Capering & Kickery

Victorian Dancing with Steampunk Style (Baltimore, January 23, 2010)

A word to any Maryland-or-vicinity readers who might be willing to experiment a little with some alternate history:

I'm going to be precepting a Victorian Steampunk Ball in Baltimore this Saturday, January 23rd, 2010, as a fundraiser for research against Multiple Sclerosis.  Dancing will be creatively Victorian in style, to a mix of Victorian and modern music.  That means a mix of called set dances (contras and quadrilles) and couple dances (waltzes, polkas, schottisches).  The event will be beginner-friendly, with the set dances (1) easy and (2) taught.

For more information:

Team Greykell's blog.

Any help spreading the word would be appreciated -- this is a good cause! -- and I'd love to meet any Kickery readers who might be attending!

An 1830s Galop Pattern

• Era: 1830s England

This new and fashionable dance, which it appears is of Russian origin, was first introduced into this country at His Majesty's ball, St. James Palace, on the 11th June, 1829, when the Princess Esterhazy, the Earl of Clanwilliam, the Duke of Devonshire, and some of the foreign ministers exerted themselves in teachings its novel movements to the company, and was danced alternately with Quadrilles and Waltzing during the whole of the evening.
     -- J.S. Pollock, Companion to La Terpsichore Moderne (2nd ed), London, c1830

In an earlier post, I described the basic galop of the mid- to late 19th century as a series of slides and "chasing" steps with half-turns interspersed, commonly found in the pattern of four-slide galops, performed as follows:

2b    Slide-close-slide-close-slide-close-slide (half-turn) (count: 1 & 2 & 3 & turn)
2b    Slide-close-slide-close-slide-close-slide (half-turn) (count: 1 & 2 & 3 & turn)

All slides are performed along the line of dance.  The default turning direction is clockwise, though counter-clockwise turns are also possible.  The first set are performed with the first foot (gentleman's left, lady's right) with the second foot then closing behind in order to again slide with the first foot.  The second series is then performed by sliding with the second foot and closing with the first.  The galop sequences may also be extended to four bars per set, i.e. "eight-slide" galops. 

This description is consistent with most galop sources from the mid-century onward.  But oddly enough, that's not how it's described in the source from which the quotation above was drawn. 

Tea and more tea! (Massachusetts, December 13 & 20, 2009)

Update 12/20/09: This Cambrdige Mostly Victorian Tea Dance is canceled due to severe weather conditions!  Sorry!

I don't actually drink tea, but this month I'm doing two afternoon tea dances in Massachusetts on consecutive Sundays.

On Sunday, December 13th, I will be leading a just-pre-Regency-era tea dance in Rehoboth (closer to Providence than Boston) in honor of Jane Austen's birthday.  (That's actually the 16th, but the 13th is as close as we can get.)  The dancing will primarily be country dances, but we'll also do the Boulanger (as mentioned in Pride and Prejudice and some of Austen's correspondence);  the nine-person reel known as the Bumpkin; and a cotillion (slightly shortened) from the 1770s.  We might even get a bit radical and do some of that scandalous waltz that came in at the very end of her lifetime!  Dances will be taught and steps briefly gone through but not dwelled heavily upon.  (More information about dance in Jane Austen's lifetime may be found in my earlier post on this topic.)

The suggested donation is $6.  Music will be recorded, primarily from the lovely Regency Ballroom CD by Spare Parts.  Light refreshments will be provided.  Period costume of the early 19th century is admired but not required.

For more information, please see the event website, download the flier (pdf), or contact Liefe Wheeler.

And then on December 20th, I'll be up in Cambridge as part of Michael Bergman and CVD's Mostly Victorian Tea Dance series.  This event will be a mix of couple dances and set dances (contras, quadrilles) of the  mid- to late 19th century and a mix of instruction and social dancing.  Instruction will probably focus on the schottische and polka.  There will be a mix of recorded music for teaching and live music for social dancing.

Admission is $9, or $5 for students.  Light refreshments will be served.  Note this is in a different location from previous years' tea dance series -- see the directions on the website.  Period Victorian costume is admired but not required.

More information, please see the tea dance website or contact Michael Bergman.

1830s Gallopade & 17th-Century English Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, December 6, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, December 6th.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will cover English gallopades of the 1830s, including the Royal Gallopade described here.  This will be a lively class, with gallopades combining quadrille figures done with steps similar to those of the Regency era and whole-set gallops up and down the room.  Depending on available time and numbers, we will also dance the lively reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin, which isn't a gallopade but is still lots of fun.  (This class replaces the usual monthly Regency class, as traditionally for the two classes after the Assembly we enjoy a change of pace by sliding a few years into the future to enjoy the dances of the post-Regency but pre-Victorian era.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will focus on English dance of the 17th century, mixing a selection of the processional dances known as almans with some of the rounds, squares, and early longways country dances drawn from the earliest editions of John Playford's The (English) Dancing Master.  These dances are low-key and non-bouncy.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed and no partner is required, though gender balance is not guaranteed.  Clean, leather-soled flat shoes are recommended for both classes.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The 1830s gallopade class costs $18, or $12 for people attending a 1:00 class for the first time; the seventeenth century English dance class costs $15.  Pay at the class.

Valencia!

"Valencia (A Song of Spain)" was a popular tune by José Padilla, apparently imported from Paris to England and thence to America in 1926.  Accompanying the American sheet music was a brief set of dance instructions which could be done to "Valencia" or any other foxtrot.

Interspersed with walking steps are four specific moves:

(1) The Balance: step forward on one foot then back onto the other (count 1, 2)

(2) The Strike: step, usually to the side, with one foot, then strike the other foot lightly against it (count 1, 2)

(3) The Catch: a two-step; step-close-step (count 1&2).

(4) The Round: a rond de jambe; this is described as pointing the left toe and describing a small, fast circle.  The instructions suggest that it moves clockwise ("point toe of left foot to left side...start to rear") but the illustration of the move, shown at left, contradicts this, the arrows clearly showing counter-clockwise circles, which also work much more smoothly with the flow of the dance; the Round is invariably followed by a step forward on the left foot.  This move is very fast and takes some practice for two people to perform smoothly in unison, with their feet equidistant throughout.

These moves are combined into four short routines, which may be mixed and matched at will:

Arbeau's Tourdion

Arbeau speaks relatively briefly about the tourdion (often anglicized to "tordion"), the dance that followed the basse danse as the galliard follows the pavane, in his 1589 work Orchésographie.  But he does give two variations, which I am covering for the sake of completeness.  For details of the rhythm of the tourdion, please see the first post in my galliard series.  Music for the tourdion is played more quickly than that of the galliard and the steps, as a result, are performed closer to the ground and less vigorously:

...the said movement must be performed barely off the ground and gently as a damsel might do it; it is thus the steps and movements are made in dancing the tordion.

There is a textual hint that partners stay together in the tourdion, rather than separating and performing fancy solo steps as in the galliard:

Because in dancing the tordion, one always holds the damsel by the hand and he who dances it boisterously causes needless discomfort and jolting to said damsel.

Along with the older low/high pairing of basse danse/tourdion having gone out of fashion by the time of his writing in favor of the pavane/galliard, this implication of continuous contact might account for the limited repertoire of variations.  There is only so much one can comfortably vary one's steps while attached to a partner.

(The quotes above are from Mary Stewart Evans' English translation of Arbeau.)

The Royal Gallopade

The Royal Gallopade is an interesting mix of popular 1830s dances, with elements borrowed from country dances, galopades, and quadrilles, plus a concluding sauteuse waltz.  My only source for it is the Companion to La Terpsichore Moderne (Second Edition) by J. S. Pollock, London.  It is undated, but the mix of dances and a textual reference to an 1829 event suggests the early 1830s.  Pollock claims that gallopades "appear" to be of Russian origin.  Among those he credits with their introduction is the sixth Duke of Devonshire, who was a close friend of both the Prince Regent (later George IV) and Czar Nicholas I and had traveled to the Russian court.

