Early radio station programs in the Southern US had numerous programs based on the format called "The Barn Dance". The Grand Ol' Opry started out this way as well as other notable ones from WLS Chicago, Renfro Valley, etc. and even before WSN Nashville, there was WSB in Atlanta, (arguably the first "country" station in the US.) Some might claim Texas for this. By the time it reached radio, dancing wasn't visually represented but the tradition that it grew out of was a descendant of what had gone on in the British Isles. There was also a rich African-American dance tradition which gave rise to many white show business types incorporating the moves and music into the "minstrel show". This was a short-lived popular expression. Southwestern Swing revived a lot of the actual dancing in the rural areas with Milton Brown and Bob Wills, much of what carries on to today.

The fiddle and banjo tradition of Anglo-American dance music was popular amoung coal miners and farmers. Some of it was associated with the Southern Mountains. What happened to the Anglo-American tradition of the barn dance is that the players for the dances became virtuosos and the dance aspect became less pronounced.

Blues musicians kept their tradition of country dancing alive in their communities and this transferred to the South Side of Chicago and other concentrated black communities. This would cross over into jazz which in its inception was a dance form in the African-American style.

There is a rural tradition from the Northeast in the US based on the "Contres Danse" from the Acadian community. Much of this has been revived using tunes from the British Isles. Actually, the rural traditions of both North and South in the US weren't that different. They could be interchangeable although there are differences such as the Appalachian Big Circle dances and the line dances of New England. Then there is the whole area of "play party" dances that grew up when the strict "hardshell" Baptists of the South thought the fiddle and banjo instrument of the "devil".

Jean Ritchie can share some important insights into what constitutes
barn dances in the US.

In the 1950's, Jack Elliott, Guy Carawan and I landed in a small Southern town whereby they had roped off the streets for a dance, but their band didn't show. We were the musicians and it was quite an experience and lesson for us. It was as close to a barn dance as I have ever been.

Frank