19th Century Black Americans Created The Tradition Of Calling Steps & Figures In American Square Dancing

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: Nov. 18, 2023 

This pancocojams post presents a 2003 excerpt by Philip A. Jamison from the Journal Of Appalachian Studies that discusses evidence that 19th century enslaved Black people created the tradition of calling steps & figures in American square dancing.

This post also includes an excerpt from the Wikipedia page about American square dancing and an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on caller (dancing).

An addendum to this post presents a complete reprint of a 2019 online article entitled "The Origins Of Line Dancing".

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Philip A. Jamison for his research and writing and thanks to all others who are quoted in this post.
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This post is part of an ongoing series on the early history of American line dancing and examples of African American (soul) line dancing.
  
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/05/square-dance-caller-researcher-phil.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "Square Dance Caller & Researcher Phil Jamison's YouTube Interview: African Influences On American Square Dance" (with transcription)". That is Part I of a two part 2017 pancocojams series. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/05/african-american-influences-on-american.html for Part II of that series which presents information about and reviews of Phil Jamison's book on that subject.

Click the "African American line dances" and "African American influence on square dancing" for other posts in these pancocojams series.
 
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JOURNAL EXCERPT
From https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446577 
Square Dance Calling: The African-American Connection

Philip A. Jamison

Journal of Appalachian Studies

Vol. 9, No. 2 (Fall 2003), pp. 387-398 (12 pages)

Published By: University of Illinois Press

JSTOR Preview of this Journal article:

“At an Appalachian square dancing there is always a caller on hand to call out the dance figures. At large dances, the caller is typically on stage besides the band behind a microphone. At house parties and other small gatherings, the caller may prompt the dancers from the floor, shouting out the calls while at the same time dancing.  The caller acts as master of ceremonies, choosing the dances, teaching the figures when necessary, coordinating the musicians, and finally calling out the figures during the dance.  The practice of calling is unique to American folk dance, and though common nowadays, at one time it was not a part of Appalachian dance tradition.  Calling did not arrive with the early European settlers, but it originated and developed in this country and came into the Appalachian region sometime during the nineteenth century.  Early accounts of dancing in Appalachia from the late 1700s and early 1800s pre-date the practice of calling. , reels, and refer only to contra dances, reels, and jigs, dances which are performed without the aid of a caller.  Written evidence from the nineteenth century suggests that the first callers were African- American musicians and that dance calling was common in the black culture throughout the country before it was adopted by whites, and became an integral part of the Appalachian dance tradition.

When Europeans first colonized America, their dances were not unlike those popular in Europe at that time, and by the seventeenth century itinerant dancing masters were teaching minuets and English “country dances” (later called contra dances) at towns and settlements throughout the colonies. As in Europe, once dancers had learned the steps and figures of the country dance, as well as proper etiquette for the ballroom (which was equally important), they could attend a public ball.  A less formal type of figure dance that was also popular throughout colonies was the reel, which included the Scotch Reel, the Six Handed Reel, and the Virginia Reel.  The Scotch Reel, also referred to as the “Foursome Reel”, a “four handed reel”, or a “straight four”, was danced with four dancers.  It consisted of “setting steps” in place (similar to a balance), alternating with a traveling figure in the shape of a figure…”
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Phil Jamison is an old-time musician, dance caller, and flatfoot dancer.  He teaches Mathematics and Appalachian Music at Warren College in Ashville, North Carolina, where he is also Assistant Director of Swannanoa Gathering.
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This is the end of that Journal preview. I don’t have a JSTOR account and haven’t read the rest of this article.

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EXCERPT from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_dance
"A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances are part of a broad spectrum of dances known by various names: country dances, traditional dances, folk dances, barn dances, ceilidh dances, contra dances, Playford dances, etc. These dances appear in over 100 different formations,[1] of which the Square and the Longways Set are by far the most popular formations.

[…]

History

The origins of Square dances can be traced back to steps and figures used in traditional folk dances and social dances from many countries. One of the earliest influences may have been the Morris dance, an English dance for six men involving a line formation and energetic steps.[6] This dance is closely related to another ancestor of square dancing, English country dance, which included a variety of dances for groups of couples arranged in circles, lines, or squares.[6] In 1651, John Playford published 105 of these dances in The English Dancing Master, eight of which are square dances exhibiting concepts still in use, such as the head couples performing an action and the side couples repeating it.[7] Three of the dances, such as "Dull Sir John", specifically use the term square dance in the phrase, "A Square Dance for eight thus".[8] In the early 1800s, English country dances merged with French dances to form the quadrille, a dance for four couples in a square.[6]

