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

Browse Items (1930 total)

Sound

Red Bates, 1982 Pecos Promenade

The singing call, Pecos Promenade, was recorded by Beryl Main on Chaparral label #406. At 120 beats per minute (bpm) it is the first indication in this collection of a trend toward slower tempo that… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 1990 Patter

The 1990 dance was again for the Longmeadow club. The most striking thing to notice is the much slower tempo. In 1980 Red’s tempo for the opening patter call was 128 beats per minute (bpm). By 1990… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 1990 From A Jack To A King

In the singing call Red uses the Introduction/Break/Closer as it was recorded on the Red Boot Star label #1320 by Bill Anderson and continues the practice, now very common among MWSD callers, of using… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 2006 Patter

The 2006 patter call shows Red’s usual programming using 11 of the PLUS Program calls in this one tip. The tempo had increased slightly to 123 bpm. His delivery style is conversational with somewhat… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 2006 City Of New Orleans

The 2006 singing call, City of New Orleans, was probably to the Rhythm record #182 originally by Wade Driver with a Mainstream Program figure. By using three different figures in the dance rather… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 2011 - Patter

The 2011 patter call is probably from a group in Florida where Red now lives in the winter. Two things are notable. One is that he is using a much smaller vocabulary of calls than he has in the tips… View item
Sound

Red Bates, 2011 City of New Orleans

The 2011 singing call is the same one that he used in 2006, City of New Orleans, Rhythm record #182. The record, as Wade Driver called it, used a CALLERLAB Mainstream Program routine. As we noted in… View item
Website

Rufus Guinchard: The life and music of Newfoundland's late legendary fiddle player

This is a 30-minute film made in 1990 that celebrates the life and music of Newfoundland fiddler Rufus Guinchard. The film is available online, and is well worth watching. Like Medicine Fiddle, the… View item
Sound

Red Warrick - Heel and Toe (clip)

Texas caller Red Warrick, on a rare recording on the Dude label, with music by Till's Square Dance Band. (See related materials here.) The tune is Golden Slippers, but this recording provides an… View item
Sound

Red Warrick - Dip and Dive (clip)

The dip and dive figures appear in many variations in the square dance repertoire. One common singing square has the figures set to the tune Redwing, while other callers chant the figures to Little… View item
Document

Jessy Polka Square

Here are the directions for Red Warrick's dance. See the related item for a video showing Warrick calling for his demo team. View item
Document

The Varsovienne in the Southwestern United States

Master's thesis looking in detail at the history and widespread appearance of this classic couple dance throughout the southwestern part of the US. Since couple dances formed an important part of an… View item