Category Archives: Other

Music Ritual/Superstition

Leave a reply

Title: Music Ritual/Superstition

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Ritual,  Magic Superstition (If you do A then B)
  • English
  • USA

Informant Data:

  • Abhilasha Gokulan is 20 years old and was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. She grew up in Texas and is of Indian heritage. She is classically trained in Bharatnatyam and Odyssey, two types of classical Indian dance. She is a senior at Dartmouth College, studying economics and quantitative social science. She hopes to attend Law school.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context

This ritual occurs before any performance the group has. All members of the team who are dancing in the performance are present. Informant first learned of this ritual her freshman fall before her first performance with the team.

  • Cultural Context

Raaz tries to create an inclusive culture and considers itself a second family. This tradition helps the team get closer, and strengthens the familial bond by providing all members with a shared experience.

Item:

Before performances, all members of the team who are dancing in the performance get ready together and while getting ready the team listens to the music for its performance on repeat. Members are warned not to listen to any other music before the show because the team thinks it is bad luck to do so (this is a superstition). While getting ready the members talk, help each other, go over the dance, and get to know each other. This is also a magic superstition because the team believes if anyone listens to music that is not the music for the set, they will have bad luck during the performance.

Informant’s Comments:

Abhilasha believes that having everyone get ready together is another reason why the team is as close as it is and serves as a second family for many of the team members. Listening only to the performance’s mix gets the team focused on the performance and excited for it.

Collector’s Comments:

It seems as though the ritual of getting ready together is another way in which Raaz tries to keep the team close. The superstition that listening to music that is not for the performance brings bad luck is interesting.

Collector’s Name:

Shinar Jain

Compiled/Analyzed by:

Sruthi Pasupuleti

Tags/Keywords:

  • Dance
  • Team
  • Superstition

Raaz Huddle

Leave a reply

Title: Raaz Huddle

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Ritual, Tradition
  • English
  • USA

Informant Data:

  • Abhilasha Gokulan is 20 years old and was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. She grew up in Texas and is of Indian heritage. She is classically trained in Bharatnatyam and Odyssey, two types of classical Indian dance. She is a senior at Dartmouth College, studying economics and quantitative social science. She hopes to attend Law school.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context

The huddle takes place with all members of the team who are present. Even if a member is not dancing in the performance, if they are present, they participate in the huddle. Often times if members who have graduated are present they also join the huddle. The huddle happens a few minutes before the team begins the performance. The informant believes the huddle has been a ritual since the team was created in 2011.

  • Cultural Context

Raaz’s culture is very inclusive and the huddle is a tradition that helps the team bond with each other. Raaz also prides itself on being a fun group, and hopes that members think of dance as a way to relax and the chant reflects this focus on fun.

Item:

Before performances, members of the team get together in a circle with their arms around each other. They sway back and forth and put one hand into the center of the circle. Sometimes a captain will give a pep talk, and other times there is no pep talk but the team proceeds to the chant. Someone (usually a captain) begins to chant “paneer, paneer, paneer, Raaz up!” and all of the members join in. On the words Raaz up all of the members raise their hands.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informant’s Comments:

Informant is not sure where the actual chant originated from. She believes the chant has changed over time and started as “1, 2, 3, Raaz”, became “1, 2, 3, Raaz Up!”, “paneer, paneer, paneer, Raaz” and became “paneer, paneer, paneer, Raaz up!” this year. She believes the chant shows that the team is not strict or boring, but rather is a place for members to relax and have fun. She thinks the purpose of the chant is that often before performances people relax and get ready in different ways. Some people do not like thinking about dance at all. The huddle is a way to get everyone focused and bring them back to thinking about dance.

Collector’s Comments:

The huddle is a tradition that many performance groups have, but the chant Raaz uses is interesting. It is very lighthearted and seems to reflect the culture of the group.

Folklore Collector’s Name:

Shinar jain

Compiled/Analyzed by:

Sruthi Pasupuleti

Tags/Keywords:

  • Huddle
  • Team
  • Dance

Joke – Weighing Saying

Leave a reply

Title: Weighing Saying

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal
    • Subgenre:   Joke
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Like any folk, the D150’s have a unique series of unifying experiences. One of these is racing against other school teams. This joke comes from constantly interacting and listening to the D150 coach. Since every member of the D150 team is at practice, they all come into contact with the same coach very frequently. As such, they have come up with a collective joke that mimics one of his common sayings.

