cotton eye joe

[mjbjlemu]

does anyone know how to dance the cotton eye joe?? i am from massachusetts and i work at at private country club we have alot of parties there and the the d.j's that come have dancers and they do the dance i have done it before but i am going to a wedding and i would like to freshen up on it could some one help me?? thanks

jen :lol:

[Spitfire]

mjbjlemu,

Welcome here.

I've only done the Cotton Eye Joe once myself over 20 years ago, so I don't recall off hand, but I have a booklet on C&W dancing which describes it this way...

Cross right foot over left.

Kick right foot in front and up.

Step back on right.

Close with left then forward on right.

Cross, kick with left.

Step back on left.

Together with right.

Forward on left.

Repeat sequence.

Hope this helps. :D

[dr daffy]

welcome, mjbjlemu :)

spitfire pretty much explained it... just wanted to welcome you to the forums :P

[twodance]

Start in shadow position. Kick you left foot forward two times then triple step in place. Kick your right foot twice then triple in place. Repeat this two more times (total of four times). Then do four triples forward starting with your left foot.
The timing is
kick,kick triple step
kick,kick triple step
kick,kick triple step
kick,kick triple step
1&2
3&4
5&6
7&8
repeat

[Sagitta]

Two ways to dance the same song. Interesting...I wonder if there are any others out there?

[Sagitta]

Okay I cannot resist!! Here's a third way to dance to this song from a link that Spitfire provided. Click on link below...

http://www.debsfunpages.com/cottoneyep.htm

[pygmalion]

Cotton eye Joe is a blast, but only for aerobically fit. :shock: :lol: I've done it side by side with a partner (often arm in arm.) It progresses in a circle line of dance around the floor. And it's a workout, especially toward the end as the song speeds up! (The triple steps travel and move the dance around the floor)

[dr daffy]

lol, they always play the song at all my school dances and everyone has to dance to it. they do it the way spitfire had it in the link

[pygmalion]

These country line dances are notorious for having 900 variations. Check out this step list. Pretty similar to the other stuff posted here, I think.

http://www.turnstep.com/Patterns/1999/January/Jan22.9.html

[pygmalion]

Okay I cannot resist!! Here's a third way to dance to this song from a link that Spitfire provided. Click on link below...

http://www.debsfunpages.com/cottoneyep.htm

Jus for the record, this is the right song, but it's not the dance. :shock: :lol:

[dr daffy]

lol, it's not the exact dance... it's still close to what the people at my school do, lol

[mjbjlemu]

thak you all for helping me i appreciate all the new dance step but i am looking for the version that they play at like kids dances i have seen alot of new yourk d.j.'s come through where i work with dancers and they have a lot of move it really look like a work out

i believe it goes sort of like this but i think i am missing a few things

right foot forward tap twice
rigth foot back tap twice
right foot forward tap once now
right foot back tap once
then cross over left behind right then
cross over right behind left
then you hop

i know there are steps in between missing and you end up moving in a square like the electric slide...

any more suggestions?? i would love them

so i can teach my family before i go to a wedding in oct.

thanks jen :lol:

[pygmalion]

:shock: :lol: :lol:

I think that's the point. I think pretty much the triple steps and kicks are standard, oh yeah, and the knee crossover. But how they're arranged may differ, depending on who's doing the dancing and where.

[mjbjlemu]

thank you all for your help i love the links you have suggested... i guess i am looking to specifically for a certain dance step... maybe if some knows some one from southern mass who has seen this dance before you could find out from them and when i do find out the steps i am looking for i will let you all know

:lol:

[pygmalion]

thak you all for helping me i appreciate all the new dance step but i am looking for the version that they play at like kids dances i have seen alot of new yourk d.j.'s come through where i work with dancers and they have a lot of move it really look like a work out

i believe it goes sort of like this but i think i am missing a few things

right foot forward tap twice
rigth foot back tap twice
right foot forward tap once now
right foot back tap once
then cross over left behind right then
cross over right behind left
then you hop

i know there are steps in between missing and you end up moving in a square like the electric slide...

any more suggestions?? i would love them

so i can teach my family before i go to a wedding in oct.

thanks jen :lol:

Hop? Sounds like the cha cha slide. Let me find a couple links we have here.

