Capering & Kickery

May 2013 Gig Calendar

Along with my usual monthly classes, this month I'll be calling for a Regency-era ball with an American theme and making a trip down south to teach waltz in North Carolina before making my way slowly back up the east coast.  The schedule as it stands now is below.  As usual, I add DJ gigs to my schedule somewhat randomly, so check back to see when those appear.

Sunday, May 5th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Tuesday, May 7th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Civil War Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, May 11th ~ Essex, Connecticut
The Sailing Masters 1814 Commemoration Ball (Facebook event page)
Formal early nineteenth century ball 8:00-11:00pm.  Period costume strongly encouraged!

Sunday, May 12th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing swing AND blues from 8:00-9:30 and 9:30-11:00 respectively.

Tuesday, May 14th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Sunday, May 19th ~ Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
Waltz workshops for Triangle Vintage Dance
Details TBA, but probably modern rotary and cross-step waltz variations

Friday, May 24th ~ Hunt Valley, Maryland (Baltimore area)
Private event

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: May 1-2, 6-17, 28-31
New York City: May 3-5
Richmond, Virginia: May 21-22
Baltimore area: May 24-26

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Coming in June:
I'll be spending a couple of weeks in Hartford, Connecticut on a special project!

Dance Card: Ocean View Amusement Park, 1917

The dance card at left (click to enlarge) is an interesting one: rather than being for a private event, it is from a public dance hall, the Dance Pavilion at the Ocean View Amusement Park, Norfolk, Virginia, which was one of the first amusement parks in the United States.  Sadly, I do not own this card myself; it slipped by on eBay and is now in unknown hands. 

The card is printed in monochrome, with a small picture of the Dance Pavilion.  No orchestra or dance leader is mentioned, only the name of the company that owned the amusement park and its owner, Otto Wells.  In keeping with its commercial nature, there is actually an advertisement on the inside.  On the back of the card is a note that "objectionable dancing" is "positively prohibited", an admonition which would be unnecessary at a private ball but a potential problem at an event open to the general public, and directions to the check room; ladies' retiring room; and gentlemen's smoking room.  The card is not for a specific evening's event, but instead is a generic dance program for any evening of the 1917 season. Written in pencil at the top of the front page is the date "Saturday, June 9, 1917".

There is no sign of any attachment point for a pencil.

New York, New York

The New York is another of the myriad "redowa and mazurka" variations given in M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890).  Along with the Fascination, it is one of only a few variations credited to Indianapolis dancing master D. B. Brenneke.  It reappears among the material translated directly from Gilbert in [George] Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903), where it is listed as a mazurka and again credited to Brenneke. 

Gilbert gives both this "New York" and another dance called "The New York", making it unclear whether the name refers to the city or whether it is simply a new version of the York.  Lopp lists it as La New York, along with two different dances called La Nouvelle York.  Lopp's translations suggest that the reference is to the city as much as to the popular dance.  That might make it something of a pun, since the New York does include the characteristic sliding sequence found in the first measure of the York. 

Contradicting this is the appearance of the dance in the addenda of the fifth edition of William B. De Garmo's The Dance of Society (New York, 1892), where it is listed simply as "The York, No. 2", which leads one to the new-version-of-the-York interpretation of the title.  De Garmo notes that "This method has become very popular."

The Independent York

The Independent York is an interesting variation on the original York, albeit one that was probably rarely danced outside a studio context.  I have found it in only two sources.  The earlier is Melvin Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), where it is uncredited, suggesting that Gilbert himself created it.  The later source is La Danse, by [George] Washington Lopp, published in Paris in 1903, much of which is simply a French translation of Gilbert.  It appears there as L'Indépendant York and is credited to Gilbert.  The sequence is identical in both sources.  Gilbert classifies it, as he does the York, under "redowa and mazurka"; Lopp lists it as a mazurka.

The Independent York is danced in 3/4 time, with four repeats of the rhythm "1&2-3 &1-2-3".  Lopp gives a metronome tempo of 144 beats per minute.  The dancers begin in a standard ballroom hold, the gentleman facing the nearest wall and the lady the center of the room. 

The complete sequence takes eight measures.  The first four measures are the same as the York itself:

1        Slide the left foot along line of dance
&2     Close with the right foot and slide the left foot again (chassé)
3        Close with the right foot, displacing left into a raised second position (cut)

&1     Hop on the right foot (optionally, clicking heels) and slide left to side
2        Close with the right foot, displacing left (cut)
3        Leap onto the left foot, crossing the line of dance and making a half-turn

(repeat all, reversing feet)

Above is the gentleman's footwork; the lady dances opposite.  The last &123 is a polka redowa step.  In four measures, one complete turn is made.

The second half of the Independent York repeats exactly the same steps.  What distinguishes it is that, in a very unusual move for a nineteenth century couple dance, the partners separate and turn away from each other, much like casting off as performed in early country dances.  For the first two measures, the dancers release their hold and move parallel to each other, curving away from each other slightly.  On the polka redowa in the second measure, they make a half turn, ending back to back and circling back against line of dance.  On the repeat, they turn halfway at the beginning of the first measure to slide sideways against line of dance, facing each other, then come together again on the polka redowa of the final measure.

The entire eight measures are then repeated as often as the dancers like.

The Independent York is not entirely leadable with a dancer who does not already know what to expect, though a skilled dancer with fast reflexes might figure it out visually if the York step pattern has already been well established.  But with a partner who already knows the move, the lead is easy: do a few normal York sequences to establish the pattern, then simply release the lady with a gentle push along the line of dance.

Since the Independent York travels against the line of dance and takes extra space to each side, the gentleman needs to take care before starting the move to have sufficient room to execute the variation without interfering with other couples on the floor.

A Village Dance Ritual

For those reading this later: please note the original date of this post!

Dance history inevitably skews toward the dances of the upper classes, since only their dancing masters had the leisure, literacy, and financial incentive to record what they were teaching.  Dances of the lower classes are often lost to us.  But in the age of video, we are fortunate that anthropological expeditions have been able to record the native dances of specific cultures, preserving them in their pristine form before they are corrupted by contact with outside cultural influences.

I have recently had the privilege of viewing two videos made in the late 1970s in which male villagers wearing costumes symbolic of their culture's masculine archetypes sing to younger villagers and dance in a ritual mating display responded to even by those entirely unaware of its cultural context.  The first recording was made on location with the dancers in their native area.  For the second, the dancers were transported to a Los Angeles television studio with a live audience for a performance broadcast on television on January 6, 1979.

We are quite lucky to have a dated record of that performance, since it was there, in an act of aggressive cultural appropriation, that the young members of the audience, egged on by the show's host, displayed their own simplified version of the dance.  Unaware of its social significance or the symbolism of the costumes, their superficial interpretation (really only a set of arm movements) focused only on the alphabetic recitative that forms a part of the chorus of the ritual song.  In a moment of stupendous arrogance, the show's host even suggests to the startled dancers that they incorporate this new version into their own performance.

This cultural faux pas would be only a minor footnote in dance history were it not for the national reach of the broadcast and the catchy beat of the song, which caused the simplified version to became a nationwide craze which has survived in various forms to this very day on the social dance floor as well as in non-dance venues.  It is vanishingly rare to have both an unadulterated version of a village dance as well as a recording of the moment in which it was whitewashed into a popular dance fad.

More than three decades after these videos were made, after much careful study, I am pleased to be able to finally present a reconstruction of the original chorus of this ritual village dance.

April 2013 Gig Calendar

April will be a crazy travel month for me, flitting between Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York repeatedly over the course of the month.  The schedule as it stands now is below.  I tend to add DJ gigs to my schedule at the relative last minute, so check back to see when those appear.

Tuesday, April 2nd ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Civil War Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Friday, April 5th ~ New York City
Friday Night Blues
7:00pm-2:00am.  DJing blues for some part of 10:00pm-2:00am.

