Professor, musician and flatfoot dancer Phil Jamison has journeyed into the past to tell the story behind the square dances, step dances, reels, and other forms of dance practiced in southern Appalachia.
His new book Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance(University of Illinois Press/2015) argues that these dances are not only the work of early British settlers alone; they are hybrids that developed over time by adopting and incorporating elements from Europeans, African Americans, and Native Americans.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Warren Wilson’s Appalachian Music Program coordinator Phil Jamison about the history of Southern Appalachian Dance. Jamison will read and perform a demonstration at Asheville’s Malaprop’s Bookstore on Friday, July 17 at 7 p.m.
Watch Jamison calling a Texas Star square dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHqS1bOOLVc