On this West Virginia Morning, crocheters started making “temperature blankets” as a way to document daily life, but the tradition of telling a story through textiles goes way back. For Inside Appalachia, folkways reporter Wendy Welch looks at how this ancient tradition is being carried on.
Students Awarded College Scholarships to Play …Music & Dance
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How many basement rehearsal rooms have you been in that literally shake with the pounding steps of ten flatfoot dancers? If you’ve never had the pleasure, then you could try imagining a team of tap dancers…add a smidgeon more stomping, kicking, laughing, and top it off with a lot of whooping.
The students at Davis and Elkins College take this wild rumpus music very seriously though. The dancers exchange little nods with their string band- a group of five students who play the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, washboard and banjo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13sppHER-lU
They’re all part of a new program at Davis and Elkins College that’s helping to preserve the art of traditional music and dance.
Their group is called the Appalachian Ensemble- a touring string band and dance ensemble. The college treats the musicians and flatfoot dancers like sports stars: it offers them scholarships to play. The group started just four years ago – so the first students to participate will graduate this year. Roxy Todd recently spent a day hanging out with the Appalachian Ensemble as they were practicing, and creating, their own style of fusion Appalachian music.
A former apple orchard in Jefferson County was rezoned for industrial use, but some residents have expressed concerns about how that will impact development and the environment.