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Category: Dance

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Remembering the Life and Work of Tony Barrand: The 2003 Interview [Part 1]

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The American Folklife Center mourns the passing of Anthony Grant "Tony" Barrand, a singer, dancer, teacher, and folklorist who donated the Anthony Grant Barrand Collection of Morris, Sword, and Clog Dancing (AFC 2003/005) to AFC in 2003. In addition to making this collection, Barrand has been a proponent of English folk traditions in America for more than 50 years. He was a longtime dancer as well as a singer and musician with the John Roberts and Tony Barrand duo, and with the quartet Nowell Sing We Clear. Barrand, who was born in Lincolnshire and continued growing up in Buckinghamshire, England, died on January 29, 2022 at age 76 in his adopted home of Marlboro, Vermont. The interview was recorded to audio and video tape and is in the AFC archive. This post is the first in a series of posts, each of which will present a portion of the interview in transcribed form.

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Caught My Ear: Dance Tunes in the National Jukebox from Collections by Cecil Sharp

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Many divisions of the Library of Congress have fascinating collections that are closely related to folklife and that complement collections in the American Folklife Center. The Recorded Sound Section is a part of the Library that works closely with the American Folklife Center in a variety of important ways. Among their holdings are recordings related …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Katherine Dunham’s Ethnographic Research in the Caribbean

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

Katherine Dunham is perhaps most famous for her influence on modern American dance with the introduction of African and Caribbean dance movement. That work began with ethnographic work in the Caribbean in 1936. Films made during her research have been put online by the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Selections from the …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Traditional Sports for Unity

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

The ancient concept of the Olympics was to create competitions that brought people together once every four years in a ritual in honor of the god Zeus. Wars were banned while the games were put on allowing people of different states to participate and travel to and from the games safely. People came from all …

A dancer in Native American regalia on an ornate marble floor with a group of hoops merged to form a sphere.

Homegrown Plus: Nakotah LaRance, 1989-2020

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Normally, the Homegrown Plus series is a way to bring together the videos of Homegrown concerts with other information about the artists, including oral history interviews.  This time, however, we have a more solemn duty: to celebrate the life and legacy of Nakotah LaRance, an outstanding Native American hoop dancer from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Nepal traditional dance comes to the American Folklife Center

Posted by: John Fenn

In this guest post one of our archivists, Valda Morris, discusses the work she’s been doing behind the scenes to process an important collection and help create a finding aid that will assist researchers in discovering the richness of the materials.  The American Folklife Center is proud to announce the availability of an online finding …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Homegrown Plus: Cambodian-American Heritage Dancers with Chum Ngek Ensemble

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

In the Homegrown Plus series, we present Homegrown concerts that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post. (Find the whole series here!) We’re continuing the series with a concert and oral history with the Cambodian-American Heritage Dancers with Chum Ngek Ensemble. Update: in September, 2020, Chum Ngek did …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Homegrown Plus: The Sattriya Dance Company with the Dancing Monks of Assam

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

In the Homegrown Plus series, we present Homegrown concerts that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post. (Find the whole series here!) We’re continuing the series with the Sattriya Dance Company with the Dancing Monks of Assam Traditional Dance from Assam, India. This is one of two related …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Homegrown Plus: Kalanidhi Dance Company Performs Kuchipudi Dance

Posted by: Stephanie Hall

In the Homegrown Plus series, we present Homegrown concerts that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post. (Find the whole series here!) We’re continuing the series with a performance of Kuchipudi dance by the Kalanidhi Dance Company from Maryland and an oral history with their director, Anuradha Nehru. This is …