Bob Dean - dances from Pocahontas County, WV
Bob Dean was invited to be on staff for the 1980 program at American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods Camp, a week sponsored by Country Dance and Song Society. This half hour recording by Ed Durham documents a session Bob led on dances of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, an exceptionally rural part of the state. In that region, dances are generally big circle dances rather than four-couple squares. There are more than 40 items in SDHP related to West Virginia dancing; this link will let you select ones you wish to explore.
The fiddler is Woody Simmons, backed up by Bob Dalsemer on the guitar.
Fred Breunig was program chair for the week; Jim Morrison, Paul Brown, and Joan Carr were on the organizing committee. Bob Dalsemer did a lot of the arrangements to get Bob Dean and Woody Simmons and their wives to camp.
Jim writes:
I heard about the Marlinton [WV] dances from Bob Dalsemer, who was living in Elkins, WV at the time, and doing the research for his West Va. Square dance book. Marney and I went to the dance a few times, and I arranged for Bobby Dean to call at the annual Charlottesville dance festival, October 23-25th of 1980. He brought a group of dancers who performed at UVA’s outdoor Amphitheater, and participated in the workshops and evening dances. West Virginia fiddler Woody Simons and a guitar player completed their act. We also had Ed Michael, Spike Stroup and the Valley Express who played for contra and square dances. There was never a dance festival in Charlottesville before or since that included so much regional culture.
I have notes from the first Marlinton dance I attended. The dance was similar to the dance at Dunmore, a little north of Marlinton up Route 219, and described in Bob Dalsemer's book.
Last Saturday night (11/3/79) Marney and I went to square dance at the Marlinton High School gym. The dance is held from 8:30 to 12:00pm every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. With just a few exceptions, the dancers were local, a small crowd (only about 20 people). Apparently a local motel was having a disco dance which cut into attendance- generally, there are many more people, we were told. The dances have only been held for abut a year and a half- they grew out of a dance class and performing group (The “Barn Dancers”) organized by caller Bobby Dean. The other caller was Tom Sharp. The band was 4 pieces: fiddle, banjo (bluegrass style), guitar, acoustic bass—no contact mikes were used.
The caller had his own amplification system, and stood at the opposite side of the room—a pretty novel arrangement. Woody Simmons of Elkins is the usual fiddler but he was unable to attend, and they had another fiddle in a coon-skin hat who had not played with the other before-although the band played between square dances, people most did not dance.
Caller Bobby Dean is a fifth generation figure caller; and he is consciously trying to preserve the old style of dancing. Both he and Tom Sharp mentioned the local “Beer Joints” as the place they would have primarily danced when they were younger-- these places had dancing at least a couple of times a week, and Tom remembered going to one that had a special back room where they admitted teenagers (and didn't serve alcohol).
Subjects: Southern Appalachian - general, Southern / Appalachian / Big sets
Tags: Bob Dean, Pocohantas Country, West Virginia
Item Relations
| This Item | is related to | Item: West Virginia Square Dances by Robert G. Dalsemer |
| This Item | is related to | Item: Square dance, Helvetia, WV - 1974 |
| This Item | is related to | Item: Bob Dalsemer - West Virginia dances |
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Bob Dean was invited to be on staff for the 1980 program at American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods Camp, a week sponsored by Country Dance and Song Society. This half hour recording by Ed Durham documents a session Bob led on dances of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, an exceptionally rural part of the state. In that region, dances are generally big circle dances rather than four-couple squares. There are more than 40 items in SDHP related to West Virginia dancing; this link will let you select ones you wish to explore.
The fiddler is Woody Simmons, backed up by Bob Dalsemer on the guitar.
Fred Breunig was program chair for the week; Jim Morrison, Paul Brown, and Joan Carr were on the organizing committee. Bob Dalsemer did a lot of the arrangements to get Bob Dean and Woody Simmons and their wives to camp.
Jim writes:
I heard about the Marlinton [WV] dances from Bob Dalsemer, who was living in Elkins, WV at the time, and doing the research for his West Va. Square dance book. Marney and I went to the dance a few times, and I arranged for Bobby Dean to call at the annual Charlottesville dance festival, October 23-25th of 1980. He brought a group of dancers who performed at UVA’s outdoor Amphitheater, and participated in the workshops and evening dances. West Virginia fiddler Woody Simons and a guitar player completed their act. We also had Ed Michael, Spike Stroup and the Valley Express who played for contra and square dances. There was never a dance festival in Charlottesville before or since that included so much regional culture.
I have notes from the first Marlinton dance I attended. The dance was similar to the dance at Dunmore, a little north of Marlinton up Route 219, and described in Bob Dalsemer's book.
Last Saturday night (11/3/79) Marney and I went to square dance at the Marlinton High School gym. The dance is held from 8:30 to 12:00pm every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. With just a few exceptions, the dancers were local, a small crowd (only about 20 people). Apparently a local motel was having a disco dance which cut into attendance- generally, there are many more people, we were told. The dances have only been held for abut a year and a half- they grew out of a dance class and performing group (The “Barn Dancers”) organized by caller Bobby Dean. The other caller was Tom Sharp. The band was 4 pieces: fiddle, banjo (bluegrass style), guitar, acoustic bass—no contact mikes were used.
The caller had his own amplification system, and stood at the opposite side of the room—a pretty novel arrangement. Woody Simmons of Elkins is the usual fiddler but he was unable to attend, and they had another fiddle in a coon-skin hat who had not played with the other before-although the band played between square dances, people most did not dance.
Caller Bobby Dean is a fifth generation figure caller; and he is consciously trying to preserve the old style of dancing. Both he and Tom Sharp mentioned the local “Beer Joints” as the place they would have primarily danced when they were younger-- these places had dancing at least a couple of times a week, and Tom remembered going to one that had a special back room where they admitted teenagers (and didn't serve alcohol).