Saturday, April 6th ~ New York City
The Gentlemanly Art of Tying the Cravat (Facebook event page)
2:00-4:00pm.  Not a dance workshop, but of interest to Regency/1820s reenactors and costumers!  An overview and how-to session on men's neckwear in the first few decades of the 19th century.  Limited to twenty people; sign up in advance!  For The New York Nineteenth Century Society.

Sunday, April 7th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Tuesday, April 9th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Friday-Sunday, April 12-14 and Saturday-Sunday, April 20-21 ~ Simsbury, Connecticut
Pride & Prejudice at the Theatre Guild of Simsbury (Facebook event page)
Community theatre production for which I choreographed the dances.

Sunday, April 14th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
A Regency Tea Dance (Facebook event page)
2:00-5:00pm.  Costumes encouraged!

Saturday & Sunday, April 20-21 ~ Mansfield, Massachusetts (Boston area)
New England Folk Festival (Facebook event page)
Saturday, 11:00am-12:20pm: Unusual Variations for Cross-Step Waltz (plus open waltz time!)
Sunday, 3:00-4:05pm: Introduction to Ragtime Foxtrot
Sunday, 4:15-5:15pm: Introduction to Renaissance Dance

Tuesday, April 23rd ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing a double set of blues from 8:30-11:00.

Friday, April 26th ~ Brooklyn, New York
1880s Fancy Dress (Masquerade) Ball (Facebook event)
for The New York Nineteenth Century Society as part of The New York City 19th Century Extravaganza.

Sunday, April 28th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Nineteenth-Century Waltz Workshop (scroll down the page) (Facebook event)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm.

Sunday, April 28th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing blues from 9:30-11:00.

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: April 1-4, 8-12, 28-30
New York City: April 5-6, 26-27
Boston: April 20-21 (at NEFFA), 23-24

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Coming in May:
The Sailing Masters 1814 Commemoration Ball! (tickets available now!)

Dance Cards: Solon, Maine, 1918-1919

Pictured at left (click to enlarge) are two dance cards which I purchased as a set.  The first is clearly as the card as the Programme from the Annual Alumni Ball of Solon High School held on June 23, 1918.  Music was provided by Lyon's Orchestra, and the location was Caratunk Hall.  There are several Solons in the United States, but the hall name enabled me to trace this card to a tiny town in western Maine. 

Caratunk Hall, built in 1840, was named after the Caratunk Falls, and was standing at least through 2005 as the "Solon Flea Market".  The card is printed in color, and a green cord and tassel for an attached pencil are still present.

March 2013 Gig Calendar

March is going to be a very quiet month for me.  I'm clearing my calendar of most outside gigs for the last couple of weeks of the month to work on some writing and reviewing projects.

I tend to add DJ gigs to my schedule at the relative last minute, so check back to see when those appear!

Sunday, March 3rd ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Tuesday, March 5th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Civil War Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Tuesday, March 12th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Friday-Saturday, March 15th-16th
Private event

Sunday, March 17th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
A Regency Tea Dance (Facebook event page)
2:00-5:00pm.  Costumes encouraged!

Tuesday, March 19th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy  (Facebook event page)
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues from 9:45-11:00.

Sunday, March 24th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing blues from 9:30-11:00.

Wednesday/Friday/Saturday, March 27-29-30 ~ New York City
Private event

Sunday, March 31st ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing blues from 9:30-11:00.

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: March 4-15, 21-26, 31
Boston: March 19-20
New York City: 27-30

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Coming in April:
NEFFA, a Regency weekend, DJing blues in three different cities, and a small Victorian ball!

February 2013 Gig Calendar

I'm staying warm this winter with lots of travel and dance, including our first Connecticut Regency tea dance and DJ gigs in three cities!  I'm still adding gigs, but here's the February schedule so far:

Edited to add: note that my February 10th & 12th Regency events in Connecticut have been moved to February 17th & 26th, respectively, due to the enormous snowstorm of February 8-9th.

Friday, February 1st ~ New York City
Friday Night Blues
7:00pm-2:00am.  DJing blues 10:00-11:30pm, 12:30-2:00am.

Sunday, February 3rd ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Sunday, February 10th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing both swing (8:00-9:30) and blues (9:30-11:00)!

Sunday, February 17th (rescheduled from February 10th) ~ Middletown, Connecticut
A Regency Tea Dance (Facebook event page)
2:00-5:00pm.  Costumes encouraged!

Tuesday, February 19th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues from 9:45-11:00.

Saturday, February 23rd ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Winter Waltz Party (Facebook event page)
7:00-10:30pm.  Beginner lesson 7-8, DJ'ed waltz and other dancing 8-10:30.

Sunday, February 24th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Nineteenth-Century Waltz Workshop (scroll down the page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm.

Sunday, February 24th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing both swing (8:00-9:30) and blues (9:30-11:00)!

Tuesday, February 26th (rescheduled from February 12th) ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New York: February 1-3
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: February 4-18, 25-28
Boston: February 19-23

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Coming in March:
Regency & Civil War era dancing in Connecticut and New York!

Late Victorian Waltz Variations: Harvard Dip

I've been spending some quality time in Harvard's library lately, which reminded me of this little waltz variation by Melvin Ballou Gilbert, author of Round Dancing.  The original instructions may be seen at left; click the image to enlarge.

The Harvard Dip was published in Gilbert's magazine of dance, etiquette, and exercise, The Director, in September, 1898.  I have never seen it published elsewhere, and suspect it was purely a dancing-school variation.  The name appears to be a commercial gimmick; there is no obvious connection to Harvard other than perhaps Gilbert's desire to attract that university's students to his summer dance classes in Boston.

Gilbert earns no credit for originality with the Harvard Dip.  The first half of the eight-bar sequence exactly mimics his Brooklyn colleague H. Fletcher Rivers' "Le Metropole", with four bars of alternating slides sideways along the line of dance and half-turns of waltz.  The second part consists of the second, third, and fourth bars of Indianapolis dancing master D. R. Brenneke's "Fascination" plus a bar of waltz at the end to round out the musical phrase and set up the opposite-foot repeat.  Both "Le Metropole" and "Fascination" were included in Round Dancing.

This reshuffling of the same basic elements of late nineteenth-century American waltz variations makes the Harvard Dip a shining example of the desperate flailing of dancing masters attempting to generate new material in the face of the decline in interest in most of the old nineteenth century dance repertoire.  That does not make it any worse (or better) than many other variations of this era, so should you wish to dance it, here's how to do it:

Mr. Scott's Two-Step

The two-step of the 1890s and early 1900s was so simple to dance, and so aggressively condemned by many dancing masters, that it's actually fairly unusual to find a good description of it in a dance manual, though minor variations and sequences of dubious originality and debatable utility abound.  English dancing master Edward Scott, in How to dance and guide to the ball-room (London, c1902), provides a rare overview of the basic dance as performed in Edwardian England.

Steps and timing
Scott specifies that the music for the two-step should be in 6/8, and explains that it is "practically our old friend the galop performed with figures, in regulated sequences, and to a different rhythm," though Americans, he claims, apply the name two-step to "any dance founded on the chassé movement, or that in which one foot appears to be chasing the other."

The basic movement of the two-step is a simple slide-close-slide done in 6/8 time.  Scott describes it in detail:

The gentleman slides his left foot forward, his weight thrown thereon, and rests for two counts.  At the third count he brings his right toe lightly up to the heel of the left, and at the fourth count immediately slides his left foot again forward, stopping on it for the second three counts of the bar.  For the next bar he slides his right foot forward, sustaining his balance, while the left toe is brought lightly to the right heel, and the right again slid forward to rest and carry the weight for the next half bar.

The rhythm will be somewhat as if you said “right and right, left and left, etc., the and corresponding to the quick chasing step made with the toe of the opposite foot.

