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

Browse Items (11 total)

  • Spatial Coverage is exactly "USA, Illinois, Chicago"
Website

Interview with Saundra Bryant

Short interview with Saundra Bryant, African-American square dance caller from Chicago."At one point, there were 25 or 30 African-American square-dance callers. Now there are probably 12 or 14 of us… View item
Document

Three Styles of Squares - 1951

This 1951 article describes a large and successful square dance festival in Chicago. View item
Document

Chicago Syllabus - Ralph Page, 1959

This is the square dance portion of a syllabus prepared by Ralph Page for a 1959 institute in Chicago. It's smaller than similar syllabi prepared by Page since the opening section of the syllabus… View item
Moving Image

Computer training for dancers - C4

In 1975 Bruce Roe, a circuit designer who worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories and a long time Chicago-area challenge square dancer dancer, developed a dancer training tool to assist in learning new… View item
Moving Image

Great Chicago Crossfire, gay fly-in, 1989

Television coverage (The 10% Show, a gay-focused channel) of The Great Chicago Crossfire, 1989, a square dance fly-in hosted by the Chi-Town Squares, a gay square dance club. Among the callers shown… View item
Moving Image

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
Sound

McLeod's Reel - 1926

Recorded by Tom Owens and the WLS Barn Dance Trio; this band was featured on the National Barn Dance on WLS radio in Chicago. For a detailed appreciation of this program, see fiddler Paul Tyler's post… View item
Sound

Buffalo Girls - 1927

The recording is [Tommy} Dandurand and his Barn Dance Fiddlers, recorded in 1927, with caller Ed Goodreau. Dandurand was a fixture on the National Barn Dance on WLS radio in Chicago. For a detailed… View item
Document

Around the Corner (Chicago)

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Website

Southside Squares and Swersie Norris

This was a feature story on television feature-- with the video now no longer available-- about the Southside Squares, Chicago's last remaining black MWSD group and the pioneering work of caller… View item
Sound

Arnie Kronenberger - hash, live recording, 1953

Jerry Reed - I believe this recording is an example of what traveling callers were calling in 1953. This choreography is a single patter tip from a dance called by Arnie Kronenberger, from California.… View item