Some 19th & Early 20th Century African American Social Dances Mentioned In Thomas W. Talley's 1922 Book" Negro Folk Rhymes"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams series provides information about some 19th century and early 20th century African American social dances that are mentioned in two examples from Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Otherwise. The lyrics for those examples are included in this post along with excerpts from the Study portion of that book.

This pancocojams post also includes quotes about those social dances from several other sources. 

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Thomas W. Talley for his cultural legacy. Thanks to the unknown composers of these dance songs and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT THESE EXAMPLES 
These selected examples are presented "as is" in whole according to their page/s in the Project Gutenberg Ebook edition of that "Negro Folk Rhyme" collection, with the exception of asterisks between each example and with the exception of the spelling for the referent that is commonly called "the n word"

I use  amended spelling for the referent that is commonly called "the n word". (The spelling that I've used is "Ni&&er".).

In Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes, "the n word" was used as a largely non-offensive group referent for Black people. However, in most of the 20th century and in the 21st century "the n word" is usually considered to be a highly derogatory referent whose use is very much discouraged. 

Also, "Negro" is no longer used as a referent for Black Americans (African Americans).   

****
TWO INSTRUCTION DANCE SONGS EXAMPLES AND EXCERPTS FROM "NEGRO FOLK RHYMES"
From https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm by Thomas W. Talley [originally published 1922]

Dance Rhyme Section

[Pg 1]

JONAH'S BAND PARTY

Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Han's up sixteen! Circle to de right!
We's gwine to git big eatin's here to-night."
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Raise yo' right foot, kick it up high,
Knock dat [1]Mobile Buck in de eye."
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Stan' up, flat foot, [1]Jump dem Bars!
[1]Karo back'ards lak a train o' kyars."
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!
"Dance 'round, Mistiss, show 'em de p'int;
Dat Ni&&er don't know how to [1] Coonjaint."

[1] These are dance steps. For explanation read the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

****

[Pg 9]

JUBA

Juba dis, an' Juba dat,
Juba [6]skin dat Yaller Cat. Juba! Juba!
Juba jump an' Juba sing.
Juba, [6]cut dat Pigeon's Wing. Juba! Juba!
Juba, kick off Juba's shoe.
Juba, dance dat [6]Jubal Jew. Juba! Juba!
Juba, whirl dat foot about.
Juba, blow dat candle out. Juba! Juba!
Juba circle, [6]Raise de Latch.
Juba do dat [6]Long Dog Scratch. Juba! Juba!
[5] This peculiar kind of dance rhyme is explained in the Study in Negro Folk Rhymes.

[6] The expressions marked [6] are various kinds of dance steps.

****
EXCERPTS FROM THE "STUDY" SECTION OF THOMAS W. TALLEY'S NEGRO FOLK RHYMES

 [Pg 259]

"Early in my discussion the reader will recall that I explained in considerable detail how the Dance Rhyme words were used in the dance. I am now ready to announce that the Dance Rhyme was derived from the dance, and to explain how the Dance Rhyme became an evolved product of the dance.

I witnessed in my early childhood the making of a few Dance Rhymes. I have forgotten the words of most of those whose individual making I witnessed but the "Jonah's Band Party" found in our collection is one whose making I distinctly recall. I shall tell in some detail of its origin because it serves in a measure to illustrate how the Dance Rhymes probably had their beginnings. First of all be it known that there was a "step" in dancing, originated[Pg 259] by some Negro somewhere, called "Jonah's Band" step. There is no need that I should try to describe that step which, though of the plain dance type, was accompanied from the beginning to the end by indescribable "frills" of foot motion. I can't describe it, but if one will take a stick and cause it to tap so as to knock the words: "Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's band," while he repeats the words in the time of 2/4 music measure, the taps will reproduce the tattoo beaten upon the ground by the feet of the dancers, when they danced the "Jonah's Band" step. The dancers formed a circle placing two or more of their skilled dancers in the middle of it. Now when I first witnessed this dance, there were no words said at all. There was simply patting with the hands and dancing, making a tattoo which might be well represented by the words supplied later on in its existence. Later, I witnessed the same dance, where the patting and dancing were as usual, but one man, apparently the leader, was simply crying out the words, "Setch a kickin' up san'!" and the crowd answered with the words, "Jonah's Band!"—the words all being repeated in rhythmic harmony with the patting and dancing. Thus was born the line, "Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Band!" In some places it was the

[Pg 260]

custom to call on the dancers to join with those of the circle, at intervals in the midst of the dance, in dancing other steps than the Jonah's Band step. Some dance leaders, for example, simply called in plain prose—"Dance the Mobile Buck," others calling for another step would rhyme their call. Thus arose the last lines to each stanza, such as—

"Raise yō' right foot, kick it up high!

Knock dat 'Mobile Buck' in de eye!"

This is the genesis of the "Jonah's Band Party," found in our collection. The complete rhyme becomes a fine description of an old-time Negro party. It is probable that much Dance Rhyme making originated in this or a similar way.

