Laurel, these projects have grown in large part from interest in the form by folks who are also contra dancers/callers (as I am). This is about square dancing that uses live music and, like contras, is always open to beginners.

When I started dancing in the '70s, there was more of a mix of styles in an evening of dancing among the crowd who developed into today's contra dancers. In fact, in a lot of places, the evening was a "square dance", regardless of the specific content. Nowadays, great callers like Kathy Anderson, Lisa Greenleaf, Nils Fredlund (who's been involved with both projects), and others retain that mix.

The Square Dance History Project includes some examination of how modern western square dancing (MWSD) came to be, so there is some recorded music there. But I know that part of the interest of the site organizers in the topic is to learn lessons of how to keep all traditional dancing fun and accessible - something that MWSD lost, in many ways, by losing the "traditional" aspects, the live music, and requiring lessons/qualifications.

~ Becky in Long Beach