Articles -- History

A Brief History of Square and Round Dancing fortytwo.ws by Veronica McClure: Today's square and round dancing is a continuation of the social dance history of western civilization.
A Brief History of Square and Round Dancing www.dosado.com by Herb Egender: The roots of our modern square and round dancing.
Back to the Future: Dancing in 1946 by John Brant: Some of the terminology used in 1946.
Dancing Speed: Was it Faster in Past Years? by John Brant: A conversation with Don Ward about the history of dancing speed.
Ed Gilmore's 1949 Caller Instructors Course www.dosado.com
Evolution of Square Dancing by Calvin Campbell: Explains some of the changes in square dancing during the past few decades.
Evolution of Square Dancing www.chuckiii.com
Evolution of the Square Dance Costume reprinted from USDA Web Site: Square Dance attire has evolved from France and Europe, to the "old west", to now.
Fifty Years of Square Dancing in Germany by Hartmut Heiber: American servicemen started something that has grown for fifty years.
Gold Ribbon Committee Report www.dosado.com by Bob Osgood reprinted from Sets In Order, December 1968: The first attempt to provide some standardization of square dance terminology was undertaken by the late Bob Osgood who was the editor of Square Dance magazine (known as Sets in Order). For more than a year in the late 1960's Bob assembled a group of leading callers from around North America and asked them to identify the calls that new dancers should be taught. This Gold Ribbon Committee finally agreed on a list that was published in the December 1968 issue of the magazine. It was a list of 50 terms that became widely known and accepted as the SIO 50 Basics.
History and Heritage of Modern American Square Dancing www.geocities.ws by Kenny Reese
History of Square and Round Dancing www.chebucto.ns.ca by Dottie Welch: A tour of dance forms from primitive societies through to our Modern Western Square and Round Dancing of today.
History of Square and Round Dancing in Czech and Slovak Republic www.square.cz
History of Square Dance www.heinerfischle.de by Heiner Fischle: Modern Square Dance grew mainly from two roots: the English Country Dances and the Appalachian Big Circle Dance.
Rocky Mountain Square Dance Camp Lighted Lantern - 1948 to 1967 web.archive.org: Very few people realize just how much the Rocky Mountain Square Dance Camp has done in training, inspiring, and encouraging many of our country's leading Square Dance callers and Round Dance instructors. More than one ambitious callers today have had their careers launched by having been given the chance to serve on the staff of the Rocky Mountain Square Dance Camp.
Square Dance Dress: Origin and Evolution by Don Ward: Attire has been influenced by life styles for 200 years.
Square Dance History and Heritage www.geocities.com
Square Dance History in the U.S. www.dosado.com
Square Dancing is the Great Grandchild of Contra Dancing by Don Ward and John Brant: Their roots are similar and their history intersected at one time.
The Calling Computer (A Bit Of History) summersweet.org by Don Beck reprinted from American SquareDance Magazine
The Development of Caller Leadership www.dosado.com by Lee Helsel, Arnie Kronenberger, Bob Osgood and Bob Van Antwerp: The history of CALLERLAB
The Ed Gilmore Interview by John Brant: A series of 3 articles about an interview with the legendary caller in 1961.
The History of Square-Dancing www.americanantiquarian.org by S. Foster Damon reprinted from American Antiquarian Society: A history of American folk dancing: from Playford to Henry Ford.
The Hollywood Connection by John Brant: Movies helped to fuel Square Dancing's rise in popularity.
The Sashay Story by Stewart Kramer: The origin goes back to France.