Capering & Kickery

April 2020 Gig Calendar

Perhaps this should be more accurately called the non-gig calendar.  Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, I am home from Moscow and back in Connecticut and, needless to say, all upcoming events and lessons are canceled.  Like everyone else, I've no idea when things will return to normal.

I am considering doing online lectures or short dance lessons once I figure out the technical issues.  Ideas for this, or specific requests, are welcome - leave them as a comment here.  If I plan anything like this in April, I'll update this post.

Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Unearthing a Moscow dance

(For those reading this after its original posting date: this was posted on APRIL FOOL'S DAY.  You may thereby deduce that it is an extended joke, not serious dance history!)

Over the last few years in Moscow, I've spent a fair amount of time at balls and parties outside the strictly-historical community and had a chance to observe, and occasionally dance, some of the choreographed dances developed during the Soviet era as well as some which were introduced in the 1990s and early 2000s, either by Russian choreographers or by foreign teachers, and adopted into the community culture of young Moscow dancers who mix historical, modern, and traditional dances at their balls.  It would be a fascinating project to try to determine the origins of all these dances, though I don't plan on taking it up myself, since my Russian language skills really aren't up to the task.  

One of the challenges in tracing such dances back very far is that over time they become folk-processed, evolving as they move through communities, until it can be difficult to determine which movements are native to the dance and which have merely accreted over time.  I've become intrigued enough with one dance to make some effort, however.  It appears to have originated in the late 1970s, though I haven't been able to discover the choreographer.  After some multilingual digging, I've been lucky enough to turn up three Soviet-era video recordings of performances outside the USSR which I believe depict the authentic dance, including the different steps and variations for men and women.  Ironically, the best sources appear to be in German, which is true for many nineteenth century dances as well.

I'm going to take a look here specifically at the women's steps, which can be performed solo or with a female partner, with or without a group of men dancing their steps simultaneously.  At some later point I might work on the men's footwork as well. 

February 2020 Gig Calendar

I'm having a ball!  Literally, a ball!  In Moscow!  In Russian and English!  Mixing all sorts of crazy dancing together!

I'll be doing other things this month too, but holding a ball in Moscow is something I've wanted to do for years, so I'm dipping my toe in with a small, beginner-friendly event.  Details and links to the ball prep classes will appear later in the month - check back for updates! 

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Saturday, February 1st ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson.

Saturday, February 8th ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson.

Sunday, February 9th ~ Moscow
Birthday Party ~ N.N. Lukyanov-Razumovsky  (VK event)
16:00-21:00.  I am not the main ball leader, but will be teaching a dance or two during the evening - most likely the Ragtime Crawl and my own waltz mixer Маша, пока! (Bye, Masha!).  Otherwise, I'll just be enjoying myself dancing!

Friday, February 14th ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances (Valentine Party)
(VK announcement)  (Facebook announcement)
for the American Center in Moscow
18:30-20:00.  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged; follow the class link above.  Part of a regular series happening roughly every other Friday.  This class includes a small St. Valentine's Day party with light refreshments!

Saturday, February 22nd ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson.

Saturday, February 22nd ~ Moscow
First Ball Prep Class for February 29th Ball
(VK class info link)  (VK event for ball) 
19:30-21:30.  First prep class for this ball.  See the class info link above for full details.  Note that security procedures are in effect, so names for the class are needed in advance, or pre-arrangement to meet someone to be taken through security.

Tuesday, February 25th ~ Moscow
Second Ball Prep Class for February 29th Ball
(VK class info link)  (VK event for ball) 
19:00-20:00.  Second prep class for this ball.  See the class info link above for full details.  Security procedures are in effect, so names for the class are needed in advance, or pre-arrangement to meet someone to be taken through security.  Anyone who attends the first class will receive an access pass there that will admit you to the complex for this class.  Note that this class is in a different studio than the first one!

Saturday, February 29th ~ Moscow
Masquerade Ball "Evening of Friendship"  (VK event)
16:00-20:15 (arrive 17:15, hall closes 21:00).  A lighthearted evening mixing American dances from the mid-nineteenth through the twenty-first century.  Contra dances, cotillion (game) figures, sequences, Steampunk dances, and lots of waltz!  This is beginner-oriented; most dances will be taught briefly, but see the listings above for two pre-ball prep classes.  Registration and all other pertinent information is available in both Russian and English at the VK link above.

