thank you for your kind comment on my work. As an independent filmmaker, I make these films to make a living, yes, but more importantly, to make statements that I hope will emotionally touch others. I am not driven by the importance of my own ideas, but I am driven by a desire to create communications about people whom I admire so that others can see their greatness. David Hoffman -- filmmaker

My roots are Scots and Welsh...in Wales they call it clogging, as I'm sure you're aware. My Gran referred to it as 'squaw dancing'...she was half Chickasaw. My Papa referred to it as 'dancing a jig'. I miss those days in the dining room (the only room large enough that was uncarpeted) by the wood burning stove with the smell of a pot of beans cooking on top...and the music... always the music. I visit and revisit these videos time and again. Thank you for your contribution, David.

I love this, my family has its roots in this part of America. If you look at today's shuffle dancing on KZfaq, you can see the similarities to thr old-time clog dancing.

My roots run deep in the bluegrass traditions. I would love to hear my Dad play his fiddle, my Mom her mandolin just one more time. I would love to relive those days of bluegrass jam sessions, dancing & family & neighbor tallent shows on the front porches & underneath the shade of the apple trees in our back yard! Wonderful family time! Makes for beautiful memories!

you can see the mixture of Irish and Welsh clog dancing in the video. Welsh miners in their thousands emigrated to this region and left their mark on this rich culture.

I come from Australia, my blood is mostly Irish and Scott. Border name Briggs. I was born at the foothills of the blue mountains. My family were pipers , drummers and dancers. My grandmother was an Oshannesy closely related to the Toomeys and Kelly's. My grandmother, When she was a kid her father took her to the county fair in a horse and cart armed with a banjo and fiddle. She still played on. I didn't dare say the Kelly name in vain, the Irish and the Campbell name was a no no grandfather Alexander MacDonald. Beautiful people and a beautiful time!

Never get tired of watching this. Greetings from New Zealand

Thank you Mr Hoffman for capturing this part of American history. As a Scotsman I feel a deep connection to my brothers and sisters across the ocean. This music belongs to all of us!

That young girl's smile at 1:57 or around there is priceless. Beautiful.

Oh bring back these days ... People had to make their own entertainment and it was just so natural unlike music of today

David, I love the fact that via KZfaq you can show people around the world real old American culture. I am in England a I love this. Thank you.

Now that is AMERICAN blue grass. Thank you sir for sharing. we are lost out in the big cities. Pray for us.

So moving -can't help to cry a bit- great and good people having a great time.

I'm going to teach myself to dance like this.👍🥰💃

I love the music and the dance of the Appalachian region. I was never down there (I live in Minneapolis. ) But I really love the film.

An estimated 90% of Appalachia's earliest European settlers originated from the Anglo-Scottish border country- namely the English counties of Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Durham, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, and the Lowland Scottish counties of Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire, Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, and Wigtownshire. Most of these were from families who had been resettled in the Ulster Plantation in northern Ireland in the 17th century

I can't stop watching these videos it never gets old

Mr. Hoffman ,I recently had the great pleasure of watching both your clips from 64. And away over here in England,51 years on, I was wriggling in my chair just wanting to be apart of what I was watching and listening to. And you know, I too fell in love with the Bobbed hair girl.....as the sheer joy seen in her face was so uplifting. In truth I enjoyed watching them all immensely ! Thank you so much for sharing them. Truly and greatly appreciated !!

This here is pure history, Americana at its best

Absolutely Peter!! Sean nos, and all the types of beautiful Irish dance steps taken to America! the Irish culture of gathering to dance and sing comes from the heart and feet!!! Is alive and well!

I've watched this many times over the years. I never tire of it. Thank you so much, Mr. Hoffman. You captured something special here. Always wonder where these young people are today. The young lady with the dimples and bobbed hair could be every guy's childhood sweetheart. What a smile.

Mr. Hoffman...thank you again for your work. Absolutely wonderful and important heritage-keeping.

