This is a clip from my one hour documentary film on Bascom Lamar Lunsford and the people of the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains. From the time that I traveled there to film my first television documentary in 1965, I was fascinated by the culture and in love with the people.
This clip includes footage from the 1920s and shows the kind of get-togethers folks had in the mountains where they clog danced, played mountain - country - bluegrass music and drank a fair amount of moonshine whiskey. I had some of that when I first filmed there at 22 years old… but that's another story.
I love clog dancing, square dancing and other traditional forms of mountain dance. Clog dancing is also known as tap dancing. It was a very popular form of entertainment in the North Carolina mountains in the 1920s. It was performed in local theaters, dance halls, and other public venues like the one shown in this video.
Clog dancing at the time was influenced by African American and Irish tradition and was added to by the creativity of the Appalachian mountain culture. Performers often wore hard-soled shoes and used their feet to create rhythmic patterns and beats, accompanied by music played on instruments like the banjo, fiddle, and guitar.
One notable figure at the time in North Carolina clog dancing who I believe is shown in this video clip was John Carson, a mountain musician and performer who is often credited with helping to popularize the style of country music known as "hillbilly" music. Carson was known for his energetic and lively clog dancing performances, which often included intricate footwork and acrobatic moves.
In the 1920s, in the 1960s when I filmed in North Carolina in the mountains, and today, clog dancing is a vibrant and dynamic art form. Some of my commentators on other clips presented from this documentary believe that it is no longer alive and well in the mountains. That is not true. Many young people still clog dance and there are videos on KZfaq presenting just how wonderfully skilled they are.
If you would like to see the one hour prime time television special from which this clip was taken, go here - • REAL Mountain Bluegras...
And I would appreciate your supporting my efforts to post other clips like this one by clicking the super thanks button below the video screen.
Thank you
David Hoffman filmmaker