Pollock depicts the original gallopade as a choreographed sequence dance for a circle of couples with gallop interspersed with short dance figures and gives not only this original but gallopades in country dance and quadrille form.  Fittingly, the Royal Gallopade is given a separate section of its own between the quadrille and country dance gallopades.

My photocopy of the Pollock book is at least third-generation and extremely blurry, but as best I can make it out (I make no guarantees on the punctuation) the description of the dance sequence is as follows:

Gallopade (as described in the original Gallopade) straight forward to the top of the room the lady crossing the gent at the end of each four bars; on arriving at the top, the first couple in one set, faces the first couple of the other set; the second couples faces the second, and so on to the bottom of the dance, then each four perform the figure of Le Pantalon -- the whole of the party then face the bottom of the room, and gallopade as before -- then perform La Poule -- gallopade to the top of the room, and finish with the sauteuse round the room.

While given as a social dance, this makes a spectacular performance piece as well.

What Did Jane Austen Dance?

Since early 19th century ("Regency") dance is one of my particular specialties, I get many questions that boil down to either "what did Jane Austen dance?" or "did Jane Austen dance _____?"  So let's see what I can do for a general answer. 

I can divide things loosely into three categories: what we know she danced, what she might have danced, and what she didn't dance.

1830s Spanish Quadrilles & Schottische Evolution Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, November 1, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, November 1st.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will cover Spanish quadrilles of the 1830s, including the Primera Tanda (the Spanish version of the First Set of French quadrilles), which has some intriguing figure variations, as well as assorted figures from other quadrilles.  These quadrilles are done with steps similar to those of the Regency era. Depending on available time and numbers, we will also dance the lively reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin, which isn't Spanish but is still lots of fun.  (This class replaces the usual monthly Regency class, as traditionally for the two classes after the Assembly we enjoy a change of pace by sliding a few years into the future to enjoy the dances of the post-Regency but pre-Victorian era.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will cover the variations and vagaries of the schottische as it evolved over time, starting with the earliest schottische variations recorded in the 1850s through the 1870s, moving into later developments in the dance through the end of the nineteenth century, and concluding with the gliding ragtime schottisches of the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed and no partner is required, though gender balance is not guaranteed.  Clean, leather-soled flat shoes are recommended for both classes.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Spanish quadrilles class costs $18, or $12 for people attending a 1:00 class for the first time; the schottische evolution class costs $15.  Pay at the class.

Rock 'n' Cha

Ever so often I come across the oddest little novelties.  The Rock'n'Cha is a conga-line type dance which was discussed in the January, 1958 issue of Dance Magazine.  The cha-cha was first introduced in the 1950s, and it seems to have spawned some weird group variants (Cha-Cha Choo-Choo Caboose, anyone?)  The notes for this dance were sent to the magazine by Chicago resident Louise Ege, who attributed them to Grace Hansen, Dance Coordinator and Professional Consultant for the Chicago YMCA and head of the ballroom committee of the Chicago National Associate of Dance Masters.  Mrs. Ege claimed that Chicago teens loved the dance, with it even having "replaced the Bunny Hop in their affections."  I'm not sure what this says about either the taste of Chicago teens in early 1958 or the accuracy of Mrs. Ege's observations of contemporary teen culture.

The formation is a single line, hand on shoulder of the person in front.  Everyone starts on the same foot and does the same moves.  There are three sections to the dance: the Rock, the Penguin (!), and the Break-Away Turn, danced in a sequence of Rock-Rock-Penguin-Turn.  The names of the Rock and Turn sequences are self-explanatory.  The Penguin refers to the movement of that section being "like a penguin, jiggling and teetering from side to side."  I usually find it best not to think too hard about this sort of simile in a dance choreography.

Regency Assembly ~ New Haven, CT (October 17-18, 2009)

This weekend I will be leading workshops and precepting a formal ball at the Elegant Arts Society's Seventh Annual Regency Assembly in New Haven, Connecticut.  This event features the dances of the first quarter of the nineteenth century (1800-1825), the era of Jane Austen, Lord Byron, and the Napoleonic Wars.  There will be country dances done in period style, quadrilles, waltzes (including the bouncy sauteuse waltz), and reels, including the lively nine-person Country Bumpkin.  Once again, Spare Parts will play for the evening event.  Refreshments custom-baked from period recipes will be served at the ball intermissions.  The workshop runs from 2:00-4:30, the ball from 7:30-11:00.  Attendance at the workshop is encouraged because the more people who arrive at the ball already familiar with the particular country dance and quadrille figures, the more smoothly the evening will run.  This is part of a larger event with Sunday activities scheduled as well.

Arbeau's Galliard Sequences, Part 2: Extended Step Sequences

This is the second in a series of five posts covering the different galliard sequences given in the 1589 work Orchésographie (available in English translation as Orchesography).  The first post in the series (here) covered the basic rhythm and steps of the galliard plus six sequences in the basic cinq pas pattern.  This post covers the four double-length sequences Arbeau describes along with his principles for creating other eleven-step or longer variations.

Eleven-step sequences
Just as the basic cinq pas (five step) rhythm takes six beats of music and includes four movements plus a two-count cadence (jump and land), the double-length eleven-step sequences take twelve beats of music: ten movements plus a cadence.  A full variation to the left and right will thus take four bars of 6/4 music (or eight of 3/4, depending on your barring method.)

Arbeau's general principle for forming an eleven-step sequence is to replace the first cadence with two other movements or with a fleuret, a series of three rapid kicks about which more will be said in a later post in this series.  One could thus construct a simple eleven-step sequence by simply doing eleven kicks and a cadence.  But Arbeau helpfully provides four eleven-step sequences for those who do not wish to compose their own.  He notes that these sequences are particularly appropriate to the end of a dance and also recommends turning twice around during each set of eleven movements, reversing direction on the repeat.

To form sequences longer than eleven steps (seventeen, twenty-three, or more), one can follow the same principle of replacing two or three mid-sequence cadences with pairs of steps or fleurets.  I don't find it very satisfying musically to ignore so many cadences, however, and Arbeau didn't bother giving any suggested sequences longer than eleven steps.

Cape May Vintage Dance Weekend (October 10-11, 2009)

Here are some details about this weekend's dance events in Cape May, New Jersey, where I will be teaching workshops and leading a ball and tea dance with the accomplished musicians of Spare Parts.

Saturday afternoon dance workshops
Registration 9:00-9:30am; workshops 9:30am-3:00pm with a lunch break.  The location is the Franklin Street School Gym, on Franklin Street between Washington and Lafayette.  In the morning, I plan to cover Victorian dances for the evening ball, including the Polo Quadrille.  In the afternoon, I will look at 1910s couple dances for Sunday's tea dance.  I expect to teach at the beginner level, but this is subject to change depending the dancers attending.

Saturday night Victorian Ball (with Spare Parts)
8:00-11:00pm.  Location is the Cape May Elementary School Gym, 921 Lafayette Street.  The dance program will commence with a Grand March and include waltzes, polkas, schottisches, a galop, and set dances including the Polo Quadrille and the Spanish Dance.  I'll have some CDs of the Polo music as recorded by Spare Parts available for sale.

Sunday afternoon Ragtime Tea Dance (with Spare Parts)
1:00-3:00pm.  Location is the Corinthian Yacht Cub of Cape May on Delaware Avenue.  The 1910s dance program will include the one-step, foxtrot, tango, two-step, blues, waltz, and the delightful finger-snapping Lulu Fado.

You can pre-register online for the weekend here.  Prices are: $95 for the full weekend; $35 for Saturday night's Victorian Ball; $25 for Sunday's ragtime tea dance; $45 for the Saturday dance workshops.

