Ragtime pianist, collector, and historian Johnny Maddox
described this scene to me as one of the "most authentic cake walks I've
ever seen." The clip is from the classic 1936 movie San Francisco,
starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald. It features Abe Holzmann's hit
"Smoky Mokes" and Kerry Mills's famous "At a Georgia Camp
Meeting" as background music, which almost perfectly fit the period of the
film, 1906. I let the scene continue until the music stops.
No copyright infringement intended.
Movie
San Francisco
**** Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases ffive film clips of performances of the Cakewalk dance.
Selected comments from the discussion thread for several of these videos are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are associated with these film clips and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these film clips on YouTube. -snip- Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/09/information-about-cake-walk-with-1903.html for a 2020 pancocojams post entitled "Information About The Cake Walk (with a 1903 Library Of Congress film clip & a reprint from streetswing.com)".
**** SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR FILM CLIP #1 1. ALI CAT, 2019 "Does anyone know the name of this movie?"
** Reply 2. Cynical and Realistic, 2020 "It's called San Francisco 1936"
** 3. Nicole Arciola, 2020 "First song is Smoky Mokes, followed A Georgia Camp Meeting."
** 4. arturo lpc, 2020
"'At a Georgia Camp Meeting Cakewalk.' Cakewalk De Kerry Mills publicada por F.A. Mills en New York, New York en 1897."
** 5. Jrexx28, 2020 "1936 portraying 1906 wow"
****
SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2: Le Cake-Walk au Nouveau Cirque - Louis Lumière (1902)
Theodor W. Vodou, Mar
23, 2012
**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - Cake Walk
JiveSwing.Com, Aug 29, 2012
This section, which is an extract from the Sprit Moves, features the Cake Walk, danced by Leon James, Al Minns, Pepsi Bethel et al.
The Spirit Moves, by Mura Ziperovitch Dehn (1905-1985) is a 3 part documentary about African-American social jazz dancing at the Savoy Ballroom and can easily be purchased online.
Song: New Orleans Function (1983 Satchmo Version)
Artist: Louis Armstrong
Album: New Orleans Function
Song: When The Saints Go Marching In
Artist: Sidney Bechet
Song
New Orleans Function (1983 Satchmo Version)
Artist
Louis Armstrong
Album: New Orleans Function -snip- Here are three comments from this video's discussion thread:
1. Becky Bradway, 2013 "This has to be from the 1930's, maybe 1940's. If one dancer is Pepsi Bethel, he was born in
1918. I know the clip itself looks faded
and old...but maybe it's done for effect?"
** Reply 2. tandmark, 2013 "Becky Bradway, The Spirit Moves was released in 1986, having
been filmed over the course of 30 years, or so it's said. If I had to guess,
I'd say this segment dates to the late '50s or possibly the very early '60s, as
it clearly resembles the Charleston and other dance footage featuring Al Minns
and Leon James that Mura Dehn filmed around that time."
** 3. SeeSaw444, 2019 "The Cakewalk was created and perform by Black people in the
late 19th century mostly after emancipation. Black folks were influenced by the
white southern minuets (slow ballroom dance) that was common in the South. When
you watch this Cakewalk dance you can see folks were poking fun by exaggerating
steps and movement."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #4: Uncle Tom's Cabin - Group and Solo Cakewalk dance (1903)
Sonny Watson, Feb 23, 2012
1903 Uncle Tom's Cabin Group Cakewalk scene with some solo
cakewalk dance as well.
from Streetswing.com excerpt: It originated in Florida by
the African-American slaves who got the basic idea from the Seminole Indians
(couples walking solemnly).The original idea of the Cakewalk was that of a
couple promenading in a dignified manner, dressed in Sundays best, high
stepping and kicking, mimicking whitey's high society. Some of the better
plantation owners would bake a special cake called a hoecake wrapped in cabbage
leaf on Sundays and invite the neighbors over and have a contest of the slaves,
different prizes were given but originally it was a Hoecake for the males and
molasses pulled candy for the ladies and whichever slave(s) won, would get the
cake / Candy ... thus the term "That Takes The Cake!" (Plus others
such as 'It's a Cakewalk' = very easy) and the name "Cakewalk" was
now set. The dance grew in popularity even after the Civil War (1861-1865), but
it would change and become more grand in style and clothing as time marched on.
...for more info on the Cakewalk and others see:
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z... -snip-
Here are two comments from this YouTube video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
Butcherchop (Beto), 2014 "Cakewalk was a plantation dance the slaves created to mock the plantation owners and their guests. It eventually became a popular dance.
The style of piano play is called "Ragtime".
****
Kimberly Davis, 2015 "the cakewalk originated in the Antebellum period among
slaves wishing to mock the high strutting ways of their masters. On Sundays,
these slaves would dress up in their best clothes and do a high-kicking dance
which attracted the attention of the master and his family, who never caught on
that they were the brunt of this joke. The masters arranged for competitions
among the slaves to see who could do the best strut. The winner was awarded a
cake, and hence the cakewalk was born. After the war, many ex-slaves made their
living as performers, and many of these performed the cakewalk and other
plantation dances. The cakewalk ultimately became an international craze around
the turn of the century. It also became popular at the University of Vermont
(UVM) where white fraternity brothers in black-face would perform the cakewalk
as part of a winter festival. And so the dance intended to alleviate black rage
by mocking slave owners became a dance making fun of black people. The cakewalk
festival was finally abandoned at UVM in the fall of 1969 under pressure from
the NAACP. The fraternities which had been training dancers for the 1970 winter
cakewalk competition, however, refused to give it up. Some of them organized a
cakewalk demonstration on Redstone Campus one night. The demonstration came to
an abrupt halt when African Americans bravely stood in the path of the dancers.
The dance has since disappeared entirely from UVM. Long may it rest in peace."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #5:The Cakewalk
Village Swing Dance, Nov. 23, 2015
From the documentary: THE SPIRIT MOVES 1950'S
The Cakewalk was really the first African-American that became popular with white audiences back in the 19th century. The dancers are Al Minns, Esther Washington and Leon James.
**** Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the
history of and influences upon Black Greek letter fraternity and sorority
strolling (strolls).
This post presents information about African American dances, military experiences, and other cultural influences on historically Black Greek letter stepping and strolling.
This information and comments are presented as a means of helping to refute the widely held errroneous belief that historically Black Greek letter fraternity and sorority completely or mainly came from South African Gumboot dancing.
The content of this post is presented for historical and
cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/reflections-on-history-meanings-of.html for the 2015 pancocojams post entitled "Reflections On The History & Meanings Of African Americans Walk Arounds - From Andrew Antonio Allen In "The History Of [Chicago] Stepping Project"
**** AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON HISTORICALLY BLACK GREEK LETTER STEPPING AND STROLLING
Pancocojams Editor's Note: I believe that the information and comments about the history of and sources for stepping that are included in this post can also be considered to be part of the history of and sources for what are now referred to as "party walks" and "strolls".
It began with singing or chanting associated with the process of crossing the burning sands. Brothers would gather in the quad and sing and chant. They eventually graduated to dancing and from there stepping. For some time, some yards down south would call the step-off a "Sing" instead of a "Step-show". We don't think that any one fraternity can lay claim to stepping, more than likely it evolved a number situations and circumstances. One fact that is evident is the early origins of stepping stem from members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. The results of which was the Inter-Fraternity Conference of 1922 in Washington, D.C. In between sessions and even during social events it is believed that stepping, in a sense, was done for the men of Sigma to strut their stuff, most likely to impress the ladies. This could have been by singing, chanting, marching or standing in groups. It is not exactly clear, but it is known that sororities didn't start stepping until several years after the fraternities.
