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

Browse Items (1935 total)

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Hilton Kelly, Catskill fiddler and caller

Hilton Kelly, of Fleischmanns, New York, is a Catskills fiddler and square dance caller. He started playing in 1932, at age 5, and started calling in 1937. By the time he was 15, he had a regular band… View item
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Jubilee U.S.A. square dancers, 3 - Ozark

This clip features a straightforward Right Hand High and Left Hand Low, but done at a dizzying tempo-- 172 beats per minute! View item
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Jubilee U.S.A. square dancers, 2 - Ozark

Early on, this clip features Ladies Star while gents promenade, then allemande left and Gents Star while ladies promenade. Later, the dancers move into lines of three dancers at the sides with long… View item
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Jubilee U.S.A. square dancers, 1 - Ozark

This clip features Sides Divide while head couples circle in the center of the ring and do a doceydo. The tempo is fast-- 164 beats per minute-- but #3 in this series is even faster!The Ozark Jubilee… View item
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Texas Star - Mike Rogers, Wien, Missouri, 1994

The caller is 92-year-old Mike Rogers, patter calling at a jam session and square dance held at Wien (Chariton County in north central Missouri) in 1994. There's close-up footage of Rogers starting at… View item
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Polly Wolly Hoedown - Eddie Evans

Eddie Evans was an Australian caller. View item
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MacNamara's Band - Irene Hewitt

Irene Hewitt was an Australia caller, here doing a well-known singing square. View item
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Ladies Chain Through the Stars - Bob Hunt

Bob Hunt was a prominent Australia caller, based in Victoria, who in the 1950s was calling six nights a week. View item
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Cindy - Graham Rigby

Graham Rigby, author of "My Life's a Dance," was an Australian caller. Here he does a traditional American square dance figure. View item
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Sally Goodin - Eddie Carol & his Corn Cobbers

Eddie Carol, called by some "the greatest authority on the American square dance In Australia," was a leading Australia caller who specialized in a singing patter style of calling after… View item
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El Paso Star - Bill McGrath

Bill McGrath was one of the leading callers in Australia, a self-taught patter caller based in Melbourne. View item