Locals take a "Swing through American History"

 

February 28, 2018

Mark Matthews recently presented "Swinging through American History," a Montana Humanities program about the history of dance in the U.S. The event was held at the Harlem Senior Center, who co-sponsored the event with the Harlem Library. The next Montana Humanities program will be March 20 at the Harlem Library. The topic is Hand-Raised: The Historic Barns of Montana. The presenter will be Chere Jiusto. Programs are free and open to the public.

Despite a frigid evening, a decent sized group gathered at the Harlem Senior Center to hear the second Montana Conversation program from Humanities Montana. The presenter, Mark Matthews, did a program called Swinging through American History. It's a short course on the history of dance from the colonial period to modern times. He used videos of vintage dances to illustrate how famous dances developed.

Matthews has done the history of American dance presentations for about four years. A friend suggested he explore his interest in dance and out of his study came a four-book series about dance as well as the information for his public presentations.

Many of his presentations are to students in school. "The first thing I ask students," he said, "is how many of you dance?" He was initially shocked to learn that not many of today's students dance. Matthews went on, "But when the music begins and I get them on their feet, they start dancing."

A bit of background about

dance in the U.S.

Matthews explained dance trends in America were influenced by three major factors: the dances that the European settlers brought with them; the dances performed by indigenous Native Americans and the dances slaves brought with them from Africa. American dance varied and developed as these different influences held sway. Dances were a major way community was built in the early years of the country. Dances were the 'social media' of the frontier and even into modern times.

There were also regional and ethnic variations in dance as well as whether a community was rural or urban. Dancers at plantations in the south were separated by social class and race, with slaves excluded from any dances with whites. In the New England region, the dances were more egalitarian and social class or status was irrelevant to dancers. Matthews used several well known and long lasting dances to demonstrate how dance trends changed and continue to change.

The 'cakewalk dance' originated with slaves on southern plantations

The 'cakewalk' developed before the Civil War. It was not unusual for slaves to have a musical talent. Slaves who were fiddlers or accordion players were 'built in musicians' who played for dances on plantations. Slaves would also be present at dances to serve drinks and food. Dance moves that slaves saw at the all-white dances were eventually copied or modified and added to existing original African dances the slaves did themselves.

The cakewalk was based on slave dancers mimicking the dance moves they saw their white owners doing. The way a plantation owner walked, bowed or twirled a partner became the basis for the moves developed for the cakewalk dance-the more outrageous the better. The cakewalk

followed freed slaves all over the country. By its nature, it was a dance that had lots of variation. It's free form basis, per Matthews, gave way for the creation of many modern dances that used totally different moves and footwork not normally used in dancing. Readers can easily imagine a development, for example, from the cakewalk to The Twist (1960's) and on to the, Disco (1970's)-both examples of serious departures from what were considered normal dance moves.

The Lindy Hop laid the groundwork for rock and roll

The Lindy Hop, first named in 1927, was a popular breakaway dance (where partners separate, then come back together throughout a dance) named in honor of Charles Lindbergh who had just completed the first solo air flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The dance lent itself to innovative moves and a group of black dancers was the first to add aerial moves (an acrobatic move where a partner is tossed into the air).

Frankie Manning and his partner were the first to add an aerial move to a dance. It was 1935 and Manning was looking for a way to assure he and his partner would win a Lindy Hop contest being held at the Savoy (a large public ballroom). Their routine of flips and tosses was so wildly successful that a whole new genre of dances were ultimately spun from those first aerial moves. Manning took the Lindy Hop, and his unique aerial moves, around the world.

Square dancing came from several cultures

Most readers are likely familiar with square dancing. Square dancing gets its name from couples dancing in small groups or squares-much different than the early European dances the settlers brought with them to America. Another innovation in square dancing was the use of a "caller"-a person who called out directions for the next moves to dancers. European dances, no matter how complicated, relied on the dancers having memorized the various dance moves.

Some historians of dance believe the square dance was the easiest to transport west with the migrations. There are many stories of people traveling by wagon train and having a fiddler in the group who would play, after chores, so everyone could square dance. After World War II square dancing enjoyed a tremendous surge in interest as clubs were formed and dancers traveled distances to square dance with others. In 1951 a dance promoter organized an attempt to break the world's record for the most people dancing at one time. At a venue of closed city streets in California, 15,000 dancers broke the record.

Frankie Manning (left) display some of the breakaway moves used in the Lindy Hop. Manning was credited with being one of the first dancers to incorporate acrobatic moves into a dance routine. He and his partner introduced several acrobatic moves and won a Lindy Hop dance competition in 1935 at the Savoy, a famous public ballroom in New York City.

By the 1980's there were still about seven million people involved in square dancing clubs. But the clubs were breaking down as the members aged. Some clubs opted to do more elaborate dances and abandoned the older, simpler styles of square dancing. "Another big difference from years past," Matthews added, "was that kids weren't brought to the modern square dances. There was no new generation of dancers being groomed to keep the tradition going."

The future

Matthews closed his presentation reciting the "Fiddler of Dooney," a poem written by W.B. Yeats in 1899. The poem tells the story of three cousins, two who were priests and one a fiddler. When the three die and are standing at the heavenly gates, St. Peter invites the fiddler in first. The reason the fiddler is chosen first, is explained in the next to last refrain: "For the good are always the merry, save by an evil chance, and the merry love the fiddle and the merry love to dance." Matthews is hoping, through his work with students and teachers, to generate a love of dancing with the next generation.

 
 

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