Other elements of stepping formed after the return of brothers from World War II. Various elements of military marching and line formations were implemented into fraternities with the end of the war and the advent of peacetime. These, along with the founders influence, are some of the origins for the use of the cane by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. in many regions. To this day the military influence as well as Masonic influences can still be seen in the step process as well as the pledge process of most Black Greek Lettered Organizations. It is through these and many other factors that stepping began to become an intimate part of Black Greek Lettered Organizations.
For Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, in many regions, canes were used due, in part, to the influence of the founders, but for the most part by the military drill sergeants who were members. In the late 40's and early 50's, for the purpose of identification, many black drill sergeants carried canes. These canes allowed other black soldiers to identify with their rank, which was necessary on many bases where racism was prevalent. Of course there were some drill sergeants that were members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Stepping evolved with groups of guys singing acapella, and when groups like the Temptations and the Four Tops were popular in the 50's and 60's brothers started mimicking their steps. This is part of the reason why it is called "Stepping" now. Brothers would try to come up with the best steps while they were singing to please the ladies. If you got the ladies you got more recruits. Much like it is today.
Others say that stepping replaced the doo woop sounds and cardigan sweaters of the 50's. At around the same time as the "Black Power" Movements and Africa centered movements of the 60's, stepping started to flourish with the incorporation of some traditional African ritual dancing and the incorporation of other elements like cheer leading, tap, gymnastics, etc. Over the years stepping has become very intricate and demanding incorporating props, high levels of gymnastics and other elements found in team sports. Please note that some people want to give the credit to the South African Boot Dance, but it would be unfair to ignore everything that stepping was in the beginning and it is now."
**** Pancocojams Editor's Note: These excerpts are numbered for referencing purposes only.
EXCERPT #1: Elizabeth C. Fine, editor SoulStepping: African American Step Shows (University
of Illinois Press, 2003)
Pages 15-16
“The earliest written reference to what might be stepping
appears in the 25 November 1925 [Howard University] student newspaper The
Hilltop. In an article entitled “Hell-Week”, Van Taylor described pledging
activities of Omega Psi Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities;”What desire is
this is that will cause young men, stalwart of frame and rugged of heart and
mind, demurely and aesthetically to dance about the campus as if in time to the
fairy Pipes of Pan?”…
Within eighteen years of the formation of the first black
Greek-letter society, a public ritual dance associated with pledging had
developed.
Van Taylor’s description of dancing young fraternity men may
also be an account of the ritual performance of group identity called “marching
on line,” from which stepping evolved. During the pledge period, pledges ("probates”)
demonstrate their newfound brotherhood or sisterhood by walking together across
campus, all wearing their group’s colors, and symbols and cultivating the same
style, and movement...
Pledging rituals photographed during the 1940s and 1950s
reveal the linear formations of pledges marching on line."
P. 18
"The visual record of probates on line increased
dramatically in the [Howard University yearbook] Bison during the 1950s. and
marching on line often involved singing or chanting and syncopated and
synchronized movements...
In contrast to the linear patterns in photographs from the
previous two decades, the circle was the most commonly photographed pattern in
both singing and stepping rituals during the 1960s. During that decade,
twenty-four photographs in the Bison revealed some type of singing or stepping.
Fifteen were of groups in circles, with eight of these showing circular
movement. Six of the eight indicated counterclockwise motion. Prevalent in
African dance, the counterclockwise pattern seen in early step routines
reflects the influence of African culture. Such patterns echo the circular,
counter clockwise pattern of the ring shout and pattin juba, early African
American dance (chapter 2)."
Page 19
"The first photographs of a formalized indoor stepping
program called “Greek Weekend” appeared in the 1965 Bison.”...
But in 1974, for the first time, the Bison contained one
page of photographs of an indoor step show with the heading “Greek
Demonstration”."
Pages 83-84
"The characteristic clapping and stomping movements of
stepping have their earliest counterparts in African American dances that
emerged during slavery. Pattin juba, perhaps the best known of these dances,
may have originated in an African dance called guiouba and grown in popularity
after slaveholders outlawed drums for fear they would be used to communicate
revolts...
The juba dance was done in a counterclockwise circle with
"both the words and the steps" in call-and-response form. It involved
improvisation, the shuffle, and clapping...
Early circular stepping routines reflect the influence of
pattin juba as well as another early African American dance, the ring shout,
which still exists in small areas of the South...
Although ring shouts were part of black religious services,
they also occurred in secular contests-in schools and homes and among black
soldiers-and were very popular with adults as well as children."
Page 87
"Groups frequently enter [the step show stage] to
popular music, often performing what black fraternities and sororities label
“party walks” and what Latino Greek organizations call “strolls”. [Jacqui]
Malone defines a party walk as an ‘organized line movement performed around the
floor at a party.” Party walks and strolls may or may not include the
characteristic stomping and clapping of stepping, but they are performed to
music."
Page 113
"Although the words [of chants performed by Latino
Greek-letter organizations] conveyed Latino identity, the stepping differed
little in style from that of black Greeks. In contrast, the Latino groups
performed their strolls or party walks to popular Latino music and with many
Latino dance movements from the salsa, rumba, and merengue."
Page 162
“Stepping in Omega Psi Phi fraternity may have been
influenced by the lindy hop. According to Stephon D. Henderson (interview 25
May 1995), stepping began “at the Rho Chi chapter at Tennessee State –anywhere
between 1941 and 1956” and was called “hopping” here. Brothers at Tennesee
State and in that middle Tennessee area still refer to it as hopping, because
it was first referred to as hopping.” A photograph captioned the “Omega Bop” in
the 1969 Bison (221) shows Omega brothers standing on their right legs and
kicking to the side in a movement reminiscent of the kicks done in the lindy
hop... Rouverol (“ 'Hot’, ‘Coo;’ and ‘Getting Down’”, 100) observes that the
emphasis on unity, precision, and competition in tap, buck and wing, and
chorus–line dancing “may have influenced stepping as we know it today”. Other
possible influences, she notes, “include cakewalking, and in recent years, even
cheerleading and party walks”. -snip- Notice the quote from Elizabeth C. Fine's book SoulStepping: African American Step Shows (University of Illinois Press, 2003, page 87 [that fraternity and sorority] "Groups frequently enter [the step show stage] to popular music, often performing what black fraternities and sororities label “party walks” and what Latino Greek organizations call “strolls”. -end of quote-
I'd love to have more documentation about whether the term "strolls" came from Latino Greek organizations, but aside for that, I think that it's important to recognize that strolling to R&B/Hip Hop music has been a part of historically Black Greek letter step shows for some time (since at least the 1980s?) when the groups enter the stage and when they leave the stage.
With regard to what American cultural practices that influenced fraternity/sorority stepping, in addition to the ring shout, and pattin Juba, I believe that two other 19th century dance forms -the cakewalk and the Grand March- should also be considered as early influences on the performance arts now known as stepping and stroll offs.
I also believe that the walkabout dance also influenced what is now known as fraternity & sorority stepping and stroll offs. "Walkabouts" also became part of the Chicago dancing known as the Bop and now known as Chicago Stepping. In the 19th century walkabouts -with its cakewalk dance- were lifted from African American dancing and used as a part of blackfaced minstrel shows.
I also believe that the popularity of the 1924 African American Ragtime song "Strut Miss Lizzie" and its resulting dances as well as other "strut", "walk" and "hop" dances such as The Lindy Hop, The Camel Walk also significantly contributed to historically Black Greek letter[ed] organizations' stepping and strolling.
