George Hodgson Dances | NH Country Dance ~ Dance Website

Two George Hodgson Dance Programs

Two Dance Programs from George Hodgson

Here are two dance programs from George Hodgson. One is from the Emerson Hill School in 1997, and the other is from the Contoocook Library from 2000. Both are for the same dance group, and the band is very similar for both. Be sure to read the previous page first for a description of what an evening at one of George's dances was like; it gives context to these dance programs.

*Emerson Hill Square Dance ~ West Hopkinton, 2/8/1997*
1	Foxtrot	We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)
2	Foxtrot	Green, Green Grass of Home
3	Waltz	Vaya con Dios
4	Waltz	Tell Me That You Love Me
5	Waltz	Waltz in C
6	Call on	Irish Washerwoman
7	Square Dance	My Little Girl
8	Square Dance	You Can’t Call Everybody Darling
9	Foxtrot	There's a Home in Wyoming
10	Foxtrot	Have You Ever Been Lonely
11	Foxtrot	Whispering
12	Call on	Turkey in the Straw
13	Square Dance	Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane
14	Square Dance	Buffalo Quadrille (Silver & Gold Two-Step)
15	Waltz	When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain
16	Waltz	Are You Lonesome Tonight?
17	Waltz	When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New
18	Call on	Turkey in the Straw
19	Square Dance	Mountain Music Madness
20	Square Dance	If You Knew Susie
21	Foxtrot	Only You
22	Foxtrot	It Had To Be You
23	Foxtrot	Foxtrot #8
24	Foxtrot	It Had To Be You
25	Call on	Turkey in the Straw
26	Square Dance	Head Gents & Corners (Golden Boy)
27	Square Dance	I Want a Girl
28	Waltz	Melody of Love
29	Waltz	Night Time in Nevada
30	Waltz	If You Were The Only Girl
31	Call on, Walkthrough	Irish Washerwoman
32	Square Dance	Little Red Wagon
33	Square Dance	Nelly Bly
34	Polka	Beer Barrel Polka
35	Polka	Pennsylvania Polka
36	Polka	Just Because
37	Intermission
38	Foxtrot	I Get The Blues When It Rains
39	Foxtrot	Jealous
40	Foxtrot	My Gal Sal
41	Foxtrot	My Gal Sal (Continued)
42	Call on, Walkthrough	Soldier's Joy
43	Square Dance	Sheboygan
44	Square Dance	Best Things in Life are Free
45	Waltz	Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time
46	Waltz	Blue Skirt Waltz
47	Waltz	Tell Me That You Love Me Tonight
48	Call on	Irish Washerwoman
49	Square Dance	Little Girl
50	Square Dance	Mañana
51	Foxtrot	Dream
52	Foxtrot	Foxtrot #2
53	Foxtrot	Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
54	Call on, Set-up	Turkey in the Straw, Set-up
55	Square Dance	Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nelly
56	Waltz	Smile Awhile
57	Waltz	Now is the Hour

*Contoocook Square Dance, 6-10-00*
1	Waltz	Waltz in C
2	Square Dance	When the Work's All Done This Fall
3	Square Dance	When You Wore a Tulip
4	Foxtrot	Hey Good Looking
5	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in G
6	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in C
7	Square Dance	Three Ladies Chain (Red River Valley)
8	Square Dance	Little Red Wagon
9	Waltz	Wild Irish Rose
10	Waltz	When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New
11	Waltz	Waltz in G
12	Square Dance	Long Way to Tipperary
13	Square Dance	Mañana
14	Square Dance	Mañana*
15	Foxtrot	Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
16	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in F
17	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in G
18	Call on	Durang's Hornpipe
19	Square Dance	Nelly Bly
20	Intermission
21	Polka	Beer Barrel Polka
22	Polka	Just Because
23	Call on	Soldier's Joy
24	Square Dance	Don't Dilly Dally
25	Square Dance	If You Knew Susie
26	Waltz	Vaya con Dios
27	Waltz	Tell Me That You Love Me
28	Waltz	Waltz in C
29	Call on	Fisher's Hornpipe
30	Square Dance	I Like Mountain Music
31	Square Dance	Sheboygan
32	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in F
33	Foxtrot	I Get the Blues When it Rains
34	Foxtrot	Who's Sorry Now
35	Call on	Turkey in the Straw
36	Square Dance	Best Things in Life are Free

* Mañana is listed twice because of a break in the recording; it was only danced once.