These dances further evolved in America, where they arrived with European settlers.[9] After the American Revolution, the quadrille became especially popular.[10] Quadrilles were originally danced from memorized steps and sequences, but as African American slaves played music for the dances, they began calling out the steps.[9] This practice became common by the early 1900s and gave rise to the modern caller.[9] Between 1940 and 1960, modern western square dance evolved from the western style of traditional square dance that had formed in the United States. Traditional western square dancing was promoted beginning in the 1930s by Lloyd Shaw, who solicited definitions from callers across the country in order to preserve that dance form and make it available to other teachers.[4] The American folk music revival in New York City in the 1950s was rooted in the resurgent interest in square dancing and folk dancing there in the 1940s, which gave musicians such as Pete Seeger popular exposure.[11][12][13]

Main types

Square dances are considered folk dances in many countries and regions, although the term square dance varies. In the United States the term is used for dances in square formations and also refers to the dance events where square dances are performed. In England, Ireland, and Scotland, the term is used less frequently, and many dance events involve dances in square, circle, and line formations. The term has also become associated with barn dances, where many different formations of dance are used.

[…]

Callers and calls

Traditional square dance calls at a dance in Concord, Massachusetts

Square dance movements are known as calls, and some forms of the dance, such as traditional and modern western square dancing, use a caller to direct the dancers through different calls. In some forms of traditional square dancing, the caller may be one of the dancers or musicians, but in modern western square dancing, the caller is on stage giving full attention to directing the dancers.

A square dance call may take a very short time or a very long time to execute. Most calls require between 4 and 32 counts, where a count is roughly one step. In traditional square dancing, the timing of a call is dictated by tradition; in some regional styles, particularly that of New England, the dance movements are closely fitted to the phrases of the music. In modern western square dancing, many calls have been given formally specified durations, based partly on direct observation of how long it takes an average dancer to execute them.

Traditional and modern western square dance differ in the number of calls and their levels of standardization. Traditional square dance uses between ten and thirty calls, depending on the region and the individual caller. Many traditional square dance calls are similar or identical to contra dance calls, and new dance moves are explained by the caller. In modern western square dance, the participants learn and become proficient in a particular defined set of calls known as a program. The Mainstream program, which is the default level of achievement, consists of close to 70 basic and mainstream calls.[15][16] Rather than learning a complete routine, modern western square dancers learn basic movements and calls but do not know in what order they will be called. Unlike traditional square dance, two modern western dances are rarely alike. Most modern western square dancers participate only in the programs they have fully learned. Callerlab, the callers' international association, sets all programs and governs the training of callers.[24]

Traditional and modern western square dancing have a number of calls in common, but there are usually small differences in the way they are performed. For example, the Allemande Left is traditionally performed by grasping left hands with the other dancer, pulling away from each other slightly, and walking halfway around a central axis then stepping through. In modern western square dance, the grip is modified so that each dancer grips the forearm of the other, and there is no pulling (that is, each dancer supports his or her own weight). These modifications make it easier to enter and exit the movement and thus easier to incorporate it into a long sequence of calls.

In many communities, including Scotland and Ireland, and also continental Europe, the dancers know the complete dance and there is no caller.

Music

Traditional square dance is primarily danced to live music. Since the 19th century, much of the square dance repertoire has been derived from jigs and reels from Scotland and Ireland, sometimes in relatively unaltered form, sometimes as played in the old-time music tradition or as adapted by other cultures, such as that of Quebec. This sort of music is played on acoustic instruments, such as the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and double bass; certain instruments, including the piano, accordion, concertina, and hammered dulcimer, are popular in specific regions. In some communities where square dancing has survived, the prevailing form of music has become popular songs from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, played on instruments such as saxophones, drums, and electric guitars. Tempos can vary from around 108 to more than 150 beats per minute, depending on the regional style.

Modern western square dance is danced to a variety of music types, including pop, traditional and contemporary country music, songs from Broadway musicals, rock, Motown, techno, and hip-hop. The music is usually played from recordings, and the tempo is more uniform than in traditional square dancing, ranging from 120-128 beats per minute. At this speed, dancers take one step per beat of the music.

Irish and Scottish dances are normally done to traditional tunes. English dances may be done to traditional tunes, though there is experimentation with many different musical styles, especially at cèilidhs.”…
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I added italics to highlight these sentences.

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EXCERPT from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_(dancing
"A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare.

In round dance a person who performs this function is called a cuer. Their role is fundamentally the same as a caller, in that they tell dancers what to do in a given dance, though they differ on several smaller points. In northern New England contra dancing, the caller is also known as the prompter.

Comparing callers and cuers

Callers and cuers serve slightly different functions in different types of dance. Improvisation in modern Western square dance calling distinguishes it from the calling in many other types of dance.

Callers in many dance types are expected to sing and to be entertaining, but round dance cuers do not sing and are expected to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Standardized dances such as round dance, modern western square dance, and Salsa Rueda consist of a number of defined difficulty levels. Callers and cuers are responsible for knowing all of the calls or cues (respectively), also known as figures, for the defined difficulty level at which their dancers are dancing, as well as all figures belonging to lower or easier levels.

