oldstylegrass

crow hop ,double beat , chicken, foot slide which would you prefer to determine who's got skills

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slide slide slip n slide

jed

Leave the Chicken to the chicken dancers.

What is you call a foot slide? Heard this for the first time a few weeks ago in Louis Bull.

Where do old style double beat hops fit in?

And what about good ole fashioned bead busters?

WhoMe

OSGrass:

True Crow Hop songs ARE double beat. If Dale Old Horn would request a foot slide in Crow country, the singers would sing a Crow Hop song using a double beat.

Knowing this . . . yeah, all of the above!

jed

Guess that means that all you have to do is be able to tell the difference between a double beat and an old style crow hop (foot slide).

WhoMe

Jed:

The drum rhythm of a true Crow Hop is a double beat. The Crow Hop dance itself, is often referred to as a "foot slide" by powwow announcers who reside outside of Crow country. I have heard the older Crow refer to their "doings" as "the Hot Dance."

Unlike other powwow dances (Jingle dress, Chicken Dance, Straight Dance and Grass Dance Styles) the Crow Style of dancing is not normally danced by other tribes other than the Crow people. It is interesting to note that the Chippewa-Cree of Rocky Boy, traditionally dance in similar men's outfits as the Crow.



Formost . . . "The modern men's Crow Style Outfit most closely resembles the leaders of the Grass dance societies of the 1800's."

Dancin by the bay

always good info hot dance is new for me.

:Thumbs

jed

I get dancing to Old Style hops (foot slide, hot dance...), but I notice that dancers around here sometimes dance double step and sometimes hop to these kind of songs (Old style hops and Chicken-like double beats).

I find it tricky to tell them apart. Have to listen to the actual song rather than the drum beat.

Last pow wow I was at I danced double step while everone else was sliding. Was the song a Double beat song or a Old style hop song? People I know and respect said I was the only one doing it right that time., meaning it was a double beat song and not a old style hop.

I think that I am just gonna have to talk to some of the singers (and chicken dancers) round here to see what they have to say about the topic.

But you can see where the confusion can come in.

WhoMe

Dancin:

"Hot Dance" is not a term used today, especially by the Crows of this generation. However, it is a term that Crows used to use, in days gone by. I was fortunate to have gotten to meet some older Crows like: Tom Yellow Tail, Donald Deer Nose and Ben Pease on my life's journey. Each of these men referred to their dances as "the Hot Dance."
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jed:

You come from a culturally rich area. The home of the chicken dance originated just south of your reserve in southern Alberta. You have such a great opportunity to ask Blackfoot elders what they think about this subject. That is where I go for my info.

jed

Yep, lots of different things up hear. It is pretty cool to one weekend be jammin to N. Cree, Whitefish Jrs., Wildhorse, and Blackstone, the next weekend be jammin to some old style Blackfoot drums and then head over to Stoney Land and listen to Stoney Park and the like.

Haven't seen a S. Drum up here since Youngbird back in '01 though.

WhoMe

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jeb:

I agree with you about "lots of different things up there." I sang with a drum group that was among the first (if not THE first to bring southern singing to Canada).

We started off at Thunder Child (where we witnessed Tim Eashappie get his whistle from Boye Ladd), then we came to your reserve and sang at Ermine Skin Powwow. Singers from Blackstone and Red Bull have told us we were the first they heard singing southern style in Canada. Two years later I came back to your reserve for Four-Band powwow with another drum and spent the rest of the summer doing all Canadian powwows.

I learned to say "pretty goot, eh?"

Back then, Jonathan Windy Boy and Joe Sam Scabby Robe were the two grass dancers that traded off winning first and second weekend after weekend.


Yes, times have changed. There's not much incentive for southern drum groups to come to Canada anymore. I was up in your neck of the woods recently and several Canadian drums were singin' southern style!

jed

They all have to bust out with a Southern song for them fancy dancers when called upon. It just doesn't sound quite the same though. Good, but not the same.

Bruce Thunderchild is the old Grass Dancer in the Northern parts now a days. Jonathon and Joe Sam haven't been up here for awhile. Well, Jonathon has AD'd in Yorkton some, guess that politic thing is keeping him plenty busy.

SakotasHandmaiden

augh i loves em all i loves dancin em i luvs watchin em i just luvs old style grass tha mostest tho...its tha greatest dance i can do lol an chicken dancin...i agree. leave it to tha chicken dancers.:6:

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Skicza7swa!!! aayyyye.:Wave

buffalo69

While yallz trynna be armchair historians, Imma let ya know-who cares-let the crows do there thing and let the blackfeet do theirs-this new fad of singin double crow hops every time *rolls eyes* has gotten totally played out. I don't know bout yall but from a dancers perspective they are just straight out BORIN! SNOOOOOZERIFFIC! They are too SLOWWWWWW for grass, next thing ya know we'll be dancin to duck and dive songs cuz sum dummy read it in a book...specially since sum of dem plains folks think this duck and dive song is theirs, LMFAO @ that one dawg...themz lookin like sum punx...
Just do it Rocky boy style and give me an old fast one ANYDAY!

Who all loves dem fas onez?

Grassdancer17

I like em all, as long as im dancin im good to go. double beat is one of my personal favs though.

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Astem Nicimos

Leslie Stonechild

Good discussion, especially for someone who is really excited about entering the circle for the first time this summer. I have been studying and trying to figure out all the moves of grass and keep hearing the same terms but just can't quite figure things out. I have attended some pow-wows and still learning.
Could someone explain clearly the difference in Old/New Style. I am hoping to find a Elder soon who could discuss this style of dance with me.

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Where's the Pow-wow at????

sookout sh'nob

An easy way to tell is to watch

New style guys have more of a crazy legs style and sometimes can be spotted dropping to one knee and draggintheir regalia across the floor like they're mopping the floor :p

Old style guys have a smoother more measured step - the footwork is style way stylin, but appeas more controlled and precise. You won't see these guys moppin the floor with their regalia.

Thats how you can tell around here anyhow.

mii awe miigwech.