Recent Videos
-
Double Bow Knot
Phil Jamison, caller. This clip includes a walkthrough. The tune is Sugar Hill.
-
Pull the Lady Thru (mixer)
Phil Jamison, caller. This clip includes a walkthrough. You'll see dancers scrambling to get their hands low to get a longer swing. The tune is Cuttin' at the Point.
-
Grapevine Twist
Phil Jamison, caller. This clip includes a walkthrough. Note the way the entire set is wrapped up at the end. The tune is Little Dutch Girl. Recorded at Dare To Be Square, Brasstown, NC, November 19, 2011.
-
Southern Appalachian squares 1a - Carcassonne big set (teaching)
Phil Jamison introduces the big set formation danced in Carcassonne, Kentucky; an accompanying video shows actual dance footage.
-
Southern Appalachian squares 6b - Shoo-Fly Swing
This figure can come at the end of a big circle dance. It is related to The Boulanger, the only country dance mentioned by name by Jane Austen. The tune played here is Fire on the Mountain.
-
Southern Appalachian squares 0 - sampler
Phil Jamison led a workshop session on square dances from the southern Appalachians. This samples provides excerpts of the dances Phil Jamison presented in his Southern Appalachia workshop. You will be able to find teaching and longer clip for each one shown here in related videos on this site.
-
Southern Appalachian squares Southern 1b - Carcassonne big set
Carcassonne, Kentucky, still hosts a regular traditional dance series, and these figures are typical of big circle dances there. The tune is Molly Put the Kettle On.
-
Southern Appalachian squares 2 - Glenville
There is a flourishing square dance tradition in Glenville, WV, and Phil encouraged dancers to experience their big dance festival held in June of each year. The tune is Billy Wilson.
-
Southern Appalachian squares 3 - Mt. Airy Big Set
In this big set dance from the Mt. Airy, NC, region, instead of everyone doing the same figures as the caller dictates, each couple finds another pair and runs the sequence at their own pace, then moves on to another. The tune is Puncheon Floor.
-
Southern Appalachian squares 4 - Thread the Needle
This uses a common figure but in a six-couple variation that involves more dancers moving at one time. The tune is Susannah Gal, also known as Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss. The clip starts with some history (going back to Alabama in the 1850s) and a walkthrough.
