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One of the male members of the community is given the job of calling out each song leader and all other participants to dance for each round.
Each round is led by a selected man who has developed his own sequence of songs from the multitude of variations on traditional rhythms, melodies and lyrics, sometimes with personalized content in the mix.
The songs are typically performed in call and response form, in the native language.
Every dance must have at least one woman with shakers, who falls into step immediately behind the song leader, to carry the rhythm.
The remaining dancers follow, alternating male-female in a continuous spiral around the central fire, with visitors, then young children, and the odd numbers trailing at the end.
The dancers circle the fire in counterclockwise direction with deliberate stomping steps set to the rhythm created by the women with their shell shakers.
Depending on the size of the community and the number of visitors in attendance, the number of people joining the circle may range from less than ten up to several hundred.
Usually a round of dancing continues until at least four songs are completed by the dance leader, and then everyone returns to their seats until another singer is called on to " lead out.
" There is usually a few minutes of rest between each leader, but the breaks may stretch longer if there are fewer people present to participate.
The Stomp Dance is not meant to be a grueling and physically challenging event, but almost every participant on the grounds will dance most of the night.

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