Capering & Kickery

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.

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.

Some Swell New Tangos

"There may be one hundred and sixty different Tango steps, but I doubt it. I have never seen so many, and Mrs. Castle and I do not dance anything like that number."
                    -- Vernon Castle, in Modern Dancing, 1914

I certainly don't dance anything like that number myself, but it's always interesting to look at the myriad variations that one finds in different manuals of the 1910s, and today I'll spotlight some of the more unusual ones found in Bert Milton's How to Behave in a Ballroom, published in Boston in 1914.  Along with a fascinating history of the tango and many useful etiquette tips, Milton includes twelve genuinely unique moves which truly reflect the joyful spirit of pre-World War I American culture. 

Fans of animal dances will be pleased to note their intrusion into the tango via moves such as the Shrimp Wiggle and the Kitten Kuddle, while those familiar with the Lame Duck will find a fascinating new version herein.  Enjoy!

One-Step Variations: Zig Zag

I'll wind up this little mini-series of one-step posts with an easy variation from Vernon and Irene Castle's manual, Modern Dancing, (New York, 1914).  The zig zag is very similar to the snake dip described by Philadelphia dancing master Albert Newman (discussed by me here).  The oscillating from right Yale position (the two dancers' right sides together) to left Yale position (left sides together) with the lady backing up while the gentleman moves forward is the same, with the differences found only in the starting foot and the placement of the dip.  I have no doubt that these are simply regional variations of the same step, but they do have a slightly different effect when danced.

While the snake dip begins with the gentleman stepping to the left (right Yale position) with his left foot, the zig zag begins a beat later.  After one walking step forward on the left foot (lady backing on the right), the gentleman crosses his right foot in front of the left to step out to right Yale position, taking three steps in that position (right-left-right) before crossing his left foot in front of the right to shift to left Yale position and take three steps (left-right-left) thus.  The lady is dancing opposite, crossing her left foot behind her right to start the move and continuing on th opposite foot from the gentleman, always crossing behind.

The zig zag may be continued indefinitely, exited most easily after any trio of left Yale position steps by the gentleman simply not crossing his right foot over, instead stepping straight forward toward the lady and resuming backing her up for as many steps as needed to round out the musical phrase.

The Castles suggest ornamenting the step with a slight dip:

To make it more effective, the dancers can bend on the first step.  That is when the man crosses the right over the left and when he crosses the left over the right.

This bend is actually on the same foot as in Newman's snake dip -- he places the dip on the second step of every three-step diagonal, which is effectively a crossing step.

Skipping Through the One-Step: Polka Skips and Pony Steps

There's a perception that doing the 1910s one-step is always a matter of stepping precisely once per beat, no more and no less.  As can be seen in the half fade-away, which leaves one foot in the air for a beat, that isn't always strictly true.  And while that sort of pause is unusual, the one-step also incorporates skipping steps of various kinds in moves like the polka skip and pony step, as described by the leading dancers of the era, Vernon and Irene Castle, and other dancing masters in dance manuals published in 1914.

One-Step Variations: Half Fade-Away

It's been quite a while since I got back to the plain old 1910s one-step, so here's a quick and easy sequence from Albert Newman's Dances of to-day, published in Philadelphia in 1914.  It's an interesting little combination of side steps and natural and reverse half-pivots that I've never seen anywhere else.

Half & Half Variations: The Scroll

Winding up this month's little half and half miniseries, here's another variation from the Castle Assistants, as published in Dance Mad in 1914.  This one even has a name, the scroll, as well as a number ("Step 2").  It's essentially a slow-motion grapevine step changing once per bar rather than on every beat, very similar in conception to the 1930s "about face waltz" described here, which has the pattern of one bar of traveling followed by one bar to change the direction each dancer is facing, with the lady and gentleman always facing opposite directions.

The scroll uses the basic half and half step sequence (stepping on the first, fourth, and fifth beats of each bar) done in promenade position, as described in my half and half overview here, with the dancers facing opposite directions and traveling for two bars before pivoting.  The change of direction occupies only a partial bar rather than the full bar of the about face waltz.