All of these events are part of Victorian Week, which takes place all over Cape May (a stunning Victorian resort town); more information about the other events may be found at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts website.

If you're a Kickery reader, please say hello to me after the workshops or during a break.

Arbeau's Galliard Sequences, Part 1: Basic Cinq Pas Rhythm

This is the first in a series of five posts covering the different galliard sequences given in the 1589 work  Orchésographie (available in English translation as Orchesography).  The pseudonymous Thoinot Arbeau's book gives seventeen different galliard sequences, with some of them having subvariations as well.  I've broken them down into rhythm groups for the sake of simplicity and post-length, so this post includes only six sequences, with the others to follow later.

Galliard rhythm
The basic cinq pas (five step) rhythm takes six beats of music, but it is not simply six even counts.  The cinq pas consists of four motions on the first four beats followed by a leap into the air just after the fifth beat and a landing on the sixth beat.  Arbeau calls this combination of jump-and-land a cadence (Fr. cadance).  He suggests staggering the landing slightly so that the back foot lands first, rather than thumping down squarely on both feet at once.  The music supports this; the rhythm tends to be "DAH dah dah DAAAH...di-dah" and could be counted "ONE-two-three-FOOOUR (jump) and SIX."  It's hard to tabulate the precise timing of the jump; in the variations below it will simply be given on the fifth count.

Arbeau gives six sequences (one with two variations) for this basic rhythm.  He does not lean towards colorful names, unfortunately; they are labeled things like "another cinq pas."  Each is led once with the left foot and once with the right foot for a total of two bars of 6/4 time (or four bars of 3/4 time, depending on how your galliard is barred). 

Regency & Renaissance Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, October 4, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, October 4th.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), specifically on reels, and waltzes, and country dances.  Depending on available time and numbers, we will also dance the amazing reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin.  This class is the final review before the Regency Assembly taking place on October 17-18 in New Haven, Connecticut.  (For information on the Assembly, please email EAS.)

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will drop all the way back to the 1500s and the line and circle dances known as branles as described by French cleric Thoinot Arbeau in his 1589 work, Orchésographie.  This will be a lively class of full of kicks and jumps and will cover ten to twelve easy dances done to wonderful 16th-century dance tunes.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed and no partner is required, though gender balance is not guaranteed.  Clean, leather-soled flat shoes are recommended for both classes.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Renaissance class costs $15.  Pay at the class.

Ballroom Marsupials

The most popular "animal dances" of the early 1900s appear to have been the Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear.  But the F. Leslie Clendenen's compilation manual Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914) offers a pair of one-step variations attributed to London dance teacher Walter Humphrey, who apparently found inspiration in the hopping of Australian marsupials.  I've never found these variations in any other source, so it's not clear to me how widespread they ever were.  I would also have placed them a bit earlier, maybe 1908-1910, as by 1914 the animal dance fad was already well past and the smoother, more elegant style of Vernon and Irene Castle was making the one-step acceptable in respectable ballrooms.  It's possible that Mr. Humphrey and/or English dancers in general had not quite caught up with the latest American dance fads, or that Clendenen was not as fussy in compiling his book as its subtitle, "The Dances of the Day," suggests.

For both variations, the dancers both face line of dance.  It's not clear whether they should retain joined hands in front or open up fully.  I find the latter more graceful, but how much of a priority grace should be while hopping around a ballroom imitating a marsupial is debatable.  Those wishing to study wallaby technique in detail may consult this National Geographic video.

Steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.

Kangaroo Hop
1    Short step forward left
2    Long hop forward on left foot
3    Short step forward right
4    Long hop forward on right foot

Wallaby Jump
1    Step forward left
2    Hop forward on left foot
3    Hop forward on left foot
4    Hop forward on left foot
5-8: repeat step and three hops on right foot

In both variations, the dancers need to actually travel forward on the hops rather than just bouncing in place.

As William Hamrick noted drily in The Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Handbook, wallabies have a different understanding of rhythm than kangaroos.

Late Nineteenth-Century Variations for the Five-Step Waltz

• Era: 1880s & 1890s America

Back in May, I described one of two versions of the mid-nineteenth century Five-Step Waltz and promised a later continuation looking at some of the variations that appeared in the last decades of the century.  Mr. Saracco's version of the dance, discussed in that earlier post, continued to appear in later American dance manuals: Allen Dodworth (New York, 1885), William DeGarmo (New York, 1892), M.B. Gilbert (Maine, 1890), C.H. Rivers (Brooklyn, c1885), Judson Sause (Chicago, 1889), Cartier (New York, 1882), Cartier & Baron (New York, 1879), Lucien Carpenter (Philadelphia, 1882), and M.J. Koncen (St. Louis, 1883).  Most of these manuals are compilations and offer no new information, but Dodworth, Gilbert, and DeGarmo were actual dancing masters, and the three of them offer a few simple variations on the original five-step waltz that may be useful to those recreating the dances of the 1880s and 1890s.

Famous Last Words

On the lighter side of dance research...

There's plenty of silliness in historical dance manuals, ranging from mythological origins of dancing in general to apocryphal stories about the origins of particular dances.  But none of that makes me laugh quite so much as a couple of lines in Foulsham's Modern Dancing, by Maxwell Stewart, published in London around 1925 and ambitiously subtitled "A guide to everything the dancer old and young, skilled and unskilled, wants to know."  That was rather optimistic of Stewart; this particular dancer wishes he had included a lot more detail about some of the moves he described.  But the following has got to be one of the most risible lines I've ever found in a dance manual.

Regarding jazz music:

Now, this kind of music does not lend itself to dancing much besides the Fox Trot, the Two Step, etc., and it is, therefore, almost impossible to invent anything new which can be danced to jazz time.

With the advantage of hindsight, one can laugh oneself sick over Foulsham's hilarious failure to anticipate the coming of the Lindy hop and the whole related family of swing dances.  This is particularly ironic in a manual that does note and describe a few steps for the Charleston and has one of the earliest descriptions of the newly-developing Quickstep.

But even without the advantage of hindsight, betting against innovation is a fool's game, as the rapid changes in social dance -- and science, medicine, art, technology, music, etc. -- over the course of the 20th century demonstrate.  Everything changes, and the direction of a particular change can be unimaginable only a few short years before.  Social dance is no different.

Historical Dance Weekends ~ October 2009

Next month I'll be teaching at two historical dance events on back-to-back weekends with the wonderful musicians of Spare Parts.  The events range from the early 19th century all the way through the first decades of the 20th.

On October 10th & 11th, I will be in beautiful Victorian Cape May, New Jersey, for the Vintage Dance Weekend that is part of Victorian Week, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts.  I will be teaching some dance workshops on Saturday afternoon, followed by a formal 19th-century ball that evening featuring the classic 19th-century couple dances of the Civil War era and later (waltz, polka, schottische) as well as a few contras and the Polo Quadrille.  On Sunday afternoon, I will precept a Ragtime (1910s) era tea dance including the one-step, foxtrot, tango, and the delightful finger-snapping Lulu Fado.  Period costume is encouraged for Saturday's ball and Sunday's tea dance, but is not required.  Spare Parts will play Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  Full registration and logistical information may be found at the MAC website.

Then on October 17th, I will be in New Haven, Connecticut, teaching an afternoon workshop and precepting a formal ball at the Elegant Arts Society's Regency Assembly.  This event features the dances of the first quarter of the nineteenth century (1800-1825), the era of Jane Austen, Lord Byron, and the Napoleonic Wars.  There will be country dances done in period style, quadrilles, waltzes (including the bouncy sauteuse waltz), and reels, including the lively nine-person Country Bumpkin.  Once again, Spare Parts will play for the evening event.  This is part of a larger weekend including a park stroll and tea-and-games event on the Sunday.  The flier for the event can be downloaded: front, back, registration form.  You can also email for further information.  Not part of the weekend (but also fun) is an evening of couple dancing on the preceding Friday night, Elm City Waltz, where I will be DJ'ing a mix of historical and modern music.

