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

Browse Items (1926 total)

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Going Down South - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls this singing square, with music provided by Notorious (Eden MacAdam Somer on fiddle, Larry Unger on guitar). Recorded January 18, 2013, at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend,… View item
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Nils Fredland - Bouquet Waltz

Nils Fredland calls a traditional square dance figure to the tune of Kitchen Girl with music provided by Notorious (Larry Unger and Eden MacAdam Somer) and Old New England (Bob McQuillen, Jane… View item
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Forward Six and Back - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls a traditional square dance -- Right Hand High, Left Hand Low-- with music provided by Notorious (Larry Unger and Eden MacAdam Somer) and Old New England (Bob McQuillen, Jane… View item
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Circle Three-Quarters and Pass Thru - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls a Ted Sannella composition to the tune of Harborviewl; music provided by Old New England (Bob McQuillen, Jane Orzechowski, and Deanna Stiles). Recorded at a "Salute to Ted… View item
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Fluid Drive - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls a Ted Sannella composition to the tune of Gaspé Reel; music provided by Old New England (Bob McQuillen, Jane Orzechowski, and Deanna Stiles). The clip includes Bob's… View item
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Three Southwest SD records

Here is a website dedicated to Southern Colorado vinyl recordings, including several square dance: For He's a Jolly Good Fellow (Al Horn and Elmer Swartwood's Prairie Hornets)Sunshine Lollipops and… View item
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Mica Flats, Idaho - traditional dance

This article describes traditional dances in Mica Flats, Idaho, eight miles south of Coeur d'Alene. It was written by Penn Fix as a chapter in his book, Contra Dancing in the Northwest. View item
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Tin Lizzie Quadrille - Bob Dalsemer

The dance was written by Jerry Helt and recorded on MacGregor Records #816-A. Jerry writes, “It was inspired by the late Henry Ford who inspired so many of us with his ‘Tin Lizzie’!… View item
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Dudley Laufman - Monadnock Muddle

This dance comes from the repertoire on the great New England caller, Ralph Page, and is called here by Dudley Laufman in the "Retrospective" session at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, January… View item
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Nils Fredland - Birdie in the Cage and Seven Hands Round

Birdie in the Cage is a traditional square dance figure and a common one; a search for "birdie" on this SDHP website will bring up more than half a dozen other examples. In this version, each of the… View item
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Carcassonne big set, #2

This is another example of traditional southern Appalachian big set square dance, recorded by John Ramsay in Carcassonne, Kentucky, September 19, 1991. With relatively few examples on our site of… View item
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Carcassonne big set, #1

This is an excellent example of traditional southern Appalachian big set square dance, recorded by John Ramsay in Carcassonne, Kentucky, September 19, 1991. ("Big set" is the name given by outsiders;… View item