Dance Dance Appalachia

On September 19th, Frostburg State University's upper quad transformed into a family-friendly festival filled with Frostburg students and locals all emerging themselves in Appalachian culture. The atmosphere was filled with great vibes, delicious food, fun activities, and different forms of entertainment. At 12:40pm on the Compton stage, a group of dancers from Davis and Elkins College performed their Appalachia-style dancing. The Davis and Elkins Appalachian Dance ensemble is a dance ensemble and string band, and their music and dance styles focus on “North American string band music and percussive dance traditions of the Appalachian region.” Some of the dance ensemble’s styles include traditional Appalachian dance styles such as customary clogging and line dancing as well as the waltz and step dancing. Looking on the small stage filled with dancers, and witnessing the energetic and upbeat personas portrayed to the audience, it was evident that the members of this ensemble are genuine lovers of dance.

           
The first performance was traditional line dancing and clogging; in the partner work it was apparent the charismatic connections that each dancer had with his or her partner and with the audience. After the first performance, the leader of the ensemble says: “That performance was clogging and square dance from green grass influenced style dance…now we’re going to play something for you called ‘Little Rabbit Where’s Your Mammy?’” The string band accompanying the dance ensemble played their song while the dancers went off stage to prepare for their next performance. The string ensembles “Little Rabbit Where’s Your Mammy” was a folk song comprised of a couple of different instruments such as the bass guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo.

            After the song, the dancers emerged on stage once again and instead of clog shoes, (sort of like tap shoes, in order to emphasize the sound of the clogging) the dancers were wearing sneakers. Rather than clogging in this performance the dancers were stepping, making beats with their hands and feet, kind of incorporating urban style dance into their traditional Appalachian style.

“Reminds me of acapella” said one woman in the audience, and she was quite right. The dancers making their music with their hands and feet with stomps claps and snaps can be compared to an acapella singing group where the different ranges of voices all work together to emulate musical instruments. Coincidentally, the next performance was the string ensemble band again, except now instead of instruments and music they were singing a song in acapella. You could see the crowd’s appreciation for such raw talent
           
The last and final performance was the dance ensemble back to their clogging and Appalachian style dancing. Each member of the ensemble was introduced with their name and where they are from. The dancers were from a number of different places from Rockville Maryland and West Virginia, to Michigan and Canada.
          
  When the performance was over I was able to interview two of the members of the dance ensemble. One dancer was Mia Gresak is from Bridgeport West Virginia, and when I asked her how long she’s been dancing she says, “I’ve been dancing my entire life. I love dancing…you can add an exclamation point in there!!!” she laughs wholeheartedly and I can see that the energy the performers had onstage wasn’t just for the performance but these dancers genuinely love what they do and it brings them joy to perform for audiences. She tells me the types of dancing she’s studied and done in the past: “I’ve done ballet, modern, and jazz but this is my 2^nd year in the Appalachian dance ensemble. The previous dance experience in my past definitely helped me with learning a new style of dance."
Another dancer I got a chance to talk to was Kaia Kater from Toronto and Ontario Canada. I asked her the same question, how long she’s been dancing, and she replies, ‘I’ve never really danced until freshman year of college. I’m a senior now.” Surprised, I asked her how she got into dance at college and she says, "I was recruited into the dance team by someone who though I’d enjoy it and be good at it, and I love it it’s so amazing, so much fun!” The dancers, although more than willing to talk with me, seemed to be distracted by all the questions and attention they were receiving from other audience members.


The members of the Davis and Elkins Appalachian dance ensemble were really enthusiastic about their dance, and the audience was able to feed off of that enthusiastic energy. This year’s Appalachian festival was success, and the Appalachian dance ensemble really did quite well.

For more info on Davis and Elkins Dance Ensemble