Folklore: Evolution of 'Bush Dancing' articles

Subject: Folklore: Evolution of 'Bush Dancing'
From: GUEST,smiley
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 06:24 AM

Peter Ellis has kindly shared his excellent series of six articles on the evolution of Australian 'Bush Dancing' via the Victorian Folk Music Club website here.

Anyone interested in Australian traditional music and dancing would get a lot out of Peter's well-researched observations. I first read these articles in Trad&Now magazine over the last 12 months and they raised my awareness of how Aussie bush bands are a fairly modern creation. For instance, he says this about the modern Bush dance: "It certainly has no connection at all with any tradition of the bush."

IanH

Subject: RE: Folklore: Evolution of 'Bush Dancing' articles
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 07:26 AM

Ian, the first Bush Band was The Heathcote Bushwhackers (no connection to the later Melbourne-based Bushwackers, 1980s to date)

The Bushwhackers (1952 to 1957) founded the (Sydney) Bush Music Club in 1954 to teach aspiring musicians how to be Bushwhackers. Many of the early Bush bands used the word Bushwhacker in their name - eg. Morton Bay Bushwhackers. The following link tells the story of the History of the Bush Music Club
BMC photowebsite - click on Photos & scroll down for albums on the Bushwhackers Band, & members John Meredith & Alan Scott
BMC blog - many history articles were posted in 2012

The Melbourne Bush Music Club was founded in 1959 & later changed it's name to the Victorian Folk Music Club.

sandra

Subject: RE: Folklore: Evolution of 'Bush Dancing' articles
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 10:21 PM

Thanks for those links Sandra.
The BMC and Bush Traditions in NSW have done a good job of keeping the old tunes and dances alive. I just hope that aspiring Bush Bands will become aware of the background provided by Peter Ellis et al, instead of relying on the Bushwackers Dance Book as the source for dances and tunes.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Evolution of 'Bush Dancing' articles
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 10 Oct 13 - 10:12 PM

Thanks for the connections to both of you.

~ Becky in Long Beach