Scott calls this the chassé à trois pas or simply the "chassé movement".  The rhythm is typical of jig-time dances and can be charted thus:

        *     *  *          *     *  *                   
        1-&-a-2-&-a  1-&-a-2-&-a

It's generally unnecessary to break down the exact timing of each step in detail; dancers with any ear for rhythm will pick it up instinctively from the accenting of the music.

January 2013 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!  I'm back on the road again in New York, Connecticut, and Boston this month after my holiday break:

Sunday, January 6th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Monday, January 7th ~ Bound Brook, New Jersey
7:00-10:00pm.  Couple dances & mixers for a folk dance group; semi-private event.  Contact Loretta Holz if interested in attending.

Tuesday, January 8th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Sunday, January 13th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Slow Waltz for Beginners (scroll down the page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm.

Sunday, January 13th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing the blues segment from 9:30-11:00.

Tuesday, January 15th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00  DJing blues from 9:45-11:00.

Saturday, January 19th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Private event

Tuesday, January 22nd ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Civil War Era Dancing (scroll down page) (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, January 26th ~ New York City
Fusion Waltz Workshop: Cross-Step/Box-Step (Facebook event page)
4:00-6:00pm Beginner-friendly lesson

Tuesday, January 29th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Civil War Era Dancing (scroll down page) (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New York: January 6-7, 25-27
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: January 8-14, 22-24, 28-31
Boston: January 15-21

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Coming in February:
Connecticut's first Regency Tea Dance, blues DJing in New York and Boston, and another Boston waltz party!

Doin' the Lambeth Walk, 1938

The Lambeth Walk was the first of the "romping" sequence dances that became popular in England between the first and second World Wars.  Referring to a particular street in the Lambeth section of London, the song and dance number originated in the successful 1937 musical Me and My Girl.  When Noel Gay's music was published with dance instructions included, a fad was born which remains a living tradition today.  The dance turns up in all sorts of odd places, and the song is still traditional in the Pearly community of charitable organizations.  A quick search on the term "Lambeth walk" will turn up plenty of metaphorical usages along with references to the street, which still exists, though mostly rebuilt after being bombed in during World War II.

The musical itself has been revived several times, though the Broadway choreography of the Lambeth Walk scene in the 1980s revival was only loosely inspired by the original dance.  Follow that link for the wonderful performance by Robert Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett, and to get a a feel for the tune.

Simonet's Parisian Quadrilles, Third Set, c1820

There are many, many sets of early nineteenth-century quadrilles, most of which are simply new music for the First Set or include only minor variations on the standard figures.  While I don't normally publish reconstructions of the figures for random sets of quadrille music, this set is of particular interest because a high-quality recording of it is available on The Regency Ballroom CD by Spare Parts.

The music is from the first series of T. Simonet's Fashionable Parisian Quadrilles, Performed by the Bands of Messrs. Michau, Musard and Collinet, with their appropriate Figures as danced at Almack's, the Argyll Rooms and at the Bath & Cheltenham Assemblies.  The manual is undated, but in February, 1823, the fashionable magazine La Belle Assemblée reported the publication of "Nos. 42 and 43" of the series, commenting positively:

This is really an elegant little work both in its contents and its typography.  We recognize many of the quadrilles as being great favorites in the French metropolis, and the whole of them are composed in a very characteristic and original style.

The typography of this edition is certainly eye-popping by modern standards of design; the front cover alone features a dozen different fonts.  The first series includes only sets one through six and presumably is dated somewhat earlier.  

Starting the Waltz, Dodworth Style

Sometimes very brief instructions provide more information about ballroom practice than one would expect. 

Speaking of the "new waltz" of the late nineteenth century, New York City dancing master Allen Dodworth wrote in  his 1885 manual, Dancing and its relations to education and social life (link is to the 1900 edition), the following suggestion about starting the waltz:

To begin the waltz with the leap is somewhat awkward, and for that reason many dancers adopt the following excellent expedient:

Immediately upon taking position for waltzing, the gentleman slides the left foot, occupying two of the three notes of the measure; at the third, a change is made from the left to the right foot, leaving the left elevated for the leap which follows; with these two movements the gentleman places himself in front of the lady, so that his first leap may be backward. At the same time the lady makes a very short slide with the right, then a change to the left foot, raising the right preparatory to the first forward leap, which occurs simultaneously with the gentleman's backward leap.

It must not be forgotten that a waltz is written in phrases of two bars each, the lady beginning each phrase with the right, the gentleman with the left foot; as the foregoing method of starting requires but one bar, it is necessary to wait for the second bar of a phrase before beginning.

The move is easy enough to reconstruct; the dancers wait for one bar (three counts), then the dancers slide their first foot (gentleman's left, lady's right) (1-2) and cut with their second foot (3), turning a quarter clockwise so that the lady faces line of dance and the gentleman has his back to line of dance.  They are then ready with their first foot (still elevated from the cut) to leap along the line of dance for the first step of the waltz. 

But Dodworth gives us more here than just the dance instructions.  Offering a fix reveals what the problem was that he thought needed one.

CD Review: The Civil War Grand Military Ball

The Civil War Grand Military Ball dates back to 2007, but I only recently encountered it while looking for new nineteenth century dance music.  It is the fourth recording by the Tennessee-based 52nd Regimental String Band and the first to consist specifically of dance music.

The most immediately noticeable difference between this album and most of my others is that most of the tracks include vocals, which may or may not be to everyone's taste for dancing.  I have mixed feelings about it, myself.  I prefer my nineteenth-century dance music instrumental rather than vocal, but with a couple of notable exceptions (see below) I enjoyed the singing and was amused to realize that the two songs ("Polly Wolly Doodle" and "Kemo Kimo") in one medley are ones I remember singing versions of as a little girl growing up in Texas.

December 2012 Gig Calendar

Things are calming down for the end of the year here!  Just a few gigs this month, though I'm still happy to give private lessons betwixt and between:

Saturday, December 1st ~ New York City
Cross-Step/Box-Step Fusion Waltz Workshop (Facebook event page)
4:00-6:00pm Beginner-friendly lesson

Sunday, December 2nd ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Friday, December 7th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Blues-Waltz Fusion Dance for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook event page)
8:00pm-12:00midnight  Brief beginner waltz lesson (cross-step) then DJing blues/waltz

Tuesday, December 11th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, December 15th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Jane Austen's Birthday Dance (Facebook event page)
2:30-5:30pm.  An afternoon of early 19th century dance with live music.

Saturday, December 15th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Holiday Waltz Party (Facebook event page)
7:00-10:30pm.  Waltz lesson & DJing.

Sunday, December 16th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing the blues segment from 9:30-11:00.

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New York: December 1-2
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: December 4-11, 16-31
Boston: December 12-15

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Coming in January: picking things up again after the holidays with workshops in New York City and Connecticut and some blue DJing in Boston!

Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Pasadena

The Pasadena, a would-be replacement for the two-step, appears in the 1900 reprint of New York dancing master Allen Dodworth's 1885 tome, Dancing and its relations to education and social life, but can be dated back to at least 1898.  It appears to have been created as a dancing school dance, as Dodworth's nephew, T. George Dodworth, discussed in his introduction to the new edition of his uncle's manual:

In order to bring the work up to date, I have been requested to write an introduction which will include a list of dances that have come into fashion since my uncle's book was originally published.

As a matter of fact, however, society dances have decreased, rather than increased, during this interval. When this work first appeared most of the round dances described in its pages were fashionable. But Dame Fashion is fickle, and, owing to some unaccountable change in taste, we now have only the Two Step, the Waltz, occasionally a Saratoga Lancers, and the Cotillion. In the dancing-schools the old dances are still taught, but with numerous new combinations, which are composed to improve the pupil and keep alive the interest. From these combinations we have the Tuxedo Lancers, the Amsterdam, Gavotte der Kaiserin, Minuet de la Cour (for four persons), and the Pasedena.

