"Swing Your Partner!"
This account of square dancing in Michigan dates from 1951, and informs the reader early on, "Today, Michigan is a square dancer's paradise." Because of that time, it offers a glimpse of an era when squares were changing from traditional to modern. Because of that location, it includes a look at the efforts of Henry Ford in the previous several decades. Included in the article are some specific details about the scope of Ford's efforts.
Contributor Paul Gifford comments: "There were traditional and recreational dancing going on at the same time. In Flint, for example, there were traditional, but commercial dances in the mid-1940s, at crowded places on the outskirts of the city, where the orchestra included a saxophone for the fox trots. Then I see in 1947, at a junior high school, square dancing was accompanied by Earl Vincent, the main fiddler here, who played in the '30s with a large commercial group, Nick & His Cornhuskers. The C. S. Mott Foundation sponsored many recreational activities, and that included square dancing. This went on at least until the '60s or later. I suppose this was true in many places.
"What happened in Michigan was that singing calls appeared in the '30s and '40s, but didn't oust the earlier chanting -- some callers took to singing calls while others didn't. Also, Michigan probably fits better with New York State, rather than Wisconsin and Minnesota, where ethnic music was more common."
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excerpt from the article
"... On May 21, 1925, he formed the first class of 16 children from the Dearborn area. Mr. Lovett was the instructor.
"This group became larger, was divided and subdivided, until there were 22,000 children in the Dearborn area alone taking instruction. This led, within a few years, to the famous na tion-wide program of teaching the old dances. It is estimated that more th an one million persons took instruction from Ford teams whi ch toured the country.
"At one time, there were 18 teachers devoting eight hours a day, 10 months a year, in 98 schools each week, giving lessons in dancing and social training. Ford teachers taught in physical education departments of 24 universities and colleges from Georgia to California."
Subjects: Midwest (northern)
Tags: Benjamin Lovett, Dearborn, Henry Ford, Mellie Dunham, Michigan
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Contributor Paul Gifford comments: "There were traditional and recreational dancing going on at the same time. In Flint, for example, there were traditional, but commercial dances in the mid-1940s, at crowded places on the outskirts of the city, where the orchestra included a saxophone for the fox trots. Then I see in 1947, at a junior high school, square dancing was accompanied by Earl Vincent, the main fiddler here, who played in the '30s with a large commercial group, Nick & His Cornhuskers. The C. S. Mott Foundation sponsored many recreational activities, and that included square dancing. This went on at least until the '60s or later. I suppose this was true in many places.
"What happened in Michigan was that singing calls appeared in the '30s and '40s, but didn't oust the earlier chanting -- some callers took to singing calls while others didn't. Also, Michigan probably fits better with New York State, rather than Wisconsin and Minnesota, where ethnic music was more common."
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excerpt from the article
"... On May 21, 1925, he formed the first class of 16 children from the Dearborn area. Mr. Lovett was the instructor.
"This group became larger, was divided and subdivided, until there were 22,000 children in the Dearborn area alone taking instruction. This led, within a few years, to the famous na tion-wide program of teaching the old dances. It is estimated that more th an one million persons took instruction from Ford teams whi ch toured the country.
"At one time, there were 18 teachers devoting eight hours a day, 10 months a year, in 98 schools each week, giving lessons in dancing and social training. Ford teachers taught in physical education departments of 24 universities and colleges from Georgia to California."