Edited by Azizi Powell
TBC Brass Band performing Donny Hathaway's 'This Christmas' at the Big Nine 2009 Second Line Parade
BigRedCotton, Uploaded on Dec 24, 2009
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This is Part II of a two part series on the 19th century dance known as the "buck & wing", and the "buck jumping" dances that derived from it.
This post features information about & several videos of buck jumping.
Part I provides information & video demonstrations of buck & wing, buck dancing, and several wing movements in tap dancing.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-pigeon-wing-buck-wing-and-buck.html for Part I of this series.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owner.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dancer or a dance historian. My comments are shared in the interest of eliciting more information & opinions about this subject.
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INFORMATION ABOUT BUCK JUMPING
"Buck jumping" is a rhythmic, percussive style of dancing that emphasizes fast foot work. This style of dancing is closely associated with members of New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs & New Orleans second line paraders.
"Buck jumping" is derived from 19th century African American originated "buck & wing" dancing. Buck jumping is closely related to- if not the same as- the 21st century HIp-Hop dances known as footwork, gangsta walkin, jookin, buckin, and other terms. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangsta_Walking for information about these Hip Hop dances. That article that traces the origin of gangsta walkin suggests that it may have "a New Orleans connection. Early gangsta-walking in Memphis was often called "buck jumping", and "buck jumping" was another name for second-lining in New Orleans.”...
Here's some information about "buck jumping" & New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs from http://nolabounce.com/?p=4499 "Second Line Jump: New Orleans Rap And Brass Band Music" By Matt Miller; September 27, 2010
"The number of brass bands has expanded along with the proliferation of “second Line” clubs, so-called “social and pleasure” organizations which hire bands for parades. These clubs stage parades on Sunday afternoons throughout the second line “season” (which spans much of the Fall, Winter and Spring), often to celebrate the anniversary of the club’s founding. These second line parades, along with the “jazz funerals” and Mardi Gras parades that often define New Orleans in the national imagination, serve as a central venue for brass bands and play a key role in disseminating and reinforcing a commonly-held musical sensibility. To outsiders, second line parades might seem like a purely celebratory event, but they can also channel more destructive energies. The bands are often joined by a rowdy group of spontaneous participants (often teenagers or young men) who contribute highly expressive dance and ad-hoc music-making. “Buck jumping,” an individual dance form associated with both brass bands and local rap, is one of the many features of New Orleans’s musical culture that in concept and nomenclature can be traced back to the 19th century and the era of slavery.”...
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Here's information about the New Orleans Social & And Pleasure Clubs from http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/multicultural/multiculturaltraditions/socialaid.html
"Strutting and jumping and high-stepping underneath their decorated parasols, blowing whistles and waving feathered fans, the African-American members of New Orleans’ social aid and pleasure clubs are the organizers, originators, and sponsors of the second line parades for which the city is famous. The brass band that follows the parade’s grand marshal and club members, who are always dressed in coordinated suits and classy hats, blast out exuberant rhythms to propel everyone’s high-spirited march through the streets. The club and brass band are known as the first line, and the audience that forms behind the parade to join in the festivities is the second, hence the term second line parade.
African-American social aid and pleasure clubs aren’t just about parading, however. They grew out of organizations of the mid to late 1800s called benevolent societies, which many different ethnic groups in New Orleans formed. Serving a purpose that today has largely been supplanted by insurance companies, benevolent societies would help dues-paying members defray health care costs, funeral expenses, and financial hardships. They also fostered a sense of unity in the community, performed charitable works, and hosted social events. Benevolent societies always had strong support in the African-American population, and some scholars trace the roots of the African-American societies back to initiation associations of West African cultures from where the majority of New Orleans blacks originally came."
-snip-
The members of New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SAPC) & the second line paraders certainly strut, and they may also jump. But their dancing is a particular fast hopping kind of jumping, sometimes with leg lifts and squatting, and more that typifies "buck jumping". It seems to me that the brass bands perform the high stepping more than the SAPC members or the second liners. Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGxSV5-cR0 for a video of such a brass band in a SAPC parade.
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FEATURED VIDEOS
These videos are posted in chronological order with the videos with the oldest dates posted first.
Video #1: New Orleans Secondline Dancing
SneakinSal, Uploaded on Dec 25, 2006
Secondline dancing on a porch on Washington Avenue, New Orleans. New Generation Social Aid & Pleasure Club parade, December 10, 2006.
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Video #2: Sudan 2008 Second Line featuring Rebirth
Posted by BigRedCotton, December 03, 2008
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Notice the dancer crawling under the legs of another dancer. I've seen this same dance movement in some traditional West African dances & in African American "krumping".
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Video #3: The Hot 8 Brass Band with Ladies And Men of Unity -'Poppa Was A Rolling Stone'
Uploaded by BigRedCotton on Apr 6, 2009
Ladies and Men of Unity Social Aid and Pleasure Club 2nd Annual Second Line Uptown
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Video #4: Divine Ladies Social Aid & Pleasure Club 2009 Annual Parade
Uploaded by BigRedCotton on May 17, 2009
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Notice the "wing"* leg movements (leg lifts) that are done in this video (such as at 1:54-1:57; 2:50-2:53, and 6:27-6:32).
*derived from the buck & the wing dance
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Video #5: Buck-jumping dance-off on Oak St. during the Pigeon Town Steppers Easter Second Line
Lisa Pal, Uploaded on Apr 5, 2010
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RELATED LINK
Click this page of my jambalayah website for more New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Club & Brass Band videos http://www.jambalayah.com/node/1145.
Note that I included comments about the source for the word "buck" in buck jumping. I wrote that that term came from a description of deer jumping. I'm much less convinced of that information now & wish that I could retract that statement. However, for some reason, that page won't accept any edits.
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This concludes Part II of this series.
Thanks to those whose comment I quoted. Thanks also to those who are featured in these videos, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
New Orleans Buck Jumping (information & videos)
Posted on 8:44 AM by Unknown
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