Second line (parades)
Second line is a tradition in brass band parades in New Orleans, Louisiana. The "main line" is the main section of the parade, or the members of the actual club with the parading permit; those who follow the band just to enjoy the music are called the "second line." The second line's style of traditional dance, in which participants walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called "second lining." It has been called "the quintessential New Orleans art form — a jazz funeral without a body."[1]
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[edit] Origins
Some scholars believe that second lining has its origins in traditional West African circle dances, where children formed a periphery circle outside the main circle of adult dancers. The dance was brought by slaves to New Orleans, where it became incorporated into processions, such as funerals, forcing the ring to straighten into a line.[2] Others note the similarity of the steps – exaggerated, loosely coordinated strutting – to dances performed in Congo Square by slaves given the day off on Sundays. These dances were officially banned for a time because they were deemed threatening to the white inhabitants of the city, and their resurgence in second lining suggests a similar celebration of individual freedom.[3]
The Second Line – the magazine of the New Orleans jazz club, started in 1950 – took its name from the second lining tradition, which by that time included fans of jazz music, both black and white.[4]
[edit] Modern second lining
Though originally a New Orleans phenomenon, in recent times the style has spread to other parts of the country. Notably, in April 2011, musicians and dancers in New York City gathered to perform a jazz funeral for Coney Island, complete with a traditional second line.[5] Still, second lining remains most common in the New Orleans area.
[edit] References
- ^ Baum, Dan. Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans (Spiegel & Grau, 2009), p. 120.
- ^ Richard Brent Turner (11 August 2009). Jazz religion, the second line, and Black New Orleans. Indiana University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-253-22120-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=9Uc0W-AVG88C. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ^ Roger D. Abrahams (2006). Blues for New Orleans: Mardi Gras and America's Creole soul. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 31–2. ISBN 978-0-8122-3959-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=fOxJddRWkdgC&pg=PA32. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ^ Martin Halliwell (15 March 2007). American culture in the 1950s. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 140–1. ISBN 978-0-7486-1885-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=lKV4ZNgdFAIC&pg=PA140. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ Stelloh, Tim (April 3, 2011). "Jazzy Funeral Parade Marks Coney Island’s Death and Rebirth". The New York Times (New York City). http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/nyregion/04coney.html. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Second lines |
- Nick Spitzer, "Rebuilding the 'Land of Dreams:' Expressive Culture and New Orleans' Authentic Future" Southern Spaces, 29 August 2006
- Nick Spitzer, "Love and Death at Second Line" Southern Spaces, 20 February 2004.
- A Jazz Funeral — including pictures of second-liners
- The Jazz Funeral of Tuba Fats — photographs of a jazz funeral
- The New Orleans Jazz Club
- [1] History of the Secondline
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