La Pas Ma La

"La Pas Ma La" is a composition published by minstrel performer Ernest Hogan in 1895 and recognized as the first published ragtime work. With his troupe, the Georgia Graduates, Hogan created a comedy dance called the "Pasmala" consisting of a walk forward with three steps back, and in 1895 composed and published a song based on this dance. The song's chorus was:

Hand upon yo' head, let your mind roll back,

Back, back back and look at the stars

Stand up rightly, dance it brightly

That's the Pas Ma La.