*Emerson Hill Square Dance ~ West Hopkinton, 2/8/1997*			*Contoocook Square Dance, 6-10-00*
1	Foxtrot	We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)	Waltz	Waltz in C
2	Foxtrot	Green, Green Grass of Home	Square Dance	When the Work's All Done This Fall
3	Waltz	Vaya con Dios	Square Dance	When You Wore a Tulip
4	Waltz	Tell Me That You Love Me	Foxtrot	Hey Good Looking
5	Waltz	Waltz in C	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in G
6	Call on	Irish Washerwoman	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in C
7	Square Dance	My Little Girl	Square Dance	Three Ladies Chain (Red River Valley)
8	Square Dance	You Can’t Call Everybody Darling	Square Dance	Little Red Wagon
9	Foxtrot	There's a Home in Wyoming	Waltz	Wild Irish Rose
10	Foxtrot	Have You Ever Been Lonely	Waltz	When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New
11	Foxtrot	Whispering	Waltz	Waltz in G
12	Call on	Turkey in the Straw	Square Dance	Long Way to Tipperary
13	Square Dance	Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane	Square Dance	Mañana
14	Square Dance	Buffalo Quadrille (Silver & Gold Two-Step)	Square Dance	Mañana*
15	Waltz	When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain	Foxtrot	Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
16	Waltz	Are You Lonesome Tonight?	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in F
17	Waltz	When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in G
18	Call on	Turkey in the Straw	Call on	Durang's Hornpipe
19	Square Dance	Mountain Music Madness	Square Dance	Nelly Bly
20	Square Dance	If You Knew Susie	Intermission
21	Foxtrot	Only You	Polka	Beer Barrel Polka
22	Foxtrot	It Had To Be You	Polka	Just Because
23	Foxtrot	Foxtrot #8	Call on	Soldier's Joy
24	Foxtrot	It Had To Be You	Square Dance	Don't Dilly Dally
25	Call on	Turkey in the Straw	Square Dance	If You Knew Susie
26	Square Dance	Head Gents & Corners (Golden Boy)	Waltz	Vaya con Dios
27	Square Dance	I Want a Girl	Waltz	Tell Me That You Love Me
28	Waltz	Melody of Love	Waltz	Waltz in C
29	Waltz	Night Time in Nevada	Call on	Fisher's Hornpipe
30	Waltz	If You Were The Only Girl	Square Dance	I Like Mountain Music
31	Call on, Walkthrough	Irish Washerwoman	Square Dance	Sheboygan
32	Square Dance	Little Red Wagon	Foxtrot	Foxtrot in F
33	Square Dance	Nelly Bly	Foxtrot	I Get the Blues When it Rains
34	Polka	Beer Barrel Polka	Foxtrot	Who's Sorry Now
35	Polka	Pennsylvania Polka	Call on	Turkey in the Straw
36	Polka	Just Because	Square Dance	Best Things in Life are Free
37	Intermission
38	Foxtrot	I Get The Blues When It Rains
39	Foxtrot	Jealous
40	Foxtrot	My Gal Sal
41	Foxtrot	My Gal Sal (Continued)
42	Call on, Walkthrough	Soldier's Joy
43	Square Dance	Sheboygan
44	Square Dance	Best Things in Life are Free
45	Waltz	Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time
46	Waltz	Blue Skirt Waltz
47	Waltz	Tell Me That You Love Me Tonight
48	Call on	Irish Washerwoman
49	Square Dance	Little Girl
50	Square Dance	Mañana
51	Foxtrot	Dream
52	Foxtrot	Foxtrot #2
53	Foxtrot	Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
54	Call on, Set-up	Turkey in the Straw, Set-up
55	Square Dance	Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nelly
56	Waltz	Smile Awhile
57	Waltz	Now is the Hour

* Mañana is listed twice because of a break in the recording; it was only danced once.

Comparing the Dance Programs

I will compare these programs as I did with Duke Miller's programs, starting with general comparisons of characteristics of the programs and then comparing them in terms of how specific dances fit into the programs. I will also discuss some other factors responsible for some of the differences that I know about because I was there.

General Program Comparison

Probably the most obvious difference is in terms of the total number of dances: 57 at Emerson Hill, only 37 in Contoocook. There are two reasons for the difference.

The recording of the Emerson Hill dance was complete. The Contoocook recording is incomplete. There was only one round dance at the beginning; in fact there were almost certainly at least three. At the end there’s one square. There was almost certainly a second, and the dance would have ended with the same pair of waltzes as the Emerson Hill dance.

Also, the length of the dance had changed. As I remember, the Emerson Hill dance went from 8:00 to 12:00. But when the dance moved it went from 7:30 to 10:30. It had to end at 10:30 because the outside lights went out at that time and it was hard to get to one’s car safely in the dark. As the dancers were overall older by then, no one objected to the time change. So the dance was an hour shorter.