 

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I am available for private lessons in Moscow (primarily Thursday nights and irregular weekends) or while on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Moscow, Russia: February 1-29

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Coming in March: more public classes in Moscow and a weekend of historical dance in Vladimir!

January 2020 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!  January is going to be a tough month, as I'm having to move to a new flat, which is a challenging task in Moscow.  But I'll still have a few events here and there!  Hopefully normal life will return in February!

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Monday, January 6th ~ Moscow, Russia
Festival-Competition Planet of the Arts-Moscow "Christmas Stars" (Festival website - in Russian)
10:00-18:00 (approximate).  Dance school contest and showcase.  I am serving as a judge.

Saturday, January 11th ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson.

Friday, January 17th ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances
    (Facebook announcement) (VK announcement - in Russian)
for the American Center in Moscow
18:30-20:00.  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged; follow the class link above.  Part of a regular series happening roughly every other Friday.

Saturday, January 18th ~ Moscow
18:00-20:00.  Private lesson.

Saturday, January 25th ~ Moscow
Black & White Chess Ball (in Russian)
for Ballroom Dance Studio "Ларец"
15:00-18:00 (arrival 14:00).  I am attending this primarily as a social event, but I will briefly teach the mid- to late-19th century American version of the Spanish Dance.  Dress code: black and white.  Tickets 700 rubles in advance, 900 at door.  See link above (in Russian) for ball program, location, etc.

Saturday, January 25th ~ Moscow
19:15-21:15.  Private lesson.

Friday, January 31st ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances
    (Facebook announcement) (VK announcement - in Russian)
for the American Center in Moscow
18:30-20:00.  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged; follow the class link above.  Part of a regular series happening roughly every other Friday.

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I am available for private lessons in Moscow (primarily Thursday nights and irregular weekends) or while on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Moscow, Russia: January 6-31

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Coming in February: public classes in Moscow, a Valentine dance at the American Center, and a ball!

Thinking about the Four Step

Original photo: Barry Lewis

The photo at left (click to enlarge) was taken in June, 2018, at the Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site in Bishop, California.  I've cropped it to focus on the dance program board shown, which is hanging in the music room there.  It gives a program that probably dates from around 1910.  Most of the dances were well-known couple dances, plus (of course!) the quadrille, which was probably the first set or a called quadrille.  I've discussed some of the others, such as the Rye Waltz, the Newport, and some versions of the Paul Jones, on Kickery in the past.  There's some mystery about what exactly would have been danced for the minuet -- the Oxford Minuet?  One of the  choreographed "waltz minuets"?  A Menuet de la Cour? 

But to me, the most interesting puzzle on there is what exactly was meant by a "Four Step".

In the 1900s and early 1910s, there were sequences called the four-step in several different dances -- a four-step Boston, a four-step grapevine, a four-step in the tango, etc.  I don't really envision any of those to have been listed as a separate dance, however.  Noted dance historian Richard Powers stated in a Facebook comment on the photo that the four-step was an early name for the one-step, though I don't know how common that usage was, since I have not come across it myself.  But it's not the only possibility.  Let's look at a few of the others!

A shorter Victorian "Sir Roger de Coverley"

Over the twelve years I've been writing Kickery, I've twice discussed versions of Sir Roger de Coverley, the English "finishing dance" that was the direct ancestor of America's Virginia Reel: a Regency-era version from Thomas Wilson and a Victorian-era version probably originated by Mrs. Nicholas Henderson.  The latter version of the dance, which shortened the figures and added an introductory figure for all the dancers, appeared in several English sources from around 1850 to 1870.  But it was not the only version in mid-nineteenth century England; at least two variations of a full version more like the Regency one continued to appear in dance manuals, and a fourth version, shortened even further, turned up occasionally as well. 

 

The dance being strongly associated with Christmas due to its appearance at Mr. Fezziwig's ball in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol, Christmas Eve seems an appropriate time to discuss this extremely short version.

Over the twelve years I've been writing Kickery, I've twice discussed versions of Sir Roger de Coverley, the English "finishing dance" that was the direct ancestor of America's Virginia Reel: a Regency-era version from Thomas Wilson and a Victorian-era version probably originated by Mrs. Nicholas Henderson.  The latter version of the dance, which shortened the figures and added an introductory figure for all the dancers, appeared in several English sources from around 1850 to 1870.  But it was not the only version in mid-nineteenth century England; at least two variations of a full version more like the Regency one continued to appear in dance manuals, and a fourth version, shortened even further, turned up occasionally as well. 

