Music & Dance in Early America

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18th-Century Dancing

Dance in the Morning

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be.
I am the Lord of the dance, said he.
I'll lead you all wherever you may be,
I will lead you all in the Dance, said he.

Dancing in a Grove in the 18th-century

Sidney Carter (1915–2004) wrote these words in 1963 Britain, to a 19th-century Shaker melody, "Simple Gifts" by Joseph Brackett. The tune was written by American Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) who first joined the Shakers at Gorham, Maine, when his father's farm helped to form the nucleus of a new Shaker settlement. The song was largely unknown outside of American Shaker communities; until it became world famous thanks to its use in Aaron Copland's score for Martha Graham's ballet "Appalachian Spring," 1st performed in 1944. Copland used "Simple Gifts" a second time in 1950, in his first set of "Old American Songs" for voice & piano, which was later orchestrated.

Dancing in the 19th-century

19th-Century Dance
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Shakers dancing...

From the beginning of the Shaker movement, dancing, or “laboring” under operations of the spirit was an essential element of Shaker worship. The Shakers found several reasons to add dance to their worship. They found 19 scripture passages saying that said they should dance for the Lord.  They also reasoned that God created the whole body, not just the mouth & hands; therefore, they should praise the Lord with their whole bodies. The communal family often gathered in its family meeting room to worship during the weekday evenings, at first in spontaneous, individual dancing, & later to repeat intricate dance steps.

Shaker Dance by C. Winter from Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy by Hans Nathan

An anonymous observer among the Shakers at Albany, NY, recorded these observations:

"At half past seven p.m. on the dancing days, all the members retired to their separate rooms, where they sat in solemn silence, just gazing at the stove, until the silver tones of the small tea-bell gave the signal for them to assemble in the large hall.

"Shakers, their mode of Worship" Hartford Lith. D.W. Kellogg & Co., [ca. 1830-1842].

"Thither they proceeded in perfect order and solemn silence. Each had on thin dancing shoes; and on entering the door of the hall they walked on tip-toe, and took up their positions as follows: the brothers formed a rank on the right, and the sisters on the left, facing each other, about five feet apart.

"After all were in their proper places the chief Elder stepped into the center of the space, and gave an exhortation for about five minutes, concluding with an invitation to them all to 'go forth, old men, young men and maidens, and worship God with all their might in the dance.' Accordingly they 'went forth,' the men stripping off their coats and remaining in their shirt-sleeves.

Shakers Dancing

"First they formed a procession and marched around the room in double-quick time, while four brothers and sisters stood in the center singing for them. After marching in this manner until they got a little warm, they commenced dancing, and continued it until they were pretty well tired.

"During the dance the sisters kept on one side, and the brothers on the other, and not a word was spoken by any of them. After they appeared to have had enough of this exercise, the Elder gave the signal to stop, when immediately each one took his or her place in an oblong circle formed around the room, and all waited to see if anyone had received a 'gift,' that is, an inspiration to do something odd. Then two of the sisters would commence whirling round like a top, with their eyes shut; and continued this motion for about fifteen minutes; when they suddenly stopped and resumed their places, as steady as if they had never stirred..."

American Heritage magazine reported,

"The main attraction for tourists was Sunday public worship meeting, when hundreds of spectators crowded into the meetinghouse to watch the Shakers perform the dances that gave them their name. The effect on the audience was electric. Outsiders who could tolerate celibacy and communalism, and even shrug their shoulders at the notion that men and women were equal, were scandalized by the idea of dancing in church. Amazed, amused, or aghast, shocked observers likened Shakers at worship to kangaroos, dancing bears, and overgrown antelopes bounding around the room. “Senseless jumping,” Emerson wrote, “this shaking of their hands, like the paws of dogs.”

The Graphic, May 14, 1870 Shakers at Meeting. The Religious Dance. Illustration by Artist Arthur Boyd Houghton

Most of their worship was singing and dancing. In the beginning, the dancing was done individually. Later in the 1800s the dancing became more organized and practiced by the group as a whole. The complicated steps and interesting formations brought hundreds of people to watch the Shakers dance.

