General Information about Item:
- Text/Music Folklore – Chant
- Children’s Folklore – Draznilka
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: United States
- Informant: Henry Senkfor
- Date Collected: 02-19-2018
Informant Data:
- Henry Senkfor was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 15, 1996. Henry lived in Cleveland his whole life and has never moved. Henry started swimming when he was 7 years old because his parents made him do it. He is a senior at Dartmouth. He was captain of the swim team but just finished his swimming career a day ago.
Contextual Data:
- Cultural Context: The cultural context of this folklore represents something that many teams do before games or races; a cheer. A cheer/chant is preformed across almost every sport, whether it be saying the team name, or a bunch of random words put together and cheered before the games.
- Social Context: The data was collected during a one on one interview in Andres Hall. Henry described a ritual of folklore that was passed down to him when he entered Dartmouth as a freshman. The ritual has been passed down from members of the team since before 1976. The ritual gets the team excited and ready.
Item:
- Henry talked about the men’s team cheer, Kipsalana, which the team chants before every meet. This chant has been passed down for as long as people can remember.
- Kipsalana Cheer: “Kipsalana,Kapsalana Squish Squa. Tie hi Silicon Sku Cum Wa. Mojo Mummik. Muka Muka Zip. Dartmouth Dartmouth Rip Rip Rip. Tie Hi Sis Boom Ba. Dartmouth Dartmouth Rah Rah Rah.”
Video of the Men’s Swim Team Performing Kipsalana:
(Download to Play)
Transcript:
- “The folklore that came to my mind is our team cheer, ‘Kipsalana’. This cheer is something that we do before every meet, exclusive to the Dartmouth men’s swim and dive program. The tradition was started way back before any of us were even born, and maybe before our parents were born as well. No one knows where the cheer comes from or what it means, as it is a bunch of random words. But since it was created, Dartmouth men’s swim and dive will, and has done this chant before every meet.”
Collector’s Comments:
- The nonsensical lyrics and sing-song rhyming of this chant seems to mirror the Draznilkas of Slavic folklore. This similarity to children’s folklore may be explained by the fact that many young college swimmers are going through a liminal stage, transitioning from home and childhood, into an adult competitive environment, and so rely on these childhood tools to better explore their situation. Furthermore, Kipsalana reflects the initiation ritual purpose of children’s folklore, with the repetition and silly lyrics being an important tool for new members to join the team’s culture.
Collector’s Name: Matthew Luciano
Tags/Keywords: Music Folklore, Children’s Folklore, Draznilka, Swimming