America's Problem with Folk Dance Music

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Reading old music theory books so you don't have to. In today's episode we dive into Michael Herman's "Folk Dances for All", a book which attempts to tackle a perceived clash between American culture and the practice of traditional folk dance music. By covering a range of folk dances from the Russian Troika to the Italian Danza we are introduced to a wide range of dance and music from a variety of cultures. Folk Dances for All might not be the first book you go to in order to study music theory. Never the less, music and dance are inevitably intertwined. There is a lot to be gained in understanding how a dancer understands music, as opposed to the musician. A waltz after all, is much more than 3/4 time.

Timestamps:
00:00 - American Exhibitionism in Folk Dance
01:24 - The Roasting of Burl Ives
02:51 - Bulgarian Tropanka
03:05 - Russian Troika
03:20 - Jewish Patch Tanz
04:01 - Mexican Waltz
04:50 - Bavarian Landler
05:04 - Swedish Varsovienne
06:05 - Questionable Comments
06:32 - Ukrainian Ohorodnik
06:43 - Estonian Eide Ratas
06:55 - Sicilian Tarantella
07:20 - Glorious Graphic
07:54 - Italian Danza
09:11 - What Musicians can learn from Dance