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

Browse Items (1924 total)

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Quadrille Club, Les Lanciers or Duval's 2nd Set, Quadrilles No. 1, 2 &3

This video was intended as an introduction to Regency quadrille dancing for new members of Quadrille Club thus at one point in the first quadrille the ladies make a circle in the centre of the set… View item
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Miss McLeod's Reel

Short clip showing outdoor dance, date and place not given though it's from Times ain't like they used to be [videorecording] : early rural and popular American music, 1928-1935. Four couple… View item
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Square Dance, Raton, NM

Outdoor square dance. Calls include "lady round the lady and the gent follow, lady round the gent and the gent don't go." The tune is Waggoner, sometimes called Tennessee… View item
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Take a Little Peek

Northwestern Pennsylvania version of Take a Little Peek, usually considered a southern Appalachian dance figure. Called and posted by Dan Freligh (aka RubberCrutches). The tune is Boil that Cabbage… View item
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Square dance at the Tractor Tavern - Seattle

The Tallboys host a bi-monthly square dance at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood that is wildly popular with the under-30 crowd. Also featured is caller Charmaine Slaven. This… View item
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3 Contredanses françaises

These three dances date to the late 18th century. They are reconstructed from the Manuscrit de Trois-Rivières, the earliest dance manuscript in Canada; click here for more information about the… View item
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Trois-Rivières manuscript, commentary

This is a Google translated version of the site describing the history of the dances shown in the Trois-Rivières video. View item
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Les Lanciers or Duval's 2nd Set. No.4 & 5

Intended as an introduction to Regency quadrilles for new members of Quadrille Club, the steps used in the Grand Chain have been simplified by leaving out the `Ballotes' called for in the origional… View item
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Danish Lancers, first figure

La Dorset, 1st figure of the Lancers as danced today in Denmark. Subsequent videos at this YouTube site show the other four figures. View item
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Mike Callahan - MWSD Fairport High School Square Dance Competition

Caller Mike Callahan has been teaching square dancing in the Rochester, NY area for many years. Mike reports that he usually does a two day session for this school teaching the students how to square… View item
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Tony Parkes 1 -
New England Squares

In this videotaped interview, caller Tony Parkes discusses the typical characteristics of northeastern traditional squares in general, and New England squares in particular. View item
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Tony Parkes 2 - Quadrilles and Visiting Couple Squares

In this interview, caller Tony Parkes describes the basic structure of quadrilles, the 19th century dance form that set the pattern for traditional New England squares, and contrasts that with… View item