Berea Country Dancers - Set Running (1917)

Berea Country Dancers - Set Running (1917)

Southern / Appalachian / Big sets

In this re-creation of dances from 1917, the Berea College Country Dancers, under the direction of Ethel Capps, show several figures described by Cecil Sharp in his Country Dance Book V. Sharp first saw dancing at Pine Mountain Settlement School, Kentucky, in 1917. The footage ends with a few words from Marguerite Butler Bidstrup who was present at that dance. There were no musicians at that particular dance, so the dancers were accompanied only by handclaps, as in this video.

The SDHP website contains many other examples of this style of dance, a search for "set running" will bring up videos and more. Information about Sharp's collecting can be found in this article by Michael Yates and a videotaped interview with caller and dance historian Phil Jamison.

Berea Country Dancers

July 22, 1974

John Ramsay

USA, Kentucky, Berea

1970s