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

Gene Gowing - photo

Gowing was a contemporary of Ralph Page. Unlike Page, who stayed in the Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire where both men grew up, Gowing spent time in Hollywood and attempted to bring… View item
Moving Image

Gents and Corners - Tony Parkes

Danced during a Retrospective session at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, January 15, 2011. The caller is Tony Parkes; musicians are Randy Miller, fiddle; Peter Siegel, mandolin; and Bob… View item
Moving Image

Gents Three-Quarter Star - Bob Dalsemer

Bob Dalsemer calls at the Dare To Be Square weekend held November 18-20, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. The dance was composed by the great New England caller Ted Sannella,… View item
Document

George & Betty Greene - dance history

This two-page summary was prepared by Betty Greene, wife of St. Louis dance organizer George Greene. In it she outlines the couple's ten-year dance history, and mentions some of the many… View item
Document

George Greene - Lloyd Shaw letters

This is correspondence between St. Louis dance organizer George Greene and Lloyd Shaw, setting up a 1952 visit by Shaw to the area. Note that Shaw indicates (p. 3) that he will come for expenses and… View item
Still Image

George Van Kleeck - Catskills caller

Three photos of Catskills square dance caller George Van Kleeck. The third one was taken at the Catskills Folk Festival, c. 1941. For more information about Camp Woodland, see this site. The… View item
Moving Image

George Washington's Favourite

This dance comes from the Asa Wilcox 1793 manuscript held by the Newberry Library of Chicago; St. Louis dance leader John Ramsay found it in Leland Tichnor’s George Washington’s Birthday… View item
Moving Image

Georgia Rang Tang close-up - Bob Dalsemer

This very short high-definition video clip conveys the smooth feeling of the Georgia Rang Tang figure.Recorded at Dare To Be Square, Seattle, in 2009. For a more complete view of dances from the… View item
Moving Image

Georgia Rang Tang description - Bob Dalsemer

If the vidieo does not play, try going here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn0n_ZKc5YsThe figure of alternating hand turns is known in the west as a Docey-Do and in some Southern communities as… View item
Moving Image

Georgia Rang Tang, big set - Bob Dalsemer

This clip shows the dancers finishing up the figures with another couple, and then being called back into the big circle for the grand right and left for everyone. The musicians are Sandy Bradley,… View item
Sound

Girl I Left Behind Me (clip) - Dudley Laufman

Live recording, Bernardston, Massachusetts, with Dudley Laufman calling. This was the third dance of the evening. At the end of Soldier's Joy, a contra, Dudley had groups of two couples circle left… View item
Document

GLBTQ Square Dance history

In recent decades, as modern square dancing has been declining overall, one of the growth areas was in the LGBTQ community. This short history, prepared for this SDHP item, offers a brief look at the… View item