**** EXCERPT #2: From African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision edited by Tamara Brown
Google Books, p 327-329 "The military has played a large part in the formation and continuation of BGLO chants and steps. One might even say that the performance behaviors of both the military and BGLOs exist in a type of symbiotic relationship.... As a result of blacks entering the military before, during, and after attending college, one find BGLO behavior in the military, and military behavior in BGLO system.
The brothers of Omega Psi Phi with their paramilitary garb, trace stepping back to the military influence of the 1900s. Ex-soldiers attending college would incorporate marches and drills into their BGLO performance…Shannon Rawls of Kappa Alpha Psi elaborated: “Members of black organizations, brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi...who went to the military for World War II in the late ’30s and early ‘40s would come back home and incorporate some of the same cadence and military style back into....the stepping style, or into the dancing style that they did.”
Stepping during that early period was called lining, descriptive of the formation in which soldiers march. Some Omegas and other BGKO members still refer to stepping as marching on account of this early military influence.
This military behavior is further observed in the clothing, stance, and marching of BGLO members. Part of the basic working military wardrobe consists of camouflage pants, or fatigues, and combat boots. These garments, though found in all fraternities, are especially prevalent in brothers of Omega Psi Phi..." -snip- "BGLO" = Black Greek letter[ed] Organizations
Brother Ahab El'Askeni ..."Other elements of stepping formed after the return of brothers from World War II. Various elements of military marching and line formations were implemented into fraternities with the end of the war and the advent of peace time. This, along with the founders influence, are some of the origins for the use of the cane by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. in many regions. To this day the military influence as well as Masonic influences can still be seen in the step process as well as the pledge process of most Black Greek Lettered Organizations. It is through these and many other factors that stepping began to become an intimate part of Black Greek Lettered Organizations...
For Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, in many regions, canes were used due, in part, to the influence of the founders, but for the most part by the military drill sergants who were members. In the late 40's and early 50's, for the purpose of identification, many black drill sergants carried canes. These canes allowed other black soldiers to identify with their rank, which was neccessary on many bases where racism was prevalent. Of course there were some drill sergants that were members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. as well as Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and it is possible that these were some of the influences for using canes as a part of the step process." -snip- Excerpt #2 and #3 were included in the 2013 pancocojams post entitled "Military Influences On Fraternity & Sorority Steppin".http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/military-influences-on-fraternity.html
**** EXCERPT #4 From https://alphaphigamma.org/an-incredibly-brief-history-of-strolling-being-a-multicultural-greek/ "An Incredibly Brief History of Strolling: Being A Multicultural Greek" posted on 2.26.20 by Alpha Phi Gamma "Strolling is a visual representation of the bond that ties
together members of an organization in a fashion close to stepping and
sometimes even closer to modern dancing. Designed to show off African American
culture and African roots, strolling is a longstanding tradition of multicultural
Greeks. Beginning with (and mostly accredited to) Alpha Kappa Alpha’s original
stroll from the 1920s and ending with now hundreds of Greeks who stroll today,
ladies of burgundy and creme have the incredible privilege of being able to
openly and safely love their letters through the art of stroll. The roots of
stroll are unity, culture, community, and love. All things that we know and all
things infused in our letters.
There is a larger issue at hand, though. Stepping and
strolling are not Asian American traditions. They were adopted by other
multicultural organizations from the Divine 9 through observing and sometimes,
regrettably, stealing. When we celebrate our own culture(s) through step and
stroll we should not only give homage to our letters and our roots but to the
roots of strolling itself. As a fellow multicultural organization, we should
not ignore its historical, social, and cultural importance. We can not ignore
that strolling is now a popularized show of camaraderie that was given to us.
As such, we should actively acknowledge its roots. In order to do this, let’s
dive a bit deeper into the history of strolling.
As previously mentioned before, stepping and strolling in
its modern sense are attributed to Alpha Kappa Alpha and the Black Greek Letter
Organizations (Divine 9) from the early 1900s. It has strong roots in South
African culture with more specific ties to Gumboot dancing. In this way,
strolling was meant to showcase African culture to other organizations and on
campuses that were incredibly racist. It was a performance of pride and unity.
Stepping and strolling were also essential to the Divine 9 new member process.
As the final step, a prospective new member would march with their class/line
around campus chanting, reciting poems, dancing, and stepping in something
known as a “Death March” but is modernly interpreted as a “probate”. Strolling
and stepping in these cases were more than just the presentation of a new
class, it is an educational tradition.”… -snip- I added italics to highlight these sentences.
There's a lot to unpack in that excerpt. Here are my notes about that excerpt-given in no particular order...
I believe that it's important to note that Alpha Phi Gamma is an Asian interest sorority that was founded in 1994. That fact may mean that Alpha Phi Gamma doesn't have direct access to the history of Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities.
** I've come across the statement attributed to Alpha Phi Gamma that Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was the first organization to stroll in 1920 in several other online articles since this article was written in 2020. Each time I've read that statement it was given as a matter of fact without any citation. Furthermore, I've not come across the statement tanywhere else that Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was the first Black Greek Letter Organization to start stepping or strolling.
I'm interested in knowing how the representative of Alpha Phi Gamma Sorority who wrote that article arrived at this conclusion. And- as an inactive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. I know that its not accurate because everything I've read indicates that a historically Black Greek letter fraternity was the first to stroll and to step (or hop/bop). And I don't know whether that was Alpha Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, or Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. (I know it wasn't Iota Theta Phi, Fratenity since it wasn't founded until 1963).
** Historically Black fraternity/sorority "death marches"
(probate marches) are quite different from fraternity/sorority
"strolls" (i.e. who performs them and how they are performed). Even a cursory review of YouTube videos of historically Black Greek letter death
marches (probate shows) and of historically Black fraternity and sorority strolls support this position.
** I believe that the statement that gumboot dancing was the source of or the primary source of historically Black (African American) Greek letter stepping comes in part from the similarities between these two movement arts as well as the desire that afrocentric African Americans' had in the 1980s, 1990s, and on to promote the ties that Black Americans had and still have with Africa as our Motherland. For example, read this comment that I happened upon in this discussion thread for a YouTube video on the history of South African Gumboot dancing.
The Noice Channel, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poxeApDNlGw
“Where African American fraternity and sorority collegiate step shows were
undoubtedly rooted from. It all traces back to the motherland!”
-end of quote- I strongly believe that the ubiquitous statement that hisorically Black Greek letter fraternity and sorority stepping came from South African gumboot dancing is an urban legend. There's no doubt that there are some similarities between stepping and gumboot dancing. However, notice that no one ever cites sources for this belief that stepping comes from gumboot dancing. Also, I've not come across any explanations of how, when, and where Black Americans became so familiar with South African gumboot dancing that we adapted it to form stepping. (That said, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century Black American minstrel groups and White blackface minstrels performed in South Africa and some South Africans traveled to the United States and studied in some historically Black colleges and universities.)
I'm not saying that South African gumboot dancing had no influence upon BGLO steppin. However, there were other "home grown" influences that have consistently been overlooked because South African boot dancing appears to be so similar to some forms of BGLO steppin. Gumboot dancing originated in South Africa in the 1950s. Historically Black Greek letter stepping could have started before that date (and members of BGLOs "marching in line" which became strolling definitely started before the 1950s).
Here's a comment about gumboot dancing and historically Black Greek letter fraternity/sorority stepping that I fully agree with: R’illest Talk, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZgFJVSaKUkThe History of Gumboot Dancing : A South African Story (Full Video) "Sorry, but Gumboot miners are not the originators of our
collegiate stepping routines. The boot company itself wasn’t created until
after WWII which were later issued to laborers/workers worldwide. It is
actually the gumboot dancers of late who have learned and incorporated our
Black American chants and US military-inspired moves. Combined with military
drills due to the many black veterans returning home from service and later
enrolling in HBCUs, we started stomping and strolling in the early-1900s on
HBCU campuses. Some say we started similar steps during slavery.
