Freedom Re-enactment & Quadrille Dance. On Emancipation Day the ceremonies under the tent included a re-enactment of the 1848 events which led to the freedom of the enslaved Africans. An exhibit was held in the Fort and the Gentlemen of Jones were on hand with refreshments. Later in the evening a Quadrille dance was held with Curtis Williams as the caller and music provided by Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights. The dance took place in the Customs House Square under the moon and the stars. Everyone had a wonderful time performing this gracious dance. The performance was sponsored by the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Foundation with the aid of the History, Culture and Tradition Committee.

	The re-enactment of the July 3, 1848 uprising was performed by the Ananse Gromma Dance Troupe from Washington DC. Many of the group's original members are Africans and their performance's music is in African languages set to African drumming.

	The performance details the long tribulation and sufferings of the African enslaved and their bid for freedom. It tells of toil, death, sorrow and much debate which took place before the push for freedom.

	An intermezzo of an Ananse tale - an African story with a moral woven in - gives us a better look at traditional African storytelling.

	And the 1848 story continues with the unrelenting field work and other hard labor that the enslaved endured.

	Great sorrow is felt in the death of a child - a child who never knew freedom.

	The arguement remains - when, when will we rise up?

	When the cry for freedom is shouted, every ear shall hear.

	The push for freedom finally comes like a tidal wave and freedom is declared "All unfree in the Danish West Indies are from today FREE". Happiness overcomes the population as they consider just what that freedom means. Forward into a new age!

	The Quadrille is a dance which is derived from the French Minuette. This genteel dance is comprised of various specific moves given as directions from a caller, similar to the calls of a Squaredance. It is centered around participants being proper ladies and gentlemen. The Quadrille of St. Croix is not danced to orchestral music but to the music of the scratch band or Quelbe music. This European dance was taken by the enslaved Africans and made their own. Much of the African dance tradition was suppressed during slavery due to its more vibrant forms being outlawed by the slavemasters. Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights accompanied by Mr.Curtis Williams as caller,provided the music and direction.

	This old-timer teaches the young ones how to get the moves just right.