Hi all,
Seth asked "Is "Levi Jackson Rag" an English Dance?".
The answer is very simple. It was written by an English man
so, yes, it is an English dance!
Modern American ECD is a small subset of English country
dancing!
See also:
http://contrafusion.co.uk/EnglishAmerican.html
I have asked many times for the American ECD callers to define
exactly what American ECD is, but no-one has been able to give an answer.
Basically because it is the subset of dances that a particular group want to
use in their community at a particular time.
The best definition I could come up with is the one I put in
Wikipedia: "While English Folk Dance Clubs generally embrace all types of
country dance, American English Country Dance (ECD) groups tend to exclude
modern contra dances and square dances." I have been to American ECD
sessions where a wider range of dances are used, and if you look through
some of the groups' archives you will find a much wider range of dances
fifty years ago.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html for Live Music Ceilidhs
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive DVDs