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Old Ways in the New World

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Object Details

Introduction
In the 1970s, more than 90 percent of all Americans recognized themselves as heirs to cultural traditions brought to this country from other parts of the world. The 1975 Old Ways program featured six of the many ethnic groups that have enriched the American mosaic of culture. In the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, more than 30 were expected to participate. The central theme of the 1975 presentations was celebration. Individuals and groups who serve their communities through singing, dancing, playing music, telling stories, or preparing food for these gatherings were brought to the Festival from ethnic communities in the United States and from their parent nations overseas. The 1975 presentations featured German and Lebanese traditions (June 25-29), and Japanese, Mexican, and Italian traditions (July 2-6). The German presentation focused on the music, dance and foodways associated with weddings - a celebration that involves whole communities in customs that have been practiced for hundreds of years. German American musicians played traditional wedding music on a combination of instruments: a hammered dulcimer, accordion, trombone, and bass guitar. Other wedding music was performed by a German American brass band from Wisconsin and another from Texas. From Schleswig-Holstein a six-piece band performed wedding dance music, and Bavarian wedding music was played by three musicians from Munich. A brass band and dancers from Baden-Wurtemburg performed wedding music from their region, and wedding foods were demonstrated. The Lebanese program reflected the diversity of traditional music and dance, urban and village, sacred and secular. An urban cabaret orchestra from Beirut was joined by another from the United States. Each day's activities portrayed a haflah, or Lebanese party with music, song, food, and dance. Dancers from Marjayoun and Mtein, Lebanon, and Springfield, Massachusetts taught Festival visitors the dabke and other village group dances, and the sacred dimension of Lebanese music was shown by vocalists singing choral songs sacred to Lebanese Christians. A Natsu Matsuri, or summer festival, provided the frame within which Japanese music, dance, crafts and foods were presented. Japanese Americans from communities in Seabrook, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., together with folk artists from Tokyo and Mihara, a small seacoast city in Hiroshima Prefecture, created festive celebrations daily, culminating in a major Bon Odori in the Plaza on July 5. Crafts related to festivities such as flower arranging and origami were demonstrated, as were calligraphy, kimono-making, cushion-making and kite-making. In the Italian area, Italian Americans from neighborhoods in the New York metropolitan area joined counterpart participants from Italy in activities traditionally associated with saint's day celebrations, scampagnate, carnivale and other special occasions. Music was of special importance in these presentations, as it has been in the immigration experience. Visitors also heard the cries of street vendors and the sounds of tambourines, bagpipes, scrapers and accordions, instruments native to many regions of Italy. They enjoyed a Sicilian American marionette show and watched and played Italian games. Mexicans and Mexican Americans shared the stage the second week of the Festival in a program that attempted to trace the roots of those music traditions most popular among Mexican Americans in the United States. Visitors could compare the styles of the mariachi music that now thrives in Mexico and in the United States. The norteño style, a lively, rustic sound that flourished in Texas and spread through parts of the Southwest, was performed by Mexican American musicians and dancers. An ensemble of five performers from southern Veracruz played the harp-dominated jarocho music and executed the complex footwork of the dances. Program Coordinator for the Old Ways in the New World was Shirley Cherkasky, assisted by Sandra Tussing and Suzanne Cox. Thomas Vennum was ethnomusicologist. An advisory group included Conrad Arensberg, Svatava Pirkova Jakobson, Alan Lomax, and David McAIIester. The 1975 program was made possible by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, Government of Germany, Government of Japan, Japan Foundation, Government of Lebanon, and Government of Mexico.
