Updated December 7, 2019
This index lists dances, background material, songs, recipes, and other information in Texas Camp syllabi from 1949 through 2019. Not all dances listed were taught; i.e., the instructor provided information for dances that they did not teach at camp. This index was originally compiled by Chuck Roth (from Austin) and Sally Jenkins (from Tulsa). Additional editing and updating was done by Franklin Houston (from Austin). No syllabi appear to have been published for the second camp in November of 1949 or for the years 1950, 1951, and 1953. In a number of the syllabi, the pages were not numbered, so Chuck and Sally manually numbered their copies for purposes of indexing. Consequently, their numbering might not correspond to individual campers’ numbering. The dance names in the TITLE column are listed alphabetically, except in many cases the articles (The, A, La, etc.) have been moved to the end of the name, e.g., look for ‘The Bishop’ or ‘La Belle Katherine’ under ‘Bishop, The’ or ‘Belle Katherine, La’. In most cases, the dance name is given and not the name of the tune to which it is danced.
Explanation of columns in the index
- In the FORM (Formation) column, the following abbreviations are used:• cir = circle, no partners (usually a closed circle)
• cpl = couple; two people dancing together
• cpl-mix = couple dance that is also a mixer, i.e., partners are changed during the dance
• indiv = individual (usually a group of dancers scattered around the floor)
• line = usually means short lines, but may also mean a broken circle
• set = a couple dance done in a set where couples interact with each other
• set-mix = a set dance that is also a mixer
• set2, set3, set4, etc. = set of 2, 3, 4, etc. couples not done in a longways set or circle
• setL = longways set of any number of couples, progressing up and down the line
• set(2,3,4,etc.)L = longways set of (2,3,4,etc.) number of couples
• set(2,3,4,etc.)C = (2,3,4,etc.) couples in a circle
• square = set dance done in a square of four couples
• trio = three people dancing together
• trio-mix = a trio dance that is also a mixer - Some of the dances may be done in one formation or another (e.g., circle or couple) and some of the dances may use several formations during the course of the dance (circle and couple). Any variants not sufficiently described in the FORM column will have additional information in the COMMENTS column. Also, information about sheet music, song words, or other related information will be in the COMMENTS column. This column is incomplete, especially for the earlier years.
- In the VENUE column, TFDC refers to Texas Folk Dance Camp.
- In the YEAR column, the number refers to the year in which that camp occurred.
- The INSTRUCTOR column shows the instructor who taught the dance at camp, not the instructor who originally collected or arranged the dance sequence.
- Much of the information for the years 1972 through 1981 was taken from the index published in the 1982 Texas Camp syllabus and was not checked again with the individual syllabi for those years.