As Grannie Annie puts it, she's "danced many a mile" in the dance-halls of Central Texas. That’s what kept running through my head as I stumbled all over my partners’ poor feet to Haybale! last night at the Continental Club. I’ve lived in Texas for over 15 years now, but each time I attempt to Two-Step, my patient partners must whisper, “two to the right, one to the left...that’s right, that’s the Texas Two Step...”, as if it were my first time. Sadly, its not. While I am usually proud of my mixed heritage (1/2 Yankee, 1/2 Texan), when I attempt to Two-Step, I blame and curse my Yankee half for my clumsiness. Of course I realize Yankees can dance, but the love Texans have of taunting Yankees must be hard-wired in my brain and my mind engages in its own, modern, Civil War.
For Grannie Annie music and dancing were an integral part of community life in rural Texas. As a small child, her parents would pack up the children and head to the dancehall off of Court Street in Seguin. The dances were a family affair with children sleeping on quilts and under benches while their parents Two-Stepped through the night. It was at this same dancehall, under the watchful eye of her parents, that a 17-year-old Grannie Annie met my grandfather, a handsome soldier fresh off the farm from East Texas.
While filming Grandmother Storyteller, I've had the opportunity to discover and film traditional Texas music as it lives and breathes today. There are now efforts to revive and preserve the old dance-halls, but in communities sometimes too small to sustain even a post office, local talent has been gathering for years to sing and play the traditional music of the region. Thank goodness for my camera, otherwise my two left feet may have had me banned from these gatherings years ago.
To experience authentic traditional music of the region for yourself, check out the regular jam sessions of the towns and communities listed below. If you know of other gatherings, please let me know!
Harwood
New Braunfels
Runge
Seguin
Tilmon
The photo above features Grannie Annie's Uncle Eddie charming the ladies.
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