It would be lovely to see Kickery readers there; please come and say hi when I'm not in the midst of ball-running!

Call for Papers: Early Dance at Kalamazoo (2010)

A call for papers for a dance-oriented session at the International Congress for Medieval Studies taking place next May in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Responses are needed pronto, as the paperwork has to be in to the Congress by the end of September.  The conference is huge and very exciting, with scholars in many disciplines from all over the world; I've presented there the last three years and hope to have a paper there this year as well.  They're looking for something a little beyond a simple dance reconstruction -- more on the process of reconstruction itself and the history of dance reconstruction and connections between dance history and other fields of study.

The call for papers:

Long Ago and Far Away: Intra-European perspectives on early modern dance.
Early Dance at Kalamazoo
45th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 13-16, 2010)

Early Dance at Kalamazoo is an organization formed to encourage further scholarship at Kalamazoo in the field of early dance and its relation to other disciplines, including literature, art history, musicology, theater, history, and textiles through the interdisciplinary pursuit, independently or in conjunction, of textual and performative research. We are particularly interested in forming links between scholars in the field of dance history and those in other disciplines, as each group is, to its detriment, often unaware of the significant work done by the other. We focus on different aspects of issues in dance reconstruction and the general subject area, bringing together scholars of dance, manuscript illumination, textiles, and church history.

This year's proposed session looks at cross-cultural aspects of and perspectives on early modern dance, its history, and textual background, such as the Renaissance French interpretation of dance in the Ottoman Empire. It is a segment of the field that is rarely studied or discussed and deserves greater attention in order to further understanding of greater cross-cultural currents in 15th and 16th century Europe.

We are seeking papers dealing with these themes for the session entitled "Long Ago and Far Away: Intra-European perspectives on early modern dance."  Abstracts are to be sent to earlydanceatkzoo@gmail.com before the end of September.

Regency & Renaissance Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, September 13, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, September 13th.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), specifically the French quadrilles which became popular in the mid-1810s.  We will dance and look at a step-sequences to use in the five figures of the First Set of French Quadrilles: Le Pantalon, L'Eté,  La Poule, La Trenise, and La Finale and figures one, two, four, and five of the Caledonians.  Depending on available time and numbers, we will also dance the amazing reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin.  This class is the final review of quadrilles before the Regency Assembly taking place on October 17-18 in New Haven, Connecticut.  (For information on the Assembly, please email EAS.)

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will drop all the way back to the late 1500s and explore Italian dances for groups of three or six taken from the Fabritio Caroso's 1581 treatise, Il Ballarino.  Two or three dances will be chosen from among Allegrezza d'Amore (for three), Ballo del Fiore in terzo (three), Dolce Amoroso Fuoco (six), Contrapasso Nuovo (six), and Furioso (six), depending on the numbers in attendance and general skill.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed and no partner is required, though gender balance is not guaranteed.  Clean, leather-soled flat shoes are recommended for both classes.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Renaissance class costs $15.  Pay at the class.

Up She Goes!

After the flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, society was increasingly fascinated with the new aeroplanes.  Dance music and dancers followed the fad, with quite a few "Aeroplane Waltzes" being composed and at least two different dances by that name written.  Philadelphia dance teacher and writer Albert W. Newman published his own Aeroplane Waltz in his 1914 manual, Dances of To-day, suggesting that it be danced to the 1910 song "Come Josephine in my Flying Machine," though any other fast waltz will do.  The chorus to the song begins:

Come Josephine in my flying machine,
Going up, she goes!  up she goes!

I've included a brief snippet of the song for reference; click to play:

Mr. Newman's dance, which was dedicated to the wealthy Philadelphian William P. Baltz, is a simple sequence dance that was also included in the 1914 compilation Dance Mad published in St. Louis by F. Leslie Clendenen.  Both Newman and Clendenen considered the dance particularly appropriate for children; given how silly the song sounds to modern ears, this is probably still valid advice.  My experience is that few adults can perform it for long without laughing.

The dancers start side by side facing along line of dance, joined hands together in front.  Steps are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.

Mr. Newman's Aeroplane Waltz
1b    Glide left foot forward (1); raise right foot in front (2); hop on left foot leaving right foot raised (3)
1b    Repeat same leading on right foot
(dancers face each other in normal closed ballroom position)
1b    Glide left foot to side (1); draw right foot up to it (2,3)
1b    Repeat glide, with a more exaggerated step and a pronounced dip
4b    Turn to the left or the right with the Long Boston or simply waltz

By waltz, Newman means the "new waltz" of the late 19th and early 20th century, with the partners stepping forward-side-close/back-side-close, rather than the older rotary waltz.  The Long Boston, also known as the One Step Boston or Cradle Boston, involves stepping back on one foot with a bend (1), rising up on the ball of that foot (2), and dropping the heel (3), then transferring the weight to the other foot with the same sequence; repeat.  Turning to the right (with the gentleman's left foot back)or left (with the right foot back) is accomplished by shifting the back foot slightly clockwise or counter-clockwise each time the weight is transferred.  This makes for a slow, four-bar pivot turn which doesn't travel, though it's possible to be aggressive about it and make a full turn every two bars.  But it is not a series of traveling pivots.

The dance is intended to simulate the experience of being in an aeroplane, which does nothing to reduce the giggle-factor.  Newman helpfully explains that

"This glide and dip represents the aeroplane going over a mountain top and down into the valley."

Clendenen adds that in the turn,

"the body should sway slightly from side to side, to represent the unsteadiness of the aeroplane."

and that the entire dance should be performed with "an extreme lightness and most gracefully."

The sheet music for "Come Josephine" is available online at the marvelous Lester S. Levy Collection at Johns Hopkins Unversity, for those who would like to match tune and dance.

Table Talk

One of those wacky little 1960s dance books, The Hullabaloo Discothèque Dance Book (Parallax Publishing, 1966; Scholastic Books, 1967), contains three novelty dances created especially for it.  Table Talk is a sort of half-speed poor man's version of the 1950s hand jive and is useful in the same contexts: sitting down, around a table, too crowded or tired to move, or for people who can't move their legs at speed or at all. 

Hullabaloo was a television show, airing on NBC in 1965 and 1966.  There are plenty of clips from it on YouTube, and you can actually purchase compilations on DVD.  Along with musical acts, it featured a small cast of dancers whose most notable alumni are Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie, the director/choreographer and original Cassie of the musical A Chorus Line.

I have my doubts about whether Table Talk was ever actually done other than in the photo shoot for the book, but since sitting-down arm and hand dances still have their uses, here it is. 

Hands are on lap or hanging loosely at sides when not otherwise occupied.

Count       Move
1,2            Extend right arm, palm down
3,4            Extend left arm, palm down
5,6            Right hand to left shoulder
7,8            Left hand to right shoulder
1,2            Left hand to left knee
3,4            Right hand to right knee
5,6            Clap hands twice
7,8            Extend left arm, palm down, and look at your hand
1,2            Extend right arm, palm down, and look at your hand
3,4            Turn left palm up and look at it
5,6            Turn right palm up and look at it
7,8            Clap hands twice
1,2            Bend left arm upward (making a fist) and tap right fist on left elbow twice
3,4            Bend right arm upward (making a fist) and tap left fist on right elbow twice
5,6            Palms down, pass left hand over right twice
7,8            Palms down, pass right hand over left twice
1,2            Clap twice

You can then restart from the beginning with the same pattern, though the counts won't match up since the dance has an irregular length.  The pattern is easy enough that with one person who knows the dance it shouldn't be hard for everyone else to pick it up anyway.  The book also suggests that you can "make up as many variations as you wish, with partners following each other a beat late, à la Simon Sez [sic]."

