"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 in colonial America, both English-influenced and French, such as the cotillion. He considers the national origins of the American settlers, pointing out that while those of English descent comprised the largest group, there were many from French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Irish, and Slavic backgrounds, stating that these groups "exercised a disproportionate influence on the dance picture." With such influences, the latest favorites of the London ballrooms were increasingly not necessarily those in American ballrooms.

The waltz and polka, emergence of the quadrille, influences of later waves of immigation, the rise of the caller, later religious movements, the German Cotillions, differences between North and South, East and West, the place of stepping the figures, African-American influences, and much more—LaFarge considers a wide range of topics in his history.