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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
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Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
American folk dance encompasses several regional folk dances, many of which were influenced by foreign cultures. The play party dance style was developed due to dance being seen as a sin during the Great Revival.
New England country dances are rooted in Scottish and Irish culture, as a large amount of people from these groups settled New England. In New England country dances, couples gather in longways or circular formation. Orchestras playing New England country dances typically have a fiddle, piano, clarinet, and drum.[1]
Appalachian Mountain dances are rooted in German and Irish culture. The dances are primary found in the mountainous regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia. A typical Appalachian Mountain dance has couples dance in a circular pattern. These dances usually begin with a leading couple starting the dance, after which the other couples copy them. Fiddles, five-string banjos, and guitars are used to play the music for Appalachian Mountain dances. The dulcimore is also used for a background to the song.[1]
The play party games style of dance came from the Great Revival in Cane Ridge, Kentucky. Play party games served as a substitute for dancing, which was seen as a wicked sport, because games were permitted. Singing and hand clapping was used as music for play party games—any other music would make the dance a sin. People performing the dance form a circle or two parallel lines. Play party games style dances are found in areas in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Iowa, and Texas where dancing is still banned.[1]
The square dance isn't rooted in any foreign culture. The square dance is performed by four or eight couples. In the square dance, a leading couple—known as a caller—calls out instructions for the other dancers. It is believed that the square dance went west from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The music for the square dance is primary played on the piano or fiddle.[1]
The quadrille became popular in 1834. European immigrants kept the waltz, schottische, and polka alive in Chicago and reintroduced the dances. The two world fairs held in Chicago increased interest in folk dance. Starting in the 1920s, folk dancing school were created by related ethnic groups. Served folk dance companies for created from 1970 to 1990.[2]
Settlers brought the quadrille to the great plains. Due to the unavailability of dancing masters or schools, one dancer would call out the figures.[3]
During Spanish rule of Texas, some couples danced the polka or bolero to the music of a fandango and others danced at forts or on ranches. Balls were also held once a year. The upper-class created dances similar to peasant dances under Mexican rule of Texas. Due to the large number of men in Texas, —now part of the United States— men danced as partners. Since there was a lack of pianos, fiddles, or accordions, people made music with what they had.[4] People in West Texas would travel 50 miles to see a fiddler.[3] After preachers denounced dancing as an instrument of the devil, many turned to play party games.[4] Play party games was prominent in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.[3]
Developments, such as the radio, increased peoples' contact with the rest of the world, causing folk dances to decrease in popularity. After World War II, folk dances became popular again. Public-address systems allow for a larger group of dancers to hear the caller's call, and allowed for the standardization of calls.[4]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
American folk dance encompasses several regional folk dances, many of which were influenced by foreign cultures. The play party dance style was developed due to dance being seen as a sin during the Great Revival.
A hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it.
Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) is an American form of folk dancing made up of long lines of couples that is based in European folk dancing traditions. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles (contredanse and anglaise) in the 17th century. Sometimes described as New England folk dance or Appalachian folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world, but are most common in the United States (periodically held in nearly every state), Canada, and other Anglophone countries. A contra dance event is a social dance that one can attend without a partner. The dancers form couples, and the couples form sets of two couples in long lines starting from the stage and going down the length of the dance hall. Throughout the course of a dance, couples progress up and down these lines, dancing with each other couple in the line. The dance is led by a caller who teaches the sequence of moves, called "figures," in the dance before the music starts. In a single dance, a caller may include anywhere from six to twelve figures, which are repeated as couples progress up and down the lines. Each time through the dance takes 64 beats, after which the pattern is repeated. The essence of the dance is in following the pattern with your set and your line; since there is no required footwork, many people find contra dance easier to learn than other forms of social dancing. Almost all contra dances are danced to live music. The music played includes, but is not limited to, Irish, Scottish, old-time, bluegrass and French-Canadian folk tunes. The fiddle is considered the core instrument, though other stringed instruments can be used, such as the guitar, banjo, bass and mandolin, as well as the piano, accordion, flute, clarinet and more. Techno contra dances are done to techno music, typically accompanied by DJ lighting. Music in a dance can consist of a single tune or a medley of tunes, and key changes during the course of a dance are common. Many callers and bands perform for local contra dances, and some are hired to play for dances around the U.S. and Canada. Many dancers travel regionally (or even nationally) to contra dance weekends and week-long contra dance camps, where they can expect to find other dedicated and skilled dancers, callers, and bands.
A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances are part of a broad spectrum of dances known by various names: country dances, traditional dances, folk dances, barn dances, ceilidh dances, contra dances, Playford dances, etc. These dances appear in over 100 different formations, of which the Square and the Longways Set are by far the most popular formations. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances including English country dances, which were first documented in 17th-century England, and 18th-century French quadrilles and cotillions; square dancing travelled to North America with the European settlers and developed significantly there. Square dancing is done in many different styles all around the world. In some countries and regions, through preservation and repetition, square dances have attained the status of a folk dance. Square dancing is strongly associated with the United States, in part due to its association with the romanticized image of the American cowboy in the 20th century, and 31 states have designated it as their official state dance. The main North American types of square dances include traditional square dance and modern western square dance, which is widely known and danced worldwide. Other main types popular in England, Ireland, and Scotland include Playford dances, regional folk dances, ceili, Irish set dances, and Scottish country dances. The couples in a square are numbered, although numbering varies among different types. In many of the types, two of the couples are known as heads and the other two are called sides. In most American forms of square dance, the dancers are prompted or cued through a sequence of steps by a caller to the beat (and, in some traditions, the phrasing) of music. In other variations, dancers have no caller and instead memorize and perform a specific routine and sequence of steps. Square dance music varies widely, with some forms using traditional tunes and others employing more modern types. Dances can be organized by square dance clubs, bands, individuals, or similar organizations. Attire varies by type, with some forms possessing a specific dress code and others having no requirements. The standard square formation can also vary at times to include more or fewer dancers or arrange dancers in a different shape.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.