Let us assume that Negro customs in Slavery days were what they were in my childhood days, then it would come about that such an ocasional Rhyme making in a crowd would naturally stimulate individual Rhyme makers, and from these individuals would naturally grow up "crops" of Dance Rhymes. Of course I cannot absolutely know, but I think when I witnessed the making of the "Jonah's Band Party," that I witnessed the stimulus which had produced the Dance Rhyme through the decades of preceding years. I realize, however, that this does

[Pg 261]

not account for the finished Rhyme products. It simply gives one source of origin. How the Rhyme grew to its complex structure will be discussed later, because that discussion belongs not to the Dance Rhyme alone, but to all the Rhymes.

There was a final phase of development of "Jonah's Band Party" witnessed by the writer; namely, the singing of the lines, "Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Band!" The last lines of the stanzas, the lines calling for another step on the part of both the circle and the dancers, were never sung to my knowledge. The little tune to the first lines consisted of only four notes, and is inserted below.

Jonah's Band Musical Notation

[…]

I give this as of interest because it marks a partial transition from a Dance Rhyme to a Dance Rhyme Song. In days of long ago I occasionally saw a Dance Rhyme Song "patted and danced" instead of sung or played and danced. This coupled with the transition stage of the "Jonah's Band Dance"

[Pg 262]

just given has caused me to believe that Dance Rhyme Songs were probably evolved from Dance Rhymes pure and simple, through individuals putting melodies to these Dance Rhymes.

[...]

[296]

…Let us glance at the Dance Rhyme "Juba" with its Supplement, "Juba! Juba!" to illustrate this special use of the Supplement. "Juba" itself was a kind of dance step. Now let us imagine two dancers in a circle of men to be dancing while the following lines are being patted and repeated:

[Pg 297]

"Juba Circle, raise de latch,

Juba dance dat Long Dog Scratch, Juba! Juba!"

While this was being patted and repeated, the dancers within the circle described a circle with raised foot and ended doing a dance step called "Dog Scratch." Then when the Supplement "Juba! Juba!" was said the whole circle of men joined in the dance step "Juba" for a few moments. Then the next stanza would be repeated and patted with the same general order of procedure.

The Supplement, then, in the Dance Rhyme was used as the signal for all to join in the dance for a while at intervals after they had witnessed the finished foot movements of their most skilled dancers."
-snip-
This is the end of these excerpts.

****
ADDITIONAL QUOTES ABOUT SOME OF THE DANCES MENTIONED IN THESE RHYMES
Excerpt #1
From Jazz Dance: The Story Of American Vernacular Dances by Marshall Stearns & Jean Stearns (published 1971)
From Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0306805537; Chapter Title: The Tin Pan Alley And Song Lyrics

"Page 99
....The Karo and Jump Dem Bars seem to have disappeared without a trace, although the latter is self-explanatory, and a flat-footed bar-jump is typically Afro-American. Old-timers say that the Mobile Buck is an ancestor of the common Buck, which evolved into the Time Step, while the prolific Coonjaint-once a rhythmic shuffle performed by roustabouts loading riverboats and a dance observed in Congo Square-later became identified with the tune of a children’s play-party song (“I love coffee, I love tea...).

In its early folk form the dance song with instructions is a group dance performed in a circle with a few “experts” in the center-and the emphasis is on what they do. An apparently unlimited number of locally known steps are inserted and improvised upon by the experts. The entire performance is held together by the chorus of dancers forming the circle and executing the steps that gives the dance its title. The description of inserted dances is brief if it occurs at all (in the Juba, the inserted steps are merely named) and little editorializing as to its purported origin, nature, or popularity-gimmicks that became common later, when the dances were commercialized."...

****
From http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/i-dance-rhyme-section.aspx Dance Rhyme Section [of Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes]
"["Coonjaint," (a derivative of coonjine) "Mobile Buck," "Karo (Cairo) and "Jump Dem Bars" are African- American dance steps. Talley gives more info on the dance. in the second section: Study in Negro Folk Rhymes".] 

****
Excerpt #2
From Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings Joshua Clegg Caffery (Google Book, pp. 247-249)
"The word coonjine, as it is employed here, as it was apparently most commonly understood in nineteenth- century America, refers to the particular body movements enacted by black workers while unloading or loading freight (Hardie 2004, 115-16). While the word was associated with these movements, it could also apply to any songs or dances performed by these laborers while going about their work. More broadly, the word came to be associated with any riparian African American song and dance style.

The roots of the word coonjine extend well beyond this meaning, and some have noted that it likely relates to the term counjaille, a dance popular in Creole communities in French Louisiana and the West Indies (Knowles 2002, 63-64). In the seminal Slave Songs Of The South, for instance, mention is made of a counjaille being performed in St. Charles Parish (a “sort of minuet”), suggesting that the counjaille in question may have been part of the complex of quadrille/contredanse sets found disseminated throughout Creole culture (Allen et al, 1867, 137)....
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/03/information-about-19th-century-black.html for the 2017 pancocojams post entitled "Information About The 19th Century Black American "Coonjine" Dance & An Example Of The New Orleans Black Creole Song "Criole Candjo".

