Fly Girl
(Version 1)
Category:
(dance style)
Street Cheer
Source:
Azizi Powell Collection, 1995
{Pittsburgh, PA, 1980s:Tazi Powell} memories of
Pittsburgh, Pa, 1980s
Group:
Fly girl “1”
Fly girl “2”
Pump it up, Marimba
just
like you do.
Soloist #1 My name is Marimba.
Group
What?
Soloist #1 (And)
I’m a fly girl.
Group
What?
Soloist #1 I’m
rough and tough
and I can strut my stuff.
Cause I can sway.
Group
She can sway.
Soloist #1 And
I can even do the “go go reggae.”
Group
She can even do the “go go reggae”.
(repeat entire chant with the next soloist who is expected to say and
perform a dance that has not been mentioned before; example: I can even
do the "go go butterfly")
Street cheers are seldom written down, audio
taped or videotaped. Because
they are so seldom documented, these cheers can easily be forgotten as
people grow older. Most
street cheers have a short life span.
Even if a new generation of children knew the old cheers, they may
not want to perform them because their slang words and the dances that
they mention have probably become old fashioned.
“Fly girl” is an example of
a dance style street
cheer. Dance style street
cheers have words (lyrics) that emphasize how well the performers can
step and dance. I collected this
example 1995 from my daughter, Tazi
Powell. Tazi and her friends did this cheer in Pittsburgh, PA in the
mid 1980’s “Fly Girl” was the name of a popular 1980s Rhythm & Blues song by the
Boogie Boys. Juba to Jive, a
book on Black slang by Clarence Majors, notes that "fly" was originally a
Gullah term dating all the way back to the 1880s, meaning "ecstatic",
"brash", 'great", or "good". In the 1970s, the word was used in the
hit Black movie Superfly. Major says that "fly girl" means an
attractive girl. However, clothes,
dances, songs were also described as "fly". I recall this meant that
they were in the latest fashion. The slang phrase “Pump it up!” means to turn up your energy and
dance real good.
Before beginning the “Fly girl” cheer, the group
chooses the order of soloists. The
soloist order is determined by who is the fastest to call out “first”,
“second”, “third”, etc. All
members of the group, including the soloists, perform the same rhythmical
pattern of foot stomping and handclapping.
To make sure that everyone is “on beat", performers often start “steppin” before they start chanting”. Fly Girl’s beat is stomp stomp clap, stomp stomp clap.
Each soloist chants along with the group.
When it is their turn to be soloists, each person is expected to
name one popular dance. The
word “the”
is placed before the name of any dance that the soloist mentions
and the word “reggae” (RAY-gay)
is placed after the
name of. the dance (for example “the bounce reggae”, or “the pop
reggae”, or “the butterfly reggae”). This
practice may reflect the girls' growing awareness of reggae music. Or they
may have just liked the sound of the word "reggae".
When the soloist and then the group say the name of the dance, they
sing it more than chant it. They
also perform the dance. After
a soloist has her turn, she rejoins the group.
Then the next person has her turn as soloist.
The entire cheer is repeated until all members have had a turn as
soloist.
My thanks to
Pittsburgh’s WAMO radio station DJ Tee Jay for the name of the group who
performed the hit song “Fly Girls”.
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