A second line is a street parade led by a brass band and a Social Aid and Pleasure Club (the ‘first line’). Everyone who follows and dances behind them is the ‘second line’, with high-stepping footwork, waving handkerchiefs and decorated umbrellas.
Second lines grew from African American benevolent societies that paid for members’ funerals: the ‘jazz funeral’ walks slowly to a dirge, then the band ‘cuts the body loose’ and the music turns joyful. Today the clubs parade almost every Sunday from late August to June, each on its own anniversary day. The dancing is improvised and athletic: buck jumping, footwork close to the ground, sudden freezes and acrobatics on parked cars or porches. It connects to West African ring traditions and Congo Square, where enslaved Africans gathered to drum and dance on Sundays in the 18th–19th centuries.
