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

Browse Items (28 total)

  • Tags: California
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Southern California Square Dance "Gold Rush"

This essay, from the program booklet of the 1976 National Square Dance Convention, provides an overview of early square dancing in southern California. That year's NSDC was held in Anaheim, CA,… View item
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Ray Shaw biography

This article profiles caller Ray Shaw, brother of Lloyd Shaw. Ray started calling square dances in Los Angeles in 1939, and was featured as the guest on the first television show that Bob Osgood… View item
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Veteran Square Dancers - California's oldest club?

This short article from 1946 describes a square dance club that has been meeting regularly for 17 years without missing a night, which would mean it started in 1929. The group counts 300 "rural… View item
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Let's Dance archives

Let's Dance is the monthly publication of the Folk Dance Federation of California, beginning in 1944. More than 750 issues have been digitized and are available at this site, along with a listing of… View item
Website

Square Dance Callers’ Association of Northern California

This website offers a brief history of the SDCANC, including a list of past presidents, a selection of older photographs, and information about the founding of the group in 1949. View item
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New-Fangled Dance Craze Hits Hollywood Bars Hard

Sherman Sanders was an actor who played a square dance caller in Hollywood movies starting in the early 1940s. His credits include Bowery Buckaroos, The Devil And Daniel Webster, Lure Of The… View item
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"Square Dance in the 1950s Rural West: An Oral History"

Interviews with two older dancers in the author's family. One describes dancing in Garden Valley, Idaho, including stories of all-night dancing in the middle of the road in mid-winter, a literal… View item
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Square Dance, Oakland, CA - 1919

This silent newsreel footage from Gaumont News, a French company, shows several sets of dancers doing a quadrille in an outdoor setting. The brief title before the action reads: "Choose… View item
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"The One Night Stand"

This short article from Sets in Order talks abotu the special challenges of events that are the first square dance experience for those gathered. It looks in particular at Margie and Ozzy Stout and… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - Don Ward comments

The Trad-Dance-Callers listserv in 2008 had a discussion that touched on the Santa Monica dance. Don Ward was a participant in that event and he shared a few memories with the group. View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - interview with Bob Osgood

As part of his extensive series of interviews with notable figures in the square dance world, Bob Brundage conducted a lengthy interview with Bob Osgood. Included here is the part of that discussion… View item
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Santa Monica 1950 - interview with Dan Allen

"Calling All Folk Dancers" was a weekly radio show created by California caller Mildred Buhler. The next show after the Santa Monica dance included an interview with Dan Allen; this is a… View item