New Items - November 2012
The Square Dance History Project is off to a good start. To date, the site has drawn more than 4,000 unique visitors.
In these first two weeks of November,2012, we've added two dozen new items. Among them:
- Collector Stig Malmo has made available some wonderful older recordings, including material from Cal Golden, Charley Thomas, Red Warrick, and more. Interested in a different sound? Check out Bill Castner calling "Oh By Jingo" here.
- Les Gotcher is widely known as a key player in introducing hash calls. At this callers' workshop, recorded in 1962, you can hear his excitement as he introduces a hey for four, a figure he picked up from English country dance!
- We're thrilled to present moving images from the early 1950s of caller Mildred Buhler and her demonstration team from Redwood City, California. Thanks to Fred Buhler and to Paul Moore for making this material available. Over the next few months, we hope to add an additional film, audio, and still photographs about this caller who played a key role in promoting American square dance in England.
- From 1955, we have uploaded the program of the Florida Folk and Square Dance Convention. This programs offers a detailed look at a time when dancers enjoyed a wide variety of styles. Among the dance leaders featured at the event were Don and Marie Armstrong, Jimmy Clossin, Michael and Mary Ann Herman, Olga Kubitsky, Frank Kaltman and Charley Thomas.
- Don Armstrong created the singing square Trail of the Lonesome Pine by setting a dance from Ralph Page to a popular tune. The site now contains a live recording of Don and Marie Armstrong singing those calls, along with additional material from each of them, recorded in 1960.