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

Browse Items (24 total)

  • Tags: instruction
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Calling for Modern Square Dancing - Jim Mayo

Author Jim Mayo writes:"This book is, I believe, the first "Caller Text" that was written for modern (as different from traditional) square dance callers. The draft was written in 1961 & 62 which… View item
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American Square Dance - Coronet Films, 1947

This 1947 instructional film, produced by Coronet Films, was created in collaboration with the Chicago Parks District. (Note that Lloyd Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers performed in Chicago in… View item
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Around the Outside - Ed Durlacher

Honor Your Partner was a series of rhythmic activities and dance albums, more than 20 in all, released by Ed Durlacher starting in 1949 and extending into the 1950s. This dance is from Album 1, the… View item
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Beginners Square Dance - plan for ten lessons (Don Armstrong)

This handout by caller Don Armstrong explains in detail the material to be covered in a ten-session introduction to square dancing. For each lesson, Armstrong suggests figures to be taught and… View item
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Bob Ruff - Square Dancing Fundamentals, Level 1

Caller Bob Ruff (Whittier, CA) created this video to accompany his record, "The Fundamentals of Square Dancing, Level 1" that in turn accompanies a square dance teaching series he created with Jack… View item
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Bob Ruff - Square Dancing Fundamentals, part 2

Also available elsewhere online.This is the second of two films created by caller Bob Ruff (Whittier, CA) to accompany his record, "The Fundamentals of Square Dancing, Level 1" that in turn is part of… View item
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Deep in the Heart of Texas - Ralph Sweet

Recorded January 23, 2011, at the Powder Mill Barn, Hazardville, CT. The clip starts with a walkthrough, followed by the dance. This footage was recorded as part of a three-camera shoot for a proposed… View item
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Duck for Oysters (clip) - Burns & Wheeler

"Duck for the Oyster, Dig for the Clams" is surely one of the most common traditional square dance figures. There are many examples of this dance on the SDHP website. Here it's "Duck for Oysters,… View item
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Ed Gilmore - Square Dance Callers Instruction Course - 1949

[Buddy Weaver has digitized an hour-long audio recording of Gilmore leading a callers' class. It can be found here.]This is the text of the syllabus of Ed Gilmore's class. It contains plenty of… View item
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Honor Your Partner - records

Honor Your Partner was a series of rhythmic activities and dance albums, more than 20 in all, released by Ed Durlacher starting in 1949 as 78 rpm records, continuing into the 1950s and beyond as vinyl… View item
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Lancers Quadrille (instruction)

2022 update: If the video doesn't play here, you'll have to click on the YouTube icon in the lower right-hand corner of the image, or else click on this link.This instructional video was produced by… View item
Website

Learn To Dance and Call Square Dances the Foster Way

Two sets of instructional cards are available online. Each set contains 35 two-sided cards, with descriptions of basic figures as well as complete dance routines.Some original sets are available for… View item