 

The dance being strongly associated with Christmas due to its appearance at Mr. Fezziwig's ball in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol, Christmas Eve seems an appropriate time to discuss this extremely short version.

Chivers' Second Set of Caledonians (1 of 2)

In the mid-1820s, London dancing master G. M. S. Chivers published two additional sets of "Caledonians" figures, over and above his first set of Caledonians, which became the standard nineteenth-century version.  The second set has some appealing variations in the figures: alternating half-figures for head and side couples; solos for both gentlemen and ladies in separate figures; a "meanwhile" figure to occupy the less-active couples; and a demi-grande-chaîne figure broken into quarters by extra full turns.  There's nothing too exotic, but it's a fun little set, fairly straightforward to reconstruct and easy to dance for anyone with general experience with Regency-era quadrille steps and figures.  I'll include the first couple of figures below and follow up with the remainder in a second post.

A note about music: my only source for Chivers' Second Set of Caledonians is his Dancing Master in Miniature (c1825), which gave figures only, no music.  I have not, so far, found the specifically published sheet music for them.  Given the degree to which sets of quadrille figures were recycled for different sets of tunes during the nineteenth century, I would not feel at all uncomfortable about dancing them to more-or-less random sets of Scottish music, either from another published set of Scottish-themed quadrilles or assembled from period Scottish tunes.  The length and repeat structure of the figures matches the standard "first set" of quadrilles.

On to the figures!

December 2019 Gig Calendar

December will be a quite month of hibernation, research, and private lessons and classes.  The dance series at the American Center at the U. S. Embassy will continue with one regular dance and a holiday party!

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Sunday, December 1st ~ Moscow
16:00-18:00.  Private lesson.

Tuesday, December 3rd ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class.

Friday, December 6th ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances
for the American Center in Moscow
18:30-20:00.  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged; follow the class link above.  Part of a regular series happening roughly every other Friday.

Saturday, December 7th ~ Moscow
20:00-22:00.  Private lesson.        Cancelled

Tuesday, December 10th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class.

Tuesday, December 17th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class.

Friday, December 20th ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances
for the American Center in Moscow
18:30-20:00.  Holiday party!  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged; follow the class link above.  Part of a regular series happening roughly every other Friday.  This week will be an informal party - light refreshments will be served and festive attire is encouraged (but not required).

 

Saturday, December 14th ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson.

Saturday, December 21st ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson.

Tuesday, December 24th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class.

Sunday, December 29th ~ Moscow
19:00-21:00.  Private lesson.

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I am available for private lessons in Moscow (primarily Thursday nights and irregular weekends) or while on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Moscow, Russia: December 1-31

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Coming in January: public classes in Moscow and more dances at the American Center!

Professor Asher's Polacca Quadrille, Figure 1

Late nineteenth-century American dance manuals are littered with Polacca quadrilles, comprising at least three distinct sets of figures plus variations.  For this series of posts, I'm going to focus on the set of figures advertised as taught by Professor Asher of Philadelphia.  I have at least six sources for this set of figures, none of which are completely consistent with each other, which makes it difficult to come up with an absolutely definitive reconstruction.  

The music for this Polacca set was composed by William Coleman and published as early as 1857, when it appeared in Shuster's flute music, published in Philadelphia, which is online here.  That is considerably earlier than any evidence I have for Asher's figures; the earliest source I have for any version of them is dated 1870.  A Polacca appeared on dance cards from Professor Asher's academy in late 1878 and early 1879.  It seems likely that the figures danced were Asher's own, but the first definitive source I have for them is a Boston reprint of Coleman's music, dated 1881, on which the figures actually appear with a credit to Asher.  I've treated this as my primary source for the figures.  A detail from the cover of this music is above at left; click to enlarge.

Coleman's music was also printed in J. W. Pepper's Universal Dancing Master (1882), appearing on pages 60-62.  Asher's figures, more or less, appeared separately on page 13.  Variant versions of the figures also appeared in The amateur's vademecum by E. B. Reilly (Philadelphia, 1870), A treatise on the elements of dancing by the anonymous T. Erp. Sichore (San Francisco, 1891), The American prompter and guide to etiquette by E. H. Kopp (Cincinnati, 1896), and A complete practical guide to modern society dancing by Albert W. Newman (Philadelphia, 1903).  Given the date of the Reilly manual, I think it possible that this variant is actually a separate version of the figures, existing in parallel with Asher's, but it's similar enough that I can't be quite certain.