Fieldworkers
Anna Lomax, Anthony Shay, Miiko Toelken, Roger Welsch, Ernestine Perrie, Elizabeth Mathias, Ronald Smith, Philip Sonnichsen
Participants
German Gretel Gross Trio: Hans Eibl, 1941-, zither player Margarete Gross, 1932-, hackbrett player Gottfried Keck, 1929-, guitar player Die Holsteiner -- Die HolsteinerGregor Otto, 1928-, leaderKarl-Heinz Kler, 1937-, musicianHans-Joachim Knoof, 1957-, musicianRüdiger König, 1943-, musicianWalter Siwek, 1919-, musicianPaul Gottfried Zulauf, 1943-, musician Langenschiltach Blaskapelle -- Langenschiltach BlaskapelleG. F. Weber-Benzing, band leaderGudrun Epting, 1957-, dancerHans Epting, dancerMargot Epting, 1956-, dancerWalter Epting, 1933-, dancerMathias Hildbrandt, 1933-, bass tuba playerMathias Kieninger, 1909-, horn playerAndreas Muller, 1948-, dancerBernd Muller, 1958-, dancerDoris Muller, 1956-, dancerAlfred Weisser, 1930-, tenor horn playerGerd Weisser, 1943-, clarinet playerWalter Weisser, 1935-, trumpet playerMrs. Waltraud Weisser, 1957-, dancer Konrad Kostin, folklorist Ulrich Tolksdorf, 1938-, folklorist German American Alte Kameraden Band, Freistadt, Wisconsin -- Alte Kameraden Band, Freistadt, WisconsinDavid Baumann, baritone, trumpet playerDonald Boehlke, drummerNorman Boehlke, trombone playerRoland Braun, 1924-, clarinet, zither playerMervin Browne, clarinet playerKarl Ebenhoch, dancerElroy Ernst, trombone playerFranklin Evens, drummerEarl Hilgendorf, 1934-, baritone, trumpet, fluegelhorn playerFranklin Klug, bass tuba playerDavid Balsiger, trumpet playerHarold Pipkorn, 1927-, baritone hornLouis W. Rittschof, 1935-1996, clarinet playerHarold Schoessow, 1907-1992, trombone playerElmer Schreiber, 1925-1998, trombone player, singerDonald Silldorff, trumpet playerWilmer Wetzel, trumpet player Pehl's Oompah Band, Fredericksburg Texas -- Pehl's Oompah Band, Fredericksburg TexasHenry Frantzen, 1907-1994, saxophone playerR.L. Frantzen, trumpet playerAnthony Hartmann, 1915-2001, drummerSidney Henke, 1913-1984, saxophone playerHugo Klaerner, 1908-1982, alto horn playerArthur Klein, 1906-1990, accordion playerAlbert Meier, 1914-1992, bass horn playerFelix Pehl, 1895-1982, trumpet player Bob Schmer's Polka Play Boys -- Bob Schmer's Polka Play BoysAlbert Fahlbusch, 1925-2005, hammered dulcimer playerRoger Fahlbusch, 1958-, bass guitar playerAndrew M. Gentry, trombone playerRobert H. Schmer, accordion player Lebanese American Antoinette Arida, 1951-1997, dancer Radie Bonemery, dancer Edward Denny, 1910-1984, dancer Ali Elhage, 1943-2001, dancer Ethyl Anna Habib, dancer Joseph George Habib, dancer Baha lssa, dancer Hugo Klaerner Edmond Lahage, 1936-, dancer S. Kweilin Nassar (Ms.), dancer Laurice Peters, singer Jihad Racy, 1943-, oud, -- buzuk -- , nay & rebab player Ray Rashid, -- darbukkah -- player Louis Shelby, 1925-2001, violinist James Soffan, dancer Khazma Soffan, dancer Mr. & Mrs. Mohammed Soffan, dancers Samira Hadad Tamer, dancer Ahmad Zebian, dancer Samir Zebian, dancer Nazih Zebian, dancer Japanese American Minyo Dance Group -- Minyo Dance GroupSusan Matsumoto Brown, minyo dancerDonna Endo, minyo dancerDoris Endo, minyo dancerToshiko Hieshima, minyo dancerElaine Ichikawa, minyo dancerMichi Ichikawa, minyo dancerGrace Kono, 1920-2003, minyo dancerKiyo Kunisada, 1918-2004, minyo dancerSharon Miyata, minyo dancerViolet Mizuki, minyo dancerShizuko Ogawa, minyo dancerPhyllis Taketa, minyo dancer Tachibana Dance Group -- Tachibana Dance GroupSahomi Tachibana, minzoku-buyo dancerToyo Kikuchi, minzoku-buyo