Category Archives: Kinesthetic

Body movements

Hula Dance – Performance Rituals

Context:

The informant is a 19-year-old student from Santa Monica, California. Her dad is from Hawai’i, so she has been learning and performing hula since she was 5 years old.

Text:

“At the start of every practice before entering like the practice space, we all circle–stand in a circle at the entrance and do like a chant, which is it’s called like Kunihi Ka Mauna. And basically like any hula dancer you ask, they know this chat because it’s like in every halau, which is like the school’s, they do this chant. It means like ‘steep and calm is the mountain.’ And so the idea is that before you start practice, you’re asking permission to learn the hula and like enter the space. And so you’ll do, it’s called like an Oli Kahea and the Kumu, the teacher, will respond back and then when you hear like a certain line of their response, that means you can enter.

And then also you always put on and take off your skirt, like, over your head. Like, you never like step into it or like step out of it if that makes sense because, like, it’s about like– It’s, like, disrespectful to, like, put the energy, like, below you or something. Yeah, so you’re putting it over yourself, like, over your heart.

Something kind of similar to that is whenever you have a lei, the flower, the direction of the flowers goes like upward facing on your left side. So like on your left side, they’re, like facing up same thing with, like kukui nuts, are like those, you know, like the blonde or black, like, nuts. And they’re kind of like heart shaped. Same thing, like the heart shape goes up on your left side because it’s like, your heart is. So, for flowers and any kind of lay that it goes in that direction because it’s like the, since your heart is on your left side, it’s like the circulation of the energy in the correct direction.

And you dance barefoot to be closer to Mother Earth.”

Analysis:

This is a ritual that the informant says, everyone who practices hula learns early on. Hula seems to have a strong connection to both Mother Earth and their home of Hawai’i. They want to show their respect every time they perform with these rituals. Performing these rituals repeatedly every time they perform dhow their dedication to respecting Mother Earth and the culture.

St. Patrick’s Day Tradition

Informant: Patrick’s Day is kind of a big deal for us.

We usually make a whole meal, roast beef and definitely Irish soda bread. But the best part is this tradition we have with our family friends. We always do this group dance, I think it’s called the Siege of Ennis. It’s for eight people, and there are a lot of formations and patterns. It’s a little chaotic, but really fun.

We do it every year, and I always end up filming it. It’s usually a mix of a bunch of drunk adults and me trying to keep up and make sure I get it on video. It’s kind of a mess, but in the best way.

It’s one of those traditions that’s just stuck, and now it wouldn’t feel like St. Patrick’s Day without it.

Context: The informant is from an Irish American family on the East Coast of the US. Both sides of their family are Irish, but are not first-generation Americans. 

Analysis: At the broad level, St. Patrick’s Day provides a fairly basic backdrop for this family tradition. It’s a widely recognized holiday associated with Irish identity, food, and celebration. The meal (roast beef, Irish soda bread) reflects the more traditional foodways the family participates in during the holiday. Even if the exact dishes vary from “authentic” Irish cuisine, what matters is that they are understood by the group as symbolically Irish and tied to the occasion.

The dance, the Siege of Ennis, introduces another layer. Unlike invented family traditions, this is a formal, traditional Irish dance with established steps and formations. When the ngroup performs it, they are engaging in a form of folk dance, even if informally learned or imperfectly executed.

Interlocking Arms

Age: 21

Text
“I played varsity basketball all 4 years in high school, and one like common thing that would always come up throughout the season was interlocking arms. On like senior night, the seniors would interlock their arms with each other before the game as their names were getting announced to like walk up and take their pictures and get flowers and stuff. I think it was like a way of showing that we were together, kinda like one group, one team sort of thing. But also during like clutch free throws at the end of the game everybody on the bench would interlock arms for the free throws. It was kind of like a superstition, something we did for good luck. You see it a lot on like TV too like in college basketball games they’ll do it and also in soccer games during penalty shootouts a lot of times the players in the back will have their arms interlocked, so yeah like the same thing we were doing.”

Context
DZ remembers interlocking arms as an unspoken act that would come up throughout the season for his high school basketball team in moments of solidarity (senior night) and in clutch moments when they needed the best luck. He says that the whole team would always participate, and no one would have to say anything; if one person started it, everyone would follow suit. DZ notes that this wasn’t something independent to his team and that he has seen it on TV a lot, so even the first time that his team did it he had an understanding of the meaning behind the act.

