And one of the biggest complaints that I heard some of my colleagues with the McIntosh County Shouters (and we’re all relatives), is that they feel a little disappointed that some of it has changed slightly.

I go to New York, and that's how I got to the Kennedy Center. I did not know the guy was in the audience. He's just sitting in the audience. This guy is the top director of the Black Theater group in America. He just sitting in the audience with a bunch of folks and they say, well, "Lotson, can you teach these dancers to do the Ring Shout?"

I got my little iPad, and the lady I was working with, I gave it to her and she filmed. I'm just having fun. All of those dancers were professional dancers, just like the movie Roots. I couldn't teach 'em to dance because all of them were already professional dancers.

And I'm like, “Okay, here's the Ring Shout. Okay, y'all ready?” They already knew the music. I'm like, “Y'all don't need no help from me.”

But what they didn't know is the heart, mind, and soul of the real Ring Shout. What they were doing—they had all the bells, all the whistles, all the ice cream, all the sugar, they added all that fancy stuff.

That ain't the Ring Shout, but it's good for theater. It's great.