The early-gumboot workers started their basic stepping
ritual as a form of communication in the 1950s only after receiving their boots
from a newly-created European boot company. South Africans and the world have
taken a few old black-n-white photos of the miners during the 50s as being from
the late-1800s or early-1900s which is not true. We as black Americans have
been so desperate for African national inclusion and acceptance that we’ve lied
and given away both our credits and creations in exchange for a false sense of
validation and authenticity. Now current-day Africans are running with the lies
as factual. #FBA" -end of quote- Speaking of South African influences on a form of stepping, I believe that what is known as "the python dance" definitely influenced certain probate line formations/dances that performed by historically Black Greek letter sororities (and fraternities?) Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/similarities-between-venda-python-dance_7.html for a pancocojams post about the "Similarities Between The Venda Python Dance & Black
Sororities Probate Line Formations". The Venda python dance is a South African traditional dance.
Selected comments from discussion threads for some of these videos are also included in this post.
A bonus video of a Black Canadian church choir marching during collection is included in this post along with my description of a similar march that I observed in March 2019 that was done by an African Methodist Episcopal church choir that is directed by my brother Dr. R.E.B. Manning.
****
The church denominations that are showcased in the videos that are found in Part II and Part III of this series are AME (African Methodist Episcopal); AME Zion (African Methodist Episcopal Zion); COGIC (Church of God In Christ); Baptist; Missionary Baptist; Pentecostal, and United Methodist.
It's possible that other predominately African American Christian denominations also have (or had) church processions, but I didn't find any YouTube videos of those processions.
In addition to those above mentioned denominations, the 2011 series on Black church choir processions featured a video of an Apostolic church in the USA.
-snip-
*Although this pancocojams series focuses on the custom of processions in African American churches, church processions are also found in some other Black churches in the Caribbean, Canada, and in some African countries. Click the "Black Church Processions" link found below to find some earlier pancocojams posts on those subjects.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks for the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
Marching into the church sanctuary is an old tradition among African Americans and some other Black people. However, judging from my experiences, and the comments that have been added to a number YouTube videos on this subject, church processions are viewed as an "old school" tradition that is done by fewer and fewer Black churches, partly because some churches have replaced formal choirs with praise & worship groups, partly because some churches consider processions to be irreligious, or for other reasons.
A number of persons commenting on discussion threads of YouTube videos of Black church note that processions help set the tone of the worship service. Processions add energy to the service. They are a way to praise God and "make a joyful noise to the Lord".
Marching for Jesus adds to the dramatic nature of religious worship. Group marches also adds to the entertainment and pageantry of celebratory group events such as anniversaries and conventions. Choir marches into the church's sanctuary mark the beginning of church service. Processions of choirs, ushers, nurses, or other groups that march into their anniversary program or their convention events enhance the celebratory nature of those programs & events. But processions are more than a way for groups to make a grand entrance. Processions signify that the service or program is something special, since processions are outside the norm of everyday occurrence.
I grew up in a Baptist church in Atlantic City, New Jersey (Union Baptist Temple Church) where the church service always began by the choir "marching in" in pairs down the center aisle of the sanctuary to the choir stand behind the altar. I also remember watching my mother's (then young and middle age adult) Spiral Chorus march down the center aisle of the sanctuary during that choir's anniversary services. My home church in Atlantic City still starts the morning service with the choir marching in singing.
Many years later during my recent visit to my family in Southern New Jersey (March 2019), I was pleased to experience the choir of Saint Paul AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church in Pleasantville, NJ. (directed by my brother Dr. R.E.B. Manning) marching in pairs into the sanctuary to the choir stand. That choir also marched around the sanctuary when it was their turn to participate in the main church offering. That experience motivated me to return to the topic of Black church processions that I had first focused on in a four part 2011 pancocojams series.
This post expands on that earlier one by exploring what I believe to be various elements that have influenced performances of African American church processions. Particular attention in this post is given to the use of the term "Grand March" to refer to some of these church processions. Based on my personal experiences and watching a number of YouTube videos of Black church processionals, I think that the term "Grand March" may now apply to any type of Black church procession (processional). However, "Grand March" may have originally been used in churches to refer to a procession that was made up of groups from more than one church marching one after another (such as members of usher boards from several churches of the same denomination marching at a conference).
There are four types of marches (processionals) that I believe are performed by some African American and some Black Canadian church groups:
1. At the beginning of the Sunday church service, the choir "march ins" down t he center aisle of the church sanctuary to the choir loft or choir seats
2. During the during the (main) collection portion of the church service. the choir marches "march around" the church sanctuary placing their offerings in the basket or collection plates when they pass them and following a set pattern, continue to march around until they return to their seats.
3. In the beginning of a special program such as an anniversary or a conference by one group from a church or multiple groups of the same church ministry (such as church usher boards or church nurses) from more than one church from the same denomination
4. During the during the (main) collection portion of a special program such as a church board or a church nurses board's anniversary or convention, that usher board (and/or that nurses board) march/es "march around" the church sanctuary placing their offerings in the basket or collection plates when they pass them and following a set pattern, continue to march around until they return to their seats.
-snip- I believe that choirs are the only Black church ministry/group that march in at the beginning of regular Sunday church services..
In my experience, choirs usually sing as they are marching in to the church service and the congregation stands during this march in. Black church choirs march ins that are done at the beginning of church services appear to be much more religious oriented than special programming march ins. Choir march ins at the beginning of church services are performed to the choir singing a church hymn or a Gospel song. The purpose is to help set the tone for the rest of the church service, to help bring down the Holy Spirit. A commenter wrote on a discussion thread of a Black church procession that the marching represented "marching into heaven". The repetitive movements in some marches (such as those done as part of the choir's singing) can "bring on the Holy Spirit" (i.e. lead to a trance-like feeling) similar to the state of being that is induced during ring shouts.
In contrast, Black church march ins and march arounds during special programs are more "worldly", and celebratory. Generally speaking, the purpose of special programming march ins is to introduce the group/s or the individual group members to those in attendance at these programs and pay homage to the members of that church ministry. Although I believe that there was a Spiritual reason for church march arounds (from its ring shout origins), the contemporary reasons for church march arounds are to provide an opportunity for the usher board/s (or the choir/s or the nurses board/s to give their "offering" ("collection") while "showing off" the honored group while engaging in a bit of pageantry.
The honored church ministry/ministries at church special programming events don't wear robes or the uniforms that they usually wear during church services. Instead, the female and male group members usually wear color coordinated "dressy" outfits. These church groups -including choirs- are silent during these anniversary or convention march ins. Uptempo, percussive Black Gospel recorded or live music from vocal or instrumental recordings or choir singing (at usher board/nurses board special events) is usually the music that is used for church march ins and march arounds. These anniversary/convention march ins and march arounds often consist of social dance moves which would be considered anathema for march ins during church services.
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CULTURAL SOURCES FOR HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN & OTHER BLACK CHURCH PROCESSIONS ARE PERFORMED
Many contemporary Black choirs used to march in (or still march in) to the sanctuary to signal the beginning of the Sunday church service as a representation of the church being (in) the army of God (to combat Satan). A classic church hymns is "Onward Christian Soldiers" and a Gospel song that is still sung for church choir march-ins is "We Are Soldiers". Some churches describe marching and "gettin happy" (doing the holy dance) in church as "stomping (or trampling) all over the Devil's head". And like Holy Ghost dancing, choir march ins during the Church service and choir marching around (during church collection/offerings) are considered by some as a way of praising God.
