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

Browse Items (161 total)

  • Collection: Traditional western
Document

Texas Cowboys - dance poems and lore

A collection of pieces related to square dance in southwest cowboy culture, published in 1925 View item
Document

Texas Callers - 1948

This cover fromFoot 'n' Fiddle magazine puts the spotlight on six prominent Texas callers: Jack Fomby, Jimmy Clossin, Ray Smith, Grady Wilson, Red Smith and Bob Sumrall. Texas dancers and callers… View item
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Texan Whirl - Rickey Holden

Rickey Holden calling the Texan Whirl figure attributed to caller Bob Sumrall, an influential caller starting in the 1930s in Abilene and other West Texas communities. The distinctive part has the… View item
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Teacup Chain - Bill Litchman

Caller Bill Litchman at a dance workshop in Belgium, May, 1991, teaching the Teacup Chain figure and using it in a series of dances. The figure was created by Mrs. Pat Morrison Lewkowicz, Austin,… View item
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Teacup Chain - 1948 publication

This may be the first publication of the Teacup Chain figure. It appeared in Foot 'n' Fiddle magazine, an early square dance magazine founded and edited by Anne Pittman, Marlys Swenson and Olcutt… View item
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Tait's Orchestra with Bud Udick

Cactus Tait’s Orchestra, taken at the Broadmoor hotel ballroom.. From left to right: piano, Mrs. Ethel Tait caller, Col. Earl “Bud” W. Udick (1/11/1916 – 9/5/1979) fiddle, Ben Chichester (1897-… View item
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Syllabus of Square Dances, Rickey Holden 1949

This is a syllabus created by Rickey Holden for a callers' workshop held in San Antonio in 1949. The course was 2-1/2 hours each night for five days. It's a useful primary source document showing the… View item
Document

Swing Your Partners! (1940 article)

Article published in 1940, profiling Lloyd Shaw and his Cheyenne Mountain Dancers. "One of the most colorful and enthusiastic of the square dance revivalists is Dr. Lloyd Shaw, principal of… View item
Document

Swing yore partner round 'n round (The Desert Magazine, 1944)

Author Oren Arnold describes square dancing in Arizona in the early 1940s: "...A rock fireplace big enough to stand in was at one end of the room, and its blaze made dancing shadows… View item
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Suzy Q - Grand Cuttyshaw - Rickey Holden

Holden's name for this dance was the Grand Cuttyshaw, which he published as "traditional New Mexico" in his 1992 booklet, "Square Dances of West Texas." A note there reads, "This traditional figure,… View item
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Squares at a Contra Dance

Beth Molaro, Asheville, NC, discusses calling squares in the context of a contra dance. In the early 2000s, many contra dancers were not fans of squares, so she offers advice about what kinds of… View item
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Square Dances With Calls - Lee Bedford, Jr.

In 1949, Texas caller Lee Bedford released on Imperial Records a four-album set of recordings with music provided by The Big D Ranch Hands. The liner notes, written by Paul Erfer, start by noting,… View item