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

American Dance Circle

The American Dance Circle is the quarterly publication of the Lloyd Shaw Foundation. The entire series, starting December 1979, is now available online. Individual issues contain notes on dances and… View item
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Quadrille - J. Scott Skinner, 1905

The People’s Ball Room Guide, published by musician James Scott Skinner in 1905, is a description of 19th century ballroom dances.A website devoted to Skinner's work includes a series of videos… View item
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Audience Cheers Cheyenne Dancers (newspaper)

This newspaper account describes the enthusiastic reception given the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers when they performed at Swarthmore College (PA). This was the second stop on the dancers' inaugural trip… View item
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Quadrille - 3 changes

Tony Parkes calls the figures at the Christmas Cotillion, Scout House, Concord, MA, December 21, 1985. Music provided by Yankee Ingenuity. View item
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San Antonio Rose - Tod Whittemore

Tod Whittemore calls one of many versions of square dances set to this popular tune; this version features simple choreography with a very smooth flow. Tod does not recall where he learned this… View item
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Tod Whittemore - Grand Colonel

Tod Whittemore calling at his dance series at the VFW, Cambridge, MA, December, 1985. Musicians: New England Tradition (Bob McQuillen, piano; April Limber, fiddle; Pete Colby, banjo). Videotaped by… View item
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Chime Bells - Tod Whittemore

Tod Whittemore calling at his dance series at the VFW, Cambridge, MA, December, 1985. The first half of the footage shows dancers, and then the camera is turned toward the caller. Tod Whittemore is… View item
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New Zealand Square Dance Convention, 1977

Television news story about modern square dance weekend in Christchurch, New Zealand, featuring Chicago caller Dave Taylor. View item
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Shindig in the Barn - Earl Johnston - introductory dance

This is a video clip taken from a promotional video made by Earl Johnston for the Manchester, CT Square Dance Club. Earl was their club caller and the video was made for public television in 1988. In… View item
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Reach for the Stars - British callers

This singing call was made for promotional purposes by the British Association of American Square Dancing Clubs (BAASDC) in 2001. It features seven top British callers calling to two squares. The… View item
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In My Adobe Hacienda - Don and Marie Armstrong

Recorded live, Don and Marie Armstrong call a singing square. The tune was recorded by such country artists as Hank Snow, Gene Autry, and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. View item
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Don Armstrong - progressive squares

Don Armstrong calls a tip that moves dancers from one square to another. At the start of the clip, he alerts dances how this will be done and warns them that when they reach the outside of the hall… View item