November 2012 Gig Calendar

This is going to be a wild month of travel for me, starting off in beautiful Saint Petersburg, Russia, then ricocheting up and down the northeastern United States for a few weeks:

Saturday-Monday, November 3rd - 5th ~ Saint Petersburg, Russia  (3-5 ноября 2012, Санкт-Петербург)
Anno Domini (Фестиваль танца Анно Домини) (Facebook event page)
Three full days of historical dance workshops and a "Titanic" ball (бал по эпохе "Титаника")!

Sunday, November 11th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Cross-Step Waltz Workshop for Mostly Waltz Boston (Facebook event page)
7:00-10:30pm.  Waltz lesson & DJing.

Tuesday, November 13th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, November 17th ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Remembrance Day Ball
A lovely American Civil War-era ball.  Sold out months ago.

Sunday, November 18th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Friday, November 23 - Sunday, November 25 ~ Baltimore area, Maryland
Private event

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: November 12-16 and 27-30
Boston: November 10-11
Санкт-Петербург: 1-2 и 6-7 ноября

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Coming in December:

Dance workshops (Regency and waltz) in New York City, a holiday waltz in Boston, blues and waltz in New Haven, and Jane Austen's Birthday Dance!

Tenth Annual Regency Assembly, New Haven, Connecticut (October 13-14, 2012)

A final reminder that the advance registration cutoff for the tenth annual Regency Assembly is quickly approaching.  The Assembly will be held on Saturday-Sunday, October 13-14 in New Haven, Connecticut, and is an opportunity to try the kind of dances discussed in my posts on the dancing of Jane Austen's era and the Regency era in the context of a formal evening ball.

Saturday's events include an afternoon dance workshop followed by a formal evening ball with live music by Spare Parts, as heard in the film Bright Star and on The Regency Ballroom CD.  This year we have a beautiful new site, Pratt Hall, for our evening ball, with our afternoon dance workshop held at separate location.

Sunday, stroll in the park before retiring to the parlor for tea and Regency gaming, including card games such as picquet and whist as well as board games, dominos, and spillikins.  Sunday's events return to the lovely Edgerton Park and St. Thomas' Episcopal Church.

Both days will be well-supplied with delicious refreshments baked from Regency-era recipes.

Full details and registration information is available at the event website.  Pre-registration cutoff is October 10th; advance payments must be received by that date.  After that, pay at the door.  An online payment option via Paypal is also available.

For those in New York City: there will be a final review workshop on Sunday, October 7th, which will focus on the dances to be done at the Assembly.  Details are on the workshop flyer (PDF).

For those in Connecticut: there will be a workshop next Tuesday evening, October 9th, in Middletown, Connecticut, from 8:15-9:30 at Vinnie's Jump & Jive.

October 2012 Gig Calendar

October is when life gets crazy again, with a weekend in New York City, several days in Boston, the tenth Regency Assembly mid-month, and heading off to beautiful Санкт-Петербург at the end!

Friday, October 5th ~ New York City
Friday Night Blues (Facebook event page)
8:00pm-2:00am.  DJing blues sometime during in the 10pm-2am period (switching off with another DJ).

Saturday, October 6th ~ New York City
Cross-Step Waltz Workshop: 101 Grapevines  (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Saturday, October 6th ~ New York City
Blues Dancing at Mala Leche  (Facebook event page -- end of this event)
10:00pm-2:00am.  DJing blues sometime in there (switching off with other DJs).

Sunday, October 7th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Tuesday, October 9th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing  (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday & Sunday, October 13-14 ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Tenth Annual Regency Assembly!  (Facebook event page)
Dance workshop, ball, tea & games

Sunday, October 14 ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Yale Swing & Blues Practicum
8:00-11:00pm.  DJing blues from 9:30-11. 

Tuesday, October 16th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy  (Facebook event page)
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set.

Saturday, October 20th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Pre-Halloween Waltz Party (Facebook event page)
7:00-10:30pm.  Waltz lesson & DJing.

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I am available for private lessons at home or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New York: October 5-8
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: October 1-4, 9-12, 22-28
Boston: October 16-20

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Coming in November:

Historical dance in Санкт-Петербург, a waltz workshop in Boston, and the Remembrance Day Ball in Gettysburg!

Tenth Annual Regency Assembly, New Haven, Connecticut (October 13-14, 2012)

Coming up in just a few weeks, on Saturday-Sunday, October 13-14 in New Haven, Connecticut, is my tenth annual Regency Assembly, an opportunity to try the kind of dances discussed in my posts on the dancing of Jane Austen's era and the Regency era in the context of a formal evening ball.

Saturday's events include an afternoon dance workshop followed by a formal evening ball with live music by Spare Parts, as heard in the film Bright Star and on The Regency Ballroom CD.  This year we have a beautiful new site, Pratt Hall, for our evening ball, with our afternoon dance workshop held at separate location.

Sunday, stroll in the park before retiring to the parlor for tea and Regency gaming, including card games such as picquet and whist as well as board games, dominos, and spillikins.  Sunday's events return to the lovely Edgerton Park and St. Thomas' Episcopal Church.

Both days will be well-supplied with delicious refreshments baked from Regency-era recipes.

Full details and registration information is available at the event website.  Pre-registration cutoff is October 10th; advance payments must be received by that date.  After that, pay at the door.  An online payment option via Paypal is also available.

For those in New York City: there will be workshops on September 16th and October 7th which will focus on the dances to be done at the Assembly.  Details are on the workshop flyer (PDF).

For those in Connecticut: there will be workshops on two Tuesday evenings before the Assembly, September 11th and October 9th, in Middletown, Connecticut, from 8:15-9:30 at Vinnie's Jump & Jive.

September 2012 Gig Calendar

I'm on the road through early September, and then after a little flurry of gigs in the middle of the month, spending a couple of quiet weeks catching up after five weeks of near-constant travel.  Here are the gigs open to the public:

Thursday, September 6th ~ Cincinnati, Ohio
The Royal Scotch Quadrilles: Regency quadrille workshop for The Cincinnati Historical Dance Society (dowload an event flyer here)
7:00-9:00pm

Tuesday, September 11th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Friday, September 14th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Vinnie's All Blues Night (Facebook event page)
8:30pm-12:00 midnight.  DJing blues for the second set (10:30-midnight).

Sunday, September 16th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Tuesday, September 18th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set.

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I am available for private lessons at home or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: September 11th-15th, 20th-30th
Boston: September 18th-19th

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Coming in October:

Regency & waltz classes in New York City, waltzing & blues DJing in Boston, and the 10th Annual Regency Assembly!

August 2012 Gig Calendar (plus a bit of September!)

I'm going to be on the road for the last half of August and part of September, so no blues DJing this month and no extra time in Boston or New York City, but lots of chances for private lessons in places I'm not usually in!

Sunday, August 5th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Tuesday, August 7th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Sunday-Saturday, August 12-18th ~ Maine
Ragtime/Titanic era dance workshops at Mainewoods Folk Dance Camp.

Saturday, August 18th ~ Connecticut
8:00-9:00pm
Cross-Step Waltz Workshop at Pi-Con (convention members only)

Saturday night/early Sunday morning, August 25th/26th ~ Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Saturday Night Swing
1:00-2:00am (approximate).  DJing some late-night blues after the dance!

Sunday, August 26th ~ Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Waltz workshops for Mostly Waltz Toronto  (Facebook event here; flier here)
12:00pm-6:00pm

August 27-September 9
I will be passing through Toronto (8/26-27) Chicago (8/29-9/3), Milwaukee (9/3-4), Lexington (9/5-6), Cincinnati (9/6-7), and Pittsburgh (9/8-9).  Most of my teaching will be for private groups, but the Cincinnati workshop is open to the general public:

Thursday, September 6th ~ Cincinnati, Ohio
The Royal Scotch Quadrilles: Regency quadrille workshop for The Cincinnati Historical Dance Society (dowload an event flyer here)
7:00-9:00pm

Anyone interested in further workshps in one of these cities or somewhere in between should contact me ASAP!