An Underarm Turn for the Half and Half

I'm on a bit of a roll lately with variations for the 5/4 time waltz of the mid-1910s known as the half and half.  Here's another easy one: an underarm turn for the lady, pulled once more from Dance Mad (1914), where it is included in a list taught by the "Castle Assistants" and prosaically labeled "Step 4." The Castle Assistants are presumably associated with one of Vernon and Irene Castle's dance studios.

This is not the only variety of underarm turn in the half and half, but it's the simplest of the variations I have come across other than the one found in a small 1914 book of sheet music by Malvin Franklin, illustrated at left (click to enlarge), where the gentleman just stands completely still while the lady makes her turn.  That doesn't flow nearly as well as the Castle Assistants' version.

Five Steps in the Half and Half

• Era: 1910s

Among the variations listed for the half and half in the 1914 collection Dance Mad is an interesting waltz which, unusually for the half and half, involves stepping on all five beats of the bar rather than on the usual first, fourth, and fifth beats.  It doesn't have a name; the description is simply labeled "Sixth Figure" and is one of eight figures credited to "Quinlan Twins."  For lack of any better name, I refer to it as the five-step variation.

Background information and basic traveling steps for the half and half may be found in my previous post here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

One-Step Variations: Traveling Turns

Although the traveling turn (or "pivot," though in period that can refer to a different turn as well) is enormously popular among modern dancers of the one-step, possibly because of the notoriously lengthy string of pivots done in continuous sequence by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), it actually does not seem to have been nearly as popular among dancing masters of the 1910s.  While the traveling turn occasionally appears in other dances, I have found a written description of its use in the one step only in Albert Newman's Dances of to-day, published in Philadelphia in 1914.  Other sources mention "whirls" or "swirls," but exactly what kind of turning these terms refer to is not specified.

Newman's description of the step is brief and uncharacteristically vague:

In order to execute these turns properly it is necessary that the dancers should be most proficient and move perfectly together.

Each foot virtually describes a semicircle (cycloid movement) upon the floor, the dancers really stepping around each other.

This is quite effective, but requires considerable practice together.

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:

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.

The Three-Step Boston or English Boston

Concluding a trio of posts on easy hesitation waltzes, here is the simplest hesitation at all: a normal waltz sequence stretched over two bars of music.  Albert Newman succinctly described the dance in his 1914 manual, Dances of To-Day:

In reality it is our Standard Waltz, but instead of taking two measures this Boston takes four measures.

What this works out to in practice is that the first step (forward or backward) of each half-turn is held for an entire bar (three counts) and the step to the side and close are done on the first and third counts of the second bar of music, with the overall rhythm being ONE-two-three-FOUR-five-SIX.  The three steps taken over two measures give the variation one of its names; I see nothing especially English about this that would account for the other.

The Pompadour Waltz

The Pompadour Waltz is a minor but interesting variation on the five-step Boston or five-step waltz described by Albert Newman in 1914 (and by me here).  I have found it only in the collection Dance Mad, or the dances of the day, compiled by F. Leslie Clendenen and published in St. Louis in 1914.

To perform the Pompadour, the dancers alternate brief hesitating grapevine sequences with the five-step Boston in an eight-bar sequence as described below.  The steps given are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.

The Five-Step Boston or Five-Step Waltz, 1914

In his 1914 manual, Dances of To-day, Philadelphia dancing master Albert W. Newman describes a four-bar waltz variation he calls the Five-Step Boston or Five-Step Waltz.  Unlike the five-step waltz of the mid-19th century or the half-and-half of the 1910s, this waltz is done in the usual 3/4 waltz time, spreading five movements out over the six counts of music.  This is a hesitation waltz movement, well-suited the fast waltzes of the early 20th century.   It is easy to learn and provides a pleasant break from constant fast spinning.

