La Pas Ma La Explained

"La Pas Ma La" is a composition published by minstrel performer Ernest Hogan in 1895 and recognized as the first published ragtime work.^[1] With his troupe, the Georgia Graduates, Hogan created a comedy dance called the "Pasmala" consisting of a walk forward with three steps back, and in 1895 composed and published a song based on this dance. The song's chorus was:

Hand upon yo' head, let your mind roll back,

Back, back back and look at the stars

Stand up rightly, dance it brightly

That's the Pas Ma La.^{[2] [3] [4]}

External links

• La Pas Ma La Box 141, Item 166 Lester Levy sheet music collection Johns Hopkins The Sheridan Libraries

Notes and References

1. Web site: Before Jazz, Ragtime gave us America’s First Music Stars . Ward . Liam . 20 January 2022 . Messy Nessy . 12 November 2023.
2. Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing by Mark Knowles, McFarland & Company, 2002,, pages 119-20.
3. Book: Knowles, Mark. Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing. registration. 119. la pas ma la.. 20 May 2002. McFarland. 9780786412679 . Internet Archive.
4. Gushee, Lawrence. "The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Jazz." Black Music Research Journal 14, no. 1 (1994): 1-24. doi:10.2307/779456.