The historical sources/influences of Black church marching processions appear to be less known. I've compiled this list based on my informal research of this subject. I'm interested in your thoughts on this list.
1. RING SHOUT
[This excerpt was included in this 2013 pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/african-american-ring-shouts-origins.html African American Ring Shouts (Origins & Examples)
"A ring shout is a form of religious song & movement. Ring shouts are performed by persons who shuffle counterclockwise in a single file in a circle (ring). The ring shout participants may also perform imitative movements to the words that are sung (for instance, acting out picking up leaves to the song "Adam In The Garden"). The accompaniment is provided by persons who stand to the side of the ring, and sing while they clap their hands. Traditionally, the only instrumental accompaniment for ring shouts was one man rhythmically beating a long stick on the ground. Later, a tambourine might also be used as accompaniment for ring shouts.
Here's an excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_shout :
"...shout or ring shout is an ecstatic, transcendent religious ritual, first practiced by African slaves in the West Indies and the United States, in which worshipers move in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands. Despite the name, shouting aloud is not an essential part of the ritual.
The ring shout was practiced in some African American churches into the 20th century, and it continues to the present among the Gullah people of the Sea Islands."
-snip-
Some scholars such as Robert Farris Thompson indicate that the ring shout comes from the Bakongo peoples of Central Africa. Some information about the Kongo Cosmogram is found below after Video #1 of this post.
Another theory is that "The [ring shout] ritual may have originated among enslaved Muslims from West Africa as an imitation of tawaf, the mass procession around the Kaaba that is an essential part of the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. If so, the word "shout" may come from Arabic shawṭ, meaning "a single run", such as a single circumambulation of the Kaaba, or an open space of ground for running...
"According to musicologist Robert Palmer, the first written accounts of the ring shout date from the 1840s. The stamping and clapping in a circle was described as a kind of "drumming," and 19th-century observers associated it with the conversion of slaves to Christianity.[5] [Wikipedia: Ring Shout]
-snip-
In my opinion, given the way that various African traditions were combined during slavery in the West Indies and the Americas, both the Bakongo and the West African Muslim theories about the origin and meanings of the ring shout could be true.
While the ring shout continued in among some Christians in the United States well into the the 20th century, that tradition was vehemently frowned upon by Black ministers because of their opposition to dancing and because the ring shout was considered a form of dancing. [Source: Joseph E. Halloway's book Africanisms In American Culture, p. 238 for a description of ring shout and an example of minister's opposition to ring shouts]. Furthermore, the fixed pews of contemporary churches spelled the demise of the ring shout, which needs an open space for its performance. However, the custom in some Black churches in which a church member who "feel the spirit" would circle around the church sanctuary, running from the front of that space to the back, can be attributed to the ring shout tradition. It should also be mentioned that the phrase "to sing and shout" that is found in numerous African American Spirituals and Gospel songs probably referred to the ring shout rather than the usual meaning given to it of “exclaiming loudly”.
The repetitive movements in some marches (such as those done in the march around shown in this video of the Black Canadian choir doing a "march around" for the church offering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ5xSuIMfuo can "bring on the Holy Spirit" (i.e. lead to a trance-like feeling) similar to that induced during ring shouts.
-snip-
Featured video: McIntosh County Shouters ORIGINAL GROUP.AVI
McIntoshCtyShouters, Published on Feb 23, 2010
www.mcintoshcountyshouters.com Renowned Master Artists of the Ring Shout, THIS group is the real deal. Be educated and entertained by learning about Georgia Coastal History. The ORIGINAL McIntosh County Shouters was featured on 2009 Grammy winning "Best Historical Album" by Art Rosenbaum.
**
2. CAKEWALK From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk "The cakewalk or cake walk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" held in the late 19th century, generally at get-togethers on black slave plantations after emancipation in the Southern United States. Alternative names for the original form of the dance were "chalkline-walk", and the "walk-around". At the conclusion of a performance of the original form of the dance in an exhibit at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, an enormous cake was awarded to the winning couple. Thereafter it was performed in minstrel shows, exclusively by men until the 1890s...
Early influences The cakewalk was influenced by the ring shout, which survived from the 18th into the 20th century.[4]
[...]
Secondhand, oral-tradition accounts A South Carolinian told of Griffin, a fiddler who played for the dances of the whites as well as for the "annual cakewalks of his own people".[8] In 1960, a story told to him by his childhood nanny in 1901 was repeated by 80-year-old actor Leigh Whipple: "Us slaves watched white folks' parties where the guests danced a minuet and then paraded in a grand march, with the ladies and gentlemen going different ways and then meeting again, arm in arm, and marching down the center together. Then we'd do it too, but we used to mock 'em every step. Sometimes the white folks noticed it, but they seemed to like it; I guess they thought we couldn't dance any better."... -snip- Italics added to highlight this sentence. -snip- Featured video: Cake Walk
LibraryOfCongress, Published on Jul 10, 2009
SUMMARY Five African Americans--three men and two women--perform a cakewalk, a dance featuring fancy strutting that was named after the prize awarded in the original contests. The dancers wear rather formal attire, with the men in dark suits and black tie and the women in full-length, high-collared dark dresses; one woman carries a small American flag. As they step in place against a light background, the center male--holding up a top hat and twirling a cane--moves toward the camera and briefly performs some fancy steps. As he moves back, the man at the left end of the line does a quick twirling step and links arms with his partner. The other two dancers also pair off as the center male leads them in a strutting movement around the stage. When they return to the original line, all five step towards the camera with the center man slightly ahead of the others. The film ends just as they stop the cakewalk.
** 3. "GRAND MARCH" -19TH CENTURY EUROPEAN DANCE
From http://dancetimepublications.com/resources/social-dance-timeline/romantic-era-1850-1869
"Romantic Era (1850-1869)
The Grand March created the grand opening for balls during most of the 19th century. Dancers paraded around the room in simple formations for “as many as will.” It was an opportunity to see and be seen—to view prospective partners for the evening’s dances. A Dancing Master led the formations, allowing easy participation by all.
-snip-
From http://www.mnopltd.com/cdance/grandmarch.html:
"The Grand March is a traditional way in which to being [sic] a formal ball. All the couples line up in promenade order, and prance around the hall in various figures."
Editor: That site includes examples of simple line drawings of the formations that are generally performed for The Grand March.
-snip-
Featured video: Late Nineteenth-Century Dance: Grand March
AdaziDotCom, Published on Jan 29, 2008
also known as The March, Polonaise, Grand Promenade, Opening March
One evening while I was listening to D.J. Ryhem on Radiolib.com, he started taking callers for a segment he called, "You know you're Liberian if". As the phone ran off the hook, people called out foods, ways of dress, speech, and many other things. Another behavior that someone called in to add to the list was something along the lines of, "You know you're Liberian if you do the Grand March at every wedding and major event." Like many others, I have marched along arm in arm in a couple, grasped the shoulders of the person in front of me as we formed circling lines of dancers, and tried to march with poise and still rock to the beat of Lucky Shango while moving under the bridge formed by the arms of other couples participating in the dance. But just what is this Grand March? How has it come to represent Liberian identity, and does it have the same meaning here in the United States as it had back in Liberia?