Side by Side in the Half and Half

The illustration at left is the last of a series of illustrations for the Half and Half taken from a small book of dance music published by Malvin M. Franklin in 1914.  For general information on dancing the Half and Half, an unusual 5/4 time waltz stepped on the first, fourth, and fifth beats, please see my previous post on basic traveling steps for the dance.

In the illustration, the dancers have moved from a normal ballroom hold into a variant side-by-side position in which the lady's left arm is stretched across the gentleman's shoulders to take his left hand at shoulder height, while their right hands are joined behind her back.  In this position they move forward together with a series of "alternating steps then sliding steps" before, presumably, resuming ballroom position to continue the dance.

Unfortunately, Franklin is not terribly clear on precisely how the dancers get into this position or out of it or, for that matter, precisely what the alternating and sliding steps they perform are.

Since the change of position adds pleasing variety to the dance, I spent some time figuring out how to make this work. 

The Pomander Walk

• Era: 1910s
• Dance: One-Step

The Pomander Walk 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 and walk around each other in circles.  The full sequence as described by Newman is as follows:

From a normal one-step, backing the lady, the dancers step out to Yale position, right side to right side, and walk in a straight line, the lady moving backward and the gentleman forward.  At some point, they begin to walk around each other in a circle, both moving forward.  Newman's illustration of this is shown at left.  The gentleman eventually makes an about-face -- the lady must as well, though Newman neglects to mention this -- leaving the dancers left side to left side, and they again move in a straight line with the lady going backward.  They make another circle, both dancers moving forward, followed by a position shift to return to facing each other and backing the lady.

The Pan-American Glide (a 1910s Schottische)

An early anniversary gift for Michelle & Peter, who asked about 1910s schottisches:

By the 1910s, the schottische had almost complete vanished from the ballroom floor.  But a few dancing masters were still creating variations, among them the "Pan-American Glide," published in the F. Leslie Clendenen's collection Dance Mad, or the Dances of the Day in St. Louis in 1914.  It is attributed to F.W. Bouley.

The name of the dance does not signify anything special about it choreographically.  It appears to merely be one of many uses of the term "Pan-American" in the early 20th century, playing off of the Pan American Union (so named in 1910) and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.

For music, any schottische tempo tune or two-step is suggested.  The couples start in closed ballroom hold, with their joined hands pointing along the line of dance.  There are four parts to the dance, each taking one (4/4) bar of music and making a standard four-bar schottische sequence:

1. Slide left to the side, close right to first position.  Repeat.  (count 1-2-3-4)

2. Turning two-step once around.  (count 1&2, 3&4)

3. Repeat first part (count 1-2-3-4)

(open out side by side facing line of dance)

4. Walk forward four steps (count 1-2-3-4)

At the end of the four walking steps, close up again to repeat from the beginning.

I'm not aware of any great popularity for this variation, and it's quite possible that it was never done anywhere other than in Mr. Bouley's lessons.  But it makes a particularly easy sequence for beginners and allows for a bit of schottische mixed into the usual dances of the 1910s.

The Twinkle Hesitation

The Twinkle Hesitation, attributed to S. Wallace Cortissoz, was published in Leslie Clendenen's collection, Dance Mad, in St. Louis in 1914.  I'd been looking at dances in that book that incorporated twinkle steps, and this one caught my eye as fun to dance.  The dance itself is a sixteen-bar, three-part sequence, but each part also makes a nifty independent addition to any hesitation waltz.

Another Note on the Early Foxtrot

While searching through a periodicals index I came across an interesting little article that neatly summarizes my previous three foxtrot posts.  "How to Dance the Fox Trot" was published in the Los Angeles Times on October 18, 1914.  It commends the dance as

the most simple of all the new dances.  If you were discouraged when you tackled the tango or maxixe, here is a dance that every one can dance and enjoy with practically no mental exertion.

