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

Browse Items (1941 total)

Sound

Doo Dar - Dudley Laufman

The dance is a singing square set to Camptown Races. This audio file begins with an introduction about Linn Cady, and then additional comments from Dudley Laufman, who was the Farm & Wilderness… View item
Sound

The Slow One - Dudley Laufman

Dance as called by Lin Cady, though Dudley said he's at a loss as to the title since it was always done at the same speed as every other square. He identifies the tune as Solomon Levi, though the… View item
Sound

Prisoner's Song - Dudley Laufman

Dudley Laufman says he never heard this dance called by anyone other than Linn Cady, and it was always done to the tune of "If I Had the Wings of an Angel." Dudley Laufman calls a program… View item
Website

Edson H. Cole - website

In her 1939 Folk Songs of Old New England, Eloise Hubbard Linscott writes, "Edson H. Cole of Freedom, New Hampshire, has been fiddler, caller, and dancing master for more than 30 years. When he was a… View item
Moving Image

There Is a Tavern in the Town / Three Ladies Chain - Dudley Laufman

To the tune of "There Is a Tavern in the Town," Dudley Laufman calls as part of the "Square Dance" Retrospective session at the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH. The musicians are… View item
Moving Image

Grandfather's Clock / Chains Across - Dudley Laufman

Dudley Laufman calls as part of the "Square Dance" Retrospective session at the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH. The basic figure is shown below, but you'll see the dancers… View item
Sound

Girl I Left Behind Me (clip) - Dudley Laufman

Live recording, Bernardston, Massachusetts, with Dudley Laufman calling. This was the third dance of the evening. At the end of Soldier's Joy, a contra, Dudley had groups of two couples circle left… View item
Sound

Crooked Stovepipe - Dudley Laufman -

Live recording, Bernardston, Massachusetts, with Dudley Laufman calling. He introduces this by noting, "First dance I ever called, when I was a kid." Music by the Fall Town String Band: Ed Phelps and… View item
Document

Review of Cowboy Dances

This review of Lloyd Shaw's book comes from Douglas Kennedy, director of the English Folk Dance and Song Society from 1924 (after Cecil Sharp's death) until 1961. Kennedy had teveled to the… View item
Document

Douglas Kennedy on American dances, 1939

Douglas Kennedy succeeded Cecil Sharp as director of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. He visited the United States in 1939 to teach dancing and to observe what he could while in this country.… View item
Moving Image

Newfoundland square dance - second figure

This is the second figure of a square dance set from the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Woody Wilson is the caller; the fiddler is Jim Sadlish and the guitar player is Kevin Gardner, with… View item
Moving Image

Newfoundland square dance - first figure

This is the first figure of a square dance set from the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Woody Wilson is the caller; the fiddler is Jim Sadlish and the guitar player is Kevin Gardner, with… View item