Capering & Kickery

A 1920s Medley Paul Jones

Most Paul Jones-style mixers are similar to the one found in the manual Dancing Made Easy (New York, c1919-1922): the dancers form a circle of couples, or possibly two concentric circles, each operating separately, if the numbers are too great.  They perform a grand right and left, then at the leader's signal dance a one-step with the next person in the chain.  The 1903 Round Two-Step (described here) is quite similar, except that the dance of choice is a two-step.

But in the mid-1920s English manual Foulsham's Modern Dancing, by Maxwell Stewart, a more elaborate version is described. 

To initiate the dance, the band plays a march and the dancers begin the grand right and left as usual.  The signal to change to dancing in pairs is given by a change of music: the band switches to a foxtrot tune.  Each dancer takes the next partner in the chain, and they foxtrot, with Stewart noting that the steps used are "as a rule" limited to the walk and the "two-step Chassé to right," though the latter is not actually given in his list of foxtrot steps earlier in the book and is more reminiscent of 1910s foxtrot style (see my previous post on this here) than the steps he does give, which look more towards later style.  Perhaps that is intentional, on the assumption that everyone knows the "old-fashioned" steps but is less likely to know the newer ones.

At some point, the music changes back to a march, and they resume the grand right and left.  Once again the music changes, this time to a one-step, and the dancers take next partners for that dance.  The music shifts back to a march a final time for a third grand right and left until finally the band begins to play a waltz and the dancers each take the next partner and end the Paul Jones by waltzing.

Stewart positively burbles with enthusiasm about the medley aspect:

It is a very jolly affair for those who can execute the steps of the three present-day dances.  It is a pot-pourri of all that is best at the moment, and our only wonder is that more medley dances are not evolved.

His initial description of the dance is dryer and more humorous, possibly unintentionally:

It is the nearest thing we have now to the old square dances, with just this difference: that it is round.

Indeed it is.

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:

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."
 

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.

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.

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!

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'."