Musically, "alla polacca" means in the manner of a polonaise, but the music is more waltz than polonaise.  The 1881 printing is labeled "Glide, or Polacca Quadrilles", referring to a glide waltz, and the T. Erp. Sichore source called it "The Polacca or Glide Waltz Quadrille".  Reilly (1870) declared that it was danced with "plain waltz step" although he stated that it required mazurka steps in two of the figures.  I don't recommend actual polonaise steps for the walked part of Asher's Polacca, just small walking steps counted in threes, and, despite Reilly's comment, do not suggest mazurka steps.

Highland Glide

Photo: Andrew Trembley

The Highland Glide was the very last schottische given in M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890).  It reappeared in George Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903) under the name La Highland Glide (Schottisch).  The dance was created by Chicago dancing master C. A. Carr, who published sheet music advertising the dance, though the copy I have scans of does not include the dance instructions.  Part of the cover of the sheet music may be seen at left; click to enlarge.  It is dated 1890.  Carr advertised himself as the creator of the "popular" Carlton (a polka sequence which appeared in Gilbert and Lopp) as well as "famous" Newports (plural), by which I suspect he means he composed music for dancing the Newport, rather than the dance itself.  Gilbert and Lopp also credited him with the Ashland (another polka), Le Beau (a galop), and the America (a mazurka).

The Highland Glide follows the common "double" schottische pattern of four measures of slow steps followed by four of faster steps, the first part with minimal turning and the second turning continuously using the typical late-nineteenth century waltz-galop step (explained here).  The measure count presents a minor reconstruction issue, since the steps are notated by Gilbert and Lopp in 4/4, but the sheet music is notated in 2/4.  It is fairly obvious from the rhythm and tempo given that two measures of the sheet music are what Gilbert and Lopp considered a single measure.

November 2019 Gig Calendar

I'll be juggling two big trips in November - to Kyiv, Ukraine, for a ball and a day of classes, then back to the USA in November for the Remembrance Day Weekend balls and a country dance evening in Chicago!  In Moscow, I'll be continuing some private lessons and doing another public dance at the American Center at the U. S. Embassy.

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Friday, November 1st ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances
for the American Center in Moscow
6:30-8:00pm.  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged; form link to follow.  Part of a regular series happening roughly every other Friday.

Saturday, November 2nd ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson

Tuesday, November 5th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Saturday & Sunday, November 9th & 10th ~ Kyiv, Ukraine
Gala Vampiria Ball & Master Classes (Facebook events, in Ukrainian: ball and classes)
Attending the ball on Saturday and teaching classes on Sunday.  The classes will include advanced nineteenth-century improvisation (rackets and Newport/Pasadena), cross-step waltz (shadow variations, including four different ways to do windmills, and tango-inspired variations), and new steampunk choreography.  Yes, this is an odd combination of themes!

Tuesday, November 12th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Saturday, November 16th ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson

Tuesday, November 19th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Friday & Saturday, November 22nd & 23rd ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The 17th Annual Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball (Facebook community) 
5:30pm-midnight each day.  TWO nights!  TWO formal dinners!  TWO balls!  Both evenings are formal Civil War-era events with pre-1865 costume (civilian or military) required.  Advance reservations (dinner and ball or ball-only) are needed, and this event generally sells out well in advance!  Friday night's ball is Fancy Dress/Masquerade with a Scottish/Tartan theme, complete with a piper to lead the Grand March.  Saturday will feature a Patriotic theme.  I will be calling both evenings this year, with live music both nights by the Fleeting Moments Waltz & Quickstep Orchestra and different beginner-friendly dance programs!

Monday, November 25th ~ Oak Park, Illinois (Chicago area)
From Jane Austen to Queen Victoria and Beyond! (Facebook announcement/flyer)
for Chicagoland English Country Dance
7:00-10:00pm.  An evening of country dances and quadrille figures tracing the evolution of group dances from the late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century.  Beginner-friendly; no experience or partner needed.  This is a modern English country dance group, so only basic steps will be used; the emphasis will be on interesting figures.  Live music by Tim MacDonald and Jonathan Whitall!

