Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2009 American Team Clogging as Pilgrimage and Heritage Ritual James Andrew Howard Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VISUAL ARTS, THEATRE AND DANCE AMERICAN TEAM CLOGGING AS PILGRIMAGE AND HERITAGE RITUAL By JAMES ANDREW HOWARD A Thesis sub itted to the Depart ent of Dance in partial fulfill ent of the require ents for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded. Spring Se ester, 2001 Copyright © 2001 Ja es Andrew Howard All Rights Reser3ed The me bers of the Co ittee appro3e the Thesis of Ja es Andrew Howard defended on March 30, 2001. _________________________________ Tricia Young Professor Directing Thesis __________________________________ Jennifer At6ins Committee Member __________________________________ Sally So er Co ittee Me ber __________________________________ Patricia Phillips Co ittee Me ber Appro3ed. _____________________________________ Patricia Phillips, Co7Chair, Depart ent of Dance _____________________________________ Sally McRorie, Dean, College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance The Graduate School has verified and appro3ed the abo3e na ed co ittee me bers. ii Dedicated, in lo3ing me ory, to Ryan Lee Marsh (118372008) Than6 you, Ryan, for your encourage ent in this and many other ad3entures. Than6 you for being part of my story. One more thing= iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first li6e to than6 my fa ily for being tea cloggers, by association, for o3er 21 years. My grand other, Annie Ruth Howard (Granny Annie, as many clogging friends call her), has been exceptionally supporti3e and significant in my clogging ad3entures, fro the earliest lessons to fa ily su er pilgri ages to Dollywood. To all my fa ily (including my —clogging fa ilyA), my clogging experience would not be as eaningful if I had not first and always experienced it with people I lo3e dearly. I would li6e to than6 Pat Bedingfield for my first clogging steps and Debra and Lynnette White for inspiring me to entertain, while a me ber of the Side6ic6 Cloggers. I a fortunate enough to ha3e two fa ilies. one I was blessed to be born to and one that I chose for myself77 the A erican Rac6et Cloggers, the best friends I could e3er as6 for. So e cloggers ha3e helped me specifically with this project through continuous support. Erin Hughes Hunter, Lauren Fac6ender Car ody, Jenny Boston, and Chelsea Dunlop (a clogger by association). For the greatest source of encourage ent during the process of writing this thesis, I than6 Juliet McMains who is as passionate about her ballroo dance gla our as I a about my tea clogging ho e7spuns. Than6 you, Juliet, for re inding me that this in3est ent is bigger than a thesis. Than6 you, to Jennifer At6ins for her patience and her detailed feedbac6, not to mention the sacrifice of hours and hours of editing. Than6 you also to Sally So er. I ha3e fond e ories that were made possible by you, especially the opportunity for this clogger to ta6e on the streets of New Yor6 City 9literally, as I registered myself a street perfor er). Tricia Young is truly the —roc6A of the A erican Dance Studies progra . Than6 you, Tricia, for not gi3ing up on me. A big than6s to clogging scholarship pioneers. Loyal Jones, Susan Ei6e Spalding, Da3id Whisant, and Jane Harris WoodsideC also to Gwen Kennedy Ne3ille and Celeste Ray whose wor6, although not about clogging, inspired me a great deal. So e other —fol6sA ha3e been helpful in this project. Jeff Driggs, Bruce Garner, Janice HanDel, Lib Mills, Dan Angel, Bill Nichols, A erican Clogging Hall of Fa e, National Clogging and Hoedown Association i3 9CLOG, Inc.), the Barbary Coast Cloggers, the Buffalo Chips, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Pac6 Me orial Library of Ashe3ille, North Carolina. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................ 3i Sy bols, Abbre3iations, and No enclature ............................................. 3iii Abstract ................................................................................................ ix 1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 2. A erican IndustrialiDation and Rural7The ed Entertain ent As A Root Paradig .................................................................... 1 2. Ashe3illeEs Mountain Dance and Fol6 Festi3al ..................................... 18 3. —InterludeA. Tea Clogging 112871180 ................................................ 51 4. A erican Clogging Hall of Fa e Pilgri age ....................................... 53 5. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 77 APPENDICES ............................................................................................ 