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

Browse Items (1926 total)

Document

Square-'n-Round  (Les Gotcher)

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Document

Square Dance ~ Where?

A comprehensive, large (72 pp.) booklet describing square dance activities in northern California in the mid-1950s, attesting to the popularity of the activity at that time and place. Note:… View item
Website

Ralph Page

Here is the citation that accompanied Page being awarded the 1980 CALLERLAB Milestone award, that organization's highest honor. Page was reluctant to accept this award from an organization that… View item
Still Image

10,000 Square Dancers Can't Be Wrong

1954 newspaper article and photographs about popularity of modern square dancing in St. Louis View item
Document

Jessy Polka Square

Here are the directions for Red Warrick's dance. See the related item for a video showing Warrick calling for his demo team. 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
Document

Catalogs

This collection of seven catalogs from the 1950s and early 1960s illustrates the range of materials offered to participants in the early square dance boom years, from recordings to clothing to badges… View item
Document

5 Steps to Better Dancing

The "5 Steps" of the title can be taken literally; this tiny handout, illustrated with stick figures, is all about how to move on the dance floor: 1. Keep both feet on the floor,… View item
Document

ABC's of Square Dancing

This informal guide to square dancing is aimed at beginners, an easy-to-ready pamphlet that a caller could distribute to dancers in a class. It strikes a friendly tone: --- So you wanta'… View item
Document

Basic Movements of Square Dancing

This early handbook from Sets in Order provides detailed instructions for 20 basic figures, "the foundation movements for most square dancing." As such, it offers an overview of what was considered… View item
Document

Square Dance Party handbooks

These handbooks, published by Bob Osgood and Sets in Order, describe how to plan a square dance party. They offer a look at modern square dance culture in the years from the early 1950s through the… View item
Document

Square Dances in Western Style

A handbook of basic dance figures, written by a Virginia dance caller in the early 1950s. View item