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

Browse Items (189 total)

  • Collection: Southern Appalachian
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Bill Ohse 5 - Swing in the Rear

West Virginia caller Bill Ohse, recorded at the Dare To Be Square weekend in Riner, VA, on May 5, 2012. In this clip, the caller uses several figures that are taught in #4 in this series. There are… View item
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Bill Ohse 2 - Texas Star

West Virginia caller Bill Ohse, recorded at the Dare To Be Square weekend in Riner, VA, on May 5, 2012. There are six clips in this series from the Saturday afternoon sessions that he called.… View item
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Bill Ohse - Chase the Rabbit (walkthrough)

Recorded May 5, 2012, at the evening dance at Dare To Be Square, Riner, Virginia Musicians are Chance McCoy -- fiddle; Sebastian Zijp -guitar; Mac Traynham -- banjo; Frances West - first bass… View item
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Bill Ohse 4 - Grand Reel and Chase Your Dear

West Virginia caller Bill Ohse, recorded at the Dare To Be Square weekend in Riner, VA, on May 5, 2012. Here he is teaching two figures that he'll be calling. They can be seen in the "Swing… View item
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Bill Ohse 3 - Mix of figures

West Virginia caller Bill Ohse, recorded at the Dare To Be Square weekend in Riner, VA, on May 5, 2012. Here, he calls a different figure for each active couple in turn; there was no walkthrough. As… View item
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Bill Ohse 1 - Sally Goodin

West Virginia caller Bill Ohse, recorded at the Dare To Be Square weekend in Riner, VA, on May 5, 2012. There are six clips in this series from the Saturday afternoon sessions that he called.… View item
Document

Shoo-Fly Swing and La Boulangère

Compilation of sources that reveal the similarity between La Boulangère, a European dance around 1800 and the only dance mentioned by name by Jane Austen, and the Shoo-Fly Swing, its American… View item
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John Bill Allen - Big set, Berea, 1975

Note: The first minute of the video has garbled sound, but then it clears up. Notes from John Ramsay: Documentary of local square dancing in Berea, Kentucky circa 1975. The caller, John Bill Allen,… View item
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John Ramsay - Set Running, a Southern Folk Dance

This article, written in 1987 and updated in 2013 by longtime dancer, caller, and organizer John Ramsay, presents his views on what has been termed "set running," a style of dance that was… View item
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Square dancing, Berea, KY - c. 1950 style

The footage was taken and posted by John Ramsay, who writes: "The Jackson family in Berea, Kentucky got a group together to demonstrate the type of square dancing which was danced by local citizens… View item
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Square Dance Fight on Ball Top Mountain

Phil Jamison: These are square dance skits on two sides of a 78 (Vocalion 5419) with a few random calls by John Dilleshaw (aka Seven Foot Dilly) of Paulding County, GA. It was recorded in Atlanta in… View item
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Running Set - Jim Wilkerson home recording

This is a home recording made by caller Jim Wilkerson. We think WIlkerson was from Ohio, so this particular cut is an interesting example of how dance styles migrate. We typically think of a running… View item