Based on my historical research so far, I have found that the origins of the Grand March in Liberia rest with the freeborn and formerly enslaved African Americans who came over to Liberia in the 19th century. In Liberia, this Americo-Liberian population, which came to constitute the elite over the indigenous population, continued to reproduce certain practices from the United States such as food, architecture, and dress. Another practice that they continued was performing a number of dances at balls, inaugurations, and other events, including a dance called the Grand March. The Grand March is an elegant couple dance based on dance suites of European origin that were brought to Liberia with free Blacks from the United States (Szwed and Marks 1988:31). Dances such as the cotillion, reel, Grand March, and in particular, the quadrille (which originated in courtly dances in 18th century France, became popular in the rest of Europe, and spread to the United States) all became familiar to a wide variety of Americans, white and black, enslaved and free. It is these dances (and interestingly enough, NOT other dances that were more closely linked with slavery, such as the ring shout or buzzard lope) that seemed to have been consciously reproduced in Liberia by the elite"...
-snip-
** 5. MILITARY MARCHES/DRILL TEAM ROUTINES
In my opinion, United States military cadence marching and (drill team social groups) marches have had the most influence on contemporary African American church processions. That influence can be seen by how the participants march single file or in pairs, and move to various synchronized formations. The sharp pivots (turns) at the foot of the center aisle when one person in the pair moves left and the other move right also comes from military marches. The custom of moving sideways or moving forward while facing backwards are creative takes on military/drill team steps.
However, sometimes (as in the video of "old school" African American church choir processions (Example #2 in Part III), the choirs walk into the church, but don't march.
Based on comments in that video's discussion thread, the custom of choirs walking in processions with the right hand raised to God and the left hand held behind your back appears to be seldom done anymore. However, from YouTube videos and my personal experiences (in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania) a number of usher boards still hold their left hand folded behind their back during the church services.
** 6. INTERPRETIVE DANCE MOVEMENTS AND CONTEMPORARY R&B/HIP HOP DANCE MOVEMENTS
Some African American church usher boards, nurses boards, and choirs marches incorporate or totally consist of choreographed movements from interpretive dancing and/or contemporary Rhythm & Blues/Hip-Hop. These rhythmic motions are particular found among church special event processions for children & teens, but are also incorporated in special event marches performed by adults.
****
This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams posts on Black church processions.
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the history of and influences on Black Greek letter fraternity and sorority stepping (steppin).
This post provides excerpts from Elizabeth C. Fine's 2003 groundbreaking book SoulStepping: African American Step Shows (University of Illinois Press). An excerpt from Wikipedia's page on Stepping is also given in the Addendum to this post. This post also includes with some of my thoughts on the subject of early cultural influences on fraternity and sorority stepping.
Part II of this pancocojams post provides excerpts from comments on the subject of stepping that are part of a discussion thread for a 2013 YouTube video of an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Stroll Off performance. That post also features that video of that performance.
I believe that the information and comments about the history of and sources for stepping that are included in this post can also be considered to be part of the history of and sources for what are now referred to as "party walks" and "strolls".
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Elizabeth C. Fine for her research and writing on this subject. Thanks also to all others who are quoted in this post.
There are a number of pancocojams posts on historically Black Greek letter[ed] fraternity and sorority stepping and strolling.
Also, click the "African American fraternity and sorority steppin and strolling tag below for more pancocojams posts on those topics. .
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SUMMARY STATEMENT ABOUT ELIZABETH C. FINE'S BOOK SOULSTEPPING: AFRICAN AMERICAN STEP SHOWS
From http://www.amazon.com/Soulstepping-African-American-Step-Shows/dp/025207534X
"Stepping is a complex performance that melds folk traditions with popular culture and involves synchronized percussive movement, singing, speaking, chanting, and drama. Elizabeth C. Fine's stunningly elaborate and vibrant portrayal of the cultural politics of stepping draws on interviews with individuals on college campuses and steppers and stepping coaches from high schools, community groups, churches, and dance organizations. Soulstepping is the first book to document the history of stepping, its roots in African and African American culture, and its transformation by churches, schools, and social groups into a powerful tool for instilling group identity and community involvement."
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EXCERPTS FROM ELIZABETH C. FINE'S BOOK SOULSTEPPING: AFRICAN AMERICAN STEP SHOWS
[These quotes are given without the citations that are noted in that book.]
Pages 15-16
“The earliest written reference to what might be stepping appears in the 25 November 1925 [Howard University] student newspaper The Hilltop. In an article entitled “Hell-Week”, Van Taylor described pledging activities of Omega Psi Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities;”What desire is this is that will cause young men, stalwart of frame and rugged of heart and mind, demurely and aesthetically to dance about the campus as if in time to the fairy pipes of Pan?”. Hell Week, of course, is a colloquial expression for the intense pledge activities that probates must endure before the week before they are accepted into a society. The phrase fairy pipes of Pan suggests that the men are performing to a music or beat that only they can heard, in other words, there is no accompanying music. The word demurely suggests a certain restraint or gravity to their movements, as might befit initiates in a ritual; aesthetically suggests an artful quality to their movements. Within eighteen years of the formation of the first black Greek-letter society, a public ritual dance associated with pledging had developed.
Van Taylor’s description of dancing young fraternity men may also be an account of the ritual performance of group identity called “marching on line,” from which stepping evolved. During the pledge period, pledges ("probates”) demonstrate their newfound brotherhood or sisterhood by walking together across campus, all wearing their group’s colors, and symbols and cultivating the same style, and movement...
Pledging rituals photographed during the 1940s and 1950s reveal the linear formations of pledges marching on line."
P. 18
"The visual record of probates on line increased dramatically in the [Howard University yearbook] Bison during the 1950s. and marching on line often involved singing or chanting and syncopated and synchronized movements...
In contrast to the linear patterns in photographs from the previous two decades, the circle was the most commonly photographed pattern in both singing and stepping rituals during the 1960s. During that decade, twenty-four photographs in the Bison revealed some type of singing or stepping. Fifteen were of groups in circles, with eight of these showing circular movement. Six of the eight indicated counterclockwise motion. Prevalent in African dance, the counterclockwise pattern seen in early step routines reflects the influence of African culture. Such patterns echo the circular, counter clockwise pattern of the ring shout and pattin juba, early African American dance (chapter 2)."
Page 19
"The first photographs of a formalized indoor stepping program called “Greek Weekend” appeared in the 1965 Bison....The Weekend included six individual sessions on Greek life as well as “a colorful pledge club program in the auxiliary gym of the New Men’s Gymnasium."
Page 23
"Photographs of the late 1960s showed both singing and stepping in Howard’s Yard, although the term stepping is not used."
Page 27
"The words demonstrate and demonstration to describe stepping began to appear in campus periodicals in the 1960s....A 1969 Bison caption proclaimed “Brothers demonstrate “Omega Bop” for spectators on Fridays.
Photographs of stepping and indoor step shows increased substantially in the 1970s. In most cases writers referred to stepping as a “demonstration.”... A 1973 photograph of the Kappas stepping in the Yard refers to “Kappa Stomping.” But in 1974, for the first time, the Bison contained one page of photographs of an indoor step show with the heading “Greek Demonstration”."
Page 28
"After 1975 the word demonstration no longer appears in conjunction with stepping."
Page 31
"Other stepping synonyms appeared in Kujaliwa Hukumu’s 1976 letter critical of black Greeks: “shout’ n foot stomp’n tribalism”, a “war dance”, and “marches”.
By the late 1970s, pictures of indoor step shows revealed large audiences and elaborate costumes. Malone* notes that during this period the administration at Howard began scheduling noon classes, so stepping in the Yard began to decline slowly. Yet Greek shows of stepping gained in popularity, and by 1976 the first competitive Greek show was scheduled for homecoming week."