Otherwise the two dance programs were very similar in terms of overall structure and choice of dances. George was always pulling out new dances, although as he pointed out, most of them he’d called for years but hadn’t called in long enough that people thought they were new.

His dances were pretty active, and often fairly complex. He used a grand square as a break or as a figure quite regularly. Many of the waltzes and foxtrots were familiar to me because Marcel Robidas played them. He played for the Bradford dance later on, and I assume that many of those tunes were ones that either he learned from there or that he brought to the dance.

Specific Dance Comparisons

Unlike Duke Miller, George didn’t have specific slots for most of his dances, and a dance could be near the beginning one night and near the end another. The structure of the dance is described in a previous tab. It always started with round dances, ended with the same waltzes, nearly always included Nelly Bly, and generally included a set of polkas. Often they would use the polkas to start the second half of the dance. Frenchy would tap his drumsticks together three times, raise one hand in the air on the fourth beat, and off they’d go.

Partial Dance Repertoire

George Hodgson's Dance Repertoire

George had a large repertoire of squares as well as a number of contras. Here is a list of squares and contras in his repertoire that I clearly remember dancing. His repertoire was constantly changing, and I’m sure I’ve danced many additional dances called by George, and I’m sure there are many more I never heard him call. This list was compiled from two recordings of West Hopkinton dances, a list of dances he called at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend and from two tune books associated with George’s calling.

In a letter to George Fogg that George Fogg was kind enough to pass on to me, George Hodgson said that his program was typically three squares followed by three waltzes and then back to three squares. But depending on the dancers he might replace one set of squares with a contra, and he would generally include a foxtrot or a polka here and there in the program.

Square Dances

Best Things in Life are Free
Bill Bailey
Buffalo Gals
Buffalo Quadrille
Coming Round the Mountain
Crooked Stovepipe
Darling Nelly Gray
Dip & Dive
Don’t Dilly Dally
Golden Slippers
Head Gents and Corners
How You Gonna Keep ‘em Down on the Farm
I Like Mountain Music
I Want a Girl
If You Knew Susie
It’s a Long Way to Tipperary
Just Because
Life on the Ocean Wave
Little Girl
Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane
Little Red Wagon
Long Pond Chain
Ma, He’s Kissing Me
Mañana
Marching Through Georgia
Mention My Name in Sheboygan
Mountain Music Madness
My Little Girl
Nelly Bly
Open Up Your Heart
Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet
Red River Valley
Rod's Right and Left
Smoke on the Water
Solomon Levi
Texas Star
The Best Things in Life are Free
The Route
Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie
Waltz Promenade
Waltz Quadrille
When the Works All Done This Fall (Forward Six)
When You Wore a Tulip
You Call Everybody Darling

Contradances

British Sorrow
Hull’s Victory
Lady Walpole’s Reel
Ways of the World

Dances from Other Sources

I used two other sources of information about George’s repertoire. George called for many years with Clarence Goodnow’s Orchestra. The first is George Hodgson’s Manuscript Book of Square & Contra Tunes as Compiled by Clarence Goodnow. The other is George Hodgson’s Book of Tunes & Dances, which I compiled with considerable help from George in 2005.

Here are some additional dances from those sources. I haven’t danced them to George’s calling, but presumably he called them at one time or another. George commented to me at various times that people often got excited at the new dances he would introduce, but in fact they were old dances that he hadn’t called in ten, twenty or more years.

Note that in a few cases I may have included a tune title that didn’t go with a particular dance. There were a number of other tune titles that I’m fairly sure didn’t go with a particular dance and therefore left out.

Square Dances

Barnacle Bill the Sailor
Bingo
Bum Song
Camptown Races
Captain Jinks
Down South
First Lady Give Right Hand Across
Girl I Left Behind Me
Hello Dolly
Hinky Dinky, Parlez-Vous
Jingle Bells
Lady Round the Lady
Maple Sugar Gal
Oh Johnny
Scotland the Brave
Skip to My Lou
Solomon Levi
Spanish Cavaliero
This Old House
Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Wabash Cannon Ball
Wait for the Wagon
Wheels

Contradances

Beaux of Albany

Round Dances

Boston Two-Step
Gay Gordons
Road to the Isles
Roberts, The

New Hampshire Old-Time Country Dance Web Site

Dance Programs

George Hodgson Dance Programs & Repertoire

On this page we look at two George Hodgson evening dance programs, and I assembled a partial listing of George Hodgson's dance repertoire.

On This Page

Two George Hodgson Dance Programs

Two Dance Programs from George Hodgson

Comparing the Dance Programs

General Program Comparison

Specific Dance Comparisons

Partial Dance Repertoire

George Hodgson's Dance Repertoire

Square Dances

Contradances

Dances from Other Sources

Square Dances

Contradances

Round Dances