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

Browse Items (1926 total)

Moving Image

Oh Johnny - Lester Bradley

In modern square dance programs, squares are often intermingled with round dances. Similarly, traditional dance programs often involve a variety of dances other than squares—waltz, polka,… View item
Moving Image

Red River Valley - Lester Bradley

Lester Bradley (caller and guitar) with Paul Amey, fiddle, joined by Bob Reed, banjo; David Colburn, guitar; George Randall, 12 string guitar, spoons; Mike Hebb, fiddle; Sue Hunt, piano &… View item
Website

Miami Valley Dance Council archives - Ohio

This archive contains records of clubs in the Dayton, Ohio, area as well as the regional dance council. The Miami Valley Dance Council was formed in 1955, with representatives from 15 dance clubs. A… View item
Sound

Les Gotcher - caller talk, 1962

Talk given by Les Gotcher to Tri-State Callers Association (New England) in March of 1962. Les emphasizes the importance of callers understanding the action of each call and describes early forms of… View item
Document

Les Gotcher's Text Book for Square Dance Callers

One of the leading callers in promoting the use of sight calling, Les Gotcher went his own way as modern square dance developed. Frequently described as "The Hash Master," Gotcher was not part of the… View item
Document

Dancing Among the Stars

In Chapter 6 of his autobiography, Dancing Among the Stars, caller Les Gotcher shares his perspective on what he saw as a series of attacks on him, orchestrated by Lloyd Shaw and assisted by members… View item
Sound

Frazee's Nightmare - Les Gotcher, 1954

Commercial recordings bring us excellent sound quality and precise calling. In contrast, one of the delights of live recordings is hearing the caller deal with real-life challenges on the dance floor.… View item
Sound

Eight to the Center - Les Gotcher, 1954

This live recording comes from a Les Gotcher Square Dance Institute. You'll note that Gotcher starts the music while squares are still forming up; he calls out that another couples is needed in the… View item
Document

Les Gotcher choreography, 1958

The transcription is shown here; you can hear audio clip under Additional Files. If you open that audio in a separate tab, you can listen while you follow along the text.Jim Mayo: "Les Gotcher was… View item
Document

Sight Calling - Les Gotcher

Les Gotcher's detailed description offer a look into how he created various sight-calling techniques. He includes a section early on that describes the process he went through to create this… View item
Sound

Merry-Go-Round Square Dance - Les Gotcher

See comments on Choo Choo Square Dance for more information. View item
Sound

Double Tea-Cup Chain - Les Gotcher

This is Les Gotcher calling, recorded live at Kirkwood Lodge (Osage Beach, Missouri) at the second annual Les Gotcher Square Dance Institute. We hear Gotcher start with two regular squares doing a… View item