I have no musical recommendation for Table Talk other than to use something lively and fast from the late 1960s.

Two Easy Hesitation Steps

Here are a pair of easy hesitation waltz sequences from Philadelphia dancing master Albert W. Newman's book Dances of To-day, published in 1914.  Newman unimaginatively calls them the "hesitation step" and the "hesitation step to the side."  I like to use these sequences as a short break from the fast regular waltz of the era and turning sequences such as the three-step and five-step Bostons.  They are also useful in a crowded ballroom -- the first to pause temporarily and the second to thread ones way between other couples more compactly than a turn permits.

Steps given are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.  The sequences are performed in ballroom position with the gentleman facing out toward the wall of the room and the lady facing in toward the center.

Hesitation Step (two bars/six counts)
1 Step left foot sideways along line of dance, pointing right foot to the side
2 (hold)
3 (hold)
4 Transfer weight back to right foot, bending the right knee slightly
5 Straighten knee
6 Bend right knee slightly

I think of this informally as "step.....boing, boing" because of the springiness of the two little dips backward on the right foot on counts four and six.

Hesitation Step to the Side (two bars/six counts)
1 Step left foot sideways along line of dance, pointing right foot to the side
2 (hold)
3 (hold)
4 Cross right foot behind left (lady crosses left foot in front of right)
5 Step left foot sideways along line of dance
6 Close right foot to left in first position

This step starts with the same hesitation on the first bar, followed by a grapevine-like cross and side-step and a close of the feet.  Newman provides a diagram of the gentleman's steps for reference:

While Newman doesn't specifically pair the two sequences in his book, I find making them into a four-bar combination pleasing, with the first sequence gathering energy before launching into sideways motion on the second.

At the Prom: Yale 1921

Yale University's Junior Promenade, held on February 8, 1921, made the cover of the Yale Record, a humor magazine similar to (but predating) the Harvard Lampoon, which had a wide circulation outside Yale as a beacon of collegiate style. (Click the image at left for a larger version courtesy of Yale's Manuscripts & Archives.)  The event is of interest to me not only as a Yale alumna but because I recently purchased one of its ball cards.

The cover of the card (shown below) is made of white leather, with the Yale device and the year 1921 embossed in gold on the front.  A blue and white twisted cord holds the pages in place.  There is no sign of how a pencil might have been attached.  Between the cover and the pages of the card itself is a sheet of translucent vellum with a spiderweb pattern.

Of interest among the list of names given for the ball committee is the Floor Manager, James Smith Bush, the uncle of former United States President George H.W. Bush and great-uncle of former President George W. Bush.

The set of dances listed inside shows the growing dominance of the foxtrot in the upper-class ballroom of the early 1920s.  Forty-two dances are listed, with the twenty-first being the supper dance.  Of those, no fewer than thirty-two are foxtrots!  The other ten are divided between eight one-steps and a mere two waltzes.  The card belonged to a lady; twenty-one of the listed dances have gentlemen's names written by them.  Some names are written in formal style ("Mr. Newmarker") and some more casually ("Roddie").  Several men are listed twice, but none more than twice.

For those interested in details of etiquette, there is a notice on the back that gentlemen should "Please escort ladies to boxes immediately after each dance."
 

The Line Hustle

Line dances don't really get all that difficult, but there are a few longer ones with more complicated and less repetitive step sequences.  One of these is the Line Hustle.  These instructions are taken from Carter Lovisone's The Disco Hustle (1979) and claim to be "the original form used as the basis for all variations of the Line Hustle."  I would take this claim with a grain of salt, since Lovisone's book came out several years after the dance's first wave of popularity in the mid-1970s.

This version of the Line Hustle is a fifty-two beat dance.  My favorite music for it is Van McCoy's 1975 hit, "The Hustle," a snippet of which is included below.  The song is available on several different compilations, including The Hustle & The Best Of Van McCoy.  I like to wait out the intro and start at the "do the hustle!" verbal cue.  But as usual with line dances, the Line Hustle will also work to just about any disco tune.

Note that the so-called "Charleston" section below bears no relation to the Charleston in its 1920s form.

Foxes in Boxes

Among the moves described by Vernon and Irene Castle in their Victor Records for Dancing mini-manual (1914) are a trio of moves that are essentially box steps or fragments thereof: a so-called cortez (a.k.a. sentado or syncopated step), a double cortez, and a left-turning waltz.  The rhythm is specified as QQS: three steps and hold.  These make a nice set of variations to throw into basic walking-trotting sequences and two-step sequences when dancing a 1910s-style foxtrot.

Sliding Along in the Foxtrot

Over a year ago I discussed some of the earliest walking and trotting patterns found in the earliest sources describing the foxtrot.  Among other moves,  I touched on the gliding series of chassé steps given in the two sequences in F. L. Clendenen's Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914).  The sideways glides were done in quick-quick rhythm for each slide-close.  The two sequences were:

1. SS-SS-QQQQ-QQQQ twice, followed by four glides (step-closes) QQQQ-QQQQ

2. SS-QQQQ, followed by four glides QQQQ-QQQQ.

The man turns his left side toward the line of dance and the dancers execute a series of four sideways "step-closes" (QQ) along the line of dance.  No turn is involved; the first part of the sequence (walking and trotting) restarts on the first foot moving along the line of dance as usual.

More interestingly, Maurice Mouvet in his Maurice's Art of Dancing (1915) suggests a series of four slides to the (man's) right and four to the left (the pattern beginning on the man's right foot and hence to the right).  Mouvet does not specify whether the dancers make a half-turn after each set of four sideways slides or merely change their angle, with the man moving forward first on the right diagonal and then the left, without a turn, similar to my preferred reconstruction of the racket.  He also neglects to mention that the final close of each sideways sequence must be either skipped or a mere touch without weight in order to change feet for either the slide in the other direction or to restart normal walk-trot sequences on the leading foot.

If done turning, this series of slides would be very like the basic galop of the Victorian era.  But I don't think it turns.  Mouvet's right-foot start followed by a half-turn would have the couple turning in reverse, which seems mildly unlikely to me.  But more importantly, when writing that earlier piece, I unaccountably blanked on the fact that we actually have actual filmstrip evidence for the sideways glides in a brief silent film clip dated 1916, which shows dance instructors Clay Bassett and Catherine Elliott demonstrating "The Much Talked About 'Fox Trot.'"

In the film, Bassett and Elliott dance just what Mouvet described, though they initiate moves, the slides included, on the gentleman's left foot.  And they do not turn.  With Bassett moving diagonally forward to the left along the line of dance (and Elliott perforce dancing backwards), they slide-close-slide-close-slide-close-slide, joined hands leading the way.  Bassett then swings Elliott across his body (counter-clockwise) and leads "over elbows" another series of four slides starting on his right foot, angling his right shoulder diagonally forward.  The rhythm overall is QQQQ-QQS QQQQ-QQS.  The two dancers never make a turn; she merely switches from his right side to his left side.  In the filmstrip, the pair of sliding sequences (left and right) is preceded by four slow walking steps and followed by a series of simple QQS hesitations as described here.

These slides are a good thirty years later than the racket, so their lack of turn doesn't really prove anything about the earlier dance, but it's an interesting late example of non-turning galop/slide sequences.

Regency & Ragtime Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, August 2, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, August 2nd.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), including steps and figures for country dances and French quadrilles.  Specifically, we will dance and look at a step-sequences to use in the five figures of the First Set of French Quadrilles: Le Pantalon, L'Eté,  La Poule, La Trenise, and La Finale.  Depending on available time, we will also enjoy a Spanish Dance and an 1816 version of the classic Money Musk as well as the Scotch Reel for six and -- numbers permitting -- the amazing reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will turn to the early 20th century ragtime era and will focus on the foxtrot in its very earliest versions of the 1910s, including the original walking/trotting combinations and the development of the alternating slow and quick step patterns that became the standard for the dance, as discussed here and here.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed and no partner is required, though gender balance is not guaranteed.  Clean, leather-soled flat shoes for the first class or low heels (character shoes or similar) for the ladies for the second class (no spike heels!) are recommended.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Ragtime class costs $15.  Pay at the class.