[pygmalion]

Take a look and see if this is the line dance you're talking about. Does it have verbal instructions given in the song? If so, cha cha slide may be what you're looking for.

Edit. The first thread I gave is pretty useless, and totally off point, so I'm deleting it. Try this one instead. It has step descriptions.

http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1633

[pygmalion]

Sheesh! I can't win for losing. It looks like those old links have since been updated. Try this step list for cha cha slide.

http://www.country-time.com/archives/ld/c/cha_cha_slide_(sch).htm

Edit: I didn't realize how complicated this dance was, but here's another step list. My suggestion? Get the DJ Casper song, and just follow the instructions. The only part that's really not clear from the song itself is the Charlie Brown step.

new.800dj.com/2002-06-19.1024554798.html

[mjbjlemu]

hey thanks you for the info.. i actaully know the cha cha slide... lol... and the charlie brown move looks like when he walks how his feet move quickly frontwards.. i know that... boy i guess i will just have to wait for another party to come to where i work and have the dancers show me the moves... hope fully before i goto the wedding... i appreciate all you have done!!!! :lol:

[pygmalion]

Yikes. I guess we weren't much help. :oops: Line dances are like that. Thousands of variations. Let us know how it goes, okay? :wink: :)

[aapatton]

Ok for the last week I have been volunteering at my old elementry school since my school is done for the summer. Last Tuesday, the grade 1s, 2s, and 3s had a dance fest and they practised for quite a while. For their practise days, I danced with them (as best as I could) and for the actual event I controlled the music.

They did the Cotton Eye Joe but it was somewhat different. Know I can't remember the whole thing but I will tell you the bits I do remember.

They started off my clapping

Then during the song they went something like.

3 steps forward bow
3 steps backward bow
3 steos to the left
3 steps to the right

or something like that.

Does anyone know a version where you bow?

My email is aapatton@gmail.com

[Sagitta]

Welcome to df aapatton. Line dances is not my speciality, unfortunately. However, I look forward to your input in our other discussions.

[browneyedgirl102]

wow i had no idea there were so many versions of the cotton eyed joe and that the version my friends and i use isnt the original. i remember it by a rhyme: "heel heel, toe toe, heel toe cotton eyed joe"

touch heel to the ground twice in front of you
touch toe twice in back of you
heel once in front
toe once in back
bring your right foot up to your left side and touch it with your left hand
bring right foot to right side and touch it with your right hand

and then a turning thing which i dont quite remember (its been quite a few months since i've been to a party where we did this) but i know you end up facing a different direction from which you started. oh, and throughout the whole thing you're hopping up and down on the beats! theres the aerobic excercise!

there are so many different ways of doing it, so whatever way you do it it'll work. :)

[Sagitta]

What you say is true. Welcome to df broweyedgirl102! :D What sort of dances do you do?

[MadamSamba]

Hey, mjbjlemu. Here in Australia, we dance a dance called The Mayfair Quickstep. It's sooooo much fun, probably my favourite "fun" dance and it's hilarious to CEJ because you can fiddle with the speed and make the dancers do odd things.

It's a New Vogue dance, (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1349&highlight=vogue) peculiar to Australia. They're mostly light and flouncy, old-time English dance variations, but the Mayfair is lots of fun and involves lots of silly bouncing around! :) It's also a sequence dance and it's quite easy to pick up.

Here's a link link (http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/oldtime/mayf.html.) to the steps.

If you don't get it (and I don't think you will from the link), I'll get the steps nutted out for you. It's one of those dances that I just "do", but wouldn't have the foggiest idea of how to describe it! :)


Also, welcome to DF, BrownEyed102! :lol: