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

Browse Items (1930 total)

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Irving Andert program, 1948

From his earliest days as a dancer, Connecticut caller Ralph Sweet kept a notebook of the programs he encountered at dances he visited. Here is his record of a dance called by Irving Andert at the… View item
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Irving Andert interview

Video or just audio Interview with Connecticut square dance caller Irving Andert, conducted by Paul Trowbridge, July 9, 1983, recorded in the Brooklyn (CT) Grange. At that time, Andert had been… View item
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San Antonio Rose

There are many versions of singing squares set to this popular tune. Here, Nils Fredland calls one from the repertoire of Keith Blackmon, an upstate New York square dance caller. A selection of… View item
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Bully of the Town

Nils Fredland calls a singing square from the repertoire of Keith Blackmon, an upstate New York square dance caller. The dance figures are the familiar Cut Off Six, also known as Divide the Ring. A… View item
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New River Train

Nils Fredland calls a singing square set to this well-known bluegrass song. The dance comes from the repertoire of Keith Blackmon, a square dance caller in the Twin Tiers region of southwest New York… View item
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Keith Blackmon & Pony Boy

Nils Fredland led a workshop session that included many dances from the Keith Blackmon collection at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, Durham, NH, January 19, 2013. Here, he speaks briefly about… View item
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Square Dance and Square Dance Music in Western New York State

Two articles by the pre-eminent scholar of this region's traditional music and dance traditions, and included on the site with the permission of the author. Kimball discusses the history of… View item
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Contemporary Accounts of Dance From the American West in the Nineteenth Century

Doctoral dissertation based on primary sources; includes a look at dances on the pioneer trails, in logging camps in mining camps, rural social life and urban social life. From the author's… View item
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Old-Time Revival: Traditional Appalachian Square Dancing Slowly Refinds its Footing in Knoxville

Reprinted by permission of Metro Pulse and Holly Haworth, © 2013 This well-written and lengthy article (available as a PDF through the link above or in an archived version of the original website… View item
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Lisa Greenleaf 6 - the future of squares

Last in a series of six Lisa talks about ways to keep modern square dancing alive in the future. She cites the Pacific Northwest Teen Competition as one promising model to involve young people, and… View item
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Lisa Greenleaf 5 - squares in the contra culture

Fifth in a series of six Lisa is a well-known caller of contras and squares, usually working at events that are advertised for contra dancers. She discusses some of the challenges of incorporating… View item
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Lisa Greenleaf 4 - finding material

Fourth in a series of six In this segment, Lisa offers some advice for individuals interested in learning to call squares. She also discusses where to find new material, and describes the difficulties… View item