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Posted by: Stephen Winick
In our last post, we presented the text and photos of our 2016 mummers play, St. George and the Arrearage Monster: A Mumming in Process. Below, see a video of the play, shot on AFC’s trusty tablet by Jonathan Gold, our audio engineer. The acoustics in the Library’s Great Hall make it rather difficult to …
Posted in: christmas, Dance, Drama, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, Holidays, Mumming
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: Every year, in the week of the Library’s holiday party, staff members of the American Folklife Center put our research and performance skills into play, bringing collections to life in a dramatic performance that tours the halls of the Library of Congress. Dressed in costumes that range from striking to silly, we sing, act, …
Posted in: christmas, Dance, England, Folk Drama, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, James Madison Carpenter, Mumming
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post by Jennifer Cutting. The “Five Questions” interview was performed by Danna Bell, from the Library of Congress’s Educational Outreach office. A shorter version of her answers is available at their blog, Teaching with the Library of Congress. Describe what you do at the Library of Congress and the materials …
Posted in: AFC History, AFC Reading Room Visitors, African Americans, christmas, Dance, Drama, England, Folklorists, May Day, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Note: This is part of a series of blog posts about the 40th Anniversary Year of the American Folklife Center. Visit this link to see them all! April 29 is International Dance Day, established by the International Dance Council (CID) in 1982 to call attention to the importance of dance worldwide. So get your dances …
Posted in: AFC 40th Anniversary, AFC Events, African Americans, Asian American History, Dance, Homegrown Concert Series, Native American History, Pacific Islander History, Pacific Islands Americans
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The American Folklife Center is very grateful to April Rodriguez, one of this year’s 36 Library of Congress Junior Fellow Summer Interns. April has been working with Alan Lomax’s choreometrics materials, a lesser-known but crucial aspect of his research. Her work has revealed aspects of the collection our own staff didn’t know about, and will …
Posted in: Alan Lomax, Dance, Folklorists, Internship program
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
The earliest East Asian immigrants often had a difficult journey making their way to the United States. Many carried little with them but the cultural traditions they knew, such as language, stories, religious customs, foodways, music, song, and dance. Chinese Americans Chinese immigrants, mainly Cantonese speakers from Guangdong, were among the first Asians to come …
Posted in: Asian American History, Cultural Heritage, Dance, Folk Music, Folksong, Foodways, immigration, Religion
Posted by: Stephen Winick
Note: Every year, in the week before Christmas, staff members of the American Folklife Center put our research and performance skills into play, bringing collections to life in a dramatic performance that tours the halls of the Library of Congress. Dressed in costumes that range from striking to silly, we sing, act, rhyme, and dance …
Posted in: Dance, Drama, Folk Drama, Holidays, Mumming
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Historically, the Omaha Indian Hethu’shka Society were a group of highly respected men, voted into the group by unanimous consent of the society, who aimed to set a strong example for their people of the best attributes of a warrior. Although traditionally deeds in combat were the central test for inclusion in the society, such …
Posted in: Alan Jabbour, Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Cultural Heritage, Dance, Folk Music, Folksong, Francis La Flesche, Native American History
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The following is a guest post authored in 2014 by Russell Rodríguez and Quetzal Flores of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. We edited the post in 2024 to add two relevant videos, making it part of the Homegrown Plus series. Welcome to our introduction to son jarocho and the fandango. Before we get started, …
Posted in: AFC Events, Dance, Folk Music, Folksong, Hispanic American History, Homegrown Concert Series, Homegrown Plus