While no original footage of the 1928 Mountain Folk and Music Festival survives, some dances remain a tradition to perform – put on by groups such as the Folk Heritage Smooth Dancers. Perhaps none have continued to steal the hearts of onlookers, however, such as the classic “Alabama Gal.” Postured after the Virginia Reel, this popular play party dance has been popular amongst children and teenagers since its creation in the mid 1800s.
The dance begins in the same stance as The Virignia Reel, wherein two parallel lines containing anywhere from five to ten people each stand facing one another. While they are traditionally paired up boy-girl across from one another, many variations with younger children may be paired up with the same sex, and modern adaptations may have a mix of pairs. While some performances utilize the accompaniment of the banjo or fiddle, traditionally it is up to the performers to create their own beats using their hands and feet. The dancers are also usually the singers of the piece, creating a dance that is more a piece of music than just plain movement.
The song begins with the most upstage couple gently grabbing hands and skipping all the way down the aisle of dancers before moving back upwards to their original position while other dancers may clap, pat, or stomp to the beat. The song’s inherently heady ostinato rhythms mimic the galloping of feet in and of itself, and the simple melody further accentuates the repeated swinging movements of the performers. Once the head couple returns to the top, the rest of the dancers run towards each other for the next verse, linking arms and spinning half a rotation before switching arms, and have a few rotations, resolve in the performers original positions. In traditional performances, the long, flowing skirts the women wear create the illusion as if the whole chorus of dancers is but one unit slowly coming to life, like a snake wrapping itself around a branch.
The song and dance creates a call and response between the dancers, as usually the head couple’s movement occupies a whole verse, while in the following verse they remain in stagnancy as the rest of the chorus moves. Lyrically, this mirrors the dialogue between the singer and his “Alabama Gal” as he calls for her to join him. The head couple then walks downstage outside of the line and to the front of the line as the others follow. The couple stretches their hands high and lean them against each other, creating an arch effect with their bodies. Keeping with the momentum of the motion, the other dancers link arms with their partner again and skip through the human archway, with the eagerness and excitement as though they were crossing through a wedding arch.
Just like threading a needle, the performers pull themselves into a nearly identical position to the beginning of the song – only with the previous head couple being at the front of the line, creating a new head couple to take their place. The whole sequence repeats itself verbatim, using the same lyrics, tempo, and techniques until everyone has had their chance to be the head dancers. The repetition transforms the piece from a simple dance to a meditation – on the sides of the participant and viewer alike. There is an element joy in all of these movements, not particularly one of exuberance, but a simple satisfaction that calls for a simply satisfying resolution. It is only after everyone has had their turn being the lead, that the continuous creature of movement created through the dance dies and the dance ends as abruptly as it began.