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

Browse Items (5 total)

  • Tags: Central Park
Document

Community Squares - Ed Durlacher

Writing for Sets in Order, Ed Durlacher looks back at his successful program of outdoor dancing in New York City parks.===The first evening was more or less a nightmare. ... From the hundred or so the… View item
Document

Saturday Night in Central Park

This song is from a 1947 musical, Make Mine Manhattan, and refers to the popular Saturday night square dances led by Ed Durlacher in Central Park. Clearly, the dances were enough of a phenomenon that… View item
Sound

Don Durlacher - Jones Beach

Don Durlacher, son of Ed Durlacher, was a regular summer caller at Jones Beach outside New York City, calling with the Top Hands band that his father had used for many years. At this dance, the… View item
Still Image

Ed Durlacher - Central Park, photos

Photographs documenting Ed Durlacher's series of dances in Central Park, New York City. These date from August, 1946. View item
Moving Image

Ed Durlacher - Central Park Newsreel

Newsreel footage of square dancing in Central Park, New York City, in the 1940s. Ed Durlacher called to crowds in the thousands. (You can read Durlacher's description of the dances in Sets in Order,… View item