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I am available for private lessons at home or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: through August 11th only
Toronto: August 26-27th
Chicago: August 29-31st, September 1st, September 3nd (not available Sunday the 2nd)
Milwaukee: September 3rd & 4th
Lexington: September 6th
Cincinnati: September 6th-7th
Pittsburgh: September 8th-9th

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Coming in September:

Regency & waltz classes, DJing blues in Boston, and catching up after my trip!

Howe's "Rats" Quadrille, concluded (3 of 3)

This is the third in a series of three posts discussing the "Rats" Quadrille, with this one covering the fourth and fifth figures.  See the two previous posts for introduction and background and the first three figures.

Howe's "Rats" Quadrille, continued (2 of 3)

On to the actual figures of Howe's "Rats" Quadrille!  Please see the first post in the "Rats" series for an introduction to the quadrille and links to sheet music. 

Howe's "Rats" Quadrille (1 of 3)

Les Rats Quadrilles is a set of five tunes composed by G. Redler as alternate music for the first set of French quadrilles. The tunes are unusually good, and the set became enormously popular and was reprinted for many years, not only in England but in America and Australia as well.  In 1854 a  piano-duet (four hands) version arranged by J. C. Vierec was published in Philadelphia. 

Some editions featured the "tree roots" version of the title shown at left, and others a small orchestra of rats with various instruments.  American editions seem to have credited the composer as "J. Redler", but English sources consistently give his first initial as "G".

I do not have a definitive initial date for the first publication of Les Rats, but in 1846, A. M. Hartley, in his The academic speaker, a system of elocution (Glasgow) mentions on page 319 the inclusion of "Redler's popular Rat Quadrilles" in Volume I of the collected Hamilton's Cabinet of Music, a sheet music series, which puts Les Rats into the first half of the 1840s.

Revisiting Chassé Out

Almost four years ago, I discussed the quadrille figure "chassé out", or chassé ouvert, in a post discussing the reconstruction of a mid-century quadrille.  I've revisited the figure occasionally since then, both in its Regency-era context and in its unusual mid-19th century appearances in the quadrille calls of American dancing master Elias Howe, and found enough new information to be worth a fresh post on the topic and to make me reconsider how I would reconstruct the figure both for early quadrilles of the 1810s-1820s and for the quadrille sets published by Howe in 1858 and 1862.

Lancers, Lancer's, or Lancers' ?

My old dance buddy Chris Imershein of the North Carolina group Triangle Vintage Dance writes:

Just curious if you have any historical sources for the proper "spelling" of The Lancers Quadrille(s).  Spare Parts has it as "Lancers" on the original [Civil War Ballroom] CD, but as "Lancer's" in their sheet music book.  I've also seen it as Lancers' on the web.  Any thoughts?

Thoughts on stepping the Grand Chain in Regency quadrilles

It's not unusual for new sources to turn up that make me go back and reconsider a reconstruction.  It's a little irritating for it to happen less than a month after I finally get around to publishing one here on Kickery, and doubly irritating for it to be not a new source but old sources I simply hadn't looked at recently.  Fortunately, this is less a change in my reconstruction than further background and options.

In reconstructing the fourth figure of the Mid-Lothians, an early 1820s quadrille, I wrote in my reconstruction notes that "I've never found any description of what step sequence to use for this figure," referring to the grand chain.  Actually, I had come across such, many years ago, and they had simply slipped my mind.  But I was looking through quadrille sources for a different project and found them again, so here is a little more information about performance options for the grand chain.

July 2012 Gig Calendar

July is my last quiet month before everything goes crazy again in August!  Here's the current schedule:

Sunday, July 8th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Saturday, July 14th ~ Danvers, Massachusetts
Private event

Tuesday, July 17th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

New date added!
Friday, July 20th ~ New York City
Friday Night Blues
8:00pm-2:00am.  DJing blues for the first set (10-11pm)

Tuesday, June 24th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set.

Thursday, July 26th ~ Northhampton, Massachusetts
Smith College ~ private event

New date added!
Sunday, July 29th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Yale Swing & Blues Sunday Night Practicum (Harkness Lounge, Yale School of Medicine)
8:00-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set (9:30-11pm)

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I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and occasionally in New York City and Boston.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: generally available
New York: July 7th
Boston: July 15th & 24th

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Coming in August:

Life gets busy again with teaching ragtime-era dancing at Mainewoods dance camp and the start of a road trip that will take me around the Great Lakes in late August/early September!

The Mid Lothians (1820s Quadrilles), Figure 6

This is the sixth and last in a series of six posts covering the six figures of the Mid Lothians, a set of quadrilles from the 1820s.  Previous posts: first figure, background information, and sources, second figure, third figure, fourth figure, fifth figure.

The sixth and final figure of the Mid Lothians is set to a combination of two similar Jacobite tunes, "Lewie Gordon" and "Over the Hills".  My ear isn't sophisticated enough to sort through Evans' arrangement and figure out which (or whether) individual strains are drawn from each tune.  Lewie Gordon was a son of the Duke of Gordon who fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie and was exiled after Culloden.  "Over the Hills", also known as "O'er the Hills and Far Away" and "Over the Seas and far away", has a complex history and may have originally been from England.  It is familar to many today as the theme music for the Sharpe television series based on the Bernard Cornwell novels about a British rifleman during the Napoleonic Wars.

Lyrics and background on each tune as well as MIDI files for listening may be found at Christian Souchon's collection of Jacobite songs; there are individual pages for both "Lewie Gordon" and "O'er the Hills".  Note that all Souchon's pages play music immediately upon opening!  More lyrics for "O'er the Hills" may be found on the song's page at The Compleat Sean Bean, a Sean Bean (Sharpe in the television series) fan site created by writer Winona Kent.

The Mid Lothians (1820s Quadrilles), Figure 5

This is the fifth in a series of six posts covering the six figures of the Mid Lothians, a set of quadrilles from the 1820s.  The first figure, background information, and sources are discussed in the first post in the series.  Second figure here.  Third figure here.  Fourth figure here.

The fifth figure of the Mid Lothians is set to the famous march of Clan Campbell, "The Campbells are Coming", with its rousing chorus, presumably not sung while dancing a quadrille:

The Campbells are coming Oho, Oho!

The Campbells are coming Oho, Oho!

The Campbells are coming to bonnie Lochleven

The Campbells are coming Oho, Oho!

There are many, many recordings of this tune available.  Though the lyrics were partly rewritten by Robert Burns in the late eighteenth century, the tune dates back at least to the Jacobite rebellions of the first half of the century.

The Mid Lothians (1820s Quadrilles), Figure 4

This is the fourth in a series of six posts covering the six figures of the Mid Lothians, a set of quadrilles from the 1820s.  The first figure, background information, and sources are discussed in the first post in the series.  Second figure here.  Third figure here.

The fourth figure of the Mid Lothians is set to a combination of "Peggy's Love" and "Auld Robin Gray", though my ear is not good enough to pick out which strains are from each tune when filtered through Evans' arrangements.

"Peggy's Love", or "Little Peggy's Love" is a strathspey which has also been used for a Scottish Country Dance.  It is said to have been composed by William Marshall and published as "Lady Louisa Gordon's Strathspey" in 1781.  It was apparently used as the musical basis for a ballet at the King's Theatre Opera House (the professional home of Regency-era dancing master Thomas Wilson) in the 1790s.  Evans mostly retains the strathspey rhythm in his arrangement.

"Auld Robin Gray" was written in 1772 by the Scottish poet Lady Anne Lindsay, with a tune by Reverend William Leeves.  The song is something of a sequel to the classic Jacobite song "Logie O'Buchan" (note: music plays immediately upon opening this page) which mourns for the Old Pretender under the guise of a woman missing her lover Jamie while being pressured to marry someone richer.  In "Auld Robin Gray", she actually ends up married to Robin Gray before her true love Jamie returns for her.  The tune may be heard in a MIDI file created by Christian Souchon (plays immediately upon opening).  An arrangement by Hadyn may be found at Ball State University's Digital Music Repository.