Goucher & Newport

I'm going to be traveling to two dance events in the next week, one as a student and one as a teacher. 

On Saturday, July 25th, I will be attending a one-day historical dance workshop held by the New York Baroque Dance Company at Goucher College, near Baltimore, Maryland.  The teachers are Catherine Turocy and Richard Powers.  There will also be a country dance party in the evening, called by Catherine Turocy and Charles Garth.  This event precedes a full-week workshop at Goucher which I am unable to attend because...

...from Monday, July 27th through Saturday, August 1st, I will be at Newport Vintage Dance Week, sponsored by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, at Roger Williams University. near Newport, Rhode Island.  I am on the faculty for this week, and will be teaching intermediate/advanced nineteenth century couple dances: racket, schottische, and two-step.  Also on the faculty this year are Joan Walton, Marc Casslar, and Barbara Pugliese.  There will be balls in the style of the 1860s, 1890s, and 1910s as well as informal dancing in the evenings, a silent movie, and other fun historical pastimes.  This is my third year on the faculty for Newport.

I'd be happy to chat with any Kickery readers attending either event.

Le Klondike Two Step

Reading this morning's headlines about events in Alaska, it seems the moment to post this little French sequence dance, which can also be used to vary an early twentieth-century two-step.  I've found this sequence in only one source: La Danse, by [George] Washington Lopp, published in Paris in 1903 as part of a two-book compendium.  The smaller part (forty-five pages to the two hundred-plus of La Danse) of the compendium is a brief manual of etiquette and costume written by J. Chéron. 

Mr. Lopp seems to have been an interesting character, an American expatriate and former Chicago dancing master whose partnership in a Parisian musical conservatory went extremely sour, resulting in lawsuits, lockouts, and a "very tempestuous scene" with one of the patronesses of the conservatory, who insisted on performing a concerto she had composed.  Apparently the piece was so dreadful that the audience

was unable...to endure the entire infliction, and most of those present incontinently left after the first movement had been half finished.

While La Danse is dated 1903, I think it most likely that this dance dates to 1897 or 1898, the height of the Klondike Gold Rush.  Lopp attributes the dance to H.-N. Grant, whom Giraudet mentions in his list of dancing professors as being active in Buffalo, New York, in 1898.

Known World Dance Symposium

I'm off this weekend to a Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) event, Known World Dance Symposium VII, in Hamilton, Ontario (near Toronto).  I'm not an active SCA member, but I have very pleasant memories of the last one of these I went to, in Boston back in 2001.  I'll be there Friday through Sunday, off and on.  I'm not teaching anything, so I'm just planning to hang out with other dance geeks and do some relaxing dancing.

I'd be happy to say hi to any Kickery readers attending this event.

Branle de la Guerre

• Era: mid-1500s

Branle de la Guerre, the "branle of war," is another of the miscellaneous branles couppez (cut branles) described by Thoinot Arbeau in his 1589 dance manual, Orchésographie (available in an English translation by Mary Stewart Evans as Orchesography).  Other branles couppez include the suite of branles de Champagne couppez discussed here and branle de Charlotte, here.  Branles couppez are characterized by a mix of steps, kicks, and jumps derived from the opening set of branles, with the occasional insertion of "mesures diverses" which do not follow the regular rhythms of the opening set.

Julia Sutton, in her extensive notes on the Evans translation, suggests that this was most likely a miming dance of some kind, though Arbeau's presentation of the branle without any commentary or even a hint of any body motions or miming makes me consider this unlikely.  The tempo changes of the steps are enough to make it interesting even to modern dancers.

This branle is often taught as being divided into "peace" (the slow opening section) and "war" (the faster second section).  There is no textual justification for this; Arbeau makes no comment about this branle at all other than including it in his list of branles couppez.  Also note that while the branles Guerre, Aridan, and Charlotte are often added to the Champagne suite in the order in which they appear in Orchésographie (Charlotte-Guerre-Aridan), Arbeau does not actually describe them as part of that suite, merely as some of the "infinity of others" in the subtype of branles couppez.

Regency & Ragtime Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, June 28, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, June 28th.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), including steps and figures for country dances and French quadrilles.  Specifically, we will dance and look at a step-sequences to use in Le Pantalon, L'Eté,  La Poule, and La Trenise (first through fourth figures of the French quadrille) and the first, second, and fourth figures of The Caledonians.  Depending on available time, we will also enjoy a Spanish Dance and an 1816 version of the classic Money Musk as well as the Scotch Reel for six and -- numbers permitting -- the amazing reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will focus on some of the more unusual dance fads of the mid-1910s.  We'll dance the simple and delightful Lulu Fado (featuring a mix of two-step and walking sequences with finger-snapping and clapping) and work on some essential moves for the swaying Brazilian maxixe (as filtered through France and America) and the half and half, an unusual waltz in 5/4 time.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed, no partner is required, and clean leather-soled flat shoes (or low heels for the ladies for the second class; no spike heels!) are recommended.  Gender balance is not guaranteed.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Ragtime class costs $15, or $12 if paid in advance (no later than 6/26) via Paypal cash transfer (NO CREDIT CARDS) to paypal@elegantarts.org.

CD Review: Knockout Drops

I'm frequently asked for recommendations for period dance music, especially for the turn-of-the-century ragtime era of the 1890s-1910s.  Fortunately, there are quite a few CDs which are commercially available and useful to the social dancer, among them the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's 1997 album, Knockout Drops.

The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is a leading exponent of vintage American popular music with the rich and varied sound of a twelve-piece orchestra (wind, brass, percussion, and strings).  Working from period orchestral scores, they play concerts, radio shows, and silent film programs as well as producing several CDs and a DVD with their accompaniment to the silent film, The Mark of Zorro.  Though as far as I can tell they do not play for dance events, they include a great deal of lively dance music in their repertoire, much of which is played in a way usable for dancing (not always a given with music played as concert pieces).  I recommend Knockout Drops for anyone searching for good one-steps and two-steps as well as for those who simply enjoy popular American music of this period.

Paragon director Rick Benjamin's liner notes contain a wealth of detail about the history of ragtime music and about the historical context of the tunes and their composers.  The title of this CD is taken from the first track, Frank Klickmann's "Knockout Drops," about which the notes say it is:

a ribald allusion to the shocking modis-operandi of the White Slaver, much in the news that year with the passage of a Federal law "prohibiting the interstate transportation of women and girls for immoral purposes."

Musically, Knockout Drops features a rich selection of popular tunes of the ragtime era.  It includes two Scott Joplin rags and a Sousa march as well as good recordings of old favorites such as "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" and "At a Georgia Campmeeting."  One-step and foxtrot medleys incorporate tunes such as "I Ain't Got Nobody" and "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," and an amazing 1905 two-step medley includes a whole cornucopia of Civil War-era songs from "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to "Dixie."

Though many of the tunes are given dance types (one-step, foxtrot, etc.), not all of them are usable as labeled.  Looking at the tunes purely as dance pieces, Knockout Drops includes:

Alternating the One- and Three-Slide Rackets

• Era: 1880s into very early 1900s

Combining the one-slide rackets and three-slide rackets previously described creates an interestingly varied dance which is referred to by the prominent late-nineteenth-century dancing master Melvin B. Gilbert simply as the Racket, with no further descriptor.  The unadorned term is used by other writers to refer to several different variations in both 2/4 and 3/4 time, however, leaving us with unwieldy labels such as Allen Dodworth's "Alternating the One Slide and Three Slide to Galop."

