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OverviewGrowing up in the rural South, Bessie Jones sang her way through long hours of field work and child tending, entertaining her young companions with chants and riddles or joining them for a rousing evening of ring dances and singing plays. These songs and games, recorded in Step It Down by folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes, capture the shape and color of the crowded, impoverished, life-demanding, and life-loving days of the black family of sixty years ago, revealing the strength and vitality of African and slave traditions in black American life. The power of music and motion to transform a world of scarcity and hardship into one of laughter and joy echoes throughout Bessie Jones's words: ""And the other childrens and I would go in the bottom and have a frolic, instead of going to bed. I was just up for that singing, and I remembered they used to say . . . 'Come on, Lizzie!' and we'd go down a way and we'd have a dance. Oh it was pretty. . . . You know, it was just as good as the blues—better, better in a way. When the old folks would go to work or go off or something, we'd put on them long dresses and, boy, we'd have a time."" Step It Down weaves together the lyrics, music, and description of traditional Afro-American children's songs as well as Jones's comments on their meaning and ""feel."" Whether reciting ""Tom, Tom, Greedy Gut"" or demonstrating the more complex steps of ""Ranky Tank"" and ""Buzzard's Lope,"" Bessie Jones always viewed the amusements of the young as preparation for adult roles and relationships, and as a teacher, she developed her own philosophy of how a black child is socialized into the larger community. Grounded in the values of black society, her songs taught children about cooperative interaction and mutual concern, not about competition and individual achievement, showing them how to create fun out of nothing more than their hands, feet, voices, and imaginations. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Bess Lomax Hawes , Bessie JonesPublisher: University of Georgia Press Imprint: University of Georgia Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.526kg ISBN: 9780820309606ISBN 10: 0820309605 Pages: 256 Publication Date: 01 September 1987 Audience: College/higher education , General/trade , Undergraduate , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Awaiting stock ![]() The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you. Language: English Table of ContentsReviewsIt is a powerful document for anyone who seeks to understand the nature of the Black American musical experience, for anyone who wants a complete picture of American dances and games, and for anyone who teaches children. -- Sonneck Society Bulletin The book is more than a manual of games for parents and teachers it is a record of a distinctive cultural heritage, grounded in the values of the black community: cooperation, affirmation and social concern, and illustrating the experience of childhood in the black communities of the southern U.S. -- Sage Race Relations Abstracts The games, plays, dances, and riddles of black children culled by folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes from the music of Bessie Jones, a 65-year-old black woman who remembers them from her days coming up in Georgia. No guitars or glockenspiels are needed but hooting and hollering, hand clapping (in three distinct pitch ranges - bass, baritone, tenor), skipping and jumping, mime, shuffles, struts and wiggles are all carefully described by Mrs. Hawes along with dance steps you won't see on Sesame Street like Jump for Joy, Snake-Hips, Zudie-O, Ranky Tank, Buzzard Lope, and Possum-La. Affectionately annotated with historical scats on the transplanting of the street-rhymes of medieval London and Edinburgh to the cotton fields of Georgia and South Carolina: One of the small wonders of history - the stability and perseverance of the traditions of childhood. Many were originally played and sung during such down-home activities as peanut shelling, corn husking, quilting, and taffy pulling, but they should flourish equally well in your local nursery school or back yard if you follow Mrs. Hawes' sensible instructions: Don't be too solemn, or too organized. These are for play. Ready or not, one, two, three, Ali Hid? Musical scores. (Kirkus Reviews) Author InformationBess Lomax Hawes (Author) BESS LOMAX HAWES is director of the Folk Arts Program for the National Endowment for the Arts. Bessie Jones (Author) BESSIE JONES (1902-1984) was one of the foremost folk artists in the United States. Her performances, recordings, and educational programs earned noted awards, including a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |