Negro Sand Jig

Comment by Paul Draper on March 21, 2018 at 9:25pm

From Wikipedia:    "A variant of the straight jig was the "sand jig," performed as a series of shuffles and slides on a sand-strewn stage. The most prominent "sand jiggers" of the late 19th century were two women, both born in New York in 1855: Buffalo native Kitty O'Neil and her Manhattan-born rival Kitty Sharp.[13] The form survived into the 20th century mainly among African-American tap dancers, including John Bubbles, Sammy Davis, Jr., Harriet Brown, Howard "Sandman" Sims and Gregory Hines."

Comment by Al Smitley on March 22, 2018 at 5:54am

"Kitty O'Neil's Champion - Jig" and "Kitty Sharpe's Champion - Jig" are both in Ryan's.  I often wonder about the origins of tunes in Ryan's.  Thanks to your post, Paul, I now have a little background for two more of the 1050 tunes.  I think Ryan's was published in 1883.  So those two tunes were likely less than 10 years old at the time.

Comment by Wes Merchant on March 22, 2018 at 2:52pm

Howe (1868) has a two part version of Kitty O'Neil, though they are close to the first two parts in Ryans.

Comment by Al Smitley on March 22, 2018 at 3:38pm

Didn't even think to look there but that's interesting.  I have 1867 for Howe's.

That would mean that if, indeed, Kitty O'Niel was born in 1855, she would have gained notoriety at least by the age to 12!   and..............before.......  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_O%27Neil_(dancer)

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