Whatever one may call it, the sequence is not difficult once both the one-slide and three-slide rackets have been mastered.  Conceptually, one simply alternates two bars of one with two bars of the other to build an eight-bar sequence.  For the one-slide racket, two bars will be moving to the left and right (in whichever order); for the three-slide racket, two bars means moving either to the left or to the right.  So sequences may be built as follows:

2b   three-slide to left
2b   one-slide to right, one-slide to left
2b   three-slide to right
2b   one-slide to left, one-slide to right

The sequence may be commenced at any of the two-bar moves given above, though since one generally leads off a sequence with the left foot either the first or last pair of bars are the logical starting points.  Broken down into steps (given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite), the sequence in the order given above would be:

The Three-Slide Racket

• Era: 1880s into very early 1900s

The three-slide racket extends the two-bar repeat pattern of the one-slide racket previously described into a four-bar pattern which has a more galop-like feel and is somewhat easier to initiate.  It is described in the major dance late-nineteenth-century dance manuals of M.B. Gilbert and Allen Dodworth and in two minor compilation manuals, one of which (Cartier's Practical Illustrated Waltz Instructor) names it "The Wave."

The instructions below are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.  The dancers start in a normal late-nineteenth-century ballroom hold with joined hands angled forward at a diagonal along the line of dance.  Like the one-slide racket, the three-slide racket follows a zig-zag track along the line of dance; there is no turning involved.

The Galop Racket or One-Slide Racket

• Era: 1880s into very early 1900s

The galop racket or one-slide racket is the simplest of the various rackets and is described under  both names in different sources.  In one Parisian manual it is simply "La Raquette," though most other sources agree that "the" racket is a compound sequence mixing two different racket rhythms.  Prominent New England dancing master M.B. Gilbert explained it simply as "Pas de Basque sidewise" in 2/4 time.

The instructions below are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.  The dancers start in a normal late-nineteenth-century ballroom hold with joined hands angled forward at a diagonal along the line of dance.  The dance follows a zig-zag track along the line of dance; there is no turning involved.

Newport Vintage Dance Week (Rhode Island, July 27-August 2, 2009)

I will be teaching at Newport Vintage Dance Week, sponsored by The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, later this summer.  There are still openings to sign up for the week, especially for couples and single men; I believe single women are currently being wait-listed.

Newport is a lovely event with formal balls in three eras: 1890s, held at the Astors' Beechwood mansion; 1860s, held at the Rotunda Ballroom (with a carousel to ride at the breaks); and 1910s, held at Glen Manor House with a dinner beforehand.  There are also three evenings of informal dancing, a silent movie showing, and a "swap and sell" for vintage clothing and other items of interest.  Typically, there is also a formal afternoon tea one day, and there is time off to tour in Newport, play croquet, or simply relax.  During the daytimes, there will be workshops in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century dance.  The dance spaces and accommodations in this year's venue (Roger Williams University) are air-conditioned.

I will be teaching the Intermediate/Advanced Nineteenth-Century Dance class.  While I haven't finalized exactly what I'm teaching, so this is subject to change, it will likely be some combination of:

- rackets and racket waltzes (1880s-1890s)
- mid- and late nineteenth-century schottische variations (probably including the gliding five-step scottische)
- two-step (c1900)

The plan for racket and schottische variations grows from one of my current dance/reconstruction interests, rhythm variations and syncopations in nineteenth-century dance; posts here on the various rackets will probably follow along in July or August.  The two-step will serve as an easy, relaxing windup to the week after I have over-filled peoples' brains and tired their legs out with jumping around for the first few days of the class.

The other members of the teaching staff this year are:
Joan Walton (Intermediate/Advanced Twentieth Century and Twentieth Century Specialty)
Marc Casslar (Basic Twentieth Century and Nineteenth Century Specialty)
Barbara Pugliese (Basic Nineteenth Century and the Prince Imperial Quadrille)

Full details about the week, including a tentative schedule, are on the CVD website.

Round Two Step: A 1903 Dance Mixer

Mixer dances, where all the participants shift partners at intervals, are useful icebreakers at dance events.  In A Complete Practical Guide to Modern Society Dancing (1903), Philadelphia dancing master Albert W. Newman offers a simple mixer for use with the then-fashionable two-step, asserting hopefully that

This dance is rapidly gaining popularity, as it is most enjoyable.

The dancers take partners and hold hands in a grand circle, with each gentleman standing to the left of his partner, and all circle to the left (clockwise).  The dance leader calls out a number (3, 7, 12, etc.), and all the dancers face their partners and begin a grand chain, giving right hands to their partners and pulling by, left to the next, right to the next, left to the next, etc.  As they move, they count people, starting with their partners as "one."  When they reach the number called out by the leader, each takes ballroom position with that person and two-step until the leader gives a signal (typically a whistle), at which point all the dancers open up into a grand circle and once again circle to the left. 

This sequence is repeated as many times as desired, with the leader calling a different number each time so that the dancers end up with new partners after each grand chain.

Newman suggests that the Round Two Step is not only a standalone mixer but also a suitable final figure for a German, or cotillion, a type of party involving a series of dance games.

This style of circle-and-chain mixer was later known as a Paul Jones, possibly after a piece of popular music.  Similar mixers remain current in some living tradition dance forms today.

Regency & Ragtime Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, June 7, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, June 7th.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), including steps and figures for country dances and French quadrilles.  Specifically, we will dance and look at a step-sequences to use in Le Pantalon, L'Eté,  La Poule, and La Trenise (first through fourth figures of the French quadrille) and the first, second, and fourth figures of The Caledonians.  Depending on available time, we will also enjoy a Spanish Dance and an 1816 version of the classic Money Musk as well as the Scotch Reel for six and -- numbers permitting -- the amazing reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will focus on the turn-of-the-century two-step during its period of overwhelming popularity in the late 1890s and early 1900s, when it was danced to the lively marches of composers such as John Philip Sousa.  This will include the basic step in both 2/4 and 3/4 time, simple variations, and sequences such as the Très-Chic and Tantivy which can be used to liven up the basic two-step.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed, no partner is required, and clean leather-soled flat shoes (or low heels for the ladies for the second class; no spike heels!) are recommended.  Gender balance is not guaranteed.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Ragtime class costs $15, or $12 if paid in advance (no later than 6/5) via Paypal cash transfer (NO CREDIT CARDS) to paypal@elegantarts.org.

Mr. Saracco's Five-Step Waltz

• Era: 1840s-1890s America

In the 1840s, two separate dances known as the "Five-Step Waltz," "Cinq Temps Valse," or "Valse à Cinq Temps" arose, one from Paris and one, apparently, from New York.  The latter dance was described in 1854 by D.L. Carpenter in The Amateur's Preceptor on Dancing and Etiquette as follows:

This very beautiful Waltz was first introduced in New York, by that able master, Mr. Saracco; every movement being so exact and pointed, and of which is different from the Cellarious five time Waltz, being too much in the style of a gallop...

Mr. Saracco himself is shown at left.  His dance and the Cellarius version are sufficiently distinct in their movements that I will address only Saracco's five-step waltz in this post.

How to Harvard

This post is for Antonia, a superb 19th-century reenactor and dancer who has just completed her freshman year at that Ivy League school up in Boston.  Congratulations from a Yalie!

• Era: 1880s-1890s (America)
• Dances: Schottische, Polka, Galop

I have a strong but unsupported suspicion that the dance variation called the Harvard is some sort of Victorian joke playing off the turn-of-the-century dance known as the Boston.  The characteristic step is a long slide forward or backward along the line of dance, similar to the step of the Boston, combined with a sequence of three measures of waltz-galop.

The Harvard was described by prominent late 19th-century dancing master M.B. Gilbert in his collection of couple dances, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) as a variation for the schottische, though the timing is more that of a polka or galop.  It is attributed by Gilbert to the late Professor Vegas of New Orleans.