Book Review: Vernon and Irene Castle's Ragtime Revolution

I recently enjoyed reading Vernon and Irene Castle's Ragtime Revolution, Eve Golden's 2007 biography of the most famous dance couple of the 1910s.  This is not the fantasy-romance of the 1939 Astaire & Rogers film, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, nor does it spend as much time on their actual dance accomplishments as I would have liked.  The author is a silent film aficionado, and the book focuses more on the Castles as celebrities and stars of theater and film than it does on the specifics of their influence on dancing.  (She devotes a fifteen-page appendix to a filmography, but dances are not even listed by name in the index!)  That said, it adds a great deal of interesting background and thoroughly debunks the entire misty romantic myth of the Castles in favor of a more realistic portrait of their marriage as affectionate but later primarily a business relationship.  From hints that Vernon might have been bisexual to Irene's affairs to their impending divorce at the time of Vernon's death (so that he could marry another woman), this book carefully puts back in as much as can be reconstructed of what Irene Castle left out of her own books, My Husband (1919) and Castles in the Air (1958).  Those interested in the off-the-dance-floor escapades and accomplishments of the Castles and their associates will find it absolutely fascinating.

The Mistletoe Hesitation

The Mistletoe Hesitation is a lovely little sixteen-bar hesitation waltz sequence originally published in F. Leslie Clendenen's Dance Mad, or the dances of the day (St. Louis, 1914), a collection of dances and dance moves borrowed liberally from other dance teachers and manuals.  The Mistletoe is attributed to M.W. Cain and is one of the earliest uses I have found of a twinkle step.

Fancy Little Foxtrot

This is a nifty little move from the short Bassett/Elliott film, "The Much Talked About 'Fox Trot' " (dated 1916) and is unlike anything else I've ever seen in a 1910s foxtrot: it actually has a hop.  A hop in the foxtrot!  That should startle anyone watching you.  The sequence isn't terribly difficult and should be accessible once a dancer is past the complete-novice stage.

The overall rhythm is SS QQQQ QQS QQQQ, starting gentleman's left foot/lady's right and stepped as follows:

SS QQQQ
Normal walk/trot sequence, backing the lady.

QQ
Step out into "Yale" position, right hip to right hip, starting to move into a clockwise turn.

S
Hop!  This is on the gentleman's right foot, lady's left and moves slightly forward with the turning momentum of the dancers.

QQQQ
Complete the clockwise turn, straightening out to return to backing the lady along the line of dance in normal ballroom hold.

Verbal mnemonic:
Walk, walk, trot-trot, trot-trot, step-out, HOP, turn-turn, turn-turn.

The move doesn't have a name as far as I know.  I call it the Bassett/Elliott turn or simply the hop-turn.  Give it a try!

The Castle Polka

In the October of 1914, in a fit of nostalgia, Vernon Castle promoted in the pages of The Ladies Home Journal the revival of one of the most popular dances of the previous century, the polka.  He noted that the polka involves a hop rather than sliding steps usual in the dances of the 1910s, but feels that "it should be revived and modernized - not to take the place of the other dances so popular now, but to add variety to all dance programs" as well as "because it is so easy to learn and so enjoyable to dance."  A polka likewise enlivens and varies the program on a modern ball in the style of the 1910s, and the "Castle Polka" gives the dance more of a ragtime feel than the polka of the Victorian era.

The illustration at left, courtesy of the New York Public Library's digital image gallery, shows Vernon and his wife Irene in a polka pose.  Vernon noted that they had "a leaning towards things old-fashioned" which extended to Irene's costume.  Click the image to go to the NYPL site and enlarge it, and you will see that she is actually wearing ankle-length drawers under her skirt, in a fanciful imitation of Victorian fashion.  The Castles were essentially acting as dance reconstructors and came up with their own interpretation of how to dance the polka.  A transcription of the entire original article with the original illustrative photos by Ira L. Hill is online at the Vintage Victorian website.  My reconstruction of the Castle Polka follows.

