Browse Items (34 total)

Sammy Spring (1883–1958) was a fiddler and square dance caller from Otis, Massachusetts, in the western part of the state. This website includes photos of him and a lengthy interview conducted in 1939 by Edward Welch, a worker with the Federal…

Sandy Bradley was a dynamic and exciting guitar player and caller who gave many northern dancers in the 1970s and early 1980s their first taste of fast-moving traditional western squares. She stopped calling and basically dropped out of the dance…

"The thing that I thought was crippling people's attitude toward dance was rules. 'You have to do THIS, you have to swing like that, you have to get it right!'" It doesn't have anything to do with getting it right. I wanted to scrape all that burden…

Sandy Bradley interviewed by Bob Dalsemer.

After a brief discussion of the fun of watching the room come together in a dance, Sandy discusses how she got started as a musician and then a square dance caller.

Recorded by Doug Plummer at Dare To…

Today, Kathy Anderson is one of the more actives callers of traditional and newly-composed square dances in the contra dance world; she is a featured caller at dance weekends and camps across the country and abroad. Here, she reflects on how she got…

Caller Kathy Anderson is well-known for her fast-moving squares, accompanied by equally lively patter calling. She talks about how she uses patter, what she chooses to include and what to leave out, and why patter plays an important in the dances she…

Sandy Bradley was a dynamic Seattle caller who burst onto the dance scene in the 1970s and early 1980, bringing an enthusiastic presence and a love of traditional western squares to audiences around the country. Kathy first encountered traditional…

Caller Kathy Anderson gives an overview of the characteristics of four different regional styles of traditional square dances-- old-time Southern, New England, traditional Western, and singing squares.

Caller Kathy Anderson discusses the burst of enthusiasm among young people for simple square dances set to hot old-time tunes. Starting in Portland, Oregon, with the efforts of caller Bill Martin, the movement has spread to other cities on the west…

Phil discusses the origins of the term "running set," going back to when the English folklorist and collector Cecil Sharp first encountered southern Appalachian dancing.For a demonstration of the actual dance, see this video called by Stew…

The square dance caller in Southern dance traditions plays a somewhat different role than his Northern counterpart. Phil looks at the way a Southern caller improvises and uses basic figures in different ways.

Jim discusses features that make modern square dancing different from traditional squares, including the unpredictable nature of the calls, the necessity for lessons, and the club structure that provides an important social element.