“And to work they went with one accord,” observer Mrs. Hall reported, “singing or rather screaming, tunes of a kind of jig time, at the same time walking round the room with a swinging step somewhat between a walk and a dance and flapping their hands with a penguin kind of motion.”

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right

See:  Noyes, John Humphrey, History of American Socialisms (1870)

Celebrating in 1830-60s America - Music & Dance by William Sidney Mount 1807-1868

William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) Catching the Tune 1866-7

William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) Dance of the Haymakers 1845


The Irish tradition of "dancing a jig" in the Middle Atlantic was noted by a newspaper reporter in the middle of the century.  In 1848, a reporter for the New York Tribune visited a hotel in Philadelphia's Southwark district where working-class men & women came to drink & dance. When the "old negro fiddler" strikes up a tune in a dancing-room upstairs, the reporter records,

"The dance proceeds for a few minutes in tolerable order; but soon the excitement grows, the dancers begin … accelerating their movements, accompanied with shouts of laughter, yells of encouragement and applause, … Affairs are now at their height. The black fiddler increases the momentum of his elbow and calls out the figure in convulsive efforts to be heard [while] the dancers, now wild with excitement, leap frantically about … and at length conclude the dance in the wildest disorder and confusion. As soon as the parties recover, the fiddler makes his appearance among them and receives from each gentleman a tip as his proportion of the ceremony of 'facing the music,' and the floor is cleared for a new set; and so goes on the night."


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) Right and Left 1850


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) Dancing on the Barn Floor 1831


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) The Banjo Player 1856


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) Rustic Dance After a Sleigh Ride 1830


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) The Bone Player 1856


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) The Breakdown Bar Room Scene 1835

William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) Just in Time


William Sidney Mount (American painter, 1807-1868) The Power of Music 1847

William Sidney Mount (American genre painter, 1807-1868)  The Banjo Player 1856

African American spirituals & the shout...

The Shout at a Prayer Meeting, Georgia, Charles Stearns, The Black Man of the South (New York, 1872)

The very first negro spirituals were inspired by African music even if the tunes were not far from those of hymns. Some of them, which were called “shouts” were accompanied with typical dancing including hand clapping & foot tapping.

After regular a worship service, congregations often stayed for a “ring shout.”  It was a survival of primitive African dance. The men, & sometimes women, arranged themselves in a ring. The music started, perhaps with a Spiritual, and the ring began to move, at first slowly, then with quickening pace. The same musical phrase could be repeated over & over for hours. This produced an ecstatic state. Women sometimes screamed & fell. Men, exhausted, dropped out of the ring. 

The most common early spiritual musical format was call-and-response, with a song leader singing improvised verses, while a group provided short repetitive & often rhythmic responses. The songs themselves could be slow and mournful or in the more rhythmic, up-tempo style also associated with the ring shout, a holy dance.

Music & Dance - Early 19C Philadelphia by John Lewis Krimmel 1786-1821

Immigrant artist John Lewis Krimmel was one of the first painters to record early 4th of July celebrations. He was born in Ebingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1787, and accidently drowned near German-town, Pennsylvania, in July of 1821. He came to Philadelphia in 1809, to engage in business with his brother but soon abandoned the business to concentrate on his art.

He began his art career painting portraits, but a copy of Wilkie's "Blind Fiddler" caught his attention; & he turned to humorous subjects and genre painting. Krimmel gathered information for his paintings in the American countryside around Philadelphia by observing local habits, rituals, & ceremonies, so even though he took most of his compositional formats from British prints made after paintings by the satirical artists William Hogarth & David Wilkie, his subject matter was familiar to his potential audience at the Pennsylvania Academy. He also painted more serious historical pictures, & at the time of his death he had received a commission to paint a large canvas on the landing of William Penn. Krimmel was president of the Society of American artists.

John Lewis Krimmel (German-born American artist, 1786-1821) Barroom Dancing 1820


John Lewis Krimmel (German-born American artist, 1786-1821) Merrymaking at a Wayside Inn


John Lewis Krimmel (German American arttist, 1786-1821) The Quilting Frolic 1813