Callers for other types of dance may be required only to know the particular dance they are calling.

[…]

The modern western square dance caller

The role of a caller in modern western square dance is not only to provide the dance steps which all of the dancers on the floor should be able to follow, but also to provide entertainment through a combination of factors, including programming, showmanship, singing ability, and challenging choreography.

Part of the entertainment factor can come from the caller's use of "patter" — a set of rhyming words and rhythms that complement the names of the dance steps being called. Patter can not only be entertaining because it is innovative and surprising, but it can also fill in the space between lengthy dance patterns, helping boost up the energy during potentially dull moments.

There is a large, common pool of patter which callers might use. Examples are:

Allemande left with your left hand. / Back to the partner for a right and left grand.

OR

Ace of diamonds, Jack of spades / Meet your partner and all promenade.

The square dance calls are underlined; all the rest is patter.

Many callers spend time inventing their own unique patter or variants on common patter.

Entertainment also comes from callers challenging the dancers on the floor. There are many techniques to accomplish this. This can be done choreographically, for example, by mixing dance calls in unexpected or unusual ways, by varying expected dance patterns, or by calling figures from unusual and unexpected formations. Callers might also use gimmicks such as calling a common and well-known sequence of calls, and then catching dancers off guard by suddenly changing an expected call.

Occasionally callers make mistakes, or forget what they are doing momentarily, in which case, it is important for them to be able to keep the dancers moving and to bring the dancers back to their partners, and home again, smoothly, and hopefully without anybody noticing.

Call types

There are two primary classifications of figure types in modern Western square dancing, patter and singing.

Patter calls

Patter calls, also known as hash calls, are based on a quick and fluid succession of spoken ("pattered") or sing-song delivered calls, often to the accompaniment of an instrumental piece of music that it is not necessarily recognizable as a song. Choreography may appear "on-the-fly" with calls randomly strung together, but it conforms to strict choreographic rules. Most patter calling is improvised by the caller as the dancers are moving; if the tempo of the calling is done at a fast pace allowing the dancers to flow from one move to another without pauses, it may be called hot hash.

The primary purpose of patter calls is to give dancers a challenge by surprising them with unexpected choreography.

Many callers are very well known for their ability to put calls together to create a unique, smooth-flowing dance. Some callers are also known for the unusual and interesting formations they move the dancers through.

Singing calls

Singing calls are based on a sung delivery of calls, most often to a recognizable melody, and square dance calls are mixed in with the song's original lyrics. Many widely recognized songs have been turned into singing calls. The primary purpose of singing calls is to help the dancers relax, dance well together as a group, and enjoy the song and the caller's performance.

Some callers are very well known for their voices, and for how well they can perform singing calls.”…
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The terms "instructor" and "teacher" are comparable terms for "caller" in African American (soul) line dancing (and perhaps other American line dancing).

The instructor stands in the center of the first line and dances along with the group. If a record that is used for line dancing doesn't include instructions, the instructor verbally provides those instructions. If a record that is used for line dancing includes instructions, the line dance instructor silently directs the movement, for instance, by pointing to the left or to the right when those movements are being done, or by indicating a dance move by name (such as "reverse" or "criss cross" while doing that movement.   

Additions are welcome

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ADDENDUM :THE ORIGINS OF LINE DANCING

https://www.olneyenterprise.com/lifestyles/origins-line-dancing

10/03/2019

"When attending a country hoedown, one is bound to encounter line dancing. Line dancing is popular in honkey tonks, bars, church basements, and just about anywhere folks are gathering for a good time.

The history of line dancing is extensive, though there is debate as to its origins. According to the Grizzly Rose club in Colorado, some believe that country line dancing can be traced back to the round and square dances of Europe. Others say it originated with 19th century social settlement movement folk dancing. Settlers of towns had their own songs and sounds that evolved into modern country music. In turn, dances were modified to go along with the tunes. Contra dancing, which is a form of American folk dance in which the dancers form two parallel lines and perform a sequence of dance movements with different partners down the length of the line, likely played a hand in the evolution of country line dancing as well.

As its name suggests, line dancing involves people dancing in lines to music. The dances are choreographed with a repeating series of steps that are performed in unison. Dancers all face the same direction, although there may be multiple lines. Dance Poise also says that there is almost no physical contact between dancers, unlike other country western dances, though hand-holding may occur.

Country line dances are made up of various steps to a number of counts, which coordinate to the beat. They often feature catchy names, such as “The Texas Two-Step,” “The West Coast Shuffle” and the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”

Some find line dancing so appealing because it does not require a partner, making it ideal for singles, couples or those who feel they aren’t the strongest dancers.

Line dances are not limited to country music. Popular music has given rise to many different line dances, including the “Charlie Brown,” the “Macarena” and the “Cha-Cha Slide,” among others.

Line dancing can make for an entertaining night out with friends who share a love of country music."

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