Sweet! I sense a Irish heritage in the rural south.

Like a forgotten lost era , when we we're probably less wealthy but happier and valued family, friends and good neighbours more dearly.

The stereotype for people from Appalachia has always been the Beverly Hillbillies. Didn’t see that here! Everyone, adults, kids and in-between, were all clean and neatly dressed in the current fashions of the day which in some cases aren’t much different than now. Great film!

What id give to be in that room when this was filmed.. I love American history and real American towns and villages especially blue grass type towns...

just great. love the smile on the girl in the check skirt.

@MrIternut. I absolutely agree, and dimples to die for! I loved the way she was smiling and chatting one minute ad then when the dance starts, goes all serious with concentration on her dance steps. It is a sobering thought that given when the video was made, she would be about 60 years old now. But like you I wonder if anyone knows who she was.

Wonderful.Well done you rescued vital history.

Actually very interesting. Don’t recall original film but great you preserved that moment in time.

A film that stands the test of time. Thank you Mr. Hoffman.

Wonderful film. These people were the salt of the earth and would give you the shirt off your back if they knew you needed it. Thanks for preserving this wonderful footage of a dying breed.

What a wonderful life my grandpa lived!

This dancing was a cross of Irish, Scottish and welsh dancing. Love it.

That dance looks like so much fun! Great historic footage ♡

the smile on that girls face at 1:58 tells it all folks. She LOVES dancing.

David, just incredible! Thank you!

Mary Ann could have ruled the world with that smile. I'm sure she ruled her own world.

The sound quality is quite amazing for the time.

I've watched your film all parts so many times... My roots go back there... Makes my heart feel good like i'm reaching back in time to my relatives and their lives... Its too bad families don't have that kind of fun together anymore ... Thank you for your posts, from the movie. My grandma used to sing like that gal does and grandpa used to play the fiddle and they Tennessee then before that theirs from N. Carolina...

Well John, if you see Mary Anne and can give her a fan mail comment without it seeming odd to receive about fifty years later, tell her she continues to inspire! Doug Day, director, sweet chariot music festival.

Thank you for sharing this! What a treasure.

Wow! As a graduate student at the University of Georgia less than 10 years after you filmed this, I would escape to the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia and North Carolina on weekends. How much I would have been able to witness myself by then, had I known where to go, I ponder upon with some regret. But what a culture... Thanks for preserving this much of it.

In the first clip, if you’ve not seen any of Mr. Hoffman’s videos about Lamar Bascombe, who searched out as many versions of folk songs and folk music as he could find, that’s him singing and playing accompaniment with his wife, as the man dances on the porch.

Love this music thanks

I love ol boy chewing on a cigarette dancing up,a storm..

I remember watching this on PBS. It really touched me. Wish there was extra footage.

Fantastic stuff, just like the old Lacashire clog dancers used to do it in my grandfather's time. Thanks for the clip!

We used to do something called country dancing when I was a school in the fifties ,,,imagine young people now doing that ,

Met Bill MacElreath in 1968. Just loved that guy! He was genuine.

You captured some very unique. I use to live in South Carolina very near the Mountains of North Carolina (about an one hour away). Did not know nothing about the people, just how beautiful the mountains were. I use drive my Mustang 5.0 through the winding mountains near the land of the Cherokee. Love your footage.

❤️❤️❤️wish I could go back in time and see this 😢

The things we did back then for entertainment the kids now a days scoff at but they were so much more wholesome and everything meant so much more I guess I feel that way because we had so much less to do. shoot we played kick the can and marbles an kick the can meant exactly that

Just wonderful!

I stumbled onto this clip and the fuller one and enjoyed it no end-those kids were so happy it made me yearn to find out if any followup was done as to who they are and what has become of them-Now that would make a great video. While I know the 60's was full of it's own heartache and injustice, I still evoke great memories of that time in my life thanks!

That was a great capture indeed... I was mesmerized the first time I saw the longer version. Thanks for sharing it again cause it shows the greatest of Americans found among what some consider the least of us. Keep um coming..!