****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3buckw1.htm
..."Buck dancing is a pre-tap dance routine and was done by Minstrel and Vaudeville performers in the mid nineteenth century portraying the African-American males, known as "Bucks." Originally the Pigeon Wing steps (foot shaking in the air) were a big part of this early folk dance but later separated when variations began such as the shooting out of one leg making a "Wing."

The term "buck" is traced to the West Indies where Africans used the words po' bockorau (Buccaneer), and later the French term Buccaneer. Ship captains would have the men dance on the ships (dancing the Slaves) to try to keep the morale up as well as a form of exercise. It was one of the dances that became popular with the Irish Buccaneers who did Jigs and Clogs, reels etc. who would be known as Buck Dancers. These terms would eventually become dance steps.

[...]

The Buck and Wing was adapted to the Minstrel stage from the recreational clogs and shuffles of the African-American. The Buck and Wing is said to be a bastard dance, made up of Clogs, Jigs, Reels, Sand dance etc. which later gave birth to the "Time Step" and "Soft Shoe." The Breakdown is also related to the Buck dance. The Buck and Wing can and was used in Reels, Clog dance, Can-Can (Pigeon Wing,) Jigs and Tap dance. The modern Buck and a Wing is characterized by wing-like steps done in the air (known as "wings") done mostly on the balls of the foot and which is considered the forerunner of rhythm tap"...
-snip-
This description of "Buck" dancing is different than the description for "bucking" that is performed by contemporary Hip Hop majorette dancers such as those who are featured on the Bring It! television series. This description of "Buck dancing may also be different than the "bucking" that is performed by Mardi Gras (New Orleans, Louisiana) second liners. 

****
Excerpt #4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanding_(dance)
"Sanding, also known as sand jigging or sand dancing, is a type of dance performed as a series of slides and shuffles on a sand-strewn floor. In some instances, the sand is spread across an entire stage. In other cases, it is kept in a box that the dancer stays in throughout the dance. Originally a soft-shoe technique, scratching in sand can also add a different texture to the percussion of tap. There is no one type of shoe used to sand dance; traditional tap shoes are used alongside soft shoes and leather boots, all creating a distinctive sound. Willie "The Lion" Smith said of sanding, "You could really hear and feel the rhythm when the dancers shuffled around in a nice pair of patent-leather shoes".[1]

The early history of sand dancing is obscure but it seems to have developed as a variant of what in the 19th century was known as "jig dancing" or, more precisely, "straight jig" dancing (to distinguish it from Irish and Scottish dances in 6/8 time). As with other forms of variety theatre and minstrel show dancing, straight and sand jig technique developed as white dancers familiar with Irish or British jigs, reels and hornpipes tried to emulate the steps of African-American dancers whose style had pronounced African roots.[2]

The most prominent stage sand dancers of the mid- to late-19th century were two white New Yorkers: Kitty O'Neil and her rival Kitty Sharpe.[3] Sharpe learned the dance from the Hawley Brothers, a blackface minstrel dance team, but her performances, like those of Kitty O'Neil, were not done in blackface. White male sand dancers in minstrelsy, variety or vaudeville did, however, frequently don blackface. This practice was recreated in the 1951 film Yes Sir, Mr. Bones, in which the veteran minstrel Ned Haverly (of Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels) performed a sand dance as a grotesque caricature of an African American.[4]

Early straight jig dancers would scatter sand on wooden floors for traction, as was done at a famous 1862 competition between Dick Carroll and Tommy Peel.[5] Carroll, Peel and their jigging and clogging contemporaries were percussive dancers but their use of sand made possible the addition of the sliding and shuffling steps of true sand dancing.

The music played for 19th-century variety theater sand dancers was in 2/2 time in schottische tempo, but with a great deal of syncopation.[6] Sand dancers kept their upper body still. As Kitty Sharpe told a journalist: "With that kind of dancing the more immobile you are from your hips up the better you are. I could dance with a glass of water on my head, and have, many times."[7] A 1942 New York Post article noted that African-American tap star John Bubbles' sand dancing was "a sort of rhythmic, swishing shuffle" and that "practically all the action is from the ankles down, with the dancer's feet never leaving the ground."[8] Sand dancers didn't cover a lot of ground. A writer in the New York Sun in 1917 recalled that decades earlier Kitty O'Neil "...used to step from the wings of Pastor’s Theatre attired in tights and shake a paper bag full of white sand on the stage. She confined her efforts within the limited sand zone, which covered but a few feet."[9] John Bubbles used only about a two-foot square area for his routine.[10] In recent decades, sand dancers have often confined the sand to a wooden box in order to avoid abrading the actual stage."...
-snip-
My guess is that the line "Setch a kickin' up san'! Jonah's Ban'!" in the rhyme (song) "Jonah's Band Party" [given above] either specifically refers to "sanding" (as mentioned in this Wikipedia quote) or refers in general to enthusiastic social dancing. 

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.