[Callers] Square Dance resources

Dear dance colleagues, Here is information for those who are interested in square dances. 1) NEW SQUARE DANCE VIDEOS You probably already know about the Dare To Be Square weekend held last November at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. An earlier e-mail provided links to 100 videos from that event. I'm happy to announce that an additional 25 video clips are now available of edited interviews with the six callers who were on staff: Phil Jamison, Larry Edelman, Bob Dalsemer, Jim Mayo, Larry Edelman, and Bill Litchman. http://squaredancehistory.org/omeka/exhibits/show/brasstown-interviews This link will take you to one part of the prototype of our new Square Dance History Project. The home page for the exhibit provides links to each caller, and that subsequent page will offer two tabs, one for the caller's bio and one that takes you to a page listing those interviews, with a summary of the contents. Click on the photograph or underlined link to the right of each summary to bring up the video clip itself. In all, there are about two hours of interview footage available for your viewing. Our web designer and others continue to fine-tune the user interface and the underlying database, so we're not ready for the official launch of the full site yet... but there seemed no reason not to share this particular digital exhibit now. 2) THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! Funding for the videotaping was provided by a grant from Country Dance and Song Society. We also want to thank the other organizations that are providing financial support for the Square Dance History Project: the Lloyd Shaw Foundation, CALLERLAB, and The ARTS. 3) LINKS TO DANCE VIDEOS In case you've misplaced the information, you can view the original 100 dance videos at two locations: YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory/videos VidCaster http://squaredancehistory.vidcaster.com/ To date, the dance clips on these two channels have been viewed nearly 25,000 times in the five months since they were uploaded. Feel free to pass along any of these links to others who might be interested. 4) NEW SQUARE DANCE CHANNEL In addition to the YouTube channel listed above, we've started a new channel that will include some of the additional material that is being uploaded: http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareDanceHistory2 Among the clips are a dozen examples of French-Canadian squares, footage of CT caller Bob Livingston, some Super 8 footage taken 30+ years ago by Bob Dalsemer in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, several demonstration numbers by groups showcasing the Lloyd Shaw style of dancing and choreography, squares from the Missouri Ozarks with lots of jigging, dances called by Dick Leger, Earl Johnston, Red Warrick and many more, examples and instruction in Kentucky set running, some precise modern square dancing from a Tech Squares weekend, and a talk by Herb Egender, who was a member of Pappy Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers on their first trip to Washington, DC in 1939. In all, there are nearly 60 square dance videos on that channel with more being added each week. 5) RINER, VA, DARE TO BE SQUARE Another DTBS event was held in early May in Riner, Virginia, with Phil Jamison, Michael Ismerio, and Bill Ohse as callers. Bill Ohse (b.1938) is a highly-regarded West Virginia caller of traditional squares; we now have video footage of his sessions and several interviews with him. Edited footage of these Appalachian squares will be uploaded shortly. 6) UPDATE ON THE DTBS SYLLABUS Finally, I've been told that the final draft of the Brasstown syllabus and the master CD with more than 150 mp3 audio files (including instruction as well as dance calls) are ready for final layout and production. CDSS is aiming to have the combination booklet/CD available by this summer's dance camp season. Stay tuned... we'll certainly let you know when this treasure trove is ready. In the meantime, enjoy the comments by our six well-informed callers, and thanks for your continued interest in our rich square dance heritage. David Millstone