Cultural Context: This joke comes from everyone on the D150 team constantly hearing the same advice over and over again. Because the coach is a constant figure that last for more than a couple years, he outlasts multiple generations of rowers and allows for this joke to continue. In addition, all the rowers in this folk group seem to understand the humor and therefore make it much more likely that the joke will continue on.

Item: This item is a verbal piece of folklore, specifically a joke. It relies on the fact that everyone interacts with the same person (the coach) on a very frequent basis. The coach’s long tenure as well as the constant mimicry by both new and experienced rowers allows for this joke to continue past generations.

Associated media:

Transcript (11:27 – 12:33):

WK: “So there’s one just with respect to weighing in. It’s, uh, ‘You can’t win a race on a scale but you sure as hell can lose one.’ Uh, that’s just something our coach says basically any time we could possibly step on the scale, um, with respect to racing.”

BC: “Right.”

WK: “… and it’s true. Um, because, we’re light-weight rowers and so there is some weight specification, and if we miss that then we can’t row, and it’s basically the idea that like, you should focus on weighing in effectively but that isn’t the race itself. It’s basically just like punching a ticket to be able to race.”

BC: “Right.”

WK: “So it’s just the first step in that process.”

BC: “So for a slogan like that, do you guys, like, say it to each other also or is it just like something that the coach says?”

WK: “It’s mostly the things that coach says, but then, just to kinda like, have some levity during the spring season, which is kinda hard to come by, a lot of times people will just repeat that line, um…”

BC: “Like a joke?”

WK: “Yeah, and I mean it’s true but it’s definitely a joke on the team. So people will say that just to kinda, I don’t know, mock the coach a bit but also to lighten up the mood.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This internal joke is interesting because it shows that not all folklore is dependent on serious topics like motivation or competition. In this case, this small joke is understood only by light-weight rowers and dependent on their collective interactions with their coach. New rowers who are incorporated, like in the three stages of liminality, learn to recognize this joke after they have spent some time with the team at practices, and it helps bridge the gap between first joining and really becoming a part of the team.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Joke – Fun V

Leave a reply

Title: Fun V

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal
    • Subgenre:   Joke
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Like any folk, the D150’s have a unique series of unifying experiences. One of these is racing against other school teams. This joke nickname for the third varsity boat comes from other rowers noticing now much fun they’re having and consequently giving the name “Fun V”.

Cultural Context: This joke name is contextualized by the underlying competitiveness of racing against other schools’ teams. Because the third varsity boats don’t have to race against the most competitive boats, they can have more fun and be more “playful” as Will describes it – hence the nickname “Fun V”.

Item: This item is a verbal piece of folklore, specifically a joke. It relies on recognizing competitiveness in racing and comparing the first and second varsity boats to the less pressured third varsity boat. It is folklore because it is recognized and preserved by all the members of this folkgroup and is taught to new rowers when they join the team, like Will.

Associated media:

Transcript (10:36 – 11:03):

WK: “We have like a First Varsity boat, which is the 1V, 2V, and 3V. Um… and typically the 3V is also known as the Fun V, just because, like, there’s much less pressure to perform. Uh, and you’re not competing against the best boats at Princeton or Harvard, and so it’s a lot more relaxed, and typically the guys are much more playful and seem to have more fun on the water. So typically it’s like the 1V, 2V, and then the Fun V.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This internal joke is interesting because it shows that not all folklore is dependent on serious topics like motivation or competition. In this case, this small joke is understood only by light-weight rowers and taught to new rowers. New rowers who are incorporated, like in the three stages of liminality, learn to recognize this joke.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Breaking it Down

Leave a reply

Title: Breaking it Down

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, rowers observe certain rituals outside of pure racing that build team unity and provide motivation to help them prepare for team cohesion during races.

Cultural Context: The practice of “breaking it down” after practice is something that the D150 team does after every practice. It makes them feel like a single unit and builds motivation for the rest of the day/season.