The Mid Lothians (1820s Quadrilles), Figure 3

This is the third in a series of six posts covering the six figures of the Mid Lothians, a set of quadrilles from the 1820s.  The first figure, background information, and sources are discussed in the first post and the second figure here.

The third figure of the Mid Lothians is set to "Riggs O'Barley", previously known as "Corn Rigs are bonie" but taking on a new name after being used by Robert Burns for his 1783 poem, "The Rigs O' barley".  Numerous recordings (with the Burns lyrics) are available.  It is also found on the sound track of a classic 1973 horror film, The Wicker Man, under the title "Corn Rigs".

Evans' arrangement consists of three eight-bar strains (ABC), with the A strain having an alternate second ending as well.  The thirty-two-bar figure is noted on the sheet music as starting on the A strain, so I would expect a repeat structure of A (ABACx4) with the initial A using the first ending and subsequent ones the second.

The Mid Lothians (1820s Quadrilles), Figure 2

This is the second in a series of six posts covering the six figures of the Mid Lothians.  The first figure, background information, and sources are discussed in the previous post.

The second figure of the Mid Lothians is set to a highly simplified arrangement of the "Lassie wi'the Lint-White Locks", a tune actually called "Rothiemurchies Rant" but so strongly associated with the Robert Burns poem from 1794 that Evans seems to have adopted the poem's title for the tune.  It is also known today as "The Graf Spee".  The tune is traditionally used for a Scottish Country Dance and can be heard on numerous recordings.  Some interesting background may be found at The Mudcat Café. 

Evans' version is in a different key and consists almost entirely of relatively sedate eighth notes, unlike the dotted strathspey rhythm of the original, which is given below the quadrille arrangement for comparison.

Evans trims the four strains of the original tune to three strains (ABC) of eight bars each, with the third strain being a repeat of the first with a slight variation in the last bar.  The figure is repeated four times.  Instructions on the music indicate the that the (thirty-two-bar) figure begins on the A strain, which also has repeat markings. so a repeat structure of A (ABACx4) or possibly A (AABCx4) seems indicated, which leaves the figures concluding on the same music (since C = A) as they began, as is typical for a quadrille figure.  Either way, the A strain ends up getting repeated three times in succession multiple times.  A (ABBCx4) would also be a possibility, albeit a somewhat odd one for a quadrille, and somewhat reduces the repetiiveness.  If not for the figure instructions on the music, I'd be inclined to go with A (BABCx4) just for a bit more variety.

The Mid Lothians (1820s Quadrilles), Figure 1

The Mid Lothians, A new Set of Quadrilles, was a set of traditional Scottish tunes selected by J. S. Pollock, "Professor of Dancing / late of Paris /", with the tunes arranged by R. W. Evans and new quadrille figures (given in French and English) choreographed by Pollock.  The undated music was published in London in the early 1820s (Google Books dates it to 1821), and the figures additionally appear in Pollock's La Terpsichore Moderne, Ninth Edition (London, c1824) and in Henry Whale's Hommage à Taglioni, A Fashionable Quadrille Preceptor and Ballroom Companion (Philadelphia, 1836).  The English-language instructions in all three sources are extremely consistent, though there are a few discrepancies between the French and English versions given on the sheet music. 

The set is cannily dedicated to Lady Gwydir, more familiar to students of upper-crust Regency society as one of the famous Patronesses of Almacks under her former name, Mrs. Drummond-Burrell.  Born in 1786, Lady Sarah Clementina Drummond, heiress of Lord Perth, married Peter Burrell in 1807, whereupon they both hyphenated their names to Drummond-Burrell to preserve the prestigious Drummond name.  In 1820, the couple succeeded Peter's parents to double honors as Baron and Baroness Gwydir (or Gwydyr) and Baron and Baroness Willoughby de Eresby.

The Mid Lothians refers to the area of Scotland around Edinburgh.  The title of the set and the use of well-known Scottish tunes may be an attempt to play off the success of Sir Walter Scott's popular 1818 novel, The Heart of Midlothian, or simply a reflection of the popularity of all things Scottish at the time.  Some of the tunes used are versions of those famously used by Robert Burns for his poems in the late eighteenth century.

Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: Le Rêve

Continuing to work my way through late nineteenth-century jig-time (6/8-time) dances, here's one attributed to New York dancing master C. H. Rivers (left) but found not in Rivers' own dance manual, but in the "Miscellaneous Dances" section at the back of M. B. Gilbert's 1890 tome, Round Dancing, as well as in American expatriate Washington Lopp's 1903 French translation and expansion of Gilbert, La Danse. 

"Le rêve" is French for "dream."  Gilbert leaves off the circumflex for "Le Reve", but Lopp, as would be expected for someone writing in French, includes it.  I have no information about the source of the name.  Possibly it was named after a particular piece of music, or the name might simply be a romantic fancy.  Gilbert states that dance was adopted by the American Society of professors of Dancing, New York, on September 4th, 1889, which dating explains its absence from Rivers' own work, published in Brooklyn around 1885.

June 2012 Gig Calendar

June and July are my relatively quiet months this year, at least for public events, though I'm still adding things to my calender.  Here's the current status, with more TBA:

Sunday, June 3rd ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Sunday, June 3rd ~ New York City
Ragtime Hesitation Waltz Workshop
4:00-5:00pm

Sunday, June 3rd ~ New York City
Cross-Step Waltz Alternate Rhythms (2/4 & 5/4) Workshop
4:00-5:00pm

Tuesday, June 5th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Sunday, June 17th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Yale Swing & Blues Sunday Night Practicum (Harkness Lounge, Yale School of Medicine)
8:00-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second st 9:30-11:00.

Tuesday, June 26th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set.

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I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and occasionally in New York City and Boston.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: generally available
Boston: June 27-30th

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Late Victorian Waltz Variations: Fascination

Fascination is another of the myriad minor waltz variations given by dancing master M. B. Gilbert, in his Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), who includes the dance "by permission of D. B. Brenneke", presumably the creator.  It is essentially a longer and slightly more complex elaboration on the Gavotte Glide.

Gilbert's description reads:

First Part:--Slide left foot to side (2d), 1, 2; draw right to left, placing weight on right, 3; one measure. Repeat one measure. Slide left to side, 1, 2; draw right to left and slide left to side (chassé), & 3; one measures. Draw right to left and slide left to side, & 1, 3; draw right to left, placing weight on right. 3; one measure.

Second Part:--Waltz four measures. Recommence at first part.

Counterpart for lady.

The dancers are in standard waltz position, the gentleman facing the wall.  The lady dances the same moves on opposite feet.

The reconstruction is not particularly difficult; two slow slides along the line of dance, followed by a faster sequence of slides, followed by waltzing.  The gentleman's steps are given below the lady dances on opposite feet.

First Part (four bars)
1,2       Slide left foot sideways (second position) along line of dance
3          Close right to left
1,2       Slide left foot sideways along line of dance
3          Close right to left

1,2       Slide left foot sideways along line of dance
&3       Close right to left (&), sliding left sideways (3)
&1,2    Close right to left (&), sliding left sideways (1,2)
3          Close right to left, turning a quarter clockwise to place gentleman's back to line of dance

Second Part (four bars)
Waltz two complete turns, underturning at end to leave gentleman facing the wall.

 

The waltz would be the lively, leaping waltz described in Gilbert, rather than the earlier style common in the mid-nineteenth century.

[George] Washington Lopp, whose La Danse (Paris, 1903) translates much of Gilbert into French, with some additional material added, gives a virtually identical description of the dance, helpfully adding a metronome count of 184, the same count he assigns the regular waltz of the era.  Lopp calls this waltz the Boston (and describes the second part of the Fascination as four measures of Boston), but the description is that of Gilbert's Glide Waltz: the same waltz pattern done entirely gliding rather than with the leaps and cuts of Gilbert's waltz.  This difference is common across Lopp's descriptions of Gilbert's variations.  I would interpret it to mean that in Paris in the early 20th century, the common method of waltzing was to glide rather than leap, and that the Fascination was performed differently than it had been in America in the late 1880s.

