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

Browse Items (1926 total)

Website

Square Dance Videos (West Coast) - Joe Dehn

A collection of several hundred videos videotaped by Joe Dehn, mostly from West Coast MWSD conventions, illustrating a variety of styles, callers, and programs. Among the many dances, you might… View item
Sound

Ends Turn In (clip) - Joe Lewis

Joe Lewis was one of the big names in square dance calling; he played an accordion that was specially fitted out so that different notes would produce different kinds of sounds, and his big hit was… View item
Sound

Alabama Jubilee (clip) - Joe Lewis

Alabama Jubilee was a smash hit for Joe Lewis, and the dance was also recorded by a dozen other callers. This clip illustrates one time through the figure along with a lengthy set of closing calls.… View item
Sound

Joe Lewis - Callers Class

This is a fragment of a callers' class led by Joe Lewis; unfortunately, we do not know the location or the date. Lewis comments, "When a lot of people suddenly do the same thing wrong, the… View item
Sound

Joe Lewis singing

Joe Lewis modified an accordion and used it to accompany himself on singing calls. He also used it to accompany his singing of songs as an entertainer after (or during) the dance. These two were… View item
Document

Square Dancing Is NOT Out of This World

This is the text of a presentation by Joe Lewis at the 1959 National Square Dance Convention, part of a discussion of the future of square dancing.Lewis points out that the majority of dancers at the… View item
Sound

Hotshot Callers - Joe Lewis

In this recording, Joe Lewis highlights the plight of an average square dancer who just wants to go out for an evening of fun. Instead, he's confronted by a hotshot caller using all manner of… View item
Document

Saturday Night Fun with Square Dances

This collection of dances aims to present a typical evening program at Holiday Hill in Ohio. Rather than a series of dances representing a particular region or a collection with challenging square… View item
Sound

Johnny Barbour - Hash, live recording, 1958

Johnny Barbour 1958 – Track 1 Comment by Jim Mayo This tip is, I believe, from a group of files shared with the Square Dance Foundation of New England by Stig Malmo from Denmark. Stig has been… View item