 What can be
more "New Orleans" at your wedding reception than you and your
guests doing the Second Line? But how did such a strange and fun dance ever
come to be in the first place?
In the 1890's and early 1900's, African-American jazz
bands began being included in funerals, wherein the life of the deceased
was celebrated. When the church ceremony was finished, the slow procession
to the cemetery took place. The jazz band would play sad, mournful tunes,
and they would be followed by close family members and friends of the deceased.
This group was known as the Main Line or the First Line. Since the First
Line would travel on foot, parasols were brought along to give shelter from
the sun, and handkerchiefs wiped sweat off hot foreheads along the route.
Coming back from the cemetery, it was a different story.
The jazz band would now play raucous and fun tunes to celebrate the life
of the departed as the First Line proceeded along the streets. During this
stage the dancing began in the First Line with wild abandon, the parasols
began bobbing up and down, and the white handkerchiefs began flashing at
arm's length. Of course the joyful sound, the dancing and the good time
now being had to celebrate the life of the newly buried honoree attracted
others who just jumped into the growing parade as it passed by. This group
of fun folks who followed behind, dancing in a frenzy, was known as the
Second Line.
Nowadays the Bride and Groom are considered the First
Line and are the only two who traditionally use parasols (but when did that ever stop others??). The guests join
in behind them with handkerchiefs and napkins waving in the air, and they
form the Second Line and dance through the room single-file.
And the fun begins !
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