Learn a Birthday Dance for Florida Territory … Online
by Ben Gunter
February 22, 2021, marks a milestone birthday for Florida. On February 22 in 1821, the treaty that transformed Florida from a Spanish province into a US possession was finally ratified, and Florida Territory was born.
February 22 has another claim to fame in US history – it’s George Washington’s birthday. Back when Florida was our newest territory, George Washington’s birthday was a prime time to party. All over the USA, people put on their dancing shoes and celebrated “the Father of Our Country” with country dancing.
This February, you can step into the swing of Florida changing hands and join the dance of history. You can be one of the first people in history to watch a brand-new video from Theater with a Mission (TWAM) – a video that teaches you how to do the Yankee Doodle Country Dance. In this video, dance historian Idy Codington will talk you through the elegant pattern of the dance, which features couples holding hands to pivot around each other, then promenade down an aisle, then join hands with other couples to make a big circle. She will teach you the energetic step (step-together-step, step-together-step, step-together-step, jump left, jump right) that gives this grand old dance its pep. And she’ll demonstrate how all the pieces, steps, and patterns fit together, using three couples dressed in 1820s clothing who are learning their way through this dance to the lively tune of “Yankee Doodle.”
Why take this unusual step? Why celebrate Florida’s 200th birthday with a dance that’s 200 years old? “Because,” says Idy Codington, who holds an MA in American Dance Studies from FSU, “history comes alive when you get to dance it. The Yankee Doodle Country Dance lets you experience in your own body how men and women enjoyed each other’s company 200 years ago, lets you re-create with your own hands what their pictures of graceful behavior looked like, and lets you walk with your own feet patterns of thought that they admired. Dancing this slice of life from Florida Territory puts you viscerally in touch with those times.”
People who are learning the Yankee Doodle Country Dance agree. Juan Matos is a Cuban-American who appears as one of the demonstration dancers in the new video. He comments, “Latin dance is in my blood. Salsa, rhumba, cha-cha, lambada – I can dance those all night long. Learning the Yankee Doodle Country Dance was a new experience for me. It let me feel the rhythm of the big shift from Latino to Anglo worldview that people lived through when Florida became US territory. It let me start a journey across a bridge of cultural understanding that puts me in touch with Florida’s roots, and deeper in touch with my own multicultural roots, too.”
Come learn a birthday dance for Florida Territory! Theater with a Mission’s new video, “Yankee Doodle Country Dance for George Washington’s Birthday Ball,” is slated for public release on February 20, 2021 – just in time to celebrate Florida’s 200th birthday and get ready for the virtual Loco for Love Festival on March 27. For a countdown to release date and for more details about the virtual Loco for Love Festival, visit www.theaterwithamission.com, and follow TWAM on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok. Dance on!
