Canadian Dances - The Butterfly
Marian Rose
I am currently producing a book and tape of dances, and would like to include as
much Canadian content as possible. I would like to know what people think of as
Canadian dances of any sort. On the prairies, we regularly danced polkas, waltzes,
schottisches, two-steps, and a few rare squares, but can these be called Canadian?
Also, I am very curious about the origin of the three-person dance "The Butterfly",
a must-do at every wedding and social event on the Canadian prairies. I've asked
numerous people about it, and they just shrug their shoulders and say "I dunno, we
just always did it". I suspect that it is of Eastern European origin, but I have
nothing but my own ethnicity to base that on. I've never seen it written down
anywhere, either.
Is this the best place to be posting this question? Please let me know if there is a
better one.
Thanks
Marian
Marian Rose
I am currently producing a tape and booklet of dances for sale to schools and
community groups, and want to include as much Canadian content as possible. On the
prairies, we danced polkas, schottishes, two-steps and the occasional square dance,
but does that make these Canadian dances? What do you think of as Canadian dance?
As well, I am curious about the origin of the three-person dance, the Butterfly, a
must-do at every wedding and social event on the Canadian prairies. I've asked many
people about this, but they just shrug and say "I dunno, we just always did it". I
suspect that it is of Eastern European origin, but I have nothing but my own
ethnicity to go on, and I have never seen it described in print.
Is this the best place to be asking this question? Please let me know if there is
another place that would be good to post this.
Thanks
Marian
Paul M. Gifford
>I am currently producing a tape and booklet of dances for sale to schools and
>community groups, and want to include as much Canadian content as possible. On the
>prairies, we danced polkas, schottishes, two-steps and the occasional square dance,
>but does that make these Canadian dances? What do you think of as Canadian dance?
Sure they do. Remember, too, that Canadians, like British and Australians,
pronounce schottische "shotteesh," with the accent on the second syllable,
unlike Americans, who say "shottish," accented on the first syllable.
Also----maybe the particular variety of schottische done in the prairies is
the Scandinavian variety. I suspect the polkas in the prairies derive more
from Eastern or Northern European influence than from the Anglo variety.
One older dance done by the Indians around Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, but not
in the lower part of the state, and so I think of it as Canadian, is the
Highland Fling.
>As well, I am curious about the origin of the three-person dance, the
Butterfly, a >must-do at every wedding and social event on the Canadian
prairies. I've asked many >people about this, but they just shrug and say "I
dunno, we just always did it". I >suspect that it is of Eastern European
origin, but I have nothing but my own >ethnicity to go on, and I have never
seen it described in print.
Yes, this is curious. I have an old record by Fiddlin' Ron Mrozik, a fiddler
from Manitoba, I think. He plays a number of "butterflies." Could it be
Scandinavian rather than Ukrainian? My impression, from this record, is that
Scandinavian influences as well as Ukrainian influences are at work there.
Paul Gifford
Charles H. Roth
>I am curious about the origin of the three-person dance, the
Back in the 50's, the German polka bands in Minnesota used to play the
Butterfly. The German and Czech polka bands in Texas used to play a 3-person
dance called The Garden Waltz, which is sinilar to the Butterfly. Many
European countries have similar trio dances, for example, the German
Studentenpolka.
-- Chuck Roth
Jeremy Hull
Marian Rose <maria...@mindlink.bc.ca> wrote:
>I am currently producing a book and tape of dances, and would like to include as
>much Canadian content as possible. I would like to know what people think of as
>Canadian dances of any sort.
Some other sources of Canadian dances for you to consider are
international folk dance groups, French-Canadian folk dance groups, and
Aboriginal. La Bastringue is a very common French-Canadian dance done by
IFD groups in North America, but I understand that there are lots of
others. One that I learned at an Yves Moreau workshop last year is
called "la Quadrille de Saint-Basile" and is a type of square dance with
five parts. France Moreau apparantly specializes in French-Canadian
dances and is teaching them at the Ontario International Folk Dance Camp
this weekend in Waterloo.
A dance that I have seen listed as both English and Canadian is "Arnold's
Circle," and I suppose that it's difficult to say what is distinctly
Canadian in many cases. Here in Winnipeg we are familiar with the Red
River Jig, of course. There are also the square dances that are done
with a jigging step by groups of young Aboriginal dances in competitions
(and shown on television on Saturday afternoons). I suppose that by
rights pow-wow dancing should be at the tope of the list of truly
Canadian dances. Last, don't forget the infamous Bird Dance.
Jeremy
Bob Dalsemer
In article <4mujst$q...@fountain.mindlink.net>, Marian Rose
<maria...@mindlink.bc.ca> wrote:
> Also, I am very curious about the origin of the three-person dance "The
Butterfly",
> a must-do at every wedding and social event on the Canadian prairies.
I've asked
> numerous people about it, and they just shrug their shoulders and say "I
dunno, we
> just always did it". I suspect that it is of Eastern European origin,
but I have
> nothing but my own ethnicity to base that on. I've never seen it written down
> anywhere, either.
>
> Is this the best place to be posting this question? Please let me know
if there is a
> better one.
>
> Thanks
> Marian
Marian -
Could you describe the dance in a little more detail and perhaps give us
some idea of what kind of music is used for it? The name alone is not
always a clue to the background of a dance.
Bob
Marian Rose
dals...@grove.net (Bob Dalsemer) wrote:
>Could you describe the dance in a little more detail and perhaps give us
>some idea of what kind of music is used for it? The name alone is not
>always a clue to the background of a dance.
It's a trio dance with two parts, a slow part in 3/4 time and a fast part that could
be anything, hoedown, reel or polka. In the slow part, partners link arms, or put
their arms around each others' shoulders and simply walk to the music, often
swinging their legs or hopping (step hop hop). When the music changes, the centre
person becomes a whirling dervish, doing alternate elbow turns with the two on
either side. That's it.
When I was growing up, we used a tune that my grandmother played, which to my
knowledge has no name. I've also heard "Oh Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone",
"How Much is that Doggie" or "Put Your LIttle Foot" as the slow part and Arkansas
Traveller, Little Brown Jug, Soldier's Joy and the like for the fast part.
There is also a tradition of teasing the dancers by making unpredictable changes,
speeding up, slowing down, and always finishing with an extra long fast part at a
blistering pace. Everyone has a story of dancing the Butterfly: at my sister's
wedding, I made the mistake of dancing with my two burly brothers, - my feet didn't
touch the floor for the whole dance, and it took a week for the bruises on my arms
to heal. Not for the faint of heart.
VOCB
Hi,
Arnold's Circle was written by the late Cor Hogendijk, a caller from
Holland. It appears in the book "English or Double Dutch", published by
the NVS in 1973.
Philippe Callens
Antwerp, Belgium
vo...@innet.be