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Foreword

This book is not just another collection of square dance figures. It is a new type of dance book altogether.

Since the discovery of rural dance traditions by urban Americans at the beginning of this century, publications on this topic have polarized towards two viewpoints. The first typically presents "everything you need to know about square dancing" and gives little or no information on the sources or history of the dances presented, while the second presents the dances of a particular community, often full of local color, but with little awareness of the way these dances relate to larger regional forms.

Neither approach recognizes the diversity of American traditional dance, nor the larger social context within which these dances have evolved. Indeed, dance traditions have always developed as a direct response to the needs of a particular social group.

West Virginia Square Dances describes regular dance events in five communities. Details such as program format, type of audience and price and method of admission are considered alongside the traditions of figure calling, musical performance and the dance figures themselves. The history of each dance event is discussed as is the on-going process of evolution. Best of all, the dances are described exactly as the author found them, without generalization or "improvements."

Bob Dalsemer is in a unique position to write such a book. As a dance caller and teacher with many years experience, Bob understands a great deal about the mechanics of dancing and of a dance as a social event. Bob has also attended a greater variety of traditional dances than anyone I know, especially in the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states. His analysis of these particular West Virginia communities reflects both his broad knowledge of regional dance customs and his concern with the details that make each community of dancers special.

This is a book that has much lasting value and solid scholarship as well as immediate applica-bility. I hope it will be read by folklorists, dancers, dance leaders and, most of all, by West Virginians who are interested in reading about the way they or their neighbors spend their Saturday nights.

James E. Morrison

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Home | Preface | Introduction | New Creek | Dunmore | Glenville | Helvetia | Morgantown | Tunes | Transcriptions | Worley Gardner's Tunes | Bibliography | About the Author