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Appalachian Mountain Girls and the Kruger Brothers at Mountain Music Jamboree
Thanks to our partner Appalachian State University and our friends at the Southern Folklife Collection, 243 films documenting music and religious traditions in the Appalachian mountains and surrounding region are now on DigitalNC. The digitization of the materials for preservation and online access was funded through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The films come from two collections at Appalachian: William R. and John W. Turner Concert and Dance Videos and the C. Howard Dorgan Papers. The Turner collection consists of films and audio recordings taken at bluegrass and old time music festivals, fish park gigs, and concerts in primarily the North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia mountains. The Dorgan collection contains films and audio taken at churches, mostly of Baptist affiliation, in Appalachia. Sermons, singing, and revivals are all documented in the films.
Thanks to the hard work of the staff of the Southern Folklife Collection these films are now much more accessible for both our partner’s use and a wider internet audience.
To learn more about our partner Appalachian State University, visit their Special Collections’ page here.
Charlie Barnet and his Gospel Stars, Shared by UNC-Charlotte’s Atkins Library.
Does your organization have audiovisual materials you’d like to digitize and share online? The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center is looking for nominations of film, video, and audio materials to digitize and add to DigitalNC.org’s Sights and Sounds collection.
If you’re part of a cultural heritage organization and have audiovisual materials you’d like digitized, let us know. The Center will evaluate all of the nominations (see evaluation criteria below) in an effort to select a variety of content in different formats and which represents the cultural and geographic diversity of North Carolina.
Nominating items is easy! Email us at digitalnc@unc.edu with a description of the items you have. Please include the following:
- number of items
- types of formats represented
- what the items contain, to the best of your knowledge
Deadline for nominations is April 14, 2016. We’re happy to answer questions if you’d like more information, by emailing us at the address above or calling (919) 962-4836.
Selection Criteria for Audiovisual Digitization
- Is the film, video, or tape believed to be unique to your collection, or are there copies at other institutions?
- Do you have equipment available to play the media you’re nominating?
- Is the media believed to be at least 40 years old?
- Are you willing to have the media sent to a vendor to be digitized?
- Is there a catalog record or anything describing the content of the media?
- Does the media cover a time period of historical significance? (For example: Civil War, Great Depression, World War II).
- Was the media created by, or does it contain significant content by or about one of North Carolina’s historically underrepresented communities?
- Is the media from a county or region that is already represented on DigitalNC.org or other digital library projects?
- Is there a demonstrated demand for online access to the media? If so, are there examples, such as requests from users or community members?
- If this media is digitized, is the contributing institution willing to promote the media through press releases and other announcements or programs?
Durham has long been a center of the arts in the Triangle, with dance being no exception. The American Dance Festival (ADF) has been a part of the Durham community since 1978. The ADF began in 1934 at Bennington College in Vermont and moved to several other New England campuses, until it finally settled at Duke University, where it has remained for almost forty years. This event helped to foster the many dance and performance organizations in the area and increase the popularity of dance in the local Durham community, as well as around the Triangle.
The “Arts in Durham” television broadcast documented several studios and clubs that stemmed from this popularity during the late 1970’s. Although the ADF focused primarily on modern dance, many different genres were represented in these broadcasts, including disco, ballet, jazz, and clogging. Below are three “Arts in Durham” broadcasts from DigitalNC’s North Carolina Sights & Sounds Collection, highlighting the wonderful and weird dance styles from the Durham community.
Arts in Durham: Arthur Hall Dance Company
Arthur Hall teaching technique at the American Dance Festival.
Arthur Hall, founder of the Dance Company with his name sake, came to the ADF from Philadelphia to teach techniques based in traditional African movements. Trained under a Ghanaian instructor, Hall dedicated his life to creating a space for Black dancers to practice and perform traditional and original choreography. Outside of dance, Hall created a museum, cultural center and archive in Germantown. He has been called the “father of the Black arts movement in Philadelphia,” and his techniques inspired the Durham Arts community during his time with ADF.
Arts in Durham: C’est La Vie Disco
C’est La Vie Disco
Although ADF showcased professional dancers and choreographers, professional dance was not all that existed during this period in Durham. C’est La Vie Disco embraced the disco craze of the seventies in a way that amateurs and professionals alike could enjoy. Located in Durham’s old Five Point Neighborhood, C’est La Vie Disco was housed in a restaurant that made room for DJs and dancers in the evenings. The broadcast features several professional teachers, demonstrating disco techniques, but the true highlights are the intro and concluding pieces that showcase community members busting some moves.
Art in Durham: New Performance Dance Company, April 1979
Probably the most entertaining of all of the dance-related audiovisual material on DigitalNC, this broadcast features the New Performance Dance Company, once located on Chapel Hill Street in Durham. The company choreographed and performed in the area and taught classes of various styles. The broadcast features several modern performances, disco choreography, and children’s classes. Many of these dance styles are quite unique and definitely worth watching!
You can see all of the dance-related moving images at the links below or continue exploring the Arts in Durham . Many thanks to the Durham County Library for contributing these pieces of history from the Triangle.
