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

Browse Items (1941 total)

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Roscommon Lancers - Irish set

Chris J. Brady writes: How about the Roscommon Lancers - with an embellished 'rant' step termed 'battering' in Ireland. Wonderful stuff.There are nine figures (aka square dances) in the Roscommon… View item
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Roseanna McCoy - publicity

Roseanna McCoy was a Hollywood movie released in 1949. The film included a square dance scene (click here to view it) during which the heroine dances first with her true love and then with the bad guy… View item
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Roseanna McCoy - square dance scene

The square dance scene from the movie, with caller Sherman Sanders View item
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Rosin the Bow - Vol 2, 1946

Rosin the Bow was a monthly magazine published by dance leader and historian Rod LaFarge. Volume 1, aimed at local dancers, was called Ramapo Rangers. This item contains scans of the complete issues… View item
Document

Roughness and Speed - Lloyd Shaw

Fast tempos were apparently much on the mind of the editor of Balance & Swing magazine. After putting a front-page essay on the subject in one issue, the very next issue carried this piece by… View item
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Round Dance

Round dancing, or couple dancing, is an established part of many communities where square dance flourishes. It's worth remembering that this sort of dancing was not always viewed favorably. In this… View item
Website

Round Dance history - the early years

Round dancing refers to choreographed couple dances, prompted by a cuer and found as part of most regular programs of modern square dancing, interspersed with the patter calls and singing squares.… View item
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Round Dance Positions 2

Round dancing, a form of couple dancing in which a cuer calls out the figures, is frequently a part of modern square dance clubs. In some locations, instead of round dances being incorporated into an… View item
Document

Round Dances

Olcutt Sanders was a Texas dance historian. He writes, "The round dances that are included quite generally on square dance programs these days originated in Europe in the late Eighteenth and… View item
Document

Round Dances, 1949

Round dances, or dances for couples rather than for groups of couples who interact with each other, have been a part of traditional country dance for ages. In the modern square dance movement, they… View item
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Round Robin correspondence

Long before the internet, a group of a dozen or so square dance callers around the country exchanged ideas through a series of Round Robin letters. (Note: the Square Dance History Project would dearly… View item
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Route, The - Tony Parkes

Tony Parkes, caller. This clip includes a walkthrough. Recorded at Dare To Be Square, Brasstown, NC, November 19, 2011. Musicians for this session were Steve Hickman and Jim Morrison, fiddles; Claudio… View item