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

Browse Items (67 total)

  • Tags: quadrille
Document

"Social Dancing in America" - Rod LaFarge

This lengthy history of social dance was written by Rod LaFarge and appeared over three years in American Squares magazine. LaFarge begins with a short look at English country dance, moves to dancing… View item
Document

Rosin the Bow  (Rod LaFarge)

The 1947 issue contains an introduction to the very basics of square dancing. It also has a detailed look at what is required for a Girl Scout to earn a Folk Dancing badge. The 1950 issue contains… View item
Moving Image

African-American quadrille, 1914 (#2)

This comes from the Prelinger Archives and the footage appears to be from the same reel as another itemin our collection. The first part of the footage shows common quadrille figures: opposite couples… View item
Website

An Invitation To Dance: A History of Social Dance in America

This online exhibit on the history of social dance in America draws on documents in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society to offer a multi-faceted portrait of the changing nature of… View item
Moving Image

Annen Polka Quadrille

The caller is Bill Johnston, Skippack, PA, who created the dance in November, 1984. Bill wrote, "This quadrille especially written for the music "The Annen Polka" by Johann Strauss and recorded by… View item
Moving Image

Beseda Quadrille, part I

František Bonuš, a noted dance pedagogue from Prague, led a quadrille workshop in Berea, Kentucky in 1987. The video of the entire workshop is lengthy and has been edited and divided into nine parts.… View item
Document

Bill Johnston - Annen Polka Quadrille

Description of the figures for this dance, created by Bill Johnston and shown on video. View item
Document

Bill Litchman - Rocky Mountain Square Dancing

This overview of square dance history focuses on two major groups of square dance. One group (northern, Eastern, Maritime, etc.) relies on quadrille-style figures, with couples interacting across the… View item
Moving Image

Caribbean Quadrille - Dominica

This is but one example of a quadrille tradition that has been kept alive in many Caribbean islands, here performed by Dominica Oversea Nationals Association (DONA) - Quadrille Dancers. View item
Document

Country Dance and Quadrille

In this poem, c. 1822, we see that it's the squires from the countryside of England who prefer the stately Miss Quadrille, while others are initially enamored of the charms of that newcomer from… View item
Moving Image

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
Moving Image

Danse québécoise - Quadrille en 5 parties

This is an edited version of a dance created by choreographer Yvan Gagné, from Quebec City. You can see the original video, complete with his teaching the figures, at this site. In somewhat the same… View item