rbraveowl

Can someone tell me the definition of the "old style" of grass dance? What are some of the moves that define "old style" and what should an "old style" dancers regalia look like? I am tryin to learn this style but there are hardly any good "old style" dancers out there anymore. Also can you give me any names of any good "old style" dancers I should be watching?

Aho! Miigwetch!

billyjoejimbob

To me old style is more STYLE. contemporary is wild and fancy.

in old style you will see the same moves done in both directions. spin and kick to the left, spin and kick to the right, etc etc.

I have been watching Darryl Goodwill and Marty Pinnecoose for almost 15 years. They were my first look at grass dancing when they were in the Dance Theater and the reason I started grass dancing.

Now I watch Paskemin and Julius Not Afraid in contemporary and they also have STYLE but it is wild and fancy.

When I watch Darryl and Marty I say , Thats smooth.
When I watch Paskemin and Julius I say, Holy shoot!

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dancinfancy

Someone who does old style grass up holds the appearence of a cripple person tring to dance. Which is how I heard the story of the grass dance is about. My husband does old style and everyone around here will tell you he's one of the best. The original grass outfits actually had sweet grass tied to them, nowa days they use yarn, ribbon or both on there outfits. There is a vidoe on powwowcast that shows old style grass you should check it out.

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WhoMe

It depends on how "old style" you want to go...

In its inception, grass dancers had bare legs and chest. The grass dance leaders and distinguished warriors wore small bunch bustles called "crow bustles."

Those who didn't have the right to wear the crow bustle wore tufts of prairie grass in their belts and moccasins to symbolize scalps.

These tufts of grass (hence the grass dance) are now symbolized by yarn, ribbon, torn cloth and leather strips.

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WhoMe

rbraveowl

I was thinkin of a more updated version of "old style". what are some dance moves that define the "old style" and signature regalia items.

sookout sh'nob

Here's my style here:

Elbows up and out coupled with sideways movement and feet touching the ground on most beats (maybe 90% of the time). Traditional grassers tend to dance in one spot too - I move to a new spot when I feel the spot is danced out.

Johnny Smith wins a lot of the golden age contests around here (Minnesota area) - I don't know if it's because he's good (his proteges also do really well at contests), well known, or because he's usually the only old guy out there dancing grass.

Coyot_In_The_House

I would suggest getting a hold of some footage of the late Dean Fox....

Jonathon Windyboy would be a good example as well.....

There dancing is unique a defines Grass Dance...

dirtyneck

If you were meant to dance old style grass, it would be your natural style and you would not have to ask others how to dance it. It will also show when you dance that you are forcing the old style and it will not look natural. Just dance how you naturally want to dance and how your instincts tell you. You'll do much better.

Deanna Yazzie

In my opinion i think that the old style is the nicest smoothest dance you will ever see. It just goes directly with the beat of the drum. just to see the way the dance is the same in both directions and the foot work just glides is just nice. Don't you? Let me know what you think.

nativeproud

Please excuse my ignorance, as i do not dance yet, but what are the steps to the grass dance, and who can dance it (nation)?

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"There is no such thing as 'part Cherokee.' Either you're Cherokee or you're not. It isn't the quantity of Cherokee blood in your veins that is important, but the quality of it...your pride in it. I have seen full-bloods who have virtually no idea of the great legacy entrusted to their care. Yet, I have seen people with as little as 1/500th blood quantum who inspire the spirits of their ancestors because they make being Cherokee a proud part of a their everyday life."

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Wakalapi

Kenny Scabbyrobe (patriarch of the Blacklodge Singers) is reputed to be one of the best old-style grass dancers and is quite knowledgeable in telling about the history and evolution of several powwow dance styles. One of his early dancing students, Rocco Clark, Sr., has been dancing and teaching dancing also for many years. The youth drum group I work with has had the opportunity of accompanying his dance classes for part of the last year. Some of his former students have gone on to become champion dancers in their regions and have placed high at Schemitzun and other major contests over the years. His dance is very smooth, flowing and gliding and is based on dipping at the knees, which makes the roach feathers dance, rather than stomping around and bobbing the head.

Another good grass dancer in this area is Charlie Sitting Bull, who once told a young singer on our drum who is also a learning grass dancer, to hold the elbows out and look really big like a giant scarecrow. Charlie does not move around much during his dance, many of the "old style" dancers tend to stay fairly stationery or at least travel very slowly around the floor. Regarding his old Sioux style of grass dance, one of the songs says about it, "The grass dancers... look! they dance like they're all broken up." (Omaha waciwicasaki...ahintunwan po! kabadab'dica wacipelo.) I guess, think of a dancing skeleton being controlled by a marionette, with regard to the elbows out and forearms hanging down.

I have heard it explained that while some people say the grass dancers used to go out to "stomp down" the buffalo grass, they actually went out to gently lay the grass over with their feet as well. This puts some sideways and sweeping motions into the dance step.

Hope this helps. Sorry if I blabbed too much. It's late.

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tsuj510

yeah I like that-using part of the grass as the regalia-wonder if this is why some guys carry a braid of it these days.

Gledanh Zhinga

I used to watch grass dancers in the 50s and 60s, and we called them ribbon dancers or sway dancers. The moves were smooth and many of them were low to the ground and fairly stationary.

When the dance became popular in recent years, lots of young men switched from fancy to grass, and they brought with it their emphasis on fancy-feather dance footwork, spinning, and moving around the circle, to the exclusion of smooth torso, head and arm movement, lots of it done in one place.

Sometimes, the drum is at fault. The grass dance is best done at a medium or moderate speed. If the drum sings a fast song, it ruins the smooth look of the dance. In contests, when grass and fancy are lumped together or grass and chicken lumped, I think it's a mistake.