71 A Tea Clogging Ti eline ............................................................. 71 B Lunsford Collection and Mountain Dance and Fol6 Festi3al Ti eline .................................................... 82 C ACHF Rules and Clogging Categories (2001) ............................ 85 D Sa ple ACHF Score Sheet, Southern Appalachian Category (Big Set) ............................. 11 E 2008 ACHF National Dance Off Participating Senior, Adult, and Young Adult Tea s and Cities ............... 100 REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 105 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...................................................................... 118 3i LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Ashe3illeEs Pac6 Square .......................................................................... 23 Figure 2. Ashe3illeEs Pac6 Square .......................................................................... 23 Figure 3. Ashe3illeEs Pac6 Square (1111) .............................................................. 24 Figure 4. WNC Rhododendron in Bloo ............................................................... 24 Figure 5. Float in Rhododendron Festi3al Parade 91133) ....................................... 25 Figure 6. Basco La ar Lunsford at Rutherford College ..................................... 27 Figure 7. Basco La ar Lunsford as Lecturer on WNC Culture (Flyer) .............. 28 Figure 8. Circle Four Figures, Dancers at MDFF ................................................... 31 Figure 9. MDFF Poster 92Ith Annual Event) .......................................................... 32 Figure 10. The Hill Billies (Band), Self Pro otion Illustration ............................. 34 Figure 11. The Hill Billies (Band), Pro otion Photograph as Pro oted by O6eh Record Label ........................................... 34 Figure 12. Basco La ar Lunsford Dancing at MDFF ......................................... 3I Figure 13. Illustration of Big Set Dance For ations .............................................. 31 Figure 14. Sa QueenEs Soco Gap Dancers 9Practicing) ....................................... 4I Figure 15. Lunsford and Dancers at MDFF ............................................................ 48 Figure 1I. Scene Outside Ashe3ille Auditoriu During MDFF ............................ 48 Figure 17. MDFF Cha pions, 1170 ....................................................................... 41 Figure 18. MDFF Dancers ...................................................................................... 41 Figure 11. S ooth Dance Tea at MDFF ............................................................. 50 Figure 20. View of Audience and Platfor at MDFF ............................................ 50 Figure 21. Montreat S ooth Dance Tea at MDFF .............................................. I1 3ii Figure 22. Sto pinE Ground Outdoor Sign, Maggie Valley .................................. II Figure 23. Tea Co peting, Inside Sto pinE Ground Venue ............................... II 3iii LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND NOMENCLATURE Sy bol Definition ACHF A erican Clogging Hall of Fa e MDFF 9Ashe3illeEs) Mountain Dance and Fol6 Festival NCHC National Clogging and Hoedown Council WASP White Anglo7Saxon Protestant WNC Western North Carolina Ter s for Interpretation of ACHF Rules (Appendix C) Progressi3e Start One dancer starts percussi3e footwor6. Others Boin in, one at a ti e, until the entire tea is dancing. Progressi3e Step Step sequences that ight brea6 unison a ong dancers 9i.e., dancers tra3eling in opposite directions ight be on opposite feetC dancers ight perfor steps in —ripplesA rather that in unison, etc.) Rise and Shine Also called @showcasing,“ where one dancer or couple is featured as a solo perfor er (usually a @freestyleA solo) Drag Slide Style Basic StandardiDed Clogging Steps which include. Double7steps, Roc67steps, Chugs, Brush Steps, Kic6 Steps, etc. Steps usually not accepted as Drag Slide Style include. Canadian style steps, certain tap steps 9pull bac6s, toe stands, etc.), buc6 steps 9heel7ball, heel7ball), etc. ix ABSTRACT This thesis in3estigates ritual expressions of heritage and identity within a dance co unity, A erican Tea Clogging. The scope of this thesis includes co petiti3e tea clogging which e erged through a spontaneous fusion of regional —big setA square dancing and i pro3ised percussi3e footwor6 (otherwise perfor ed solo) during a square dance co petition at Ashe3ille, North CarolinaEs Mountain Dance and Fol6 Festi3al in 1128 (originally known as the Rhododendron Festi3al). This study