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

Browse Items (1962 total)

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Junior Kentucky Briar Hoppers

Estil McNew was a caller who led a group called the Kentucky Briar Hoppers. They danced at the Renfro Valley Barn Dance and appeared (as The Midwesterners) on Midwestern Hayride on WLW radio and… View item
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Quadrilles with Calls

This 1941 recording (78rpm) features the American Square Dance Group headed by Margot Mayo, with prompting by Manny Wiener. The Lancers: Figures 1 & 2 Figures 3 & 4 Figure 5 Plain… View item
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The Dance Beat: The Kentucky Running Set

This article is the first of a series of columns found in the magazine The Old-Time Herald, published from 1987 to 2023. As of May 1, 2026, the entire Old-Time Herald archive is available via The… View item
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Ed Durlacher - Square Dance Calling Course - record labels

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Ed Durlacher - Square Dance Calling Course

In this series of three LP records, Ed Durlacher presents an introduction to square dance calling. He usually introduces each topic with a lengthy discussion, then follows with a series of exercises,… View item
Sound

Bumps-A-Daisy

The figures of this dance mirror the basic pattern found in Solomon Levi, Nelly Bly, and others; each couple in turn stands back to back, dances around the outside of the set-- in this one, just… 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
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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
Website

First Lady to the Right - Joe Robertson

The recording comes from a Fretless album, 1973, with Robertson accompanying himself on electric guitar. Robertson, a stone mason from White Creek, NY, close to the Vermont border, was also an… View item
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Polonaise - Grand March

This is a detailed look at the history of the Polonaise, known in the US as the Grand March. Thee name "polonaise" speaks to Polish roots. The author cites a 1685 description of the dance,… 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