Sammy Roth

Dancing to Make War: White Girls and Military Morale in the Ohio Valley and Beyond

My book project documents the entanglements of military agendas, popular dance, and dominative power in the Ohio Valley region of the United States. Using archival research, ethnography, and choreographic analysis, I show how recreational activities designed for US troops in the area have often featured young white girls performing Black popular dances to build morale for soldiers either preparing for deployment, serving at domestic and international bases, or returning home from war. The book shifts from social dancing to proscenium performances, tracing a throughline from dance hall regulations during World War I to the Union Barrack-Ades, a local performance troupe that entertained at domestic and international bases from World War II through the Cold War, and finally to present day competition dance practices that are being mobilized for Christian nationalist aggression. The project also incorporates GIS and network maps, revealing the geographic and infrastructural spread of these activities. Ultimately, the book argues that popular performances from the Ohio Valley have repeatedly raised military spirits through danced expressions of gendered, racial, and nationalist power.