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

Browse Items (1937 total)

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Hilton and Stella Kelly - Square Dance Tunes and Calls

Hilton Kelly, of Fleischmanns, New York, was a Catskills fiddler and square dance caller. He started playing in 1932, at age 5, and started calling in 1937. By the time he was 15, he had a regular… View item
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Square Dancing at Mohonk Mountain House

Nell Boucher is the archivist at the Mohonk Mountain House, a classic resort near the Catskills, about 90 miles north of New York City. She responded to a request for more information about these… View item
Document

The Old Square Dance Is Back Again

This is the sheet music for the song recorded by Carolina Cotton and Fenton "Jonesy" Jones. The dance begins with a "Rebel Yell" and is supposed to be played "Brightly, with Hill Billy swing." The… View item
Document

Washington Square Dance

The song by Irving Berlin comes from Call Me Madam, a 1950 production. The plot of the musical is, according to a London review, "nonsensical fluff," concerning a Washington society matron appointed… View item
Document

Balance and Swing

This account from the early 1950s describes the Vermont Country Dance Festival, an annual event that drew some 6,000 participants. Daytime events focused on school groups, with adults-- 800 coiuples… View item
Website

The James W. Kimball Traditional Music & Dance in NYS Collection

Jim Kimball is a well-known historian who focuses on the music and dance traditions of upstate New York. The James W. Kimball Traditional Music and Dance in New York State Collection is a curated… View item
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Radio spots music

This is a record with music of the right length for producing radio spots. See the related item for three examples. View item
Sound

Square Dance Radio Spots

These are three radio ads that promote "modern American square dance." Each features a different well-known caller at the time: Don Armstrong Arnie Kronenberger Al Brundage They were created… View item
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Bennie "Cuje" Bertram

from the website of the Sgt. Alvin C. York State Historical Park "I was born August 24, 1894, in Fentress County on the Three Forks of the Wolf. Alvin York was our next door neighbor. His daddy was a… View item
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George Van Kleeck - Catskills caller

Three photos of Catskills square dance caller George Van Kleeck. The third one was taken at the Catskills Folk Festival, c. 1941. For more information about Camp Woodland, see this site. The… View item
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Al Brundage and Pete Seeger

Today, it's easy to think of Al Brundage and Pete Seeger as inhabiting two different world, Brundage the popular caller of modern square dances and Seeger the singer and banjo player associated with… View item
Document

Quadrilles in Harlem - 1946

Rod LaFarge was a caller, publisher, and dance historian, interested in all manner of dances. In this account, he describes visiting Harlem on several occasions-- LaFarge lived in New Jersey--to… View item