Square Dance Calling: The African-American Connection
In an early and abbreviated form, this paper outlines the thesis that Jamison put forward at length in his later book, Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics, which looks at the pivotal role played by African-American musicians, callers and dancers in the development of the American square dance:
"Written evidence from the nineteenth century suggests that the first callers were African- American musicians and that dance calling was common in the black culture throughout the country before it was adopted by whites, and became an integral part of the Appalachian dance. ... As early as 1690, slave fiddlers played for dances on plantations in Virginia, and by the mid-eighteenth century slave musicians were common at white social functions, both urban and rural, throughout the American colonies. ... The earliest references to dance callers, all of whom were African-American, date from shortly after the introduction of the French cotillions and quadrilles in America. This suggests that calling might have evolved in the black culture as an alternative to the formal instruction that white dancers received at dancing schools."
Tags: African-American, Phil Jamison
Item Relations
| This Item | is related to | Item: Phil Jamison 2: African influences, and African-American callers |
| This Item | is related to | Item: The Slave Roots of Square Dancing |
| This Item | is related to | Item: The Afro-American Transformation of European Set Dances and Dance Suites |
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In an early and abbreviated form, this paper outlines the thesis that Jamison put forward at length in his later book, Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics, which looks at the pivotal role played by African-American musicians, callers and dancers in the development of the American square dance:
"Written evidence from the nineteenth century suggests that the first callers were African- American musicians and that dance calling was common in the black culture throughout the country before it was adopted by whites, and became an integral part of the Appalachian dance. ... As early as 1690, slave fiddlers played for dances on plantations in Virginia, and by the mid-eighteenth century slave musicians were common at white social functions, both urban and rural, throughout the American colonies. ... The earliest references to dance callers, all of whom were African-American, date from shortly after the introduction of the French cotillions and quadrilles in America. This suggests that calling might have evolved in the black culture as an alternative to the formal instruction that white dancers received at dancing schools."