal quadrille is completely false."… View item
Document

Frontier Dances - Bob Cook

A native of Colorado, Bob Cook's dancing experiences go back to the time when he was a seventh grader at the Cheyenne Mountain School. He was a member of the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers from 1939 to… 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
Sound

Spinning Wheel - description and audio

This figure appears here in two formats. The written description comes from Betty Casey in Foot 'n' Fiddle managzine; Casey published several collections of square dance figures and decades later… View item