What is exactly Ring Shout

The Ring Shout is a black dance and ritual that originates from Africa but was brought over during the time of slavery and is still practiced today. This dance is practiced primarily in the southern United States and the West Indies. It's not well documented if Ring Shout was practiced in the North or West of America but many believe that it was for a time being until fading away over time. Floyd described the Ring Shout in Ring Shout! Literary Studies, Historical Studies, and Black Music Inquiry as, "The shout was an early Negro "holy dance" in which "the circling about in a circle is the prime essential," pg 226.

With this understanding, one can take away that the Shout was an early form of religion for not just Africans but those who were slaves in North America and the West Indies.