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

Browse Items (1957 total)

Document

Al Brundage and Allemande Thar

After Al Brundage went to Lloyd Shaw's summer school in 1949, he played an important role in introducing modern squares to his dancers in Connecticut. He went on to become an important caller in the… View item
Document

Al Brundage recollections

Al Brundage wrote these recollections of his experiences growing up in Connecticut and the growth of square dancing. His story includes discovering square dance as a boy, followed by the whole… View item
Document

No Swing Hash

In the early 1950s, callers were delivering prearranged sequences. The pages of Sets in Order were filled with such routines, generally short with a distinctive gimmick in each. In this example,… View item
Website

Grand March

Many square dance events start with a Grand March. The author provides general guidelines, followed by a detailed series of figures,. View item
Website

Square dance tunes and calls

Audio recording of interview by Alan Lomax with Alan Robertson in the Mississippi Delta View item
Moving Image

Cut Off Six - Alex Boustead

Alex Boustead was one of the founders of the Canadian Olde Tyme Square Dance Callers' Association, a group formed in 1954 to preserve and promote Canadian square dancing. Recorded November 17, 2001,… View item
Document

Alex Boustead – biographical info

Alex Boustead was also one of the founding members of the Canadian Olde Tyme Square Dance Callers Association. He was introduced to squares in the winter of 1931-32, and in a short time he started… 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
Website

Ozarks - Old Time Fiddling

Article about Ozark fiddling traditions, including a long section on fiddler Bob Holt, heard playing on videos elsewhere on this site. View item
Moving Image

Call & Answer - Amanda Lovelee

Minneapolis based artist, Amanda Lovelee believes finding, preserving and constructing a space for physical connection is an urgent issue. As a society that faces the collapse of communities how do we… View item
Sound

Big circle dance - Manny Wiener & American Square Dance Group

Caller Manny Wiener leads a big circle dance—here introduced as a Kentucky running set—with members of Margot Mayo's American Square Dance Group. This is a portion of a half hour radio… View item
Document

Hipsters and Traditional/Old-Time Square Dance

The author looks at the rising popularity of square dance among young hipsters and sees in it, and its Appalachian roots, a desire for a homeplace:"For one such group, the ill-defined, often contested… View item