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

Shoot the Owl (clip) - Hollis Johnson

Hollis Johnson (1897–1996) was born in Eastland County, Texas. This dance figure was introduced decades later by Sandy Bradley and appears on her "Potluck & Dance Tonite" album. View item
Document

Hires Throws a Square Dance

16-page booklet distributed by Hires Root Beer in 1950 as part of the square dance craze of that time. The booklet calls Sanderson "the most famous man in square dancing" and cites numerous… View item
Website

Hilton and Stella Kelly - interview, with tunes

This is a two-part lengthy interview conducted and recorded by Bob Nisbet with Hilton and Stella Kelly. First Parthttps://youtu.be/jZdsYz2TspMSecond parthttps://youtu.be/4Cud_VlbyLI View item
Moving Image

Hilton and Stella Kelly - Square Dance Tunes and Calls

Hilton Kelly, of Fleischmanns, New York, was a Catskills fiddler and square dance caller. He started playing in 1932, at age 5, and started calling in 1937. By the time he was 15, he had a regular… View item
Website

Arkie Woodchopper

A biography of this colorful performer, from the Hillbilly-Music.com website. Also see the Wikipedia article View item
Website

Lawrence Loy - biography

Two items, both related to caller Lawrence Loy. A detailed biography can be found at Hillbilly-Music.com, which has a detailed website with information about performers, including a jukebox with audio… View item
Sound

Ted Sannella - 1992 interview

This interview was conducted by Hilde Dewaelheyns with Ted when he was on staff at the AADS [Anglo-American Dance Shop] Autumn Dance Weekend, held at the youth hostel in Ronse, Belgium. In it, Ted… View item
Document

Ted Sannella - 1992 interview transcription

This lightly edited transcription of the interview appeared in the AADS News, February 1993, Vol.. 3 #1, p. 2-7 View item
Document

Bob Dalsemer - 1996 interview transcription

This is an edited transcription of the related interview. It appeared in the AADS News (Belgium), #22, May 1996, pp. 4-7 View item
Moving Image

Royal Square

This demonstration number is for eight couples forming a tandem square, one inside the other. The choreography was created by Kira Heartsong for Calico and Boots. The High Country Squares club… View item
Website

Caller Hesse Reese - live recording, 1985

Caller, musician, and collector Larry Edelman describes this as "a 2.5 hour audio file that I recorded of Hesse Reese, an auctioneer and square dance caller at an evening square dance on October 11,… View item
Document

Appalachian Circle

A brief look at southern Appalachian circle dances. The author points out how unfamiliar four-couple squares would be to a dance from that region:---A native of the Appalachian Circle country which… View item