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

Browse Items (36 total)

  • Tags: instruction
Document

Rural Leaders' Guide for Square and Group Dances, 1951

From the forward: "This circular is designed to assist rural leaders in teaching square and group dancing and in conducting organized recreational dancing activities." After several pages of… View item
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Bob Ruff - Square Dancing Fundamentals, Level 1

Caller Bob Ruff (Whittier, CA) created this video to accompany his record, "The Fundamentals of Square Dancing, Level 1" that in turn accompanies a square dance teaching series he created with Jack… View item
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Bob Ruff - Square Dancing Fundamentals, part 2

Also available elsewhere online.This is the second of two films created by caller Bob Ruff (Whittier, CA) to accompany his record, "The Fundamentals of Square Dancing, Level 1" that in turn is part of… View item
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Bob Ruff - Teaching Can Be Fun!

This 10-page handout is designed for callers interested in leading beginners' classes. Ruff argues that many callers are more interested in the latest flashy gimmick than in learning the basics… View item
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Don't Forget, Callers, Our Style Is Always Showing

This is a copy of a section of the minutes of a meeting of the Southern California Callers Association. Bob Van Antwerp presented the training session on the subject of dancing style and how callers… View item
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Lancers Quadrille (instruction)

2022 update: If the video doesn't play here, you'll have to click on the YouTube icon in the lower right-hand corner of the image, or else click on this link.This instructional video was produced by… View item
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Clark Baker - Tech Squares

Clark describes the history of Tech Squares, the MWSD group based at MIT in Cambridge, MA. This club takes new dancers through the Mainstream in 8 weeks and on through Plus in 5 additional. A typical… View item
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Easy Key Handbook of Square Dance Fundamentals

In the 1950s, square dancing in many locations was changing from traditional to modern squares, moving away from a complete set of patterns to a system in which dancers would learn basic figures that… View item
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American Square Dance - Coronet Films, 1947

This 1947 instructional film, produced by Coronet Films, was created in collaboration with the Chicago Parks District. (Note that Lloyd Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers performed in Chicago in… View item
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Square Dance Lessons - Doc Alumbaugh

A series of photographs with text illustrating basic square dance figures. This set, incomplete at the moment, appeared in a Rochester, New York, newspaper in 1950; Alumbaugh led a series of… View item
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Doc Alumbaugh - styling

Alumbaugh's "Styling Suggestion for Square Dancing" is a systematic approach to what he sees as the five components: • Poise • Bearing • Rhythm • Timing • Local Mannerisms The… View item
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Beginners Square Dance - plan for ten lessons (Don Armstrong)

This handout by caller Don Armstrong explains in detail the material to be covered in a ten-session introduction to square dancing. For each lesson, Armstrong suggests figures to be taught and… View item