What do you ladies do when the drum stops?

[ndngirl722]

What do you do when the drum stops but the singers keeps going, like here:

http://www.powwows.com/galleries/sho...o=9125&cat=520

I noticed that some of the ladies keep dancing, some stop, and some slow down. Is there a proper thing to do when this happens?

[Steffan Redhawk]

What do you do when the drum stops but the singers keeps going, like here:

http://www.powwows.com/galleries/sho...o=9125&cat=520

I noticed that some of the ladies keep dancing, some stop, and some slow down. Is there a proper thing to do when this happens?

I'm not a woman.. however, I am a singer.. and a dancer..

The song starts when the lead singer starts singing, nomatter if the drum is going or not.

The song ends when the chorus is over, which isn't always when the drum is done.

If your in grand entry, and the drum stops, but the singers continue, your still expected to dance.

There are jingle dress songs, where there is no drum beat. Same with grass (Not refering to a stick song), memorial songs... even more than that... so I guess I would say there are several songs that your expected to dance to, where the beat ends before the song, or there is no beat to begin with.

As for what to do.. I dance. Most of my friends dance..

Most of the girls I know just kinda walk to it, I think its because for the most part they don't know what to do... but I've seen a few that do pretty well.

[ndngirl722]

Thank you very much, it's great to get a drummer's response to my question!

[WocusWoman]

I'm confused by his answer. Anyhow, I choose to stop in position, but keep a light bounce(dancing step) in place, until the drum starts up again. I know many new dancers or visitors get very confused by this when it happens.

[Wojapi4Me]

Simplified:

Dance to the song. If they're singing, dance. If they quit singing, quit dancing.

[apacheheart]

...Well ,I'm not a lady either,but as a singer,during the tail of a song,I've seen where the ladies either stop and kinda bop up and down in place,or will step in place,but I hardly,if ever,see anyone stop dancing unless the singing stops,even if the drumming stops or is played very low....keep smilin'1

[Steffan Redhawk]

...Well ,I'm not a lady either,but as a singer,during the tail of a song,I've seen where the ladies either stop and kinda bop up and down in place,or will step in place,but I hardly,if ever,see anyone stop dancing unless the singing stops,even if the drumming stops or is played very low....keep smilin'1

In this area, alot of the people don't travel around to powwows, so they aren't as exposed as some of them should be. Then when I goto a powow in indiana, It seems most of the drums (save a few) have had excellent teachings, but very few of the dancers have.

I think this question was actually a great one, I think it would be nice to see people stopping when the song is over around here for a change.

[Lakota Wiyan]

As a women's traditional dancer, and the close relative of ALOT of singers, and who has been raised in the powwow world, I have always been taught to keep up the beat of the song until the singers are done. During the honor beats ( or whatever you happen to call them), up here in the north, we dont always change our dance rhythm, or do anything different other than maybe raise a fan. So, just because the drum beat changes at that time, we dont alter the way we dance (like taking 2-5 hard steps, which might look kinda silly for a woman), so when the drum fades away, but the singers are still singing, its still part of the song. Keep dancing.