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

Browse Items (40 total)

  • Tags: Colorado
Moving Image

The Visible Anthem

This 1972 documentary, half an hour in length, describes the work of the Lloyd Shaw Foundation. It includes footage of Dorothy Shaw speaking to participants at a gathering of the Lloyd Shaw… View item
Document

A Look at Square Dancing in Colorado

"Square dancing evolved a western version probably sometime in the late 1800s when the pioneers moved to settle the states west of the Mississippi. It was a square dance form that was much… View item
Document

Aggie Haylofters - Colorado

Author Cal Campbell shares his memories of dancing with the Aggie Haylofters, a square dance group at Colorado State University. (CSU was Colorado A&M until it changed its name in the 1950s;… View item
Document

American Country Dancing on Colorado's West Slope

The article is based on oral history collected in 1979, though no footnotes or direct quotations are included. Instead, it is a generalized summary of the author's findings. "Depending on… View item
Document

At the Keith Ranch (1893)

SeeAdditional Filesfor the full story.This short story, published in 1893, focuses on events at a square dance at a Colorado ranch. Although the plot itself is melodramatic, the author includes… View item
Moving Image

Bill Litchman 1 - Traditional Western Squares

Caller Bill Litchman discusses characteristic features of traditional western square dances, incorporating his memory of Colorado dances that he encountered starting in the 1950s.For a more detailed… View item
Sound

Captain Jinks / Divide the Ring - Leonard Hurst

Two clips from Colorado caller Leonard Hurst, who came to Australia in 1951 to do a series of radio broadcasts. He played an important role in spreading square dance to that area. More information… View item
Still Image

Central City - more photographs

Janie Chandler writes: "My mother, Carol Case, formerly Carol Chandler, originally Carol Angevine, was a Colorado square dancer from way back.The video I watched (from 1955) was a year before my… View item
Still Image

Central City - photographs

This collection of photos documents the young dancers who performed in the summers in Central City, Colorado. As opera-goers left the theatre, the dancers would swoop down the main street and bring… View item
Still Image

Central City dancers, 1967 & 1968

The first picture is a 1968 publicity photo taken of the square dancers, used by the Central City Opera Association to send to local newspapers:back row: Sharon _?_, Gary Schaub, Larry Wylie, caller,… View item
Moving Image

Central City, Colorado - 1955

The caller featured here is Ray Smith; we have not yet identified the fiddler and piano player. By 1960, Al "Tex" Brownlee was the caller and he used recorded music.Dancers:Couple 1: Dave Chandler and… View item
Document

Colorado dancing - Cal Campbell

Dance caller Cal Campbell started dancing at age 6 in 1943; he has written a series of reminiscences of his experiences growing up in a small Colorado town and the vital role that dancing played in… View item