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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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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Santa Monica 1950 - Let's Dance

Cover story about the Santa Monica dance from Let's Dance magazine 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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Square Dancing - Bob Osgood film, 1951

Film made by Bob Osgood / Sets in Order in 1951 to popularize square dancing.A discussion among square dance enthusiasts on the history of the film can be found here. As that discussion reveals, a… View item
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Bob Ruff - Square Dancing Fundamentals, Level 1

Caller Bob Ruff (Whittier, CA) created this video to accompany his record, "The Fundamentals of Square Dancing, Level 1" that in turn accompanies a square dance teaching series he created with Jack… View item
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Bob Ruff - Square Dancing Fundamentals, part 2

Also available elsewhere online.This is the second of two films created by caller Bob Ruff (Whittier, CA) to accompany his record, "The Fundamentals of Square Dancing, Level 1" that in turn is part of… View item
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Desert Squares  (Southwest)

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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
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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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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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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, 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