dancerEllen Kubo, minzoku-buyo dancerTaeko Okada, minzoku-buyo dancer Fusako Akahoshi (Ms.), 1906-, zabuton maker Shingetsu Akahoshi, 1906-2007, calligraphy demonstrator lddy Asada, mochi-tsuki demonstrator and organizer Kimie Bond, koto player Tamae Brockman, koto player Takeno Dodohara, zabuton maker Sarah Setsuko Hecht, koto player Katsuko Lee, ikebana demonstrator Kyomi Nakamura, mochi-tsuki demonstrator & organizer Noriko Nakamura, -- cha no yu -- performer Mitsuko Nakashita, clothing customs demonstrator Midori Nataka, zabuton maker Kyoko Okamoto, koto player Yasuko Sudo, koto player Kimi Sugiyama, -- cha no yu -- performer Chizu Takaoka, narrator Karen Takata, 1955-, origami & ribbon folding demonstrator James Takemori, judo demonstrator Harumi Taniguchi, 1902-2001, zabuton demonstrator Hisano Tazumi, 1898-1999, zabuton demonstrator Mrs. Sus Uyeda, ikebana demonstrator Japanese Yasuto Adachi, dancer Shiro Chiba, 1936-, dancer Tsukasa Ezaki, 1929-, dancer Katsutoshi Hibi, 1944-, dancer Tadao Kagami, 1939-, dancer Takaki Kagawa, 1950-, flute, drum player Setsuko Konishi, 1950-, dancer Sachio Kuramoto, 1931-, shamisen player Eiko Kurata, 1949-, dancer Hideko Mamiya, 1945-, dancer Kenjiro Maru, 1947-, flutist Shigeo Mase, 1933-, dancer Makiko Nakanishi, 1952-, dancer Miyoko Nozawa, 1919-, dancer Takae Ohmoto, dancer Mitsuto Ohshita, dancer Kinuko Sakakibara, 1935-, dancer Kimio Sugawara, 1951-, singer, shamisen player Akio Takahashi, 1933-, dancer Kozo Yamaji, 1939-, stage director Hisae Yamamoto, 1945-, dancer Italian American Siciliani Sisto Cominotto, 1904-1982, puppeteer Angelo Grillo, puppeteer Ida Grillo, 1905-1994, puppeteer Joanna Lauria, puppeteer Vincent Lauria, puppeteer Ann Manteo, puppeteer Denise Manteo, puppeteer Michael Manteo, puppeteer Miguel Manteo, 1909-1989, puppeteer Napolitana Giuseppina D'Andrea, percussionist, singer Calabrese Angelo Azzinari, 1916-1983, singer Annunziata Chimenti, 1917-2006, tambourine player and singer Annunziato Chimenti, castanet player and singer Giuseppe DeFranco, 1933-, accordion player Francesca Feraco, tambourine player and singer Angelo Gabriele, 1921-2006, accordion player and singer Angelo Gencarelli, 1920-2004, singer Vincenzo DeLuca, 1933-1983, bagpipe player Molisani Antonio David, drum, castanet player and singer Vincenzo David, friction drum player Trentini Mario Dellao, singer Guido Endrizzi, 1924-2001, singer Cornelio Facinelli, singer Simone Fellin, singer Louis Flaim, singer Umberto Flaim, singer Mexican Hermanos Fierro -- Hermanos FierroAlejandro Fierro Samuyo, harpistDaniel Ramos Palacio, jarana playerHermo Solis Portela, jarana player La Danza Azteca -- La Danza AztecaJuan Narranjo González, dancerJulio Narranjo Gonzáles, violinist Mariachi Udabe -- Mariachi UdabeEzekiel Hernández, violinistRafael Hernández, violinistAntonio Macías, trumpet playerFelix Macías, trumpet playerJosé María Morales, violinistRamiro Morales, guitaristAdana Udave, violinistFilamon Udave, guitarron player Huicholes -- HuicholesMariano Ríos Díaz, guitaristRufino Ríos Díaz, violinistSantos González Ríos, dancer, craftspersonCrescencio Pérez Robles, dancerCarlos Ríos Rosas, violinistEncarnación Martínez Leguizamo, dancerAngélica Castillo Martínez, dancerJesús Reyes Vargas, harpist
Collection Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
See more items in
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1975 Festival of American Folklife
Archival Repository
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Identifier
CFCH.SFF.1975, Series 7
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1975 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Restrictions
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503511974073-1503511974153-1
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5bd5d41ea-d91e-41f1-b14f-16ca06a40175

Related Content

  • Online Finding AidSmithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1975 Festival of American Folklife

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