Cherokee Indian Circle Dance - Indian style?
Where does the square dance call "Indian style" originate? This description of a Cherokee dance, published in 1947, offers interesting possibilities. It comes from a booklet authored by two individuals connected with the "World of Fun" program, created in 1947 in consultation from folk dance teacher Michael Herman for the Methodist Church.
In his 2015 book, Hoedowns, Reels and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance, Phil Jamison notes, "Folklorist and musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford believed that the Cherokee dances had an influence on the dances of the southern mountains and were the source of the 'circle and serpentine movements' in the square dances of western North Carolina."
In a 2016 e-mail, Jamison added, "The prompt for a single-file, counterclockwise circle (“Other way back, single file, ladies in the lead, Indian style”) suggests an association (real or imagined) with Native American dances. As far as I know, the single-file circle does not appear in the European tradition, but it does in the Native American dances and also the African American Ring Shout."
Subjects: Southern Appalachian - general
Tags: Cherokee, Helen Eisenberg, Indian style, Larry Eisenberg, World of Fun
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Where does the square dance call "Indian style" originate? This description of a Cherokee dance, published in 1947, offers interesting possibilities. It comes from a booklet authored by two individuals connected with the "World of Fun" program, created in 1947 in consultation from folk dance teacher Michael Herman for the Methodist Church.
In his 2015 book, Hoedowns, Reels and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance, Phil Jamison notes, "Folklorist and musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford believed that the Cherokee dances had an influence on the dances of the southern mountains and were the source of the 'circle and serpentine movements' in the square dances of western North Carolina."
In a 2016 e-mail, Jamison added, "The prompt for a single-file, counterclockwise circle (“Other way back, single file, ladies in the lead, Indian style”) suggests an association (real or imagined) with Native American dances. As far as I know, the single-file circle does not appear in the European tradition, but it does in the Native American dances and also the African American Ring Shout."