Here are two reposts from the Mudcat thread thread.cfm?threadid=36781&messages=22 may be of interest to those people who are curious about the Coonjine dance:
Subject: RE: Rolling to Cairo Town/Background From: Azizi - PM Date: 28 Apr 07 - 07:36 PM
Here's an excerpt from Lynne Fauley Emery's book "Black Dance from 1619 to Today" {second edition; Princeton Book Company, 1988, pps 1146-147}:
"The Coonjine, another of the river dances, was still "remembered in scattered areas through the Antilles" as late as 1963. In the Caribbean, however the dance was performed during carnival time and called the "Counjaille", while in the United States the Coonjine was performed on the waterfront by the black roustabouts and "was a rhythmic shuffle affected to expedite loading and unloading..." Harold Courlander reported:
'The term Counjaille, or Coojine is still used in southern United States waterfront areas to mean moving or loading cotton, an activity that once, in all probablility, was accompanied by Counjaille-type songs and rhythms. Negro children on the docks and levies sand such songs as:
Throw me a nickle, throw me a dime If you want to see me do the Coojine.'
According to Mary Wheeler. The Coonjine was a combination of song and dance connected with frieght handling on the steamboats.
'The "plank walk" springs under a heavy weight or even under the lighter step of the rouster when he trots back again empty handed for more freight. To avoid jarring, the feet are dragged along the stage plank accompanied by a song that takes its rhythm from the shuffling feet and swaying shoulders.'
Allen, Ware, and Garrison mentioned the Coonjai and described it as a sort of Minuet, Unfortunately, although the authors spparently saw the dance, they described the musical accompaniment rather than the movements".
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Subject: RE: Rolling to Cairo Town/Background From: Azizi - PM Date: 28 Apr 07 - 09:57 PM
Here's another online reference to the Counjaille:
"Counjaille. One of the popular tunes in Guadeloupe «Counjaille O Counjaille etc...) and is proof of a Congolese presence in the country. This term describes a dance from the Congolese ritual, traces of which can be found in Guadeloupe and Santo Domingo in 1807/1809 at a time when ethnic groups were travelling from these countries to New Orleans to escape from the Napoleonic wars.
In the same way as the bamboula, Calinda, Chacha etc., these dances were performed from French Guiana to New Orleans as well as Santo Domingo and all of the French West Indies. …
It is important to specify that in the Creole language, this word can mean several different things. The same word describes the music, dance, group gathering, etc"
Given the antiquity of the Counjaille dance, it appears that the roustabouts may have adapted those dance steps to fit their needs rather than independently created the Coonjine dance.
Also, similar to the glossary, in the United States, the word Coonjine apparently came to be used as a referent for the roustabouts' particular movements, and the dance that Black children and others imitated from those movements, the songs which accompanied that dance, and the dock workers themselves.