Country–western dance
"Heifer branded" men, those dancing the woman's role, wore handkerchiefs tied around one arm.
The American version of the Virginia Reel, for example, is based on the French dance called "Sir Roger de Coverly".
[14] Southern wrote that "the whites themselves, and especially the younger ones, were apt to move into reels and jigs at their own dances after a few perfunctory bows in the direction of "society sets" such as minuets and cotillions.
[18] In the early 19th century, Richmond, Virginia closed out yearly horse racing with a ball featuring reels, contradances, congos, hornpipes, and jigs.
The term "jig" has been used to describe various forms of solo dance steps, as well as music, and has not been well defined.
Jigs, clogs, shuffles, leaps, heel clicking, hornpipes, and other step dances may have come from various ethnic traditions, or nothing more than an individual improvisation.
A Texan "stag dance" held in 1829 included jigs and hornpipes accompanied by patting juba.
[22] Music was often provided by fiddlers, many of whom were black, or with improvised "instruments": clevis and pin, scraping on a cotton hoe with a knife, patting of the foot, blowing on a comb through a thin piece of paper, tapping against drinking glasses, or even blowing on a peach leaf.
[24] "Frolics" were community events often associated with communal work such as corn shucking or house raising.
Dances for local people in smaller areas lasted for the evening, and the participants would go home after.
Larger dances drew participants from a wider area, some of whom travelled by horseback or car to attend.
[27] From the late 1930s to the 1950s, Western swing was extremely popular at dance venues in the Great Plains.
Popular steps for the dance-focused style included foxtrots, waltzes of the "Mexican" and "cowboy" varieties, and even simple one-step and two-steps.
[29] During World War II, the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles teemed with National Guardsmen keeping watch for enemy ships.
As a result, Venice developed a bustling nightlife scene of dance halls and lounges that featured country western and swing music.
[31][32] During the 1970s and 1980s, the country and western dance club Gilley's Club in Pasadena, Texas was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest nightclub, with a capacity of 6,000 people and a floor space of 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2).
It originates from the Appalachian region and is associated with the predecessor to bluegrass — "old-time" music, which is based on Irish and Scots-Irish fiddle tunes.
"THE STAG DANCE. OUR soldiers believe in the literal interpretation of the dictum of the Wise Man that "there is a time to dance." But to put their faith into works is not the easiest thing in the world, owing to the lack of partners of the feminine persuasion. However, by imagining a bearded and pantalooned fellow to be of "t'other kind," they succeed in getting up what they call a "Stag Dance," which is better than none, as is shown by the intense interest evinced by the spectators."