Square Your Sets Birth of American Social Dancing

"Square Your Sets" covers the storyline of European-based dancing in this country from the publication of John Playford's "The English Country Dancing Master" in 1651 to the 1930s when Henry Ford attempted to resuscitate interest in "old-fashioned" dances such as squares and contras. It traces not only the lineage of the western square dance, but also the development of round dances such as the waltz and polka, and also percussive dances like the Irish jig and Lancashire clog. It is also full of first-person testimonials from dancers throughout the centuries--from as far back as Capt. James Smith at Jamestown, Virginia, to Eastern European immigrants learning American ways during the early-1900s. SYS is 440 pages long, with about 80 pages dedicated to footnotes, a list of works cited, and an index. It is a broadly researched work with a strong narrative spiced with many vignettes drawn from historical accounts. Only a few people have read it and here is what one of them (whom contra dancers might know) had to say: ''I know that I'm a good representative of your target audience, and not surprisingly, I found [your book] to be a highly entertaining and informative read. I'd even go so far as to say it was a real page-turner. Many late night spent reading while on vacation.'' --Nils Fredland