Sesame Street Hand Clap Rhymes & Children's Stepping Routines

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases examples of classic Sesame Street television show clips of Black girls chanting and performing movement routines. The performance activities shown in each of these videos are generally categorized as "hand games" or "hand claps". However, the different way these rhymes are performed suggests that they are examples of different types of children's recreational activities. This post showcases these separate movement activities under the terms that I use for them.

I don't know what dates these segments first aired on that award winning American produced children's educational series.http://www.muppetcentral.com/forum/threads/question-about-down-down-baby-rhyme-clapping-game.40490/ indicates that the "Down Down Baby" handclap rhyme that is given as Example #1 on this page was "among the [Sesame Street] clips from the 1980s that was nominated in the sites 40th anniversary "greatest clip of all-time" voting section." My guess is that all of these featured videos were all first shown in the 1980s.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT ADDING COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG
With considerable regret, I have disabled the comment feature on this blog (and on my other blogs except for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com, because of the large number of spam comments that I received on those blogs.

Comments for those blogs can be sent to my email address azizip17 dot com at yahoo dot com for possible inclusion in a specific post on those blogs.

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FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Group Hand clap game (Hand game)

Sesame Street: Handclapping Chants



SesameStreet | March 27, 2009
-snip-
This clip also shows scenes of two girls (partners) doing basically the same hand clap routine that is done in the group. The title of this handclap rhyme is "Down Down Baby" (also known as "Shimmy Shimmy Co Co Pa" or similar sounding titles. Hand clap rhyme routines can also be done with three people (standing or seated facing each other in a triangle shape) or four people (a set of two partners standing or seated facing each other.)

Most handclap routines include chanting. One exception to this rule is the handclap game called "Slide". More examples of handclap rhymes and videos of handclap routines can be found on this page of my cultural website: http://cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes [Hereafter given as Cocojams: Handclap]

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Example #2: Hand slap game

Sesame Street - Girls play a clapping game



wattamack4, 778 videos

Uploaded on Jul 8, 2007

Girls play a clapping game, saying the alphabet up to the letter Q.

Description comes off Muppet wiki.
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This is an example of a hand slap game called "Quack Diddly Oso" (or similar similar sounding titles). Other hand slap games are "Stella Ella Ola" and "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky". However, versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" are also played as a partner hand game.

Hand slap games are lightly competitive hand games that are played by a group of people who are standing or seated in a circle. I refer to these games as "hand slap" because of the slapping motions that are characteristic of these games. Unlike many handclap games, a hand slap games have a "winner". More performance instructions for hand slap games, as well as text and video examples of those games can be found under the title "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" in the Cocojams: Handclap page whose link is given above. Examples of "Quack Diddly Oso" can be found on this Cocojams page: http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes-2

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Example #3: Sesame Street - Two Girls clap out five



Posted by wattamack4, August 10, 2007

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Editor's Comments About The Remaining Videos:
I believe that videos #4 - #6 are examples of either the performance art that I refer to as "foot stomping cheers" or the performance art that is generally referred to as "stepping" ("steppin"). Stepping and doing foot stomping cheer routines are both synchronized, choreographed movement routines that may include chanting, (individual) handclaps, and foot stomps. Body patting may also be included in both of these types of performance activities.

The performance arts of stepping and of foot stomping cheer routines were created by and are still most closely associated with African Americans. That said, "stepping" is very similar to the South African gum boot dance. Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Q51WVrR40 for a video example of the boot dance.

It's very likely that foot stomping cheer routines were modeled after the movement art of stepping. Stepping can be dated to the mid 1960s if not earlier. The earliest example of foot stomping cheers that I have found is from the mid 1970s. There are significant differences between stepping and doing foot stomping cheer routines. There are also significant differences between the textual structure of a stepping chant and a foot stomping cheer.

To be very brief, the foremost difference between stepping and foot stomping cheers is that -until the late 20th century- stepping was a formal, competitive performance that young adults did in separate groups for males and females. In contrast, foot stomping cheer routines are (or were) done mostly by girls between the ages of 7-12 years. Also, stepping involves moving across the floor while persons doing foot stomps usually remain in one spot or, if in a rare foot stomping chant they move away from that spot, they quickly return to it. Furthermore, stepping can be done without chanting, but foot stomping cheers almost always involves chanting. Unfortunately, I've not found any video examples of foot stomping cheers other than the modified routine that is found in the first Bring It On cheerleader movie (2000) and the very exaggerated "Shabooya Roll Call" routine that is found in the cheerleader movie Bring It On All Or Nothing (2006).

Links to information about and examples of foot stomping cheers, stepping, and Shabooya Roll Call can be found in my pancocojams blog.

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Example #4: Sesame Street - Three Girls clap a song about Vegetables



Posted by wattamack4, July 31, 2007
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The idea behind this cheer seems to me to be based on the handclap rhyme "Concentration". However, the movements routine that the girls do is the same as the movements used for many foot stomping cheers routines and stepping performances.

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Example #5: Sesame Street - 6 dance



Posted by wattamack4, June 23, 2007

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Example #6: Sesame Street - 7 girls slide



Posted by sesamestreet66, November 20, 2007

"Seven girls dance to a chant about the number seven"

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Example #6: Sesame Street - Girls clap out a song about K



Posted by wattamack4, July 11, 2007
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This cheer has the same lyric structure and tune as the foot stomping cheer entitled "L.O.V.E".

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to the producers & staff of Sesame Street for documenting these children's game routines. Thanks also to the children who are featured in these videos and to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

Thank you for visiting zumalayah.

Zumalayah showcases videos of dances & singing games done in circles or in lines, and other movement performance arts from African American culture, from African cultures, and from other cultures of the African Diaspora.

Viewer comments are welcome.