Dance in Appalachia: A Pathfinder
Traditional dancing in Appalachia includes several types: step dancing, set dancing, and couple dancing. Step dance traditions include clogging, buckdancing, flatfooting, and the Charleston. Set dances, involving two or more couples, include four couple squares, big set (ring) dances, reels, country (contra) dances, and play parties. Couple dancing, often referred to as "round dancing," includes the two-step and waltz. The roots of Appalachian dance are varied and include the influence of English, Scots-Irish, French, African-American, and Native American dances, as well as American popular culture. Much of the older printed material on Appalachian dance reflects a strong Anglo-centric bias, and while containing valuable information, it should be viewed skeptically.
Introduction
Spalding, Susan Eike and Jane Harris Woodside, eds. Communities in Motion: Dance, Community, and Tradition in America's Southeast and Beyond. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1995. ASU APP COLL GV1624.A7 C65 1995
This book contains essays from a variety researchers on a wide range of topics related to vernacular dance traditions in Appalachia. It provides a good introduction to these topics.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Highly Relevant:
- Clog dancing
- Country-dance -- Southern States
- Dance -- Appalachian Region
- Dance -- Southern States
- Folk dancing -- Appalachian Region
- Folk dancing -- Blue Ridge Mountains
- Folk dancing -- Southern States
- Square dancing
- Square dancing--Appalachian Region
- Square dancing -- Kentucky
Also Relevant:
- African American dance
- Indian dance -- North America
- Play-party
- Singing games
- Quadrille (Dance)
General:
- Country-dance
- Country-dance -- United States
- Folk dancing
- Square dancing -- United States
Related:
- Ballroom dancing -- History
- Country-dance--EnglandCountry-dance -- Scotland
- Dance -- England
- Dance -- History -- 19th century
- Dance -- Scotland
- Folk dancing -- England
- Folk dancing -- Irish
- Folk dancing -- Scotland
- German (Dance)
Appalachian Collection Clippings File Subject Heading
Dance
Library of Congress Call Numbers
- GV 1624
- GV 1763
- GV 1767
- GV 1771
- GV 1793
Frequently Mentioned Texts
Damon, S. Foster. The History of Square Dancing. Barre, MA: Barre Gazette, 1957. ASU APP COLL GV1763 .D3 1957
This well-researched, scholarly work traces the history of social dance in America, from Colonial times to the twentieth century.
Seeger, Mike. Talking Feet: Buck, Flatfoot, and Tap: Solo Southern Dance of the Appalachian, Piedmont, and Blue Ridge Mountain Regions. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1992. ASU APP COLL GV1624.A7 S44 1992
This book and the accompanying video (see Films and Videos) by the same name, provide a glimpse of the wide range of steps and styles in Appalachian step dancing as demonstrated and talked about by dancers in several Appalachian states.
Sharp, Cecil James and Maud Karpeles. The Country Dance Book, Part V. London: Novello and company, 1918. ASU APP COLL GV1763 .S5 v.5
This is English musicologist, Cecil Sharp's description of dancing in eastern Kentucky in 1916, in which he coined the term "Running Set" to describe the Appalachian square dance. While somewhat misinformed and biased in his interpretation, this account is valuable as the earliest detailed description of Appalachian square dancing.
Smith, Frank H. The Appalachian Square Dance. Berea, KY: Berea College, 1955. ASU APP COLL GV1763 .S58
This book contains detailed descriptions of Appalachian square dance figures as taught at Berea College in the 1950s. Smith's repeats Sharp's earlier interpretation of the dance.