Quick-Quick-Slow: The Two-Step Infiltrates the Foxtrot

In my previous foxtrot post I covered the basic walking and trotting patterns of the early foxtrot of the 1910s.  These patterns are characterized by alternating series of slow (S) or quick (Q) steps, simple traveling interspersed with occasional sideways glides or half-turns, and consistently starting on the same foot (gentleman's left, lady's right).  This simple foxtrot was complicated almost immediately by variations of rhythm, most notably the "quick-quick-slow" (QQS, or "one-and-two (pause)") rhythm of the 19th-century two-step and polka.  This post will discuss some of the variations introduced in the pre-1920 foxtrot as described by dancing masters Maurice Mouvet (1915) and Charles Coll (1919) and demonstrated by Clay Bassett and Catherine Elliott on film (1916).

Basic Walking & Trotting Patterns in the 1910s Foxtrot

"What particular resemblance does the gait of a fox have to this dance?"
      -- spectator watching trotters, as quoted in Maurice's Art of Dancing, 1915

It's a reasonable question.  The foxtrot evolved so rapidly after its debut in 1913-1914 that it can be difficult to sort out the earliest versions of the dance and derive an accurate picture of the foxtrot as danced in the 1910s.

Directions for dancing the foxtrot first began appearing in print in 1914.  While it did not appear in Vernon and Irene Castle's 1914 work, Modern Dancing, the Castles did include it that year in the booklet Victor Records for Dancing.  Two brief descriptions were also published in F. L. Clenenden's compendium, Dance Mad, also published in 1914, in St. Louis.  In 1915, Maurice Mouvet published his description of the foxtrot in Maurice's Art of Dancing, followed in 1919 by Charles Coll in Dancing Made Easy (link is to the 1922 reprint).

In addition to these written sources, a brief silent film clip dated 1916 shows dance instructors Clay Bassett and Catherine Elliott demonstrating "The Much Talked About 'Fox Trot'."

The Half & Half: Basic Traveling Steps

• Era: 1910s

The half and half, a hesitation waltz danced in 5/4 time, was one of those novelties that appeared and vanished quickly in 1914.  There may be as many people alive now who know how to dance it as ever danced it in its own era!  It is also handicapped by having very few surviving pieces of music in the right time signature.  Today's experienced historical social dancers can probably hum the eponymous "Half and Half" from memory.  Sources describing the dance are equally difficult to come by; I have only three in my collection, though one of them, Dance Mad, generously provides four separate descriptions.

Click here to listen to a half and half tune in 5/4 time.

Hesitate, Hesitate, Hesitate!

• Era: 1910s
• Dance: One-Step

In his 1914 manual, Dances of To-day, Philadelphia dancing master Albert W. Newman describes three different hesitations suitable for the one-step or Castle walk.  In one description he notes that a hesitation is

...most practical, especially when one finds himself in a decidedly congested position, surrounded on all sides by merry dancers...it is the same as marking the time of the music, as the dancers execute the movement sur la place (on the spot).

Because of this practicality, hesitations are one of the first things I teach new dancers of the one-step.  Here are Newman's three hesitations for your dancing pleasure!

Corte Mad

• Era: 1910s
• Dance: tango

In the interest of not losing my mind, I’m going to be writing more short posts interspersed with the longer articles that cover entire dances.  Today, a lovely little move for your 1910s tango.

Many teachers labor under the impression that the “Argentine” consists of one dance only, which is not true, it is a dance of great variety of movements…The Argentine of today embraces about as many varieties as there are dancers, owing perhaps, to the natural desire of our American dancers to be “inventors.”
    F. Leslie Clendenen, Dance Mad, or the dances of the day, St. Louis, Missouri, 1914

The Overlooked Eight Step

• Era: 1910s
• Dances: one-step, tango, half & half, hesitation waltz

Why, in fifteen-plus years of dancing ragtime socially, had I never done the eight step?  It's not an obscure step; it's the first variation world-famous dance couple Vernon and Irene Castle give for the one-step and is also mentioned by them in their descriptions of the tango, half and half, and hesitation waltz.  And yet somehow I'd neither danced it nor reconstructed it until late 2007 when I was looking for interesting one-step moves for some new dance students.