ORIGIN OF THE CAKE=WALK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 3, 28 September 1907, Page 3

ORIGIN OF THE CAKE=WALK.

Tho " Winnipeg Telegram" gives the following history of the now cele- ' brated cake-walk: — , _ It is interesting to trace tho origin of tho various popular fancy stop dances which have acquired so much popularity in this country, and particularly of tho cake-walk —a dance that is so intimately associated with tho American negro, and which is credited to him as an original creation. As ■ a matter of fact, the cake-walk finds its origin in one of tho most dignified and graceful of tho dances— the French minuet. When tho Huguenots found their country was no longer tenable after tho massacre of St.Bartholomew's day, many of them came to America, and a large number cf them settled in South Carolina, and, accepting the customs of tho country, becamo owners pf a great number of slaves; Most of these refugees were of noble birth, and brought with them to tho new world all their mannerisms ar.d'customs, arid among these was tho statolv and graceful dance of the minuet. At the wedding festivals this was always danced, and tho couple which led the dance had tho privilege nf cutting the wedding cake at the banquet which-followed.- Thero .'was' generally a rtold ring baked inside tho cake, and the happy mam'zpllo who found it was destined to be the next brido. _ At this time, the American nofiro slave indulged in a run-around flatfoht.fd danco, and the dancer who could make tho most noise by clapnins bin foot on the. ground was dp.emed the most oxnwt, an'l- t'"s v.-ns known n?. the "breakdown." Tbp slaves saw th" minuet danced at 'Wedding festiv.ls ami the like, were keen to observe '.ho.cike and the nart it ri'.iyod, noticing that the IpfdipT enunlo invariably cut it. ...„1 viH> H>.-.ir fo imitate tboy atfpinntpd to dance the tnimi«t. The''' ri'iiculous oxasgcret'nn r-"".ilt»d in wb'n* '"• .non- known as the .n"d it .Jibs ben. a with tho southern negro for more than a eonturv. <