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I am available for private lessons in Moscow (primarily Thursday nights and irregular weekends) or while on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Moscow, Russia: November 1-20, 28-30
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: November 21-23
Chicago, Illinois: November 25-26

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Coming in December: more dances at the American Center!

A Ballroom Basilisk, 1897

I'm just going to leave this story here without any commentary.

Happy Halloween!

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GONE WITH A BASILISK.

A LURID SHORT STORY.

BY G. L. Calderon

Reginald passed his hand wearily over his aching brow, and glided languishing between the purple portières.  Within was a chaos of whirling muslin and hungry faces swimming on a sea of passionate, throbbing music.  There was a mist before his eyes; grinning heads floated restlessly by, gibbering in the shell-like ears of painted women.  Amid the fevered maelstrom, one figure loomed large and close upon his attention.  It was the hostess.  A hot wet hand pressed his.  “Law! what a squash!” he murmured in her ear, then plunged into the stream, and was borne away to the other side of the room.

"The Fancy Ball", 1837: the tableaux vivants

So turns my memory to that brilliant sight
When wit and beauty held their festal night;
When the thronged hall its glittering groups displayed
Of Nature’s loveliness, by art arrayed;
Of graceful forms that mocked the sculptor’s art,
And eyes whose glances reached the coldest heart,
Of all that beauty loves or taste admires,
Of all that valor warms or genius fires.

While ideas for tableaux vivants, the "living pictures" that often opened a ball in the nineteenth century (or interrupted it, as at this ball in Heidelberg in the 1840s) are easy to come by, it's rare to find a detailed description of a whole series of them at a ball.  The poem "The Fancy Ball", from which the above lines are excerpted, devotes over half its length to poetic descriptions of the tableaux vivants performed at a ball held in Savannah, Georgia, in 1837, three of which are easily identifiable scenes from the works of Lord Byron or Sir Walter Scott.  I haven't been able to identify the other scenes, but hope to figure them out eventually.

The poem was written by Henry Bowen Anthony, a Rhode Island politician who spent some time working in Savannah as a young man.  During that time, he attended a fancy dress ball held in mid-March of 1837 by Godfrey and Julia Barnsley at Scarborough House, Julia's family home, now in the possession of her and her husband.  The ball was an extravagant one, and is quite well-documented.  It certainly made an impression on Anthony!

After returning from Savannah, Anthony became a newspaper editor and eventually entered politics, serving as a U. S. Senator from Rhode Island for twenty-five years and dying in office.

"The Fancy Ball" was written when Anthony was only twenty-two and was privately published at the time.  It was reprinted, unrevised, in an edition of only one hundred copies in 1875.

Wings, 1912

Here's a costume-oriented cotillion figure from Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures, by H. Layton Walker (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912) that is missing its dance instructions:

Wings.
These are to be about two feet long and made on wire of crepe paper, painted with gold, and as they are made in all colors, it is intended that they should match the color of the gown of each dancer and so present a perfectly harmonious ensemble.  A heavy hook is fastened where the two wings join, so that they may be attached to the end of the decolletage of the black [sic] of the bodice of each terpsichorean flower, thus prematurely precipitating these mundane possessors into their angel (so-called) possessions.  Crimped paper in every shade is made to assimilate the neck ruches of liberty silk and mousseline de soie, now so much worn, and these also make a pleasing medium of exchange of friendliness, yes, of something stronger oftimes. among those participating in the dance.  Silver and gold pencil holders are also used for this purpose, making not only an ornamental but a useful present to ladies as well as to gentlemen.  The gold ones have a jewel in the end in place of the rubber, and the silver ones have rubber.  The latter are also made with the distinctive features of the colleges and universities.  Harvard to have a crimson enameled flag bearing the letter “H,” in white as its decoration.  Yale, the flag to be in blue and white, while Princeton, the black and orange colors, etc.

There's quite a bit to unpack here: what did the wings look like?  What were the crimped-paper neck ruches?  And the pencil holders?  How was the figure danced?  

