Enslaved Africans brought diverse cultural practices with them to the Americas. Among these was the "ring shout,” a fusion of dance, music, & ritual. “Shouts” offered a way for the enslaved to preserve their culture, & find strength & connection during difficult times. This dance has been practiced for generations & has had a significant impact on Black-American religious & musical traditions.
The “ring shout” involved leader-chorus singing, hand clapping, and percussion, with participants moving in a counterclockwise circle. This dance has been practiced for generations and continues today through groups like the McIntosh County Singers and the GeeChee Gullah Ring Shouters.
During the antebellum era, the ring shout was predominantly practiced during the holidays, spanning from Christmas to Watch Night (New Year's Eve). This week provided more opportunities for family gatherings and celebrations. It marked the transition from the old year to the new one, filled with hope and enlightenment.
People joyfully went from house to house, shouting and clapping, sometimes with such enthusiasm that floors would break from the rhythm of the sticks. The men would then repair the floors the following day.
Historians suggest that the origins of the ring shout as we know it today likely started with two separate art forms: the shout and ring play. The shout was a religious call and response technique used by Black-American preachers to teach their new religion.
Although dancing was discouraged, secular ring play involving singing and dancing was culturally popular. The rhythmic patterns of ring play naturally blended with religious call and response, creating an acceptable form of religious expression. This merging likely gave birth to the ring shout as we know it.
Originally, it was performed after prayer or worship services, & in Jamaica and Trinidad, it was known as "the Shout" & performed around altars. In the U.S, Baptist churches prohibited drumming and dancing, which affected most religious dances of African descent. Ring shouting, however, was permitted in churches after formal worship, as it mainly relied on clapping & stomping without musical instruments.
Even though slave owners discouraged religious dances, and preachers condemned them, the ring shout endured. Some consider it a manifestation of the Spirit of God taking over someone's actions, a charismatic quality that blends African notions and the Holiness Pentecostal movement. As with Spirituals and other musical traditions, the ring shout has significantly influenced various forms of dance.
The “Ring Shout,” was described by the N.Y. Nation of May 30, 1867 thusly m:
“. . . the true “shout” takes place on Sundays or on “praise” nights through the week, and either in the praise-house or in some cabin in which a regular religious meeting has been held. Very likely more than half the population of the plantation is gathered together.”
“ Let it be the evening, and a light-wood fire burns red before the door of the house and on the hearth..”
“ But the benches are pushed back to the wall when the formal meeting is over, and old and young, men and women, sprucely-dressed young men, grotesquely half-clad field-hands—the women generally with gay handkerchiefs twisted about their heads and with short skirts..”
“…boys with tattered shirts and men’s trousers, young girls barefooted all stand up in the middle of the floor, and when the “sperichil” is struck up, begin first walking and by-and-by shuffling round, one after the other, in a ring.”
“The foot is hardly taken from the floor, and the progression is mainly due to a jerking, hitching motion, which agitates the entire shouter, and soon brings out streams of perspiration. Sometimes they dance silently, sometimes as they shuffle they sing the chorus of the spiritual, and sometimes the song itself is also sung by the dancers. “
“But more frequently a band, (consisting of a fiddle or banjo) composed of some of the best singers and of tired shouters, stand at the side of the room to “base” the others, singing the body of the song and clapping their hands together or on the knees.”
“Song and dance are alike extremely energetic, and often, when the shout lasts into the middle of the night, the monotonous thud, thud of the feet prevents sleep within half a mile of the praise-house.“
The “ring shout” played a crucial role in the history of Africans in American colonies, serving as a unifying element from which field hollers, work songs, and spirituals emerged, eventually leading to blues and jazz.
All the defining elements of black music can be traced back to the ring shout, including dance, calls, cries, hollers, blue notes, call-and-response, and strong rhythmic aspects, which continue to thrive and be expressed in contemporary music with improvisation as a vital element.
From the cakewalk in the 1890s to breaking in the 2000s, and the lively dancing and shouting at black churches every Sunday, the ring shout endures and evolves in present-day music.
Notably, the ring shout's influence extended to European dance, jazz, blues, ballet, and eventually contributed to the creation of modern dance, including hip-hop. Dances from various regions in Africa were also preserved and integrated into the richness of dance history.
Ring shouts, work songs, and field hollers have left a profound impact on the development of musical styles like Dixieland, blues, and jazz. Enslaved Africans, drawing from their rich African rhythms, played a pivotal role in creating these musical genres.
The influence of these styles became the blueprint for blues, spirituals, and eventually R&B, preserving the vital African Roots and enabling the evolution of coordinated and rhythmic music.
These musical expressions emerged from the harsh and marginalized existence of the enslaved individuals, enduring back-breaking labor as field hands throughout the seasons.
Infused with physicality and musicality, , the expression known as the ring shout evolved as a precursor to the rise of jazz, blues, the protest songs that became prominent during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, hip hop, jazz, R&B, pop, music, rock ‘n’ roll, and modern dance.
The ring shouts of the enslaved carried their genuine laments and protests, reflecting the desperation of their living conditions and often concealed meanings only comprehensible to Black Americans then and now.
Floyd Jr., Samuel. "Ring Shout! Literary Studies, Historical Studies, and Black Music Inquiry." Black Music Research Journal 22 (2002): 49-70. Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College of Chicago and University of Illinois Press.
Rosenbaum, Art. Shout Because You're Free: The African American Ring Shout Tradition in Coastal Georgia. University of Georgia Press, 2013.
Stuckey, Sterling. Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory & the Foundations of Black America. Oxford University Press, 1987.
Thompson, Katrina Dyonne. Ring Shout, Wheel About: The Racial Politics of Music and Dance in North American Slavery. University of Illinois Press, 2014.
@Deglassco I was a colleague and friend of the aptly named Sterling. I still rely on the insights and discoveries of Slave Culture when teaching sorrow songs.
@Deglassco This is all a joy to read, watch and listen to. Extremely interesting as well. As a keen fan of early blues and jazz I could relate to it all. Thank you very much!
@Deglassco Since you're clearly a fan of music, and music history, and I work in music, I invite you to take a look at some of the videos of my brilliant client I've posted here. She's from the UK and has an absolutely unique performance art style and a truly remarkable sense of humor and ad libbing. I liken her in a lot of ways to Robin Williams, meaning she's a sponge, she just absorbs everything. And she's absolutely fearless.
Thank you for including the video. The music and beat really grabs you, was tapping my good foot.
Also thank you for explaining how this all fuses together, and in this and other threads showing why the Black church is such an important part of the community. I know I’ve seen lots of white folks not get it in the past, often because theyre projecting their issues with their organized religion that oppressed them(lgbt, women). But like people, not all church’s are the same.
@schmubba Watch night refers to December 31, 1862, the night before the issuance of the emancipation proclamation. That night, both enslaved and free Black Americans came together, with many gathering secretly, to usher in the new year while eagerly anticipating news of the Emancipation Proclamation taking effect. This event, known as Watch Night or "Freedom's Eve," commemorates the moment when Black Americans nationwide watched and patiently awaited news of their freedom.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon This is fascinating information and series of posts, and I thank you for posting it. I'm reading it and have bookmarked it for more reading. I couldn't decide which post to comment on so I picked this one without a reason.
I'm an engineer but I've also been musician since childhood. I love this information.
I've lived in various places including so-called third-world countries and now in Appalachia. I've noticed it's often (but not always) the case that the worse the conditions that people live in the more they know how to have real fun during their personal time and vice-versa. This makes sense to me.
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