As I was doing research for my blog, I came across Grass Dancing.. yes I know.. 'Grass Dancing'.. The instant I saw it, I needed to find out more. I was so fascinated by it that I'm gonna start one of my many posts, with a little introduction about this style, as I couldn't believe what I was reading..:)
The Native American Grass Dance style is a very old dance rich in history that has become very popular. It was the job of the grass dancers to flatten the grass in the arena before a pow wow, in the old days. The name 'grass' does not come from the stomping of grass, but it comes from the old method of tying braids of sweetgrass to the dancer's belts, making a swaying effect. Today, Grass Dancers can be described as a multicoloured swaying mass of yarn on the dance floor. The Grass Dance is a very fluid and flexible style, with the dancers trying to move their fringe in as many places as possible at once. The Grass Dance style was born in the North, but it has spread South, and now this beautiful style is available for everyone...The picture at the top of my post is a perfect example of a Grass Dancer.
[Would you of ever thought that this would would have been an actual dance style..? Or that anything like this even existed..? Well now you know it does exist.. and has become very highly-competitive.]
Below is a video of Men's Grass Dancing at Salt Lake City Pow-wow. July 24th, 2006 afternoon session.. :)
As you watch the video, you realise the amount of work that must of been put it for every outfit. Each one is different in it's own way and would be classified a masterpiece. It's weird to think that I had no idea that this style existed. This is the reason for my first post, to make people see that styles like this do exist. I am truly fascintated every time I watch the video.. The music is so entertaining, along with the dancing and which is spectacular. It's crazy to look at the difference between this style and more commonly known styles like, Hip Hop. The contrast between them is huge.
My posts just proves that geography, does affect dance.
Sources:
{Images} -
1) http://sicc.sk.ca/saskindian/images/97061701.jpg
{Video} -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPv-7QZ63J0
{Information} -
http://www.powwows.com/info/?p=41
6 comments:
Hello
Interesting blog Sarah. Any idea why dances are different in different places.....are any simialar? Is there a reason why certain dances are accompanied by particular dress styles?
PL
Good blog sarah!very intresting!
Hi. Im a grass dancer. Just started 2 years ago. The best start before they can talk. I love it! dancing at pow wows has made me a valued member of my community, as are most pow wow dancers.
By the way. That videos not so great. Check out chicken vs grass from this years gathering of nations. The winner was bad ass.
So you dont have to find it. Theres several videos of this from different angles. But you can really see his footwork in this one. The comments will answer a lot of questions. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm3vy00PGAA
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