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

Browse Items (357 total)

  • Collection: Northern squares
Website

Primo Fiore

Primo Fiore was born in Brooklyn on September 6, 1930 but raised his family in Deer Park, New York, while working as a physical education instructor in West Islip. His gifted speaking voice, combined… View item
Sound

Dive for the Oyster (clip) - Chris Sanderson

Audio clip of Chris Sanderson calling with the Pocopson Valley Boys, popular caller and band from southeastern Pennsylvania. Opening figure: Bow to your partner, Bow to your corner, hands all… View item

Corky Calkins - two programs

These are two programs of Massachusetts caller Corky Calkins, one from 1965 and the other from 1967. They were noted by Connecticut caller Ralph Sweet who for decades carried a small notebook with him… View item
Moving Image

This Land Is Your Land - Bob Howell

The caller is Bob Howell; is is a clip from the "Joy of Dancing" video issued by the Kentucky Dance Foundation and used with permission. Kentucky Dance Foundation, c/o Folk Dancer Record… View item
Moving Image

Green Mountain Land - Vermont square, 1950

This square dance sequence is part of a 1950 film, "Green Mountain Land," produced by Robert Flaherty and directed by David Flaherty. The narrator is caller Ted Glabach, from Dummerston,… View item
Document

The Rural Square Dance in the Northeastern United States: A Continuity of Tradition

This doctoral thesis in folklore is based on a study of square dances in New York state, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Especially interesting are the descriptions of traditional dances, based on the… View item
Moving Image

Adam Boyce - Forward Six and Back

This video shows several times through the dance, called by Adam Boyce, a traditional Vermont caller who learned from Harold Luce of the Ed Larkin Dancers. Luce himself can be heard on this audio… View item
Moving Image

Honest John - Adam Boyce

Traditional quadrille, recorded at an open house sponsored by the Ed Larkin Dancers, Tunbridge, Vermont, March 12, 2010. The prompter is Adam Boyce, and the musicians are Harold Luce on fiddle and his… View item
Moving Image

David Millstone - Ninepin

David Millstone, caller, with music provided by Jane, Sophie, and Russell Orzechowski (fiddles and piano) and Deanna Stiles, flute. Recorded at Kensington, NH, on May 21, 2004. The tune played is… View item
Moving Image

Dancing in Westport Point, MA

This video documents a gathering of summer and year-round residents of Westport Point, MA. The community has hosted a summer dance series since the 1930s, originally led by Lyle Ring and then, in… View item
Document

West Newbury, VT & Adam Boyce

West Newbury, VT: Adam leads a traditional dance in this tiny Vermont village, continuing a series that he inherited from his calling and fiddle mentor Harold Luce. From 1991–2011 Adam was active in… View item
Sound

Annie Lurie (clip) - David Park Williams

The dance figure here is the familiar Head Two Men Cross Over, changing to the name tune, and a different meter,for the promenade and break. From the CD set "Mostly Quadrilles,"… View item