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

Browse Items (22 total)

  • Tags: New York
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Mike Callahan - MWSD Fairport High School Square Dance Competition

Caller Mike Callahan has been teaching square dancing in the Rochester, NY area for many years. Mike reports that he usually does a two day session for this school teaching the students how to square… View item
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Piute Pete - Village Barn

Piute Pete called squares regularly at the Village Barn in New York City. This newspaper columnist took a less-than-enthusiastic view of the proceedings. The SDHP collection has numerous items… View item
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Jean Alve

Jean Alve has been calling squares for more than 50 years. She lives in upstate New York in the town of Spencer, half an hour south of Ithaca. She now calls a weekly two-hour session of "Square,… View item
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Jean Alve

Jean Alve has been calling squares for more than 50 years. She lives in upstate New York and now calls a weekly two-hour session of "Square, Round, Line & Polka Dancing" at a local senior center.… View item
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Ed Durlacher - Central Park, photos

Photographs documenting Ed Durlacher's series of dances in Central Park, New York City. These date from August, 1946. View item
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Promenade (Margot Mayo)

Margot Mayo was the leader of the American Square Dance Group, based in New York City.Promenade, the group's monthly magazine, was subtitledA Magazine of American Folk Lore, hinting that the coverage… View item
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Square Dance and Square Dance Music in Western New York State

Two articles by the pre-eminent scholar of this region's traditional music and dance traditions, and included on the site with the permission of the author. Kimball discusses the history of… View item
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Old-Time Music Makers of New York State

"Old-Time Music Makers of New York State is the first book published on this rich legacy of traditional Anglo-American music and dance. It traces the development of old-time music beginning with its… View item
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Juvenile Delinquency and Square Dancing

In this article, published inNorthern Junket in 1959, caller Ed Durlacher describes his experiences leading square dances in Riverside Park, New York City. It was not a promising beginning:"As they… View item
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The Country Dance Goes To Town (1940 article)

Article from 1940 extolling the virtues of country dances—square dances, circle dances, and contra—and describing their recent rise in popularity. The author declares that country dances "provide… View item
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Hilton Kelly - Catskill fiddler & caller

Article about Catskills fiddler and caller Hilton Kelly, who has been playing and calling square dances in that region of New York for more than 75 years. Kelly died March 3, 2015; his death was noted… View item
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Hilton Kelly, Catskill fiddler and caller

Hilton Kelly, of Fleischmanns, New York, is 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 band… View item