This is Connemara sean nos dancing as old as Ireland itself and still very popular in Ireland

THANK YOU, Mr Hoffman! This is all so beautiful and mesmerizing.

You're the guy, Doug. You're the guy who do a left-to-right pan of the dancers at their eye level, and went right over the head of the little cutie in the dress. You owe her face time. Good film. Saw the whole dance on another video.

Please put up a LARGE eye catching post of this. Every one should get a chance to know about this!

LOVE this so much! Thank you...Thank you!

Thank you. Good advice. I do believe that every ordinary person is extraordinary and that every ordinary person has great extraordinary stories that they have lived. They need people like you and me to tell it for them very often and that's what I try and do. David Hoffman - filmmaker

@Phillybev thank you for your comment. In fact, I did go back and photograph some of those people again for a PBS television special that I made that was part of The American Experience series. You can see that show at my website, theHoffmancollection David Hoffman -- film maker

Back when people knew how to work They worked hard To raise their own food made their own music hard-working bunch. Some of them songs are over 100 years old. I recognize a few of them some of the more songs that my grandfather would his parents Always gathered around on Sunday evening in the living room with some of his uncles and his grandmother and they play music and make their own songs I remember hearin Emma home some of them tunes that ya played. I’d like to think it was because of my grandfather that I got my hard laborin ethic. I’m a farmer by trade. Can fix just about anythin.

I'm just thrilled to find David Hoffman on KZfaq! I still cherish your Documentary Filmmaking video (which I have in VHS!) and recognize this clip from that. Your kindness, encourgement, enthusiasm, and skill are a true inspiration.

@Joannawysiwyg Thank you for your kind words. It matters to me. My documentaries and other video communications efforts are the work of my life and it matters that these films reach and affect others like yourself once again. Much appreciated. David Hoffman - filmmaker

Some of the dancing is similar to Scottish dancing and in the past we had clog dancing in Scotland but it got lost when the rich land owners cleared the highlands of people to graze sheep. Our loss your gain. I play folk music up in the mountains of The Cairngorms and I've just bought a Denis Siler dulcimer which was originally made for a Mrs Dorothy Gatterman. I hope to let people in Scotland find a connection through playing the mountain dulcimer. Thank you for the film

Greetings Earthlings from FLAT EARTH Highlands of Scotland

I just love all this clogging and Appalachian lifestyle and culture ! Congrats for uploading this wonderful early shooting and blessings from Paris, France (I'm French)

I was born in 1965 Asheville. Grew up there.

YAY - it's the girl with the dimples again! Seems I've lost my heart in Appalachia. Many, many kudos to you, Mr Hoffman.

There you go........America's Got Talent.

I would love to see what these folks are doing now and if They can reenact this dance!

Love it ❤️

Love it! Thank you. Now, I'm subscribed. I'll be watching every, single video. It brings great joy to know of people who care more for the human being, than for money. We need much more of this good attitude. Please, spread. We really can overcome the darkness of the relatively few, very evil people. :)

The advent of the seventeenth century brought a new social order to Ireland. The O'Neill war had just ended and a general pacification of the people was now undertaken. As part of the plantation scheme, English customs were introduced to the young people. English dancing, music and language began to supplant the old Gaelic ways and customs.

@duncan3417 The last I saw Jim, was when I filmed him in another movie which you can see on my website. The complete Bascom Lamar Lunsford story. He was well and healthy and still dancing. Thank you. David Hoffman - filmmaker

David---thank you for you response----I have been doing homework and not finding HotSprings--your information has my blood pressure way up and I so excited ---Alford---

There is no Irishman could see this film without being struck by the similarity of this dancing to Irish set dancing, but most illuminating of all is the fact, that the Blue hills and Appalachians peoples were supposed to be descended of Scots Irish, Irish from Ulster or Northern Ireland, where there is no trace of set dancing today, or in recent history, on the other hand, set dancing positively thrives in counties of the Republic of Ireland, most notably Co Clare.

