25 Jun
2017
25 Jun
'17
2:23 p.m.
How did French prompts like Promenade, Allemande, and Dos-a-Dos get into American
dancing?
From Morrison Foster (Stephen's older brother):
"When Stephen was a child, my father had a mulatto bound girl named Olivia Pise, the
illegitimate daughter of a West Indian Frenchman, who taught dancing to the upper circles
of Pittsburgh society early in the nineteenth century. "Lieve," as she was
called, was a devout Christian and a member of a church of shouting colored people. the
little boy was fond of their singing and boisterous devotions. She was permitted to often
take Stephen to church with her . . . . A number of strains heard there, and which, he
said to me, were too good to be lost, have been preserved by him, short scraps of which
were incorporated in two of his songs, "Hard Times Come Again No More" and
"Oh, Boys, Carry Me 'Long.""
This passage was taken from Biography, Songs and Musical Compositions of Stephen C.
Foster, published privately by his brother in 1896.
It seems clear that French holdings in the West Indies had less suppressive relations
between plantation owner and slave than in the U.S. There would have been many
opportunities for Africans to imitate and emulate French dancing (imitation such as this
also occurred later in the cakewalk). It would have been necessary in that culture. As
there were many African languages present, French would have been used for this invention
of prompting as it was the common tongue there.
After the Haitian Revolution which started in 1791 some of these Creoles migrated to the
states, mostly to New Orleans at first. They had middle and upper class status during the
French and Spanish periods until the Louisiana Purchase brought U.S. attitudes there. In
that early period French would have been used in dancing.
Fred Feild
________________________________
Reply via web
post<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/trad-dance-callers/conversation…
• Reply to sender
<mailto:lsievert@yahoo.com?subject=Re%3A%20Fundraising%20for%20The%20Dancing%20Master%20of%20Canterbury%20theatre%20project%21>
• Reply to group
<mailto:trad-dance-callers@yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20Fundraising%20for%20The%20Dancing%20Master%20of%20Canterbury%20theatre%20project%21>
• Start a New
Topic<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/trad-dance-callers/conversatio…
• Messages in this
topic<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/trad-dance-callers/conversatio…
(1)
________________________________
[https://s.yimg.com/ru/static/images/yg/img/megaphone/1464031581_phpFA8bON]
Have you tried the highest rated email app?<https://yho.com/1wwmgg>
With 4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the highest rated email app on the market.
What are you waiting for? Now you can access all your inboxes (Gmail, Outlook, AOL and
more) in one place. Never delete an email again with 1000GB of free cloud storage.
________________________________
The Traditional Dance Callers List: Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail message (no
subject, no message) to: trad-dance-callers-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com
Visit Your
Group<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/trad-dance-callers/info;_ylc=X…
[Yahoo!
Groups]<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlOGEyZDJsBF9TAzk3MzU5Nz…
• Privacy<https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> •
Unsubscribe<mailto:trad-dance-callers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
• Terms of Use<https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/>
.