Analysis
DZ’s story of interlocking arms contains a lot of different folkloric themes. He says that the gesture was always unspoken and that he knew the meaning behind it from the very first time that his team locked arms, showing how folklore can be shared and enacted through example. The gesture also become a core part of the basketball team’s identity, representing unity and the team’s bonds in valuable moments. This gesture also served multiple purposes. In moments like senior night, it was used as somewhat of a rite of passage, marking the seniors transition into a new beginning. In clutch moments during games, it served as a superstition with magic behind it, a gesture that would create good luck and influence the outcome of the game positively. These different uses are an example of Santino’s point that rituals are both symbolic and instrumental, as interlocking arms represented team togetherness and helped create good luck. DZ saying that the gesture was not one created by his team, but rather a popular gesture among athletes shows that it is a core piece of lore among the athlete folk group, and also that it exists in multiplicity and variations around the world. I, for one, always noticed this gesture by sports teams in games I watched on TV, so I thought it was very cool that somebody I knew engaged in it in their own team as well.

Circle (OK sign) Game

Age: 20

Text
“When I was in like middle and high school, there was always a game where anybody could make like an OK sign with their hand and hold it below their hip, like it had to be below your hip or it didn’t count. And if you looked at it and they saw you looking then they got to neck you (slap you on the neck). This could just happen like any time so you would always have to be careful, and I remember my friends would try to like bait me into looking down so they could neck me. But if I got them they would always say they didn’t look. Looking back, it was like so stupid. But it was just a way to get to hit your friends I think.”

Context
VH explains the circle game as a long running game throughout middle and high school among his friend group. He says that no one ever explicitly taught him the rules of the game, and he feels that it just became a part of his life. VH also points out that the results were very up to personal interpretation and often disputed. This game was always playing, so at any time you could get caught looking. VH also says that he has seen this game on social media and other friends in college knew about it too.

Analysis
The circle game is definitely an example of customary folklore as it is a repeated game that VH learned through experience and participation rather than in any explicit or formal way, which shows how folklore is disseminated unofficially. It’s also a great example of how folklore is constantly evolving and not always clearly defined, as everybody would have their own take on the rules of the game. This game was a manifestation of childhood humor, and also utilizes play frames to slap your friends in an “acceptable” way. The circle game is a great example of the young boy folk group, as it exists in multiplicity and variations outside of just one school/friend group, as VH notes that he has seen it on social media and this was a game that was often played in my school as well (in a totally different state).

“B Card”

Age: 21

Text
“There was a thing when I was in middle school where if someone said they were gonna do something anybody could say B Card right after and if you didn’t do the thing that you said then your friends would neck you (slap you on the neck). I remember I thought it was just a thing like with me and my friends at my school in 6th grade but I remember when I went to a new school in 7th grade, one of my friends said it one day and everybody like knew what it was in our friend group like it was a common thing which was kinda surprising. I think it stood for bitch card, like you’re a bitch if you back out of doing the thing you said. And anything was fair game too so you had to just like watch what you were saying around your friends.”

Context
BS explains that this was a long running verbal game among his multiple friend groups in middle school. Essentially, if BS’s friend were to say an action (ie. “I’m gonna get an A on this test”), BS could then immediately say “B Card”. If the action then wasn’t completed, then BS could slap his friend on the neck. No matter how outlandish the action, anything could be B carded at any time. BS also says that this was a game that existed in 2 different friend groups at different schools.

Analysis
“B Card” is an example of folk speech among young boys, and also a game that utilizes play frames as a way to hurt your friends under “acceptable” rules. It also marked your acceptance or standing of certain friend groups, as not every group understood or valued the saying, and “B Card” was never explicitly taught nor have I ever seen it on social media. BS and I went to the same school, but I also had a similar experience where the school/friend group I came from before also played the “B Card” game with slightly different rules like punching instead of necking, showing that “B Card” existed in multiplicity and variations among us middle school boys. In my opinion, “B Card” could have been a way to hold each other accountable to the things we would say, an example of Mechling’s point that jokes can be used as social tools, but it was definitely a game that gave us an excuse to hit each other due to the mostly outlandish/impossible things that middle school boys would say they were going to do throughout the day.