Capering & Kickery

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.

Regency & Renaissance Dance Workshops, NYC (June 1, 2008)

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

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 the Royal Scotch and Caledonian Quadrilles, plus the Regency-era waltz.  The Royal Scotch Quadrilles feature the "star" figure described in an earlier article here.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will focus on the lively, stamping, Spanish-influenced canario, using the canario section of Caroso's 1581 dance Cesia Orsina as an example of joint and solo variations and improvisation.

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.

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI (May 9-10, 2008)

I will be attending the International Congress on Medieval Studies this Friday and Saturday and presenting a paper on gender distinctions in Italian Renaissance dance at 1:30 Saturday afternoon, session 457, "Wel Koude I Daunce: Insights into Early Dance in Literature."  My co-panelists will be Tracie Brown on dance in Le Roman de la Rose and Emily Winerock on the 17th-century Cushion Dance.  Kathleen Dimmich will preside.

I also expect to attend at least part of session 511, "Weblogs and the Academy: Professional and Community Outreach through Internet Presence" to find out what others are saying about history blogging.

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.

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!

Question Thread!

Have a question about historical social dance?  Want a particular topic addressed on Capering & Kickery?  Ask here and I might answer!