Gavotte: Not

• Era: 1880s-1890s (America)
• Dance: schottische

The term "gavotte" has referred to a number of different dances since its earliest appearance in the 16th century.  In this post, it refers not to any of these specific dances, but to a pair of schottische variations described by noted 19th-century dancing master M.B. Gilbert in his manual of couple dances, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890).  As far as I can tell they have neither anything in particular to do with the earlier dances known as the Gavotte (or the mid-19th century promiscuous quadrille figure of the same name, described here), nor any distinctive choreographic feature that might supply some reason for the use of the term in their names.  Nor are these variations common in other dance manuals, suggesting that they were rarely if ever danced outside the studio.

I nonetheless find them worthy of writeup not because they are particularly compelling sequences but because of what they reveal about approaches to varying the schottische at the end of the nineteenth century, approaches that might be exploited by the experienced late Victorian dance reenactor.

Five Step Schottische

• Era: 1870s(?)-1890s (America)

The Five Step Schottische, as described by prominent late 19th-century dancing master M.B. Gilbert in his tome of couple dances, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) and later by Marguerite Wilson in her oft-reprinted Dancing (Philadelphia, 1899),  squeezes five movements, rather than the standard four, into each bar of schottische for an interesting variation which alternates sideways slides and half-turns for a sequence similar to that of waltz variations such as the contemporary Le Metropole (also included in Gilbert's manual) or the later Five-Step Boston described by Philadelphian Albert Newman in 1914.  Putting this combination into schottische rhythm makes for an interesting but not overly complicated dance worth resurrecting by the modern late-19th-century dance reenactor.

Of the dance's name, Gilbert complains that:

Some more appropriate name might have been given to this dance, but I think it best to adhere to the phrase, rather than take upon myself a lingual reform.

This does not stop him for long.  A few pages later, he lists "Redowa Schottische" and "New Schottische" as alternate titles for the variation.  He attributes the former name to E.W. Masters, whom he claims originated it in 1871 (pushing the date of the dance back significantly), and feels that

Although this dance is better known as the Five Step Schottische, the name given above [Redowa Schottische] is far more appropriate.

The name Five Step Schottische, however, is more straightforwardly descriptive and thus more useful.

The Snake Dip

• Era: 1910s
• Dance: One-Step

Like the Pomander Walk, the Snake Dip is a one-step variation found in Albert Newman's Dances of to-day, published in Philadelphia in 1914, in which the dancers take, alternately, right- and left-side Yale position.  In the Snake Dip, however, the dancers make a continuous zigzag pattern along the line of dance rather than alternating travel with making circles in place. 

Newman somewhat imaginatively suggests of this sequence that "when well done it resembles the movement of the snake."

His diagram of the gentleman's steps is at left.

An Easy One-Step Sequence

F. Leslie Clendenen's 1914 compilation, Dance Mad, is full of sequences of varying levels of difficulty for many of the popular dances of the 1910s.  This one caught my eye as being a short (sixteen beats) and simple introductory one-step suitable for getting beginners dancing quickly and for teaching the lead for rhythm changes between one-step and two-step.  Clendenen gives it no special name or attribution, just "One Step."

Directions are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.  Starting foot is left for the gentleman and right for the lady.  Begin in normal ballroom position, with the gentleman facing along the line of dance.

Counts      Steps
1-2-3-4      Back the lady four steps
1&2           Two-step (step-close-step), angling diagonally forward to the left
3&4           Two-step (step-close-step), angling diagonally forward to the right
1-2-3-4      Back the lady four steps
(Turn a quarter clockwise)
1-2-3-4      Slide left foot along line of dance (1) close right to it with weight (2); repeat
(Turn a quarter counter-clockwise so gentleman faces line of dance, ready to repeat)

The angling to the left and right on the two-steps rather than moving straight forward along the line of dance cues the lady to perform a two-step rather than simply walking.  Clendenen describes this as "throwing [the] body slightly to [the] side on the 2 step" and moving "quite freely at left and right of partner."

An interesting variation, not given in the source but compatible with period practice, would be to turn clockwise rather than counter-clockwise at the end so that the sequence is then repeated with the gentleman backing up.  The mid-sequence turn will then be counter-clockwise.  This will not result in full turns, but the dancers could alternate backing the lady and backing the gentleman.

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI (May 7-8, 2009)

I will be attending the International Congress on Medieval Studies this Thursday and Friday and presenting a paper on step variation in the 15th-century saltarello at 1:30 Friday afternoon, session 301, "Riverenze e Spezzati: Challenges in Early Dance Research and Reconstruction."

I also expect to check in at the DISTAFF display/demo Thursday night at 5:45 to see the nifty textiles, but I haven't got a firm plan for anything else.  I'm flying out Friday night.

I would enjoy meeting any Kickery readers who might be attending the Congress, especially those who might be interested in furthering the study of dance history in academic settings.

Regency & Victorian Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, May 3, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, May 3rd.  Logistical details are below.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), including steps and figures for country dances and French quadrilles.  Specifically, we will dance and look at a step-sequences to use in Le Pantalon, L'Eté,  La Poule, and La Trenise (first through fourth figures of the French quadrille) and will enjoy a Spanish Dance and an 1816 version of the classic Money Musk as well as the Scotch Reel for six and -- numbers permitting -- the amazing reel for nine people (and one hat) known as the Bumpkin.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will cover the basic steps of the mazurka (primarily the promenade, but also including the tour sur place and possibly a bit of the valse mazurka) and several freestyle mazurka cotillion figures, including Le Grand Rond, Les Chaines Continues, La Genuflexion à Quatre, and the delightfully named L'X de Cavalier et de la Dame.  This will be a bouncy class with plenty of hops and small leaps.  Steps and figures are drawn from an 1847 Parisian dance manual by noted dancing master Henri Cellarius.

Both of the above are beginner-level classes, though the mazurka requires the ability to leap and hop.  No experience is needed, no partner is required, and clean leather-soled flat shoes (no high heels!) are recommended.  Gender balance is not guaranteed.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Victorian class costs $15.

How to dance the galop

One of the simplest couple dances of the nineteenth century was the galop (gallop, galopade, gallopade), which traveled from the ballrooms of continental Europe to those of England and American in the 1820s and 1830s, often as part of quadrilles or country dances.  It was also -- by the middle of the century, predominantly -- a dance for individual couples, though it continued to appear in quadrille figures and occasional country dances throughout the nineteenth century.  It is described in just about every surviving French, English, and American source for couple dancing from the mid-nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth.  I have cited a few of these in the text below; a complete bibliography would run multiple pages.

The galop is an aerobic dance done at a rapid pace.  One of the few manuals to include tempo notes, M.B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) gives a tempo of 144 beats per minute for the galop, as opposed to 116 beats per minute for the polka.  La Danse (Washington Lopp; Paris, 1903) agrees with those tempos (Lopp borrowed heavily from Gilbert) and adds 120 beats per minute for the two-step.

Coulon's handbook (third edition; London, c1860) describes the lively nature of the dance in its untamed form:

The Gallopade has had a long reign of nearly twenty years, and is still in high favour at public balls in Paris, as well as at Jullien's bal masqué in London. There is no dance more exciting, or easy to learn, it requires only a good ear to mark the time of the music. The chief requisite in this dance is to keep on one's feet, for there is great danger if once you fall that you will have those who follow over you, like the Capucins de Cartes. This power once acquired, you have only to throw yourself in the volcanic tourbillon and fellow the course of the stream, which with very little attention will be easily understood.

The Gallopade has recently been re-introduced in private society, where it is not customary to race as at a masquerade. They merely make a few steps of the galop and pass into the valse à deux temps. In this way the gallopade becomes a spirited and graceful dance instead of a tremendous rush.