The lively and rhythmic Juba (aka: giouba) which may have been related to theRing Shout was a group dance consisting of a mix of European Jigs, Reel Steps, Clog dance with African Rhythms thrown in, becoming popular in the Minstrel Circuit around 1845.

    Onlookers would form a circle and two men would be in the center doing hand clapping, vigorous foot stomping and hand patting of the thighs, with feet turned out, and heels clicking together, generally the dancers had one leg raised as they danced a counter-clockwise circle... they would end the dance with a step called the 'Long Dog Scratch.' When the singers forming the circle (dancers doing a call and response form) said "Juba, Juba!, the whole circle would join in for a brief time.

    When the law allowed, the dance used only a drummer. Later Juba music was supposedly named after William Henry Lane [1825-1862 (or 1848?)] who was more famously known as "Master Juba". Henry Lane was a master

of the Jig, Clog, Giouba and the Ring Shout. The Juba dance consisted of steps called the Long Dog Scratch, Jubal Jew, Yaller Cat, Pigeon Wing and Blow that Candle Out.

    It's predecessor was also known as "Pattin' Juba" done by traditional West African tribes and was brought to the states by the slaves. Pattin' Juba started any dance form with a clapping or slapping of the thighs, the chest, knees and body thus creating a rhythm pattern. Many times the slaves would be involved in an impromptu gathering and had no instruments to dance, so they would "Pat" there own rhythms. Later during the slave revolt, slave owners were starting to get wise to the use of drums being used for more than just dancing and feared the potential of talking drums (the Yoruba Drum namely) to "speak" in a tongue unknown to the slave traders and thus to incite rebellion, these and other drums were once banned from use by African American slaves in the United States. Dancing was generally not banned however and the slaves had to use other device, such as Pattin' Juba to create the sounds for dance as well as to hide messages in the rhythms as the pattin' sounds could be heard for a distance. Not unlike how the indians used smoke signals, the slaves used sounds.

    The Juba dance was supposedly the indirect creation of Tap dance in America as an theatrical art form and American Jazz dance. Master Juba was in a few dance contests held at Vauxhall Gardens as well as a few other locations and he beat all comers, including the famous white dancer "John Diamond," who was the previous Worlds Clog Champion, not once but twice!. It is also called "Djouba" and in Haiti, where it is done as a set dance called "The Martinique."

    Note:
Historically, the name Juba (Joob) as well as his son, was a king of Numidia in N Africa 85 BC- 46 BC. He fought on the side of Metellus Scipio and took his life after Caesar's victory at Thapsus. His son gained the title and married Cleopatra Selene who was daughter to Cleopatra and Antony.

   Also Juba is the capital of Bahr el Gebel State and headquarters of the Bahr el Jebel province; it is also the historic capital of Southern Sudan. There also is a River named Juba in NE Africa, rising in S central Ethiopia and flowing south across Somalia to the Indian Ocean: the chief river of Somalia.Jubal in the Old Testament is the alleged inventor of musical instruments (Genesis 4:21) and probably is related to the step above called the 'Jubal Jew.'

Related Films

Television

Ballets / Stage

1898 - Clog Dancing

Octoberfest: Polka dancers

1898 - Irish Jig

1833 - Long Island Juba (Bowery)

1898 - Sailor's Hornpipe

1898 - Scotch Reel

Publications

1941 - Jungle Jig

1953 - Tam Tam nell'oltre Giuba

JUBA!: Masters of Tap & Percussion Dance

Other Related Dances of the time...

Bambuca

Djouba (Juba)

John Kunering (Canoeing)

Pattin' Juba

Roger de Coverly

Bamboula (Haiti/Congo)

Djuka Dance (Cuba)

Jonah's Band (1910s)

Pattin Rabbit Hash

Shoe Fly

Barn Dance

Folk Dance

Jubilate (Trpudium)

Pedestal Dance

Square Dance

Breakdown

Gigue (Jig)

Jump Jim Crow

Pigeon Wing

Tap

Buck Dance

Giuba

Martinique (Juba)

Reels

Turkey in the Straw

Cakewalk

Hambone

Mess Around, The

Ring Dance

Virginia Reel

Clog

Hornpipe

Old Zip Coon

Ring Shout

Walk Around

Coonjaint (Riverboat Shuffle)

Jig (Gigue)

Dancers, Choreographers etc.

Political

Colleen ????

Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice

King Joobor Juba I (c. 85 BC - 46 BC)

Ethiopian Serenaders - (1848)

Tom from Palestine

Johnny Diamond

White's Serenaders Minstrel Troupe - (1846)

Golden and Grayton (1890s - Pattin' Rabbit Hash)

William Henry Lane (Master Juba)

Pell's Ethiopian Serenaders - (1848)

Books, Magazine Articles on the dance...

Title

Author

Date Published

Publisher

Character & Oriental Dances

Frost, Helen

1927

A.S. Barnes

Dance Encyclopedia, the

Chujoy, Anatole

1949

A.S. Barnes & Co.

$ Jazz Dance

Stearns, Marshall

(1954) rv.1994

Da Capo Press

Jig, Clog, and Breakdown Dancing Made Easy, With Sketches of Noted Jig Dancers

E. James

1873

-

Juba and American minstrelsy

Hannah, Marian

1946

Auvergne Publishers

Juba This, Juba That (Juba based Children's Book)

Virginia A. Tashjian

1969

Little, Brown

$ Juba To Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang

Major, Clarence

(1970) 1994

Penguin USA

Yorston's Popular History of the World,
Division 3 (Rome "The End Of Juba")

John C. Yorston

1883

-

Musicians/ Bands/ Composers etc.

Singers

Poets / Writers

Black Face" Eddie Ross

Charles Dickens - American Journals

Florence Beatrice Smith Price (1887-1953)

Langston Hughes (Minstrel-Jonah Man)

R. Nathaniel Dett

Mark Twain (1840s)

Stephen Foster ?

Victor Symphony Orchestra

Wynton Marsalis

Misc. Research Words that may be related ... to help your searches

Ante-bellum

Juba drums of Haiti

Jubilee (creating Joy)

Virginia Reel

Black face

Jubbah

Jujube (Sweet)

Zip Coon

Beatles: I Am The Walrus

Jubal (Person-Old Testament)

Nago (Africa-Cult)

Zulu origin

Dance Contests

Jubilant (Shout of Joy)

Ring shout

Ibo (Africa-Cult)

Jubilare (17 Century Latin)

Vaudeville

Jim Crow

Jubilation (Feeling of Joy)

Vernacular

Other...

There are many variations of the song lyrics below.

SONG Lyrics:
Juba Juba
Juba 'dis and Juba 'dat,
and Juba kissed 'da yellow cat,
You sift the meal and ya gimme the husk,
you bake the bread and ya gimme the crust,
you eat the meat and ya gimme the skin,
and that's the way,
my mama's troubles begin...