A
Hoedown is a type of American
folk danceThe term folk dance describes a large number of dances that tend to share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music.*They are not designed...
or
square danceSquare dance is a folk dance with four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples...
in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it.
The most popular sense of the term is associated with white Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, particularly
AppalachiaAppalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from western New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
. It is a dance in quick movement most likely related to the
jigThe Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the sixteenth century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
,
reelThe reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
or
clogClogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing from the British Isles, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create...
dance. According to the website "Streetswing", a hoedown was a virtuoso display of footwork, where a succession of dancers each tried to outdo the previous dancers.
A
Hoedown is a type of American
folk danceThe term folk dance describes a large number of dances that tend to share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music.*They are not designed...
or
square danceSquare dance is a folk dance with four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples...
in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it.
Overview
The most popular sense of the term is associated with white Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, particularly
AppalachiaAppalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from western New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
. It is a dance in quick movement most likely related to the
jigThe Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the sixteenth century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
,
reelThe reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
or
clogClogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing from the British Isles, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create...
dance. According to the website "Streetswing", a hoedown was a virtuoso display of footwork, where a succession of dancers each tried to outdo the previous dancers. This meant that if the last dancer was the best one the audience would cheer wildly. The implied meaning of "improvised jam" has found its way into other contexts. For example a rollerblading hoedown is a similar competitive display.
In contest
fiddlingThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, including the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, a hoedown is a tune in fast 2/4
timeThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. In many contests, fiddlers are required to play a
waltzA waltz, or valse from the French term, is a piece of music in triple meter, most often 3/4 but sometimes 3/8 or 3/2. A waltz has a 1.2.3. - 1.2.3. count and a slow tempo...
, a hoedown, and a "tune of choice," which must not be a waltz or a hoedown (typically it is a
jigThe Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the sixteenth century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
or a
schottischeThe Schottische is a partnered country dance, Bohemian in origin.Schottische was popular in Victorian era ballrooms and left its traces in folk music of countries as distant as France, Spain , Portugal , Italy and Sweden.The schottische is considered by the Oxford Companion to Music to be a kind...
).
In
modern Western square danceModern Western square dance is one of two types of square dancing, along with traditional square dance. As a dance form, modern Western square dance grew out of traditional Western dance...
, a hoedown is a piece of music used for a patter call (a call that is spoken or chanted, rather than sung to the tune of a popular song), or the recording that contains this piece of music. In the early days of the Western square dance revival (the 1940s and early 1950s), most hoedowns were traditional fiddle tunes; since the late 1950s, recordings of simple chord progressions, with no discernible melody, have also been sold to
callersA caller is a person who calls dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance circles this is rare....
under the name "hoedown." In the 1940s and early 1950s, the term "hoedown" was sometimes used to mean a call made up of parts of other calls. "Hoedown" was, and occasionally still is, also used to mean a dance jointly sponsored by several dance clubs or by a federation of clubs.
The most famous hoedown in classical music is the section entitled
Hoedown from the Rodeo ballet by
Aaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as "the dean of American composers". Copland's music achieved a balance between modern music and American...
(1942). The most frequently heard version is from the
Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, which Copland extracted from the ballet shortly after its premiere; the dance episodes were first performed in 1943 by the Boston Pops conducted by
Arthur FiedlerArthur Fiedler was the long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
. Copland's
Hoedown became even more famous through
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
advertisements by America's Beef Producers with the slogan "
Beef. It's What's For Dinner"Beef. It's What's For Dinner" is an American advertising slogan aimed to promote the benefits of incorporating beef into a healthy diet. The campaign is funded by the Beef Checkoff Program with the creative guidance of Leo Burnett Worldwide....
".
Hoedown has been covered by Emerson, Lake and Palmer on their album
TrilogyTrilogy is the third studio album by British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, originally released in 1972. The interior of the original gatefold sleeve features a photomontage showing multiple images of the band in Epping Forest carpeted with autumn leaves.The band had already released...
and by
Béla Fleck and the FlecktonesBéla Fleck and the Flecktones is a multi-Grammy winning, primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones...
on their albums
Outbound and
Live at the QuickLive at the Quick was the ninth album released by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and their second non-studio album. It was recorded live at the Quick Center For The Arts in Fairfield, Connecticut in 2000.-Track listing:...
. Additionally, the jazz musician,
Oliver NelsonOliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
, performed a jazz-infused variation written by himself entitled, "Hoe-Down," on his album,
The Blues and the Abstract TruthThe Blues and the Abstract Truth is a jazz album by Oliver Nelson recorded in February 1961. It remains Nelson's most acclaimed album. It features a lineup of notable musicians: Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy , Bill Evans , Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes...
.
In popular culture
In Pixar's film
WALL-EWALL-E is a 2008 computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. It follows the story of a robot named WALL-E who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
, the Captain of the AXIOM is seen reading about hoedowns.
The television show
Whose Line Is It Anyway?Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4...
frequently has a game called Hoedown, in which the contestants would perform a spontaneous song on the spot in this style. The four performers take turns singing a verse each, whose
rhyme schemequote this will not help you at all with home work language practice week 7 msl students in 6th gradedo not use wiki for msl language practice week seven it will not help with unless we are doing stanza's and things...
is AABB. This game is popular among fans, but not among the cast, who especially despise the game.
Recent advertisements for the animated series
Xiaolin ShowdownXiaolin Showdown is an American animated television series that aired on Kids WB and was created by Christy Hui. Set in a world where martial arts battles and Eastern magic are commonplace, the series follows four young warriors in training that battle the forces of evil...
have capitalized on the "hoedown/showdown" similarity pun.
Ashlee SimpsonAshlee Simpson-Wentz is an American pop rock singer-songwriter, dancer and actress. Simpson-Wentz, who is the younger sister of pop singer Jessica Simpson, rose to prominence in mid-2004 through the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the accompanying reality series The Ashlee...
's infamous October 2004
Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a weekly late-night sketch comedy and variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975, under a slightly different title. The show features a regular cast of comedy actors, joined by a guest host and musical act...
performance, in which she was caught using a backing track to enhance her singing, ended with her briefly dancing in place and then walking off stage. She referred to this in the
SNL closing creditsClosing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture or television program to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the background or a...
as a "hoedown."
In
Hannah Montana the MovieHannah Montana: The Movie is a American musical film adaptation of American teen sitcom Hannah Montana. The film was directed by Peter Chelsom with screenplay penned by Daniel Berendsen. The film was produced by David Blocker, Billy Ray Cyrus, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Steven Peterman and...
, there is a song called
Hoedown Throwdown"Hoedown Throwdown" is a pop song performed by American recording artist Miley Cyrus. It was released as the second single from the soundtrack to Hannah Montana: The Movie. "Hoedown Throwdown" was sent to Radio Disney on February 13, 2009 and was then released via iTunes Store on March 10, 2009 as...
. It involves
Miley CyrusMiley Ray Cyrus is an American pop-rock singer and television and film actress. Cyrus is best known for starring as the title character in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Following the success of Hannah Montana, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs...
singing at what is most likely a Hoedown. [This information should be updated once the movie is released]
The Engineer in
Team Fortress 2Team Fortress 2 is a team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to Valve's previous Team Fortress Classic, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows and the Xbox 360. A PlayStation...
performs a hoedown when taunting with the shotgun equipped.
External links