Hygeia Hotel Grand Fancy Ball, 1858

"The Grand Fancy Ball at Old Point Comfort-- All the F. F. V.'s out in their Native Splender [sic]", an article covering a fancy dress ball held at the Hygeia Hotel in Old Point Comfort, a seaside town in Virginia, was published on page five of The New York Times on August 30, 1858.  The "F. F. V.'s" were the "First Families of Virginia," the wealthiest and most socially prominent families; more discussion of the term and its history may be found here.  All quotes below are from the Times article unless otherwise credited; a full transcription is at the end of the post.

The Hygeia Hotel, shown above in an image from c1861 (click to enlarge), courtesy of The Library of Congress.  (The Hygeia is the long building with the colonnades.)  It was originally built in 1822 as housing for construction workers at Fort Monroe.  The original hotel was razed during the Civil War and a new hotel built on the site, which was then demolished in 1902.

The original Hygeia grew and grew:

Over the following 25 years [after 1833], the owners constructed wings housing more than 200 rooms, as well as various detached buildings for billiards, pistol shooting and bowling. Guests such as President John Tyler and Edgar Allan Poe came for the healthful sea breezes, sea bathing and seafood, not to mention a social scene so fashionable that Old Point became a favorite setting for short stories and novels.

By 1858, the Hygeia was entertaining more than 5,000 guests a year.

-- "Hampton Archive: The South's Best Resort", October 4, 2009

Among its more famous guests was Edgar Allen Poe, who stayed there a month before his death in 1849, famously reciting his poems, "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", and "Ulalume" in the moonlight from the hotel veranda.

Mr. Palmer comes of age, Yarmouth, 1831

Moving a bit forward in time, the coming of age ball of Mr. Samuel Palmer, junior, on Tuesday, March 1st, 1831, was accorded detailed coverage the following Saturday, March 5th, in The Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette.  The family seems to have been a prominent one, since they convinced then-Mayor Edmund Preston to lend them a hall and the whole town to deck itself out in celebration of their son's birthday.  And, of course, they were wealthy enough to throw a ball for several hundred guests.  Piecing together public records, I am reasonably certain that the birthday boy's full name was Samuel Thurtell Palmer (c1810-1850), whose parents were probably Samuel and Susanna (Thurtell?) Palmer.

Most of the article was, as usual, devoted to lengthy lists of guests and their costumes, but there were some interesting tidbits here and there.  The transcriptions below include all of the article with the exception of the lists that just named the attendees and their outfits.

York Fancy Dress Ball, 1824

There were fewer detailed descriptions of masquerades and fancy dress balls published in the first few decades of the nineteenth century than there were during Victoria's long reign, when such balls became enormously popular.  But the fancy dress ball held in the York (England) Assembly Rooms on Tuesday, March 23rd, 1824, was given a substantial writeup the following Saturday, March 27th, in The Yorkshire Gazette.  Most of the coverage was reprinted exactly on Thursday, April 1st, in The Leeds Intelligencer and Yorkshire General Advertiser.  All excerpts below were transcribed from the article in The Yorkshire Gazette.

As, apparently, the first public fancy dress ball ever held in York, the preliminaries and the efforts of the ball's nervous organizing committee were described in unusual detail, along with much back-patting about the success of the event. 

This novel and anxiously expected entertainment, was held on Tuesday evening in our magnificent Assembly Rooms and was attended by upwards of five hundred persons.  It being the first public Fancy Ball that had ever taken place in this county, the Committee felt no little anxiety respecting the ultimate success of their undertaking, and exerted themselves to the utmost, in making all the fit and proper arrangements for the fairy scenes of the evening — the expectation that had been held out, did not fall short of the reality, and we are most happy to have it in our power to state, that, on no former occasion, as a more splendid, brilliant, and amusing assemblage been collected; there was a freshness and gaiety of appearance which delighted all, and the grotesqueness of the scene was irresistible.

Masquerade Prizes, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1882-1883

Once again, October is fancy dress ball, masquerade, and general costumed silliness month at Kickery!  

While digging through the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website at the Library of Congress for dance references, I came across an interesting announcement of a post-Easter masquerade ball held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1883:

Masquerade Ball.
The union depot employes [sic] give a masquerade ball at Market hall on Tuesday evening next.  The remembrance of the great success of their ball last year will draw many new faces the current season.  There will be a grand street parade on Tuesday afternoon, which will be led by Prince Carnival and his cavaliers.  One of the features of the evening will be the awarding of the following prizes:

1. For the most graceful round dancing couple will be awarded the championship and two beautiful gold medals.
2. For the most elegantly dressed lady will be given a handsome silk plush dressing case.
3. For the most comic dressed lady will be given an elegant toilet set.
4. For the most elegantly dressed gent will be given a very rich hammered water pitcher set.
5. For the most comic dressed gent will be given a fine cut glass wine set.
6. For the best clown will be given a large cabinet mirror.
7. For the best masqued group, $10 gold piece.
8. For the most natural and complete animal masque, $5 gold piece.

