Janis Martinez
Ana Urzua
Magaly Guerra
“Will you take this dance to be in your wedding?”
A wedding checklist can include such things as; facility, decorations, flower arrangements, bartender, caterer, but in addition many couples have to decide if they want to include the “Dollar Dance” in their wedding reception. “Dollar Dance”, “Money Dance”, “Bridal Dance” or and “Apron Dance” are various names for this very popular custom performed in many wedding receptions all over the world. The origin of the dance is credited to Poland in the early 1900’s by most sources but there is not solid evidence that verifies the specific location where it originated. The concept of the “Dollar Dance” is that male guests asked for permission from the groom to dance with his bride by “paying” for the privilege and the female guests pay for the privilege to dance with the groom. The guest form one line for the groom and one line for the bride, usually the best man and maid of honor are at the head of each respective line to help collect the money. The father of the bride would lead the dance by pinning money on her dress, followed by the best man and groomsmen and then other male guest. On the side of the groom, his mother will reciprocate by pinning the money on his suit, followed by the maid of honor and bridesmaids and other female guests. As tradition goes, the money collected should be used by the newlyweds as extra cash for their honeymoon or to set up their household expenses. Our research explores the differences of the “Dollar Dance” in various cultures, the significance of gift money and gender in the dance, as well as the critiques and benefits that take place. We conducted interviews on individuals from the Punjabi and Mexican culture to find out the significance of the “Money Dance” in their culture, the personalization or depersonalization of money in their customs, the importance of gift exchange in their social life and how the dance has evolved throughout the years. Click here to learn more about the wedding dollar dance.
1 comment:
This is a paper about the kind of monetary practices that this course was originally designed to document: a ritual use of money to create and cement social ties while, in this case, also having fun and providing a little economic support for a newly married couple. The diversity of practices around weddings and money is astonishing - as is the "branding" of these practices by sports fans and others, as discussed in the paper - and yet they share a common form. As with some of the other student projects, there is a very "SoCal" angle here, as well: where else could you so effectively compare Punjabi and Mexican wedding practices (to say nothing of the Punjabi-Mexicans who inhabit the Imperial Valley, studied by my colleague Prof. Karen Leonard!)? The paper is full of wonderful interview data where we really get a good sense of the texture and tempo of the wedding dollar dance and the couples and families that engage in it. It is interesting, too, to compare the take on money and love in this project, with the project on online dating services. Read side by side, they are a nice ethnographic snapshot of the modern transformation of traditional practices around marriage, kinship and money.
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