psychoceramics: Re: The State Folk Dance Conspiracy: Fabricating a National Folk Dance

[bruce @ aracnet.com (Bruce Baugh)]

I presume that the name "James H. Daugherty" is already well-known to 
many of you. I just found the idea of more than six hundred lines 
fulminating about square dancing to be, well, kooky.

:From: "James H. Daugherty" <j--@a---albionic.com>
:Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy,alt.illuminati
:Subject: The State Folk Dance Conspiracy: Fabricating a National Folk 
Dance
:Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 13:22:31 -0800
:Organization: A-albionic Research
:Lines: 665
:
:This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
:
:
:> The State Folk Dance Conspiracy: Fabricating a National Folk Dance
:> 
:> by Julie Mangin
:> 
:> Originally published in the Old-Time Herald, v.4(7) p.9-12, Spring
:> 1995
:> 
:> 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
:> 
:> Introduction
:> 
:> Modern Western square dance clubs are coordinating across the U.S. to
:> have square dancing declared the state folk dance of all fifty 
states.
:> At the time of this writing, there are twenty-two states that have
:> passed legislation designating square dance as the "state folk 
dance."
:> Many of these bills were passed after 1988, which was the last time
:> that a bill was in the U.S. Congress to designate square dancing as
:> the national folk dance. It appears that having failed on a national
:> level, modern Western square dancers are trying to accomplish the 
same
:> thing on a state by state basis.
:> 
:> The sponsors of these bills are members of organizations that promote
:> modern Western square dance, also known as club square dancing. Club
:> square dancing is distinguished from traditional square dancing in
:> many ways. Their clubs are structured into levels of dance. The
:> "mainstream" level of club square dance requires dancers to be
:> competent at 66 different square dance figures, requiring at least 60
:> hours of lessons. The "plus" level of club square dance involves the
:> knowledge of approximately 100 calls; a level of complexity unequaled
:> in any traditional folk dance. Club square dance uses recorded music
:> rather than live music, often choosing popular music over any form of
:> music that might have been originally associated with traditional
:> square dancing. There is a minor industry associated with club square
:> dancing including businesses that sell a variety of products and
:> services: recordings, costumes, amplification equipment, 
certification
:> of callers, and dance paraphernalia. The national square dance
:> convention has been known to attract more than 20,000 participants.
:> 
:> By contrast, traditional square dances are usually open to any member
:> of the community, with no membership or certification required. Since
:> most traditional communities get by with no more than a few dozen
:> calls in their repertoire, lessons are not required, although some
:> dances may feature a short workshop before the dance or "walk
:> throughs" during the dance itself. The dancers wear street clothes,
:> not square dance costumes. Finally, true folk dances are always 
linked
:> to a folk music tradition. Recorded music is a rarity at traditional
:> dances.
:> 
:> Club square dancers have, in one sense, narrowly defined the term
:> "square dance." They seem to believe that only square dancing done in
:> their clubs is the "real" square dance. But they also talk about
:> square dance as any dance activity that happens in their clubs, and 
in
:> doing so, use the term "square dance" in a broader sense. It's no
:> wonder that legislators who vote in favor of state dance legislation
:> don't know what it is they are supporting.
:> 
:> The most curious statement that club square dancers make to justify
:> square dance as the state folk dance is that the term "square 
dancing"
:> encompasses contra dancing, clogging, ballroom dancing, Texas
:> two-step, country-western dancing, and various other American folk
:> dances. This was a designation made unilaterally by national club
:> square dance organizations, without consulting traditional square
:> dancers or their organizations. While this appears to make modern
:> Western square dance more inclusive (and perhaps helps their
:> legislative goals), it also gives an inaccurate and confusing picture
:> of what square dancing (traditional or modern) really is. Using the
:> term "square dancing" in this way defines the kind of dancing that
:> goes on in the square dance clubs. However, it defies logic to 
declare
:> that because it happens in square dance clubs, contra dancing can be
:> called square dancing. To have an organization sit around a table and
:> redefine dance terminology to suit its own ends contradicts their
:> claim to be a folk dance. Dance scholar LeeEllen Friedland wrote in a
:> letter to the Washington Post on this issue, "Only the hobbyists who
:> perform modern western square dancing use the term 'square dancing' 
in
:> this manner. Every one else uses the term to refer only to dances
:> performed in square formation." It seems that the legislatures that
:> have passed such laws declaring "square dancing" as the state folk
:> dance are endorsing a lifestyle more than a clearly defined form of
:> dance.
:> 


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