La Russe

I picked La Russe out some time ago while looking for easy late nineteenth century waltz-time variations.  The name means "the Russian woman", and I recently had the pleasure of teaching it in Moscow to a very talented group of Russian dancers.

No specific choreographer is known for La Russe, but we can date it with unusual precision to just over 130 years ago.  Dancing master M. B. Gilbert, in his Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), noted that it was "introduced by the American Society of Professors of Dancing, New York, May 1st, 1882," and it turns up in a couple of other American dance manuals of the 1880s.  All the descriptions are quite consistent, though the terminology used varies.

Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Bronco

Like the Rockaway, the Bronco is another dance listed under the "Miscellaneous" category in M.B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) as suitable for either jig time (6/8) or galop time (2/4). 

Please see my earlier post on the Rockaway for a discussion of jig and galop rhythms and a sample of jig music.

Original description

Leap backward from the right to left foot, 1; leap backward upon the right foot, 2; leap backward upon the left, 3; pass right to side and immediately draw left to right (à la Newport), & 4; pass right to side and draw left to right, & 5; leap forward upon the right, 6; pass left to side and draw right to left, & 7; pass left to side and draw right to left, & 8; four measures.  Repeat, commencing as at first. The second time the right foot may move backward at the sixth count, making the turn to the left.  Counterpart for lady.
        ---  Gilbert, Round Dancing, p.165

Reconstruction (8 measures of dance)
(steps for the gentleman; lady dances opposite)

1   2    leap back L, R
3&4    leap back-side-close L-R-L         (waltz-galop natural half-turn)
  &5    side-close R-L
6&7    leap forward-side-close R-L-R    (waltz-galop natural half-turn)
  &8    side-close L-R

Repeat from the beginning (4 measures).

This variation has a very similar construction as that of the Rockaway, with a pair of leaps followed by turning steps.  The "3&4&5" and "6&7&8" sections are each a waltz-galop with a second side-close added; the dancers make a complete turn every four measures.  All steps travel along the line of dance, with quarter turns before and after the first side steps, as described in my previous post on the waltz-galop.

One variation is given: the second time through, the leap on "6" may be backward, resulting in a reverse half-turn instead of a natural half-turn.  The pairs of leaps at the beginning are always done backward by the gentleman, make the dance easier for ladies wearing the elaborate bustles of the era.

I have no other English-language sources for the Bronco, but, like the Rockaway, it reappears in American expatriate dancing master [George] Washington Lopp's La Danse, published in Paris in 1903, under the category "Two Step et Three Step".  The description is a fairly close translation of Gilbert, but Lopp does not mention the variation of a reverse turn on the repeat.

Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Rockaway

I've recently been looking more closely at some of the "Miscellaneous Dances" found in the back of M. B. Gilbert's 1890 tome, Round Dancing, and noticed that quite a few of the dances there are labeled specifically as for dancing to jig time (6/8) or for either jig or galop (2/4) time.  The Rockaway is one of those given as suited for either time signature.

The earliest source I have for this dance is a New York dance manual, and it seems likely that it was named for the Rockaway Peninsula, a part of Long Island which was a popular seaside resort area in the nineteenth century.  The description in Gilbert is considerably clearer and is the basis for this reconstruction.

May 2012 Gig Calendar

I started out May in the wonderful city of Moscow, teaching nineteenth century dance at Anno Domini, and have a burst of events in the first half of the month before things quiet down substantially.  I may add a few more events later this month, but for now, here's the calendar:

Sunday, May 6th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Sunday, May 6th ~ New York City
Regency Waltz Workshop
4:00-5:00pm

Sunday, May 6th ~ New York City
Cross-Step Waltz "Mixmaster" Workshop
4:00-5:00pm

Tuesday, May 8th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, May 12th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Sailing Masters Regency Ball
Formal costumed ball of the early 19th century.

Tuesday, May 22nd ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set. 

Friday, May 25th - Sunday, May 27th ~ Baltimore, Maryland
Private event

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I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and occasionally in New York City and Boston.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut -- generally available
New York & Boston -- by appointment only

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Coming in June
Open beginner-level dance lessons in New Haven
Regular monthly waltz & Regency-era lessons in New York City
Regency dancing in Connecticut
...and more!

April 2012 Gig Calendar

April is a relatively quiet month as I prepare for my trip to Russia at the end of it, but I have a few things going on, with four consecutive trips to Massachusetts!

Here's a quick list with links for more information:

Sunday, April 1st ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Sunday, April 1st ~ New York City
Blues Waltz Workshops
4:00-6:00pm

Tuesday, April 3rd ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Tuesday, April 10th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues for the second set. 

Saturday, April 14th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Spring Waltz Party
Beginner lesson 7:00-8:00pm, DJ'ed music 8:00-10:30pm

Tuesday, April 17th ~ Boston area
Private lecture 

Friday & Saturday, April 20th & 21st ~ Mansfield, Massachusetts (Boston area)
New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)
Friday, 10:45-11:30pm:  Intermediate Cross-Step Waltz
Saturday, 11:00-11:50am:  Polkamania!

Saturday-Tuesday, April 28th through May 1st ~ Moscow, Russia
Anno Domini
Nineteenth century dance workshops 

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I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and occasionally in New York City and Boston.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut -- generally available
Boston -- April 10, 11, 14, 15, 18

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Coming in May
The Sailing Masters Regency Ball in Essex, Connecticut on May 12th
Regular monthly waltz & Regency-era lessons in New York City
Regency dancing in Connecticut
...and more!

Victorian Fancy Dress Ball Advance Registration Reminder!

A quick reminder that the deadline for advance registration for the Fancy Dress Ball is quickly approaching!  Registration must be received (mail or online via Paypal) by March 17th for the advance rate!

The full event announcement follows below:

On Saturday, March 24th, in New Haven, Connecticut, there will be held a fancy dress ball in the style of the 1880s, featuring live music, Victorian dancing, refreshments made from historical recipes, and a chance to bring fancy dress costumes to life!

The ball will be held from 8:00 to 11:30pm at beautiful Pratt Hall, less than a block from the New Haven Green and only a few blocks from the historic Yale University campus.  The dancing will be precepted by dance historian and teacher Susan de Guardiola with live music by the noted dance trio Spare Parts, heard recently on the soundtrack of the film Bright Star.  The dances will be a typical Victorian mix of couple dances (waltz, polka, schottische, galop) and set dances (contras, quadrilles).  All set dances will be taught during the evening, and there will be a workshop from 2:00 to 5:00pm the afternoon of the ball to help people wanting to learn the couple dances.

Fancy dress (masquerade-type costume, not just dressing up) based on the styles of the 1880s is strongly encouraged.  Note that this includes styles of any previous era (Civil War, Regency, Colonial, Medieval, Renaissance, etc.)  Kickery's sister blog Historical Fancy Dress is intended as a resource for costume ideas; a good starting point is the article "Fast and Easy Fancy Dress Ideas".  The evening will include a procession of costumes.  Since this is a fancy dress ball rather than a masquerade, masks are not necessary.  To preserve the beautiful floor, please make sure to have clean dance shoes or indoor-only shoes to change into at the hall so as not to track dirt or grit into the ballroom.

The ball is strictly limited to 80 people due to the size of the hall.  Advance registration ($30 per person, or $20 for ages 13-21) is recommended.  At-the-door prices are $10 higher and admission will be available only if space permits.  Younger children may attend with their parents, and are expected to be strictly supervised throughout and withdrawn from the ballroom if they become too tired/fussy to display polite behavior.

Please see the Victorian Fancy Dress Ball website to register (mail or Paypal) or for further details of the event.