The prince and princess will be appointed and are not entitled to a prize.

--- from The St. Paul Sunday Globe, Sunday Morning, April 1, 1883, p. 5, under "Social World"  (original page at Chronicling America)

The timing of this ball is interesting, as it took place nine days after Easter, which was on March 25th that year, rather than before Lent like a traditional Carnival event.  

More intriguing was that the ball incorporated a costume contest, which is something I don't recall seeing before, and something of a dance contest as well, with a prize for "the most graceful round dancing couple".

October 2019 Gig Calendar

I am once more happily ensconced in Russia!  I am not launching a full public schedule this month, but I will be experimenting with teaching a short class at the American Center in Moscow (part of the U.S. Embassy); if it goes well, it will become a regular series.  And I may throw a small party at the end of the month - watch this post for updates!  (Edited to add - but I decided not to!  Maybe later in the autumn!)

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Tuesday, October 1st ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Tuesday, October 8th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Saturday, October 12th ~ Moscow
17:15-19:15.  Private lesson

Tuesday, October 15th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Friday, October 18th ~ Moscow
Masterclass: 19th Century American Social Dances
for the American Center in Moscow (VK post)  (Facebook post)
18:30-20:00.  Free, beginner-friendly class on mid- to late nineteenth century contra dances and quadrilles.  No experience necessary, no partner needed.  Note that (1) we will be dancing on lightweight carpet, so the slipperiest possible shoes are encouraged (but dance-floor-restricted shoes are not necessary), and (2) embassy security procedures are in effect, so pre-registration is required; see the form here (in Russian).  If all goes well, this will be the first class in a regular series in November and December.

Saturday, October 19th ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson

Tuesday, October 22nd ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

Saturday, October 26th ~ Moscow
Festival-Competition Planet of the Arts-Moscow (Event website - in Russian)
11:00-18:30.  Dance school contest and showcase.  I am serving as a judge and offering a short class on a couple of historical American contra dances.

Tuesday, October 29th ~ Moscow
19:00-22:00.  Private class

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I am available for private lessons in Moscow (primarily Thursday nights and irregular weekends) or while on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Moscow, Russia: October 1-31

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Coming in November: classes in Kyiv, Ukraine, and back to the USA for Remembrance Day Weekend!

Wilson's "Maze" figure

Stating that Regency-era dancing master Thomas Wilson's personally created new figure, "The Maze", appeared in published country dance figures is a bit of an exaggeration: I've found it exactly twice, once in Thompson's 24 Country Dances For the Year 1814 and once in L'Assemblée, the latter being a book of forty-eight country dance tunes with figures by Wilson which was published in 1819.  (The Thompson book also noted prominently on its cover that its figures were by Wilson.) 

I can't rule out other appearances of the figure, but after skimming through most of my Wilson sources with no further luck, I'd say that The Maze, like True Lover's Knot (but unlike Double Triangle) qualifies as a genuine rarity.  That means that it's not a typical Regency dance figure, the odds of anyone other than Wilson's own students knowing it were fairly low, and one shouldn't call it today unless certain one's set already knows it or prepared to explain or teach it.  I'll provide a simple explanation below.

Like Wilson's other new figures, The Maze appeared in at least three of in Wilson's country dance figure books, the earliest of which I've found it in is the 1811 third edition of An Analysis of Country Dancing.  It also appears in the fourth edition of Analysis (1822) and in  The Complete System of English Country Dancing (c1820).  Happily, the diagram shown at left (click to enlarge) is the same in all three sources and the description varies only in the location of the line breaks.  This particular image is taken from Complete System.

Wilson's "Double Triangle" figure

Like the True Lover's Knot, the Double Triangle is another of Regency-era dancing master Thomas Wilson's personally-created country dance figures, used, as far as I can tell, exclusively by Wilson himself.  Since it is not a standard Regency figure, it is of limited utility.  I myself would use it only if, for some reason, I were doing a very Wilson-focused workshop or event.  In general country dancing, a lady calling "double triangle" will simply create confusion, since no one but a serious scholar of Wilson's work is likely to have the slightest idea what it is.  