Item: This item is a piece of customary folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is supposed to help bring later success at a race. It is customary because it is a single ritual that happens after every practice. It is folklore because it is performed by all the members of this folkgroup and celebrates their commonalities.

Associated media:

Transcript (7:02 – 7:33):

WS: “As a team, one ritual that we do that I forgot to mention is after every row we do something called “Breaking it Down”. We, um, we just start; its like a clap… a slow clap but it gets faster and faster and faster and we break it down, and it’s something that we do after every practice and it’s a team thing that we know we have to do.”

BC: “Is that mainly just to build team unity?”

WS: “Yeah, it’s… it’s a feeling of like coming together and it’s like completing the day… and uh everyone does it… and it’s motivational almost.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it focuses on all members of the folk group. All members of D150 crew participate in this ritual and it helps remind them of who they are and why they are similar to each other. This also reinforces the ritual itself because a stronger more unified team is more likely to want to participate in these pan-folk group rituals.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Ritual – Testing the Emergency Light

Leave a reply

Title: Testing the Emergency Light

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Ritual, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Races are incredibly competitive for lightweight rowing, mainly because the team competes directly with other college teams and because all the weekly practices/weight cutting is in preparation for these races. As such, rowers observe rituals before or after races to bring good luck.

Cultural Context: The practice of testing the emergency light after practice is something that Wyatt created that helps him feel ready and prepared for the day. After observing him, several younger rowers started copying his ritual to also bring good luck.

Item: This item is a piece of customary folklore that focuses on the passing down of a ritual that is suppose to help bring later success in a race. It is customary because it combines the ritual itself as well as the underlying superstition about bringing success.

Associated media:

Transcript (5:15 – 5:40):

WS: “After every practice I have a ritual that I do where there is this… like um… it’s like an emergency light that sits on the wall, and in case the power goes out the light will turn on, and it has a little red test button. And after every single practice, I press that test button and it flickers the light. And I don’t know, it’s just some weird thing I do, but I do it, and if I didn’t do it, it would be not a good day.”

Transcript (6:37 – 6:48):

WS: “Actually, some guys have started doing it [the emergency light testing] too since I’ve been doing it.”

BC: “Oh really?”

WS: “Yeah, and it’s not weird at all. Everyone has their own little quirks. Um, so now that I’ve started doing it, I’ve done it for around a year or so, some guys have started doing it too.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The sharing and passing down of this ritual is interesting because it shows that certain traditions or rituals can be individual in origin but diffused and shared among a certain folk over time. It is interesting also that we can study folklore genesis in modern settings like these because it allows us to consider overall folklore parallels like monogenesis v polygenesis ideas.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Trail Magic

Leave a reply

Title: Trail Magic

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore, Traditions, Rituals
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Informant: John T. Brady ’19
  • Date of Collection: 10-31-17

Informant Data:

