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

Browse Items (1930 total)

Document

Balance and Swing

This account from the early 1950s describes the Vermont Country Dance Festival, an annual event that drew some 6,000 participants. Daytime events focused on school groups, with adults-- 800 coiuples… View item
Document

Washington Square Dance

The song by Irving Berlin comes from Call Me Madam, a 1950 production. The plot of the musical is, according to a London review, "nonsensical fluff," concerning a Washington society matron appointed… View item
Document

The Old Square Dance Is Back Again

This is the sheet music for the song recorded by Carolina Cotton and Fenton "Jonesy" Jones. The dance begins with a "Rebel Yell" and is supposed to be played "Brightly, with Hill Billy swing." The… View item
Still Image

Square Dancing at Mohonk Mountain House

Nell Boucher is the archivist at the Mohonk Mountain House, a classic resort near the Catskills, about 90 miles north of New York City. She responded to a request for more information about these… 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

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
Website

Pat Napier interview

This is a short interview (2013) with Patrick Napier, author of Kentucky Mountain Square Dancing. In it, he talks about his experiences as a member of the Berea Country Dancers, working with Frank… View item
Website

Buddy Weaver Music Podcast

Caller and record producer Buddy Weaver hosts a regular podcast that features modern square dance recordings going back to the 1950s. (Weaver cleaned up and digitized the complete five hours of the… View item
Sound

Four Leaf Clover - Larry Edelman

The dance is called by Larry Edelman, appearing at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. He credits this to Ed Gilmore. View item
Document

Princess Elizabeth square dancing - details

When Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip squared danced during a visit to Ottawa in 1951, photographs from the event created a sensation and led to a rapid upsurge of interest in square dancing in… View item
Moving Image

Square Dance promo video

This video promoting modern square dance was produced by CALLERLAB in 2022. It's interesting to note that thepromo focuses more on the social aspects of square dancing than on choreographic… View item
Still Image

Huntington's Pavilion, E. Thetford, VT

We often think of the boom years of square dancing taking place starting in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but there is a long history of halls for square dancing before then. This is a series of… View item