The Appalachian String Band Music Festival (often referred to simply as "Clifftop" ) is a weeklong gathering of thousands of string band musicians and their friends from across the country and around the world, who each year since 1990 have assembled near the New River Gorge in West Virginia in late July/early August to celebrate the evolving tradition of old-time music and the community of people who keep it thriving by preserving and contributing to that tradition.
10-636: Though the Festival offers contests (traditional band, neo-traditional band, fiddle, old-time banjo, and flatfoot dancing ), square dancing , several concerts and workshops, and other organized activities such as yoga, basket making, and hymn singing, the heart and soul of the Festival is found in the campsites, where old time music provides a foundation for all kinds of straight-off-the-strings acoustic music (including Americana, cajun, Celtic, swing, bluegrass, Dawg, and even reggae), which in turn often spontaneously generate impromptu dancing and other festivities by
20-484: Is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the heel keeping the rhythm. Clogging can be found at various Old-Time and Bluegrass Music festivals. Clogging is the official state dance of Kentucky and North Carolina . In
30-480: Is based on English, and Irish fiddle tunes as well as African American banjo tunes. Clogging primarily developed from Irish step dancing called Sean-nós dance ; there were also English, Scottish, German, and Cherokee step dances, as well as African rhythms and movement influences too. It was from clogging that tap dance eventually evolved. Now, many clogging teams compete against other teams for prizes such as money and trophies. The term "buck", as in buck dancing ,
40-528: Is traceable to the West Indies and is derived from a Tupi Indian word denoting a frame or hurdle for drying and smoking meat; the original po bockarau or buccaneers were sailors who ate smoked meat and fish after the manner of the Indians. Another source states that the word bockorau can be traced to the "Angolan" word "buckra', and was used to refer to white people, which is disputed. Eventually
50-654: The United States, team clogging originated from square dance teams in Asheville , North Carolina 's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival (1928), organized by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in the Appalachian region . The Soco Gap Dancers performed at the White House in 1939, which caused an uptick in the popularity of team clogging. American Clogging is associated with the predecessor to bluegrass — "old-time" music , which
60-535: The old time music tradition into other musical voices, instrumentation, and styles. Over the years, the Festival has been frequented by accomplished Nashville musicians like John Hartford and Tim O'Brien and Leftover Salmon jam band leader Vince Hermann, legendary old time Appalachian musicians like Melvin Wine and Lester McCumbers , leading "second generation" old time musicians like Mike Seeger , Bruce Molsky , Rafe Stefanini , Brad Leftwich , and Ira Bernstein , and
70-609: The people gathered within earshot. Though the Festival officially starts the Wednesday before the first full weekend in August, the grounds start filling up the weekend before with well-adorned campsites, many of which have music being played through the night. One of the Festival's unique features is the Neo-Traditional Band Contest on Friday, in which highest scores are given to bands that creatively extend
80-504: The rhythms of African tribal music. Yet another etymology of the word argues that it derives from the word "buck", used as a pejorative term for African American men in the 19th century. Buck dancing was popularized in the United States by minstrel performers in the late 19th century. Many folk festivals and fairs utilize dancing clubs or teams to perform both Buck and regular clogging for entertainment. Notes Bibliography Jig Too Many Requests If you report this error to
90-407: The term came to describe Irish immigrant sailors whose jig dance was known as 'the buck'." One source states that buck dancing was the earliest combination of the basic shuffle and tap steps performed to syncopated rhythms in which accents are placed not on the straight beat, as with the jigs, clogs, and other dances of European origin, but on the downbeat or offbeat, a style derived primarily from
100-673: The youngest generation of old time musicians like Jake Krack . The Festival takes place each summer at Camp Washington-Carver , in Clifftop, Fayette County, West Virginia , United States and is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. (Brooklyn, NY) (Brooklyn, NY) (Brooklyn, NY) (Shelbyville, TN) (Marshall, NC) 38°0′36″N 80°58′14″W / 38.01000°N 80.97056°W / 38.01000; -80.97056 Flatfoot dancing Clogging , buck dancing , or flatfoot dancing
#61938