What's a "Hoedown"?

[Steve Boylan]

Denys (and the dance world at large),
I took the liberty of looking up what various references had to say
about the word "Hoedown". The Oxford English Dictionary defines the
word simply as a U. S. term for "A noisy, riotous dance" (you know how
those Americans behave, after all).

Webster's Third New International Dictionary gives the definitions:
1 a: a lively old-time dance; esp: SQUARE-DANCE
b: a lively hillbilly tune played usu. to accompany
folk or square dancing
2 a: an informal dancing party at which hoedowns are danced
b: (slang) a loud or spectacular affair (as a social or
theatrical event)

(Note, too, that the above definition follows the 1a/1b/2a/2b form
of many traditional dance tunes!)

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary abbreviates all of the above to,
simply, "SQUARE-DANCING".

In practice, I've heard the word used to refer to Western-style or
"club-style" square dance events. No one in their right vocabulary,
of course, would refer to a New England dance, no matter how
boisterous, as a (ahem) "hoe-down"!

Hoping all this is of use . . .

- - Steve

[Stan Isaacs]

> In practice, I've heard the word used to refer to Western-style or
> "club-style" square dance events. No one in their right vocabulary,
> of course, would refer to a New England dance, no matter how
> boisterous, as a (ahem) "hoe-down"!

I would never use "hoe-down" for a modern "club-style" square dance.
Back when I did square dancing, in the late fifties,
Western-style meant singing calls (presumably prevalent in the West),
while Eastern style was primarily hash calls. Both hoe-downs and barn
dances refered to country (as opposed to city) dances, presumably
originally done on farms. (Of course, I was a city boy - the fact
that WE called that kind of dancing "hoe-downs" or "barn dances" could
well come from Hollywood, Broadway, books, or whatever.)

-- Stan Isaacs