Guides, Encyclopedias, and Dictionaries
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Charles Reagan Wilson & William Ferris, eds. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. "Square Dancing and Clogging," Burt Feintuch, pp. 1033-1034. ASU APP COLL OVERSIZE F209 .E53 1989
International Encyclopedia of Dance. Selma Jeanne Cohen, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
"Clogging," Jerry C. Duke and Robert G. Dalsemer, vol. 2, pp. 178-181,
"Cotillon," Desmond F. Strobel, vol. 2, pp. 251-253,
"Country Dance," Patri J. Pugliese, vol. 2, pp. 254-258,
"Folk Dance," Lee Ellen Friedland, vol. 3, pp. 29-38,
"Jig," James E. Morrison, vol. 3, pp. 607-608
"Quadrille," Desmond F. Strobel, vol. 5, pp. 285-287,
"Reel," James E. Morrison, vol. 5, pp. 333-334,
"Square Dance," Lee Ellen Friedland, vol. 5, pp. 685-690,
ASU REFERENCE GV 1585.I586 1998
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Carroll Van West, ed. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society: Rutledge Hill Press, 1998. "Clogging and Buckdancing," Margaret D. Binnicker, p. 183. ASU APP COLL F436 .T525 1998
Bibliographies
Appalachian Bibliography. Morgantown, West Virginia: West Virginia University Library,
1980. “Folk Dancing,” pp. 440-441. ASU APP COLL Z1251.A7 A6 1980
Haywood, Charles. A Bibliography of North American Folklore and Folksong, vol. 1. (1951) New York: Dover Publications, 1961. "The Folk Dance," pp. 136-142. ASU APP COLL
Z5984.U5 H32 v.1
Ross, Charlotte T. Bibliography of Southern Appalachia. Boone, NC: Appalachian
Consortium, 1976. “Folk Dances,” p. 111. ASU APP COLL OVERSIZE Z1251 .A7 B5x.
World Cat (search for "folk dancing" or "square dancing")
Abstracts and Indices
American Folklore Films and Videotapes: An index. Compiled by Carolyn Lipson.
Memphis, TN: Center for Southern Folklore, 1976. "Folk Dance," p. 33, "Hoedowns," p. 52. ASU APP COLL Z5984.U6 C45 1976
America: History and Life (search for "folk dancing" or "square dancing")
JSTOR (search for "folk dancing" or "square dancing")
MLA Online (search for "folk dancing" or "square dancing")
Old-Time Herald Index. Galax, VA: Old-Time Music Group. ASU APP COLL ML1 .O35 v.1-5, Index (Also see: Internet Resources)
Journals
Old Time Herald. Durham, NC: The Old-Time Music Group. 1987-Present, Quarterly. ASU APP COLL ML1. O35
Articles on traditional dance appear in each issue in the "Dance Beat" column. (Also see: Abstracts and Indices and Internet Resources.)
Reviews
Peterson, Barbara. A Bibliographical Essay on the Adult Literature of the Folk Dance of Southern Appalachia. Thesis (M.S.): Palmer Graduate Library School of Long Island University, 1972. ASU APP COLL MicF 329
Films and Videos
Ballad of a Mountain Man: The Story of Bascom Lamar Lunsford. WGBH Educational Foundation; WNET/Thirteen Alexandria, VA: PBS Video, 1989. UNCA VIDEO M1629.6.A67 B35 1990
Mountain Legacy. Burton Edwards, Mountain Legacy Productions, 1997. UNCA VIDEO M1629.6.A67 M68 1997
Step Back Cindy: Old Time Dancing in Southwest Virginia. Anne Lewis Johnson and Susan Spalding. Whitesburg, KY: Appalshop, c1990. ASU APP COLL VIDEO VC 84
Talking Feet: Solo Southern Dance, Buck, Flatfoot and Tap. Mike Seeger and Ruth Pershing. El Cerrito, CA: Flower Films & Video, 1987. ASU VIDEO VC 5947 (Also see: Frequently Mentioned Texts)
Internet Resources
"An American Ballroom Companion Dance Instruction Manuals, Ca.1490-1920." Music Division, Library of Congress, 1998.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/dihome.html
"Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938."
Manuscript Division and Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, 2001.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html
"A Look at Southern Squares." Bill Martin, 2004.
http://www.bubbaguitar.com/square/welcome.html
The Old Time Herald.
Includes internet index to past issues.
http://www.oldtimeherald.org
"West Virginia Squares" (1982)
Robert G. Dalsemer, Internet edition 2001.
http://www.cdss.org/publications/wvasquares/index.html
Dance Photo
"Dancing the Virginia Reel." Mountain Music Jamboree, Glendale Springs, Ashe County, North Carolina, November 2002. Photo: Philip A. Jamison.
----- photo here -----
Links to Square Dance Photos on the Internet
"A square dance at Soco Gap, 1930s."
Showing square dancers on a wooden platform in Haywood County, North Carolina.
North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/pcoll/01haywood/haywood.html
"Square dance, Skyline Farms, Alabama."
One of several photos at this site showing square dancing on an outdoor platform.
Library of Congress, Rural Resettlement Administration. Photo: Ben Shahn, 1937.
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/fsa/8a17000/8a17200/8a17231r.jpg
Compiler: Philip A. Jamison, 2 December 2004
