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Written Out of History: Black Square Dance Traditions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 September 2015
Abstract
Old time square dancing (in a big circle) was an early-twentieth-century home- and community-based recreation among all ethnicities in the Central Appalachian region. It disappeared in most places by the 1940s, re-emerging in white rural communities in the 1960s. By contrast, one Virginia African American community continued square dancing until the early 1970s, much longer than others. Their last dances were held just as square dancing again became popular in white communities. The movement of the dance itself, its context and meaning to the dancers, and elements of regional and national society and culture may have contributed both to its longevity and to its demise. The presentation is based on interviews and movement analysis as well as on bibliographic research. It is based upon research for the author's book Appalachian Dance: Creativity and Continuity in Six Communities (University of Illinois Press, 2014).
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © Susan Eike Spalding 2015
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