Brilliant. You are a true filmmaker. Sending this to all my family in NC and Virginia.

Yes he was. Kind and sweet and a true gentleman to all who approached him. It was a thrill to be with him back in 1964 when I made this movie. Do you have the entire film? David Hoffman-filmmaker

Irish Sean Nos dancing, bluegrass my goolies

I miss doing that in a group...the old folks say the ability to do that is either born in you or it's not, I don't know if that's true, however, one minute I was a Detroit city girl who only danced to rock and roll and the next minute, while at the tobacco festival in Elliott county Ky. I was doing it just like everyone else....Lol...it's a blast!

David thank you for your work. As we say yashir koach. In Hebrew. May you rejoice in your strength and accomplishments

old Scots step dancing there, still done here in Scotland

Bluegrass music is not Country music, but rather a remembrance of the hardships as well as the happiness experienced by living in the beautiful Appalacian Mountains. Bluegrass tells a story like no other music genre. It is history set to music. These are our ancestors who came from other countries to America, and found Bluegrass music to sooth their souls from the pain which they had endured by sheer determination to make a new life in America.

Thank you so much. I'm an author who's scared of herself and that video makes me think... If those people, in a rather hard time, had the time & heart to pass such magnificent music and dancing on to us, how in the world do I have the right to not write a good book? Thanks :)

David we had the wedding and Hot Springs is serendipity realized. The kids were so happy Baruch HaShem and the drive was as you know was spectacular. We may have been slightly introduced to heaven on earth. I sang the brochos and spoke from the heart with such success in humor that even my wife nearly hit the ground together with the crowd. Boasting? Well yeh but it really worked and my daughter and very gifted new son in law Peter Romano were out of control. I've done so many life ceremonies in my 45 years. And on this one I finished I deep tears of G-D's reward. The tension we'd been coping with for about 5 months finally rested in Simcha, Badchen, freilichkeit and fabulous in laws. And so we are truly blessed, happy, and able to sleep again. And now for Una Furtiva Lagrima, La Donna Mobile, Lenski's Aria and more. We followed your sharp suggestions. The photographer was experienced and the video guy was perfect. Sir your work is enlightening and so well done. Thank you and Yasher Koach. Long winded Elliot

Resident in UK, where can I see this dancing and music, must go for a holiday, fantastic viewing, got Goosebumps, amazing.

Very Interesting! Thanks for sharing!

I absolutely love this music and the Appalachian style. Thus is so unique history film capturing a "time". I'm English, live in U.K. but my dad loved country and bluegrass and I grew up listening to the disks he had. Just so wonderful and evocative of a people's and their way of life, your film brings. Thank you so much. I view them a lot. Where can I find the 90 minute, please? 👌❤️🎶🙏🏻🇬🇧

Interesting set dancing

You are absolutely amazing!

So cool...

I ordered bluegrass roots and its much better than I expected thanks

Mr. Hoffman; This video was made 10 years ago and you talked of filming in '64.; you look damn good for your age! Also, the guy on the porch is flatfooting and he is fantastic. The kids dancing are doing regular clogging, the kind they teach today in the many groups. Flatfooting by far has the most skill and goes with the music the best. That guy was good but his smoking probably held his stamina back. thanks for showing it.

i grew up in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The local radio station would play "hillbilly" music. Then the announcer would come on and say, "folks, there's gonna be a slight breeze across the knees today and the weather is lookin' right good." Places like Coverall, Tanner's Ridge, Devil Jump, Ivy Valley, and "hollers" were all around me. Still like blue grass music to this day.

You're so handsome David! 😊. I was referred to as an "old lady" today (there's an old lady over here... ) when my coffee was ready and they were looking for me 🤣🤣. It's not who I saw in the mirror this morning. They could have at least said something gentle like "there's an older lady"??? Lol lol . Oh well never mind! 🤣

That looks so fun!

Awesome!