History of Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time Dance

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Holland, Michigan
Surname/tag: Eaton

Contents 1 Acknowledgements 1.1 Original Article Information 2 Summary 3 Keywords Mentioned in the Article 3.1 People 3.2 Schools 3.3 Places 4 Article Transcription

Acknowledgements

• Article provided by Ron and Lois Reist, 13 Mar 2008.
• Summary and indexed keywords by S X on 08 Jul 2022.
• Transcribed from the article by S X on 08 Jul 2022.

Original Article Information

Title: Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time Dance Goes Global

Author: Carolyn Koster Yost

Source: The Banner, September 28, 1998, page 5

Summary

In 1933, Ethel (Perry) Eaton was the original choreographer of the dance used in Holland, Michigan's annual "Tulip Time" tulip festival. She revised the dance the following year, and after she left for a teaching job in Kalamazoo, the dance was revised further by others. By 1953, the final dance was set and has been used until at least 1998 (when the article was written).

Keywords Mentioned in the Article

People

Ethel (Perry) Eaton - original choreographer

Ellen Van't Hof - Calvin College professor of physical education and resident of Holland, Michigan, 1998.

Schools

Calvin College

Holland Public Schools

Holland Christian High School

Theater Instituut of Nederland, Amsterdam

Places

Hudonsville, Michigan

Holland, Michigan

Kalamazoo, Michigan

The Netherlands

Amsterdam

Article Transcription

HUDSONVILLE, Mich. The Klompen (wooden shoe) dance performed every spring during Tulip Time in Holland, Mich., has won the admiration of dance experts in the Netherlands.

At an international conference on the dance in the Netherlands earlier this year, Calvin College professor of physical education Ellen Van't Hof, a Holland, Mich., resident, showed a video of 1,200 Holland high school Klompen dancers in costumes and wooden shoes. In digging into the dance's origin, Van't Hof concluded that the music and dance steps are an American creation, while the clothign style and footwear come from the Netherlands. The Dutch agreed with her analysis and said the Klompen dance is an example of an authentic new style of folk dance.

"Some people in Holland, Mich., clung to the notion that the dance was from the Netherlands. When I showed the video in Europe, they said, 'No, Western Europe has its own dance.' The Klompen dance evolved over 60 years out of Midwest America," Van't Hof said.

The director of the Theater Instituut of Nederland in Amsterdam asked for a copy of Van't Hof's vidoe for the Instituut archives, which holds 6,000 tapes as a resource of theater and dance culture for the country.

Continuing research upon her return, Van't Hof interviewed the original choreographer of the Holland, Mich., dance. From her home in Kalamazoo, Mich., 92-year old Ethel Perry Eaton recalled her reluctance to comply with a request in 1933 to create a dance for the tulip festival. As a physical-education teacher for Holland Public Schools, she was afraid parents, most of Dutch origin, might object to having their children involved in dance. After being assured she would not lose her job, Eaton put dance steps to a piano tune for about 12 junior high girls. She was surprised to receive no complaints after the performance. Originally, Holland Christian High School students did not join the dance, but now they participate.

The next year Eaton composed another dance routine for Tulip Time. Neither of her creations were exactly like the Klompen dance that has developed since then. After Eaton left Holland in 1934 for a teaching position in Kalamazoo, Mich., others took over the dance.

"By 1953 the dance we now see was set. It evolved over 60 years and stands the test of time," Van't Hof said.