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The Walk Around or "General Ruckus" as it was occasionally known was done in the rural southern states as early as the 1860's.
These "Walkers" would walk a straight line and balance buckets of water on their heads as it was used earlier to help
pass the time in the fields, whereas the buckets would be filled with crops. An earlier dance known as the Ring Shout contributed
to the birth of the Walk-Around and it's use in the Minstrel Shows of the time which made the Ring Shout a secular parody.
Minstrelsy was the most popular form of entertainment in America
from 1845-1900. When used in the Minstrel shows the entire cast would come on stage and partake in the Walk Around, singing and
dancing for the closing
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Because of the use of the Walk Around in the Minstrel shows, it received wide spread popularity and influenced many dances to come.
The Breakdown and Walk Around was one of the main sources of the "Chalk Line Walk" (1880s) which later became the "Cakewalk," a comic exaggeration of the the plantation owners dances or promenades of the time. Competition Cakewalk dancers were known as "Walkers" and these contests grew very big. It is associated with the Horay dance as well. |
Birth Place |
Creation Date |
Creator |
Dance Type |
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States |
1860's |
African American Slaves |
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Posters, Lobby Cards etc. |
Sheet Music Covers |
Music Titles |
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1924-
O' Katherina (Paris) |
Alabama
Walk Around |
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$ Cakewalk: Grand Walkaround (Hershy Kay) |
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Dixie (written as a Walk Around) |
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John Diamond Walk Around |
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Magic
Act: Finale-Gala Cakewalk |
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Matt
Peel's Walk Around |
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Promenade
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Walkaround
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Walkaround
Song ? |
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Night Clubs |
Theaters |
Locations |
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Congo Square, New Orleans |
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Plantations |
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Films / Movies |
Ballets
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Walkaround
Time (Merce Cunningham 1980) ...not related! |
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Instructional Videos |
Publications |
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Musicians |
Bands |
Singers |
Poets / Writers |
| Gottschalk |
n/a |
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Misc. Research Words that may be related ... to help your searches |
| After Dance |
Creole |
Negro
Dances |
Ring-Shout |
| African-American Dance |
Kabala |
Olio |
Spiritual
Dances |
| Comedy Cakewalk |
Minstrel |
Plantation Dances |
Walk dances |
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Basics of the dance.
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| The dance was competitive in nature. At the start of the music, typically a fast dance song in 2/4 or 4/4 time, the dancers (who were already seated in a semicircle) stood and began clapping and slapping themselves in time ("patting Juba"). One dancer or a couple then moved downstage to the focal point of the semicircle and performed a set of elaborate dance steps, lasting for about 16 bars. Once these dancers retreated back to the semicircle, another dancer or pair of dancers took a turn. This repeated until all dancers had soloed. Finally, all the dancers broke ranks and danced the minstrel show into an intermission.(Wikipedia) |
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Ballrooms
