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Salty Dog Rag

Title: Salty Dog Rag

 

 

Name of Folklore: Salty Dog Rag

Informant info: Informant Name: James Thompson, Location: Hanover, NH, Date: 5/16/16 Dartmouth student, male, Class of 2017, went on Cabin Camping Trip

Type of lore: Customary (Dance)

Language: English

Country of Origin: U.S.

Social / Cultural Context: Taught by Croo members during the beginning of trips while in Hanover, and again at the lodge.

Transcript: One of things that I remember most from trips was how much dancing, specifically the salty dog rag, was done on trips. The salty dog rag is this highly choreographed dance that you do with a partner. I don’t really remember much else specifically about it though.  We did it a few times during the day when we all first got to hanover, and I didn’t think much of it, just thought it was a weird dance that they were trying to do to help break the ice, but then we get to the lodge and like every 30 minutes or so they would just put on the song and everyone would start dancing on the lawn. It was kinda weird, and I’m not really a big dancer myself, but it was a good way to meet ppl because you always had to find a partner to dance, and it got everyone involved. By the end of trips I was kinda excited to dance to it again when I got back up for orientation, but it turns out its not a thing outside of trips. Kinda disappointing. 

 

Collector’s comments: The Salty dog rag seems to fit into the incorporation and initiation aspect of trips, since it’s not about the dance itself, but about getting people to meet others and be involved in the Dartmouth community.

Tags/Keywords:  Dance, Salty Dog Rag, Trips, Customary