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Drill Teams History

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Drill and Step teams date back to the early decades of the twentieth century but the roots of the music and dancing go much deeper. Many of the characteristics have been traced back to West African cultural practices and through historical experiences of African Americans in the United States including slavery, resistance, community, and military service. Scholars have identified many West African roots – such as call and response, polyrhythm, use of percussion, improvisation, and the incorporation of pageantry as both ceremonially significant and for entertainment. Many of these elements survived the Middle Passage and were incorporated into rituals and dances performed by slaves. The bodily percussion so integral to drill and step performances …show more content…

Military drill teams perform either armed or unarmed. Close order drills remain in the military today only for show during parades and other displays of discipline, obedience, and teamwork. The overriding principle of balance or aesthetic of the cool is prevalent at all points within these performances. Members strike their feet and hands to create percussive polyrhythms. They involve call and response not only between the music and dancers but when the leader makes a statement with words or movements the other dancers answer. This use of polyrhythms, self-percussion, and call and response is visible in the Military Drill Unarmed Exhibition teams and also what makes up African American community dance drill teams. Unarmed Exhibition teams perform movements that are drawn from African foot dances, such as Gumboot which was formerly done by miners in South Africa as a substitute to drumming and a form of communication. A strong legacy of military service among African Americans influenced the formation of military style drill, dance drill, and step teams within community in addition to evolving musical trends such as jazz and hip hop. In the Black Christian community, the drill teams more closely emulate military drill teams. The main focus of these teams is calling upon the audience to employ the epic memory through a form of praise and …show more content…

A few war dances prepared young men physically and mentally for war by teaching them discipline while getting them in to the spirit of battle. Prior to soldiers going out for battle, they appeased the war gods and the ancestors in hopes to obtain their blessings. Designated warriors, in the areas of West Africa that recognized war gods, often carried symbols of these deities onto the battlefield similar to the flag bearers of the color guard. War dance and music were fundamental to the military culture in West Africa. Battle hymns were composed to cultivate camaraderie among the warriors. Wars songs and drumming acclaimed the skill, bravery, and military valor of ancestors. These types of songs and rituals educated young soldiers to copy the bravery and valiance of the past heroes. One of the main ancestral dance-drumming collection of Anlo-Ewe military culture is Atamga meaning "The Great Oath." The name came from the dance being a representation of the greatest oath of commitment and patriotism among Anlo-Ewe people. The movements were taken from Anlo-Ewe war fighting tactics and the skills of traditional heroes. One of the most characteristic aspects of African dance is to raise ordinary gestures to the level of art thus showing the grace and rhythm of daily activities. Over the last three hundred plus years the Anlo-Ewe state evolved slowly but surely into a peaceful coexistence with the

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