Title: Men’s Handshake Ritual
General Information about Item:
- Customary Folklore: Tradition, Ritual
- English
- USA
Informant Data:
- Dami Apoeso is 21 years old and was born in Hartford Connecticut. He grew up in the Bronx, New York City and currently lives in Spring Valley, New York. He is majoring in computer science. He danced for approximately 6 years in a summer camp before joining Sheba his sophomore year at Dartmouth.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context
All male members of Sheba know and use the handshake. The handshake is used before performances, during practices, and any time one male member sees another male member around campus. The informant created the handshake two years ago.
- Cultural Context
Sheba tries to be an inclusive group and considers itself a family. The handshake has helped strengthen the bond between male members of the group.
Item:
All male members of Sheba know and use a special handshake. Any time a male member sees another one around campus they use this special handshake. Specifically the handshake is used before performances. A video of the handshake is included below.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Informant’s Comments:
The informant believes this handshake has really strengthened the bond between the male members of the team and created the feeling of a “brotherhood”.
Collector’s Comments:
When collecting this folklore, the group wondered if this could possible be considered fakelore. The informant explained to us that the reason he created the handshake was because female members of the team had their own rituals and the male members wanted their own as well. However, once enough time has passed, if the handshake continues then this ritual can truly be considered folklore and not fakelore. The creator of this handshake is graduating this year, and if the handshake continues after he is no longer a member of the team, this will indicate that the handshake has truly become a valuable tradition on the team.
Collector’s Name: Marcus Reid
Compiled/Analyzed by: Sruthi Pasupuleti
Tags/Keywords:
- Dance
- Team
- Ritual
- Handshake
- Tradition