Flutterby™! : Fabricating a folk dance

The State Folk Dance Conspiracy: Fabricating A National Folk Dance Originally published in the Old-Time Herald, v.4(7) p.9-12, Spring 1995:

The most curious statement that club square dancers make to justify square dance as the state folk dance is that the term “square dancing” encompasses contra dancing, clogging, ballroom dancing, Texas two-step, country-western dancing, and various other American folk dances. This was a designation made unilaterally by national club square dance organizations, without consulting traditional square dancers or their organizations. While this appears to make modern Western square dance more inclusive (and perhaps helps their legislative goals), it also gives an inaccurate and confusing picture of what square dancing (traditional or modern) really is. ...

The MeFi discussion.

I just finished reading As I Saw It, which describes the "fabricating a folk dance" process from the perspective of one of the leaders of that movement.

Also worth reading: Square Dance Calling: The African- American Connection, Philip A. Jamison, Journal of Appalachian Studies Vol. 9, No. 2 (Fall 2003), pp. 387-398.