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

Browse Items (1930 total)

Still Image

Tait's Orchestra with Bud Udick

Cactus Tait’s Orchestra, taken at the Broadmoor hotel ballroom.. From left to right: piano, Mrs. Ethel Tait caller, Col. Earl “Bud” W. Udick (1/11/1916 – 9/5/1979) fiddle, Ben Chichester (1897-… View item
Still Image

Dancers at Pappy Shaw's summer school - 1947

These photos show dancers at Shaw's summer class in August of 1947. In addition to squares, photos illustrate round dances, including the Varsouviana. (This last photo includes musicians: piano,… View item
Moving Image

Inverness Set - 2nd and 3rd figures

Great example of square dancing at a house party, an authentic setting. It's common for squares to be done at house parties. Lots of well-known locals in the video. The musicians are Howie… View item
Moving Image

Mabou Dancers

The Mabou Dancers are a performance group that shows the 3rd figure of the Mabou set. Here they are performing in the Mabou Community Hall. View item
Moving Image

Lancers

Footage from a 2015 historical ball sponsored by the Golden Forest dance group in Russia. This version has some interesting variations, including the "chassez by your partner" in the fourth figure… View item
Still Image

Double Tea-Cup Chain

The photograph of eight couples dancing a double star as part of the double teacup chain figures is from the March, 1963, issue of Bow & Swing, "The Magazine of Square Dancing in Florida." View item
Moving Image

Roll the Barrel - Pistol Packin' Mama

Singing square called by Frank Kendall, Gassetts, Vermont. The Gassetts Grange hosts a monthly dance with a mix of round dances and traditional Eastern singing squares, with live music provided by… View item
Moving Image

Catskill Mountains square dance - 1950s

Short clip showing teenagers dancing; the caller plays accordion, joined by a fiddler and a drummer. You can see the men turning the ladies under as they pass them on a grand right and left. View item
Document

New-Fangled Dance Craze Hits Hollywood Bars Hard

Sherman Sanders was an actor who played a square dance caller in Hollywood movies starting in the early 1940s. His credits include Bowery Buckaroos, The Devil And Daniel Webster, Lure Of The… View item
Website

Texas squares

Caller Rickey Holden is well represented on this site by clicking this link. A playlist of many Holden videos posted by SDHP on YouTube can be accessed here. It includes these dances from his… View item
Moving Image

Marlbrouk Cotillion

This dance turns up in the Revolutionary War years of the United States. Here it's danced by a group of students from Brigham Young University. Note the bouncy rigadoon step, which originated in… View item
Sound

Sally Goodin variations

Sally Goodin is a square dance based on picturesque names for the other dancers in your set. (See Carl Herzog diagram). The active dance turns other dancers in a particular sequence, occasionally… View item