 

March 2012 Gig Calendar

I have a wide variety of gigs this month; everything from Regency dancing to hoopdance, plus another fabulous Victorian Ball, this time an 1880s-style Fancy Dress event!

I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and occasionally in New York City and elsewhere.

Here's a quick list with links for more information:

Sunday, March 4th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Sunday, March 4th ~ New York City
Victorian & Cross-Step Waltz Workshops
4:00-5:00pm Late Victorian Waltz
5:00-6:00pm Cross-Step Waltz: Cross-Hand/Shadow Variations

Tuesday, March 6th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, March 10th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Hoop Trance Dance
Beginner lesson 7:30-8:00pm, DJ'ed music for freestyle hooping 8:00-9:30pm.   

Sunday, March 11th ~ Providence, Rhode Island
Mostly Waltz Rhode Island
Workshops in rotary & cross-step waltz, then DJ'ed music for dancing. 2:00-5:15pm 

Tuesday, March 20th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
1970s Disco Line Dancing
Beginner-friendly dancing 8:15-9:30pm.

Saturday, March 24th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
The Victorian Fancy Dress Ball
Ball 8:00-11:30; afternoon workshop 2:00-4:30

Friday, March 30th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Elm City Waltz
DJ'ed waltz evening 8:30-11:30pm with beginner lesson 7:45-8:30pm.

Private lessons (email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson)
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut -- generally available
New York City -- Saturday, March 31st

Coming in April
Back to Russia at the end of the month to teach 19th century dance in Moscow!
Cross-step waltz & polka classes at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)
Regular monthly waltz & Regency-era lessons in New York City
Regency dancing in Connecticut

Victorian Fancy Dress Ball, New Haven, Connecticut (Saturday, March 24, 2012)

On Saturday, March 24th, in New Haven, Connecticut, there will be held a fancy dress ball in the style of the 1880s, featuring live music, Victorian dancing, refreshments made from historical recipes, and a chance to bring fancy dress costumes to life!

The ball will be held from 8:00 to 11:30pm at beautiful Pratt Hall, less than a block from the New Haven Green and only a few blocks from the historic Yale University campus.  The dancing will be precepted by dance historian and teacher Susan de Guardiola with live music by the noted dance trio Spare Parts, heard recently on the soundtrack of the film Bright Star.  The dances will be a typical Victorian mix of couple dances (waltz, polka, schottische, galop) and set dances (contras, quadrilles).  All set dances will be taught during the evening, and there will be a workshop from 2:00 to 5:00pm the afternoon of the ball to help people wanting to learn the couple dances.

Fancy dress (masquerade-type costume, not just dressing up) based on the styles of the 1880s is strongly encouraged.  Note that this includes styles of any previous era (Civil War, Regency, Colonial, Medieval, Renaissance, etc.)  Kickery's sister blog Historical Fancy Dress is intended as a resource for costume ideas; a good starting point is the article "Fast and Easy Fancy Dress Ideas".  The evening will include a procession of costumes.  Since this is a fancy dress ball rather than a masquerade, masks are not necessary.  To preserve the beautiful floor, please make sure to have clean dance shoes or indoor-only shoes to change into at the hall so as not to track dirt or grit into the ballroom.

The ball is strictly limited to 80 people due to the size of the hall.  Advance registration ($30 per person, or $20 for ages 13-21) is recommended.  At-the-door prices are $10 higher and admission will be available only if space permits.  Younger children may attend with their parents, and are expected to be strictly supervised throughout and withdrawn from the ballroom if they become too tired/fussy to display polite behavior.

For those attending from out of town, a block of rooms has been reserved at the nearby New Haven Hotel, only a few blocks from the ball site across the historic New Haven Green.  Reservations must be made by March 7th to guarantee the discount rate.  Details may be found on the event website.

Please see the Victorian Fancy Dress Ball website to register (mail or Paypal) or for further details of the event.

Renoir's "Dance" paintings at the Frick

A quick note to let people in the New York City area know about a new exhibition at the Frick Collection:

Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting
February 7 through May 13, 2012

Among the Renoir paintings on view are all three of his full-length "Dance" paintings: Dance in the City and Dance in the Country (1882–83) from the Musée d'Orsay, Paris and Dance at Bougival (1882–83) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Along with recommending the exhibit just because it's a chance to see a group of Renoirs that are not generally on view in New York, or in such a concentrated group, I have a personal interest: I did a consultation with one of the curators there on late nineteenth-century dance and how knowledge of it affects how one sees the paintings.  This won't turn up in the exhibit, alas, but I'm assured it'll all be kept on file at the Frick for curatorial reference there.

Full details are at the exhibit page on the Frick website.

February 2012 Gig Calendar

Most of my major gigs are concentrated the first and last weekend of February, but I have a few Connecticut ones in between!

I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and in New York City and the Boston area on specific dates.

Here's a quick list with links for more information:

Saturday, February 4th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
The Soldiers & Sweethearts Valentine's Ball
Ball 8:00-11:00; afternoon workshop 2:00-4:30

Sunday, February 5th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop
Beginner-friendly lesson 2:00-4:00pm

Sunday, February 5th ~ New York City
Cross-Step Waltz Workshops
4:00-5:00pm Cross-Step/Ballroom Fusion; 5:00-6:00pm Double Dutch Fusion Moves

Monday, February 6th - Monday, February 20th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Cross-Step Waltz Lesson Series (continued from January)
5:30-7:00pm.  Four-week lesson series focusing on core moves & variations for cross-step waltz

Tuesday, February 7th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Tuesday, February 14th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
1970s Disco Line Dancing
Beginner-friendly dancing 8:15-9:30pm.

Friday, February 24th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Elm City Waltz
DJ'ed waltz evening 8:30-11:30pm with beginner lesson 7:45-8:30pm.

Saturday, February 25th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston)
Midwinter Waltz Evening
DJ'ed waltz evening 8:30-11:30pm with beginner lesson 7:45-8:30pm.

Sunday, February 26th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Yale Swing & Blues Practicum
DJ'ing the blues half of the weekly practicum, 9:30-11:00pm.

Private lessons (email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson)
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut -- generally available
Boston -- February 17th-19th, 25th

Coming in March
The Victorian Fancy Dress Ball on March 24th
A waltz workshop in Providence, Rhode Island on March 11th 
Regular monthly waltz & Regency-era lessons in New York City
Regency, waltz, & disco dancing in Connecticut

 

Hand Jive Style: Clapping it out

A quick postscript to last week's post about the hand jive performed on the Johnny Otis Show in the late 1950s:

Towards the end of the song, there are three clapping sequences that can be used for an extremely low-key hand jive.  These can be seen in the video embedded in the earlier post.  Here are descriptions of each:

(1) Johnny himself!  At one point he stops playing the piano and simply sits there clapping to the music, accenting the even beats:

one CLAP three CLAP five CLAP seven CLAP

He briefly transitions to a finger-snap instead of a clap, keeping the same rhythm.

(2) One of the McKinley sisters (sadly, I don't know which is which, but the one at the back), gets a slightly more complex rhythm going on beat 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7:

CLAP two CLAP CLAP five CLAP CLAP eight

(3) The other McKinley sister and leader Marie Adams have an even more interesting beat going, with pairs of fast claps on "2&" and "6&" in a 1-2&3-4-5-6&7-8 count:

one CLAPCLAP three CLAP five CLAPCLAP seven CLAP

This one can be a little bit tricky to get.  It matches the first four beats of the music very well but there's a slightly different syncopation on the second four beats, so it feels odd at first until one gets used to clapping with a different accent.

The second and third sequences are done simultaneously on the show to very nice effect.  It would be interesting to split a group in thirds and have all three going at once.

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Previous hand jive posts:
Hand Jive Basics (includes the Grease sequence)
Hand Jive Style: Three Tons of Joy (includes the video from which these clapping sequences were taken)