-snip-
*Jacqui Malone, author of Steppin' On the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.)
Page 42
"During the first half or the 1990s a heightened sense of competitiveness and a preference for cash-award competitions characterized the annual Greek show".
Page 43
"Howard university hosted the first national championship step show during homecoming in 1994. The grand prize winner received $2,500."
Page 45
"The published record of stepping at Howard University confirms claims from around the United States that stepping evolved from the marching on line and group singing inherent in pledging rituals. Marching on line, the first ritual performance photographed, appeared in the 1943 and 1947 editions of the Bison. Although Van Taylor suggests that fraternities may have stepped at Howard as early as 1925, stepping evolves at different rates on other campuses. ...[Accounts of stepping from Kappa members] corroborates Wall Street Journal’s statement that stepping’s synchronized and syncopated moves date back to the 1940s, when lines of fraternity pledges marched in lockstep around campus in a rite of initiation.” Julian Bond remembers stepping contests during his student days at Morehouse College in the late 1950...Abbe Nutcgyn Davis, a Alpha Kappa Alpha who pledged at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, noted that her sorority did not step during the 1950s but did more balletlike "synchronized dancing" than the "stomping kinds of things that men did"... Robert J. Cummings, chair of the African studies department at Howard University and alumnus of Florida A&M University, has said that in the early 1960s his fraternity Omega Psi Phi, has stepped and used the term stepping as well as the terms stomp and march."
Pages 83-84
"The characteristic clapping and stomping movements of stepping have their earliest counterparts in African American dances that emerged during slavery. Pattin juba, perhaps the best known of these dances, may have originated in an African dance called guiouba and grown in popularity after slaveholders outlawed drums for fear they would be used to communicate revolts...
The juba dance was done in a counterclockwise circle with "both the words and the steps" in call-and-response form. It involved improvisation, the shuffle, and clapping...
Early circular stepping routines reflect the influence of pattin juba as well as another early African American dance, the ring shout, which still exists in small areas of the South...
Although ring shouts were part of black religious services, they also occurred in secular contests-in schools and homes and among black soldiers-and were very popular with adults as well as children."
Page 87
"Groups frequently enter [the step show stage] to popular music, often performing what black fraternities and sororities label “party walks” and what Latino Greek organizations call “strolls”. [Jacqui] Malone defines a party walk as an ‘organized line movement performed around the floor at a party.” Party walks and strolls may or may not include the characteristic stomping and clapping of stepping, but they are performed to music.
Page 113
"Although the words [of chants performed by Latino Greek-letter organizations] conveyed Latino identity, the stepping differed little in style from that of black Greeks. In contrast, the Latino groups performed their strolls or party walks to popular Latino music and with many Latino dance movements from the salsa, rumba, and merengue."
Page 162
“Stepping in Omega Psi Phi fraternity may have been influenced by the lindy hop. According to Stephon D. Henderson (interview 25 May 1995), stepping began “at the Rho Chi chapter at Tennessee State –anywhere between 1941 and 1956” and was called “hopping” here. Brothers at Tennessee State and in that middle Tennessee area still refer to it as hopping, because it was first referred to as hopping.” A photograph captioned the “Omega Bop” in the 1969 Bison (221) shows Omega brothers standing on their right legs and kicking to the side in a movement reminiscent of the kicks done in the lindy hop... Rouverol (“ 'Hot’, ‘Coo;’ and ‘Getting Down’”, 100) observes that the emphasis on unity, precision, and competition in tap, buck and wing, and chorus–line dancing “may have influenced stepping as we know it today”. Other possible influences, she notes, “include cakewalking, and in recent years, even cheerleading and party walks”.
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ADDENDUM
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepping_(African-American) [retrieved April 9, 2015]
"Stepping or step-dancing is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. Though stepping may be performed by an individual, it is generally performed by groups of three or more, often in arrangements that resemble military formations.
Stepping may also draw from elements of gymnastics, break dance, tap dance, march, or African and Caribbean dance, or include semi-dangerous stunts as a part of individual routines. The speed of the step depends on the beat and rhythm the performer wants it to sound. Some forms of stepping include the use of props, such as canes, rhythm sticks and/or fire and blindfolds.
The tradition of stepping is rooted within the competitive schoolyard song and dance rituals practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities, beginning in the mid-1900s[citation needed].
Stepping finds its origins in a combination of military close-order and exhibition drill, and African foot dances such as the Welly "gumboot" dance. It also originally drew heavily from the stage routines and movements of popular R&B groups such as the Temptations and The Four Tops.[citation needed] During the mid-20th century, historically-black fraternities and sororities on United States college campuses traditionally sang and chanted to celebrate "crossing over" into membership of their respective organizations. Stepping is also performed by schools, churches, cheerleading squads, and drill teams."
-snip-
That last sentence should also read "as well as by a number of Latino, multi-cultural, and other Greek letter and non-Greek letter university organizations."
"Stepping" (couples' dancing) is completely different from fraternity and sorority stepping and I've never read or heard fraternity/sorority stepping called "step-dancing".
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OTHER PROBABLE CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON BGLO STEPPING & STROLLING
In addition to pattin Juba and the ring shout, I believe that two other 19th century dance forms -the cakewalk and the Grand March- should also be considered as early influences on the performance arts now known as stepping and strolling.
I also believe that the walkabout dance also influenced what is now known as fraternity & sorority stepping and strolling. "Walkabouts" also became part of the Chicago dancing known as the Bop and what is now known as Chicago Stepping. In the 19th century walkabouts -with its cakewalk dance- were lifted from African American dancing and were featured as part of blackfaced minstrel shows.
Furthermore, I believe that the popularity of the 1924 African American Ragtime song "Strut Miss Lizzie" and its resulting dances as well as other "strut", "walk" and "hop" dances such as The Lindy Hop abd The Camel Walk also significantly contributed to historically Black Greek letter[ed] organizations' stepping and strolling.
Historically black fraternities and sororities began to form
in 1906 as a response to bigotry and segregation that prevented their inclusion
in existing campus organizations. Had they formed their own system with the
words like “African” or “Black” in the name they would likely have been banned.
By adopting the Greek letter system they could appear to be assimilating to
white culture, while covertly developing their own identity. At the same time,
they did not want to take up the very segregationist practices they opposed.
For that reason they use the phrase "historically black" and are open
to students of all ethnicities. In 1949, Alpha Kappa Alpha admitted its first
two white sorority sisters.
One controversy in stepping is the question of African
influence. At its 4th annual convention in 1911, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
created a special committee “to do research work, especially as the relation of
the Ethiopian of ancient times to the black race of modern times.” Performances
like the gumboot dance from South Africa look a lot like stepping, and there
were gumboot performances at Hampton University in the 1930s. Kwame Nkrumah,
first president of Ghana, was a student at Lincoln University who became a
member of Phi Beta Sigma in 1942, and is often credited with bringing the use
of canes into stepping, as they were part of an African coming of age ritual.
On the other hand, fraternity and sorority students who were asked about their
memory of stepping in the 1950s only mentioned synchronized dance moves from groups
like the Four Tops and the Temptations. Alpha Kappa Psi members proudly show
images of their "kanes" prior to 1942.
While most of the early stepping movement influence likely
came from African American drill teams, tap dance, and similar practices, it is
important to recall that these styles were influenced by the African
polyrhythmic music tradition that had created blues and soul. As Paul Gilroy
points out in his book The Black Atlantic, an African American performance
group, the Fisk Gospel Singers, performed in South Africa for two years
(1890-1892), influencing the local African music and dance. Since the gumboot
dance seems to have originated around mission stations in KwaZulu Natal, it is
possible that the influence was in both directions: a reverberation that
continues today as African American group StepAfrika has been teaching their
routines in Cape Town.