  • John Brady is Dartmouth student in the class of 2019. John is from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. He grew up north of the city in a nice suburban town which he described as very “bubbly.” John was part of a boy scout group growing up in the Chicago area. Every summer for about one week, John and his fellow boy scouts went backpacking. They backpacked all over the United States. His scout troop went to New Mexico, California, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and other places. One of his earliest backpacking trips was actually a section of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina and Tennessee. The trail started out of Hot Springs, NC. His early experience with the Appalachian Trail sparked an interest for John to conquer the entirety of it.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: There are many “trail angels” that perform “trail magic” along the AT. They are thought of as very generous people and the hikers are very appreciative of the help they provide. These “trail angels” are prominent on the Appalachian Trail, but I do not think that they are limited to the AT. Other trails I believe have similar people.
  • Social Context: Trail Magic usually takes place between one person known as the “trail angel” and the hiker that pass by the tent. Trail angels cook for the hikers as a way of supporting the community and giving back. Trail angels may also share conversations with the hikers as they pass by while also cooking for them.
  • Overall Context: John Brady’s early experience hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail encouraged him to later attempt to complete the whole thing. With his boy scout troop, he hiked a 40-mile section of the Appalachian Trail (AT), but he knew that the trail consisted of over 2,000 miles. He said that he saw some “weird looking Hippie dudes” as he described them, and thought that he may want to hike the entire trail between high school and college. John said that people are on the trail because they are in between things in life. “You are either in between school, love, or jobs,” John said. For him, he was in between graduating from high school and starting his new life at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. John hiked the Appalachian Trail from March 5th until July 29th. Starting on March 5th was early in the season, but not too early where it would be uncomfortably cold. He also started early to avoid the large crowds that start the AT between mid-March and mid-April. It took John 149 days, or just under five months, to complete the AT. John’s preparation consisted of “googling” and asking knowledgeable backpackers about how they prepared for the trail. John did not spend a lot of time physically training for the journey but instead made sure he had a good plan of attack for the first month of the trail, which is most important according to him. Some people try to get ahead and complete many miles quickly but end up hurting themselves. John made sure that he set a pace that would allow him the most success. John starting hiking the AT with a lifelong friend of his that was also in his boy scout group. His friend was from the same hometown in Chicago, IL. His friend hiked for about three or four days before he got sick with a stomach illness and had to stop hiking. He hiked with many different groups of hikers going Northbound. The most prominent person that John hiked with was a man with the trail name “Werewolf.” Werewolf was from Tennessee. He was a grocery store manager and recently divorced from a long time wife. John and Werewolf got along very well given that Werewolf was around 40 years old. He also hiked with a mechanic named “Macgyver” from one of the southern states. He also hiked with two brothers named “Link” and oddly enough “Folklore.” the brothers were twins and were known on the trail as the “Arkansas twins.”

 

Item: Trail Magic

Trail magic is a unique part of the Appalachian Trail experience. Those who perform trail magic are known as “trail angels.” These angels typically set up tents to cook for hikers in various places along the AT. Trail magic is any form of generosity to the hiking community without any expectation of compensation. Hikers are very appreciative of Trail Magic.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informants Comments:

“Various groups and individuals along the trail will set up and provide for hikers. One guy in particular who exemplifies what trail magic truly was for was a guy named “Fresh Ground.” “Fresh Ground” was a man who had hiked part of the Appalachian Trail a few years prior and decided that the hiking wasn’t for him, so he set up what is known as the Fresh Ground LeapFrog Cafe. And I was fortunate enough to be in the section of hikers, I was hiking that portion of the trail at the right time and he would drive to somewhere where the AT crosses a road he would set up a minivan. He would put up a tent, pull out some propane burners and sit there for a week with a tarp over his head and cook for hikers. He was donation based. I think he put a lot of his own money into it. We would have hot dogs, eggs, pancakes, pasta for dinner. He was able to do this a little out of other hikers providing funds, but mostly out of his own pocket and completely out of his own desire to give to the AT hiker community and to make others happy. We all appreciated to what he set up.”

Collector’s Name: Colton French 

 

Ritual – Greek Yogurt and Cinnamon

Leave a reply

Title: Eating Greek Yogurt and Cinnamon

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Customary
    • Subgenre:   Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers have developed a series of eating rituals based on scientific readings and personal observations/superstitions. These are performed the days leading up to races and subsequently passed down to new rowers.

Cultural Context: The practice of eating greek yogurt and cinnamon before race weigh-ins has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This practice links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for rowers trying to lose weight.

Item: This item is a customary piece of folklore that focuses on passing down a belief that eating greek yogurt and cinnamon instead of a normal dinner before a race will help you lose weight. It is customary because although the belief itself is a superstition, its observation and practice in the days leading up to races is a ritual.

Associated media:

Transcript (2:41 – 3:23):

WS: “Through kind of experimenting with your weight-cutting people have learned how to really perfect, uh, what to do; and so, for example, I’ve.. I’ve really come to enjoy eating a bowl of um… instead of dinner uh Thursday night, I’ll have a bowl of greek yogurt, with um… some fruit and lots of nut butter, and lots of cinnamon. I’ve found that that helps me get to weight and helps me not hold a lot of water, but uh… lose some weight. Um… and still have energy. And so I’ve personally passed that recipe down to younger people, and I think I learned it from an older guy who just graduated…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and he might have learned it from someone else.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • The passing down of this superstition, as well as the ritualistic observation of this special dinner in the days leading up to a race is analogous to the “traditional wisdom” aspect of proverbs because both rely on traditions, specifically past observations and recommendations, to espouse a specific idea.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

 

Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

Leave a reply

Title: Weight Cutting Tip Sheet

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal, Customary
    • Subgenre:  Superstition, Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Wyatt Smith ’19 is a 20-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Hong Kong. He is a long-time rower, having rowed competitively before Dartmouth, and was recruited to Dartmouth’s D150 Lightweight Rowing team.

