This film is composed of performance clips from the 1958 Florida Folk Festival held at the Stephen Foster Memorial in White Springs, Florida. Seminole expert Albert DeVane of Lake Placid introduces Seminole chief Billie Bowlegs and the Frank Shore family. The audio level is very low in this portion, making the commentary nearly inaudible. Oklahoma Creek Indian and famed artist Fred Beaver, wearing a traditional headdress, performs native dances with a rattle and encourages the audience to participate as he chants. This film also features a variety of folk dances, including a young group of girls who blend ballerina technique with a folk dance. There are also Filipino dancers from the University of Florida as well as square dancers. Toshiko Mishima, a Japanese-American singer, performs a lilting ballad. Later, whip-cracker and Gainesville native Claude Sheppard demonstrates tricks. The segment ends with Czech dancers performing the Beseda dance to accordion music by Jerry Psenka. There is some film deterioration at the start and end of the film, but the middle segment is clean. Produced by Robert Leahy Studio.
Conjunto Aventura
Norteño, sometimes also called Norteña or Conjunto, literally translates to the word “northern,” referring to the region of northern Mexico and present day southern Texas where the musical style originated.
Resources for the 2010 Florida History Fair
This is a list of resources available online from the State Library and Archives of Florida relating to the suggested Florida History Fair topics.
See the "Common Ground" slideshow!
This presentation is part of “Common Ground,” a global event consisting of museums, galleries, and archives worldwide showing the same slideshow of photographs in public spaces on the same weekend (October 2-3, 2009).
