Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit (Voice in the American West) [Hardcover]

Gail Folkins (Author), J. Marcus Weekley (Photographer), Andy Wilkinson (Preface)

Book Description

Series: Voice in the American West | Publication Date: September 15, 2007

Texas shows its best moves in dance halls that dot its landscape. Wherever they’ve found fiddlers and dance floors, Texans have been tickled into motion. And for a century and a half, they’ve been kicking up dust in dance halls across the state. Writing about the eighteen she knows best, Gail Folkins celebrates how these halls still bring people together and foster joy. Folkins etches portraits of proprietors who give space for music and dancing, of musicians who furnish the soundtrack for dramas and comedies that play out across hardwood or concrete floors, and of people who come to dance, listen, or simply share the experience with friends and neighbors. Paired with Marcus Weekley’s photographs, some whirling and some dreamy, they capture beat and motion, even the scent of sawdust on the floor. Drawn in, we witness daytime preparations for evenings to come, and the quiet that returns after the dancers go home and the musicians have packed up for the night. Moving from Twin Sisters near New Braunfels to legendary Luckenbach, we meet the third generation in a family of makers of music and keepers of dance halls. And then there are the descendants of Czech Catholic settlers coming to dance under the giant letters KJT (Katolika Jednota Texaska). At Coupland Dance Hall, we sense ghostly apparitions of pioneer women in long skirts. Very much in the twenty-first century, we share a dance floor with tourists and university types among the kitschy accoutrements at Austin’s Broken Spoke.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gail Folkins, also a journalist and teacher of creative writing, often writes about her deep roots in the American West. Her prose and poetry have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including Lifewriting Annual and Texas Co-op Power. J. Marcus Weekley has exhibited his photography in Texas and Mississippi, as well as the National Museum of Photography, Television, and Film in the United Kingdom. His short fiction and poetry have appeared in The Iowa Review and other journals.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press; 1st edition (September 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896726037
• ISBN-13: 978-0896726031
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #979,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Dance > Popular

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dancing across Texas..., August 25, 2009

By 

Pamela Cutler (Morgans Point Resort, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit (Voice in the American West) (Hardcover)

I loved this book. It holds great sentimental value to me. My husband and I were married at the dance hall on the cover. We were told about the book on the night of our wedding. After most of the guest had left we wondered downstairs to relax, have a few drinks with close friends and family. A lady approached us that had a copy of the book and let me thumb through it. As soon as we got back from our honeymoon we bought the book. We plan to dance in every dance hall in the book. We've already hit a few but look forward to dancing our way through the rest. As we visit the dance halls we take pictures with the owners and get them to sign our book. This will become one of our prized possessions full of cherished memories and the tattered map of texas with all the dance halls marked. This is something that will be passed down and hopefully as people look through it remember us as the couple that danced their way through their lives together and Texas. We met at a dance hall and plan to keep on dancing together forever.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful addition to American culture and Texas history collections., December 1, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit (Voice in the American West) (Hardcover)

Texas Dance Halls: A Two Step Circuit is an amazing history and showcase of the cultural legacy of Texas dance floors. Black-and-white photography throughout illustrates the motion and life that fills these gathering places, while the text traces the history, construction, and high events of the halls, as well as what goes into making Texas music and much more. A wonderful addition to American culture and Texas history collections.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true Texas experience, October 3, 2007

By 

S. Patrick Sparks (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit (Voice in the American West) (Hardcover)

Gail Folkins has captured the essence of the Texas dance hall experience. Where you can watch an old couple who has been dancing together for fifty years, or a little girl learn to dance on the tops of her father's feet. The only thing better than this beautifully written and illustrated book is the real thing.