Contextual Data: 

Social Context: Lightweight rowing has a very strict weight cut off of 160 lbs, which means heavier rowers over 160lbs are barred from competition. The D150 team has an average weigh in of 155lbs. Due to the importance of falling under the 160lb limit, weight cutting is a central part of the D150 experience. To prepare new rowers and to remind more experienced ones, previous generations of D150 rowers compiled a list of common practices and tips for losing weight quickly. This list is handed down and shared between D150 rowers whenever big races are approaching and signals that rowers should begin considering their weights more seriously in preparation.

Cultural Context: Almost like a physical or material bequest, this list has been handed down through a line of rowers throughout the years. This document links generations and reminds them not only of their status as lightweight (sub -160lb) rowers, but also provides a unifying agent for the team. It signals that rowers should start becoming more cognizant of their weights as well as allows the rowers to all bond together over the coming challenge of losing weight.

Item: This item is a verbal (although also written) piece of folklore that contains common tips and advice for losing weight. It is both verbal and customary because many of its recommendations are transmitted through conversation and are then implemented. They are not based completely on fact but rather on observations over time and superstitions. These beliefs are passed down from generation to generation and helps create team unity because it allows all the rowers to rely on the same tactics and methods for losing weight.

Associated media:

Transcript (0:53 – 1:13):

WS: “On our team, the… we have a word document that’s been passed down the team for maybe five or six years. Um, and it was created six years ago or something…”

BC: “Right”

WS: “and it kinda dictates what the steps that you should take, the recommended steps that you should take the days going up to your weigh in.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Receiving this weight cutting tip sheet reminds rowers that weight-cutting season is here. Because weight-cutting is specific only to the D150 team, new rowers who receive this tip sheet are essentially becoming incorporated into the team. Therefore, this poly-modal folklore is akin to a Rite of Passage for many new rowers.

Collector’s Name: Brian Chekal

Post-practice chant

Leave a reply

Title: Post-practice chant

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Verbal and Customary Folklore
    • Subgenre: chant
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: USA

Informant Data: Will Kaufman ’20 is a 19-year-old male caucasian light-weight rower from Boulder, CO. He is the middle child between two sisters. He started rowing his freshman fall upon entering Dartmouth. As a walk-on rower, he came in knowing nothing about the sport.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: The chant occurs at the end of each practice. It involves a huddle, hands in toward the center, one person leading the chant, the whole team responding, throwing up the hands, and breaking from the circle. Afterwards, teammates go to dinner together, take showers, or split up. The coaches are not involved in the chant.

Cultural Context: In the athletic team culture, everything is about the group, not the individual. The rowers are a cohesive group that spend a significant amount of time together in the effort of creating strong bonds and success in competition. This chant helps bring everyone together at the end of practice to show that they are part of one team with the same goals. Their effort is beyond one practice or one individual.

Item: This chant occurs at the end of each practice. In a huddle the teammates put their hands in toward the center, recite the chant, throw up their hands, and break up.

Associated media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaI34nMCWuc

Transcript of Associated File: “Let’s get a ‘Green’ on 3! 1, 2, 3 GREEN!”

Informant’s Comments: The informant emphasized the regularity and importance of this chant: “It feels weird if practice ends and everyone leaves” without doing the chant. That never happens.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The chant is a formal indicator of the end of a routine time of bonding.
  • The informant noted that when first learning this chant, the walk-on rowers are separated from the rest of the team, learn the chant, and are incorporated with the rest, where the entire team can perform the chant together. In this way, the events centered around the first chant resemble elements of a rite of passage.

Collector’s Name: Sam Gochman

Tags/Keywords: D150, Dartmouth Light-Weight Rowing, Chant, Customary, Verbal