For the first time, a book on vernacular dance provides detailed case studies about a range of forms: old-time square dancing in Virginia, Indiana, and Newfoundland; African-American step shows; clogging; Cherokee traditional dance; historical reconstructions of 18th-century dance; and modern contra. This book fills a need from graduate studies to high schools, which are mandated under the Educate America Act to teach dance in historical and cultural perspective. Those interested in folklore, anthropology, dance history, ethnology, aesthetics, American Studies, Appalachian Studies, and more, will benefit from this work as they learn how vernacular dance reflects and shapes communities.



The work is divided into four sections. Each section is prefaced with an introductory essay that sets the essays and interviews into a theoretical context. Continuity and Change deals primarily with dance forms that have developed organically within a community. Conserving Tradition considers the conscious efforts of people from a particular culture to maintain a vernacular dance tradition in the face of change. Inventing Tradition examines revival dance and historical dance reconstructions. Finally, Practical Suggestions for the Documentation of Traditional Dance will benefit readers who want to try their hands at research and documentation.