Stepping did not have a strong presence until after WWII,
when black college attendance began to rise with civil rights. By 1965, the
rate of college attendance by African Americans was at 10%, and that doubled by
1975. Each era contributes different elements to stepping; for example, during
the 1980s, moves from breakdance and other hip-hop contributions were added.
National attention began with the 1988 Spike Lee movie School Daze, and a
variety of popular media and live national appearances quickly
followed."...
This pancocojams post provides lyrics and two sound files of the 1920* Ragtime song "Strut Miss Lizzie".
Information about the composer and lyricist of this song are also included in this post, along with information about the vocalist for the first rendition of that song that is presented in this post.
This post also includes definitions for the words "strut", "swagger", and "prance".
[Added 4/7/2015] My explanations of certain other words and phrases in this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Henry Creamer and Turner Layton for their musicial legacy. Thanks also to all the vocalists and musicians who are featured in these examples. And thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube and all those who are quoted in this post. -snip- * https://secondhandsongs.com/work/141064/all provides this information along with a list of other recordings of "Strut Miss Lizzie": "Original Dixieland Jazz Band
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE LYRICIST & THE COMPOSER OF "STRUT MISS LUCY"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Creamer
"Henry Creamer (June 21, 1879 – October 14, 1930) was an African American popular song lyricist. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and died in New York. He co-wrote many popular songs in the years from 1900 to 1929, often collaborating with Turner Layton, with whom he also appeared in vaudeville.
Henry Creamer was a singer, dancer, songwriter and stage producer/director.[1][2] He first performed on the vaudeville circuit in the U.S. and in Europe as a duo with pianist Turner Layton, with whom he also co-wrote songs...
Also in 1926, Creamer and James P. Johnson wrote Alabama Stomp. In 1930 they achieved another hit with If I Could Be with You which was recorded by Ruth Etting. The song also became the theme song for McKinney’s Cotton Pickers and was also a hit for Louis Armstrong (Okeh 41448).[6]
Creamer was a co-founder with James Reese Europe of the Clef Club, an important early African American musicians and entertainers organization in New York City."...
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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_Layton
"Turner Layton (July 2, 1894 – February 6, 1978), born John Turner Layton, Jr., was an African American songwriter, singer and pianist. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1894, he was the son of John Turner Layton, "a bass singer, music educator and hymn composer."[1] After receiving a musical education from his father, he attended the Howard University Dental School, later coming to New York City in the early 1900s, where he met future songwriting partner, lyricist Henry Creamer. He is best known for his many compositions with Creamer, the best known of which is the standard "After You've Gone", which was written in 1918 and first popularized by Sophie Tucker. The two contributed music and lyrics to many Broadway shows, including the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1921 and 1922, Three Showers (1920), Some Party (1922) and Creamer's own Strut Miss Lizzie (1922).[1]"...
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LYRICS - STRUT MISS LIZZIE
(Henry Creamer, Turner Layton)
At the barber's ball in the barber's hall
All the dusky belles were there
Such a glancing, prancing, strutting and dancing
They were doing for fair
All the belles and beaus prancing on their toes
Tried to do the cake walk swell
When a midnight blonde came prancing on
They were heard to yell
Won't you strut miss Lizzie
Get busy, I want to see you walk
For the folks all state the way you syncopate
Is the whole town talk
When you move so pretty it's a pity
The other girlies frown, but the men you meet
Like the way you shake your feet
Oh you knock 'em dizzy
Strut miss Lizzie Brown
They were stepping sweet they were stepping neat
They were stepping super fine
To the singing, swinging, fancy pigeon winging
They were falling in line
Every dame and dude struck at attitude
For to win that cake they tried
But when Lizzie Brown came prancing round
Everybody cried
Won't you strut miss Lizzie
Get busy, I want to see you walk
For the folks all state the way you syncopate
Is the whole town talk
When you move so pretty it's a pity
The other girlies frown, but the men you meet
Like the way you shake your feet
Oh you knock 'em dizzy
Strut miss Lizzie Brown
(I'll bet you've got the cutest little strut in town)
Additional lyrics for an adapted form of that song that was recorded by Irving Mills & his Hotsy Totsy Gang from June of 1930 are the chorus as given above nd these words:
Go down the street, by the school,
Pack your feet you struttin' fool!
Strut your stuff by the kirk.
Trot your tootsies by the church!
Through the alley, dodge the cans,
Shake Miss Ellie's pots and pans.
Cool your dog, we're comin' through,
Except for Lennox Avenue!
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WHAT "STRUT" MEANS
From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/strut+one's+stuff ..."Strut implies swelling pride or pompousness; to strut is to walk with a stiff, pompous, seemingly affected or self-conscious gait: A turkey struts about the barnyard."
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MY EXPLANATIONS OF CERTAIN OTHER WORDS & PHRASES IN THIS SONG [Added April 7, 2015]
"ball" = dance
hall = building
"dusky belles" = Black beautiful ladies [beautiful women of any African descent]
"They were doing for fair" = probably a common African American saying for "They were pretty good" [in this context] at dancing. [Note that this is my guess. I've never heard this phrase or read it outside of this song.]
"Tried to do the cake walk swell" = tried to do the cake walk very well - The cakewalk is a 19th century African American originated dance in which couples strut in imitation of formal European dances. The couple who is judged to be the best calk walkers wins a cake as their prize.
"When a midnight blonde" - a light skinned black beauty (formerly known as "yellow", and/or "high yellow". [Note that this is my guess. I've never heard "midnight blonde" used before and never read that phrase outside of this song. Also note that "yellow" and "high yellow" haven't been used as referents for African Americans since at least the 1950s.]
"syncopate" - dance to the music's rhythm and beat
"knock 'em dizzy" - make them lightheaded and excited with admiration
"struck an attitude" -held their body and had facial expressions that conveyed poise, self-confidence, pridefulness, insolence, and more.
"strut your stuff" = strut your body
"by the kirk" = by the church
Trot your tootsies by the church! = basically means the same thing as "strut your stuff by the church, except "tootsies" mean "toes" [feet]
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FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: STRUT MISS LIZZIE - MARY STAFFORD & HER JAZZ BAND
lindyhoppers Published on May 24, 2012
STRUT MISS LIZZIE
Composed by Harry Creamer & J. Turner Layton
-snip-
[The text about Mary Stafford in the beginning of this sound file is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Stafford_(singer)
"Mary Stafford (ca. 1895 – ca. 1938) was an American cabaret singer in the classic blues style. In January, 1921, she became the first African American woman to record for Columbia Records. She toured widely throughout the mid-Atlantic in the 1920s and into the 1930s. She performed at the Lafayette Theater in New York City, where she appeared in Rocking Chair Revue in 1931 and in Dear Old Southland in 1932.[1] After 1932 she worked outside the music industry in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where she is thought to have died ca. 1938.[1]"
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Example #2: Victor Credenza Victrola, plays Hot Jazz from 1930, "Strut Miss Lizzie" The Hotsy Totsy Gang"
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Bruce Victrolaman Young, Uploaded on Jan 19, 2009
Here is Irving Mills & his Hotsy Totsy Gang from June of 1930. The Composition is "Strut Miss Lizzie" by Cramer & Layton. This is considered one of the greatest "White" jazz bands of this era, and at times included such notables as Bix on Cornet, Hoagy on piano, Celeste and Vocals, Jimmy & Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Joe Venuti on Jazz Violin, and Miff Mole among others. The Record is 10" Brunswick #4983....