One reason to look at it in a bit more detail, however, is that Wilson himself seems to have been fond of it.  It appears over and over in Wilson's own country dance figures.  While I haven't made an exhaustive survey, it would not surprise me if he used it more than any other of his new figures.  It appeared in numerous figures in Wilson's enormous compilation of country dance tunes, A Companion to the Ball Room (London, c1820) and in L'Assemblée (London, 1819), a book of forty-eight country dance tunes with accompanying figures.  But it also turned up in figures Wilson did for books published by others.  There are several occurrences of it in, for example, Thompson's 24 Country Dances For the Year 1813 and Thompson's 24 Country Dances For the Year 1817, both of which are advertised on their covers as including figures by Wilson. 

Since this makes it a figure which dancers looking for country dance figures might come across and be puzzled by, and, I suppose, slightly more likely than most of Wilson's new figures to have filtered out into the world beyond his studio, it seems useful to talk a little about how to dance it and how to explain and teach it efficiently.

At left is the diagram of the Double Triangle as it appeared in the third (1811) and fourth (1822) editions of Wilson's An Analysis of Country Dancing.  The 1811 edition is the earliest source I have for the figure.

This particular image (click to enlarge) is taken from the fourth edition.  Calling the dancers' paths triangles involves a bit of artistic license, given the loops on the corners, but the connection between name and figure is clear. 

Wilson's text, unfortunately, is not only completely dependent on the diagram, it's also confusing in referring to the active gentleman in two different ways:

CD Review: The Ragtime Women

The Ragtime Women is an old recording -- it's dated 1977 and was originally issued as a vinyl LP.  But it's a new acquisition for me, the third and last of the albums expanding my ragtime music collection this summer.  The theme is, obviously, female ragtime composers, and the liner notes give some interesting background on how a smattering of women (and middle-class white women, at that) contributed to a field primarily (and properly) associated with black composers.  The short answer: upright pianos in the home, access to plenty of ragtime sheet music, and the huge number of female home pianists created the conditions for some successful composers to emerge.  Resurrected from historical obscurity on this album are Julia Niebergall, Gladys Yelvington, Muriel Pollock, May Aufderheide, Mabel Tilton, Charlotte Blake, Louise V. Gustin, and Adeline Shepherd.  The liner notes include as much biographical information as was available at the time for each.

The album was assembled by pianist Max Morath (1926-), an accomplished performer as well as an author and a composer in his own right who is something of a modern legend himself as "Mr. Ragtime".  More information about his career and huge backlist of recordings may be found here and here.  His musical quintet for this album also includes Ruth Alsop (cello), Allen Hanlon (guitar, banjo, mandolin), Lynn Milano (bass), and Remo Palmier (guitar).  The sound of the album varies from pure piano-rag to more of a southern string band sound.

All the pieces except one on The Ragtime Women date from 1899 to 1917, with the exception being a modern composition by Kathy Craig, "Romantic Rag", which has some issues with danceability but an authentic feel that will fit in just fine as background music at a 1910s event.

Lawn Tennis Quadrille (3 of 3)

Winding up my Lawn Tennis Quadrille mini-series (see here for the introduction and first figure and here for figures two and three), here are the final two figures.

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Figure Four: The Double Pastourelle
Music: A=8b, B=40b, played A+ (BA x4)

8b   Introduction (not repeated)

4b   Six (along top/bottom of set) forward and back
4b   Two raise arms and side lady (on left) passes under; ladies cross to side gentlemen
4b   Six (along sides of set) forward and back
4b   Two raise arms and side lady (on left)  passes under; ladies cross to head gentlemen
4b   Six (along top/bottom of set) forward and back
4b  Two raise arms and side lady (on left)  passes under; ladies cross to side gentlemen
4b   Six (along sides of set) forward and back
4b  Two raise arms and side lady (on left) passes under; ladies return to original places
4b   All four ladies forward and back
4b   All four gentlemen forward and back
8b   All forward and back to partners and turn by two hands

Repeat all of the above as written once more.
Repeat all of the above twice more with side couples leading.

Lawn Tennis Quadrille (2 of 3)

Continuing my short series on Lawn Tennis (see here for the introduction and first figