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

Browse Items (105 total)

  • Tags: Lloyd Shaw
Moving Image

Popcorn Quadrille

Variations on Grand Square figure, danced to early electronic music, a record named "Popcorn." Chicago caller Andy Anderson created the dance to go with it. From a demonstration of historical dances,… View item
Document

A Look at Square Dancing in Colorado

"Square dancing evolved a western version probably sometime in the late 1800s when the pioneers moved to settle the states west of the Mississippi. It was a square dance form that was much… View item
Sound

Arch of Three - Cal Golden, Santa Monica, 1950

This is an audio recording from the 1950 Santa Monica dance, the world's largest square dance event at that time. Caller Cal Golden is being introduced by Lloyd Shaw, master of ceremonies for the… View item
Document

Santa Monica 1950 - interview with Dan Allen

"Calling All Folk Dancers" was a weekly radio show created by California caller Mildred Buhler. The next show after the Santa Monica dance included an interview with Dan Allen; this is a… View item
Document

Dorothy Shaw - reminiscence

Two anecdotes abut Dorothy Stott Shaw, written by Dena Fresh, a student at the Cheyenne Mountain School and a member of the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers. View item
Document

Santa Monica 1950 - Don Ward comments

The Trad-Dance-Callers listserv in 2008 had a discussion that touched on the Santa Monica dance. Don Ward was a participant in that event and he shared a few memories with the group. View item
Moving Image

Central City, Colorado - 1955

The caller featured here is Ray Smith; we have not yet identified the fiddler and piano player. By 1960, Al "Tex" Brownlee was the caller and he used recorded music.Dancers:Couple 1: Dave Chandler and… View item
Document

Ed Austin's Life in Dance

This autobiography by Ed Austin focuses on his lifetime involvement with traditional dance, including a detailed description of the dances he filmed in Central City, Colorado. Click here to watch his… 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 that Pretty Gal! - 1941 article

In the wake of the first trips by the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers, this 1941 article inThe Saturday Evening Post describesthe widespread passion for squares that is growing, and gives Lloyd Shaw credit… View item
Website

Square Dances Without Calls

Square Dances Without Calls is a channel on the Internet Archive devoted to older recordings that were made for square dancing. The collection pays particular attention to records from the Southwest.… View item
Document

Cowboy Dance Tunes – excerpt

This was first published as a separate booklet in 1940 to accompany Lloyd Shaw's Cowboy Dances, which appeared in 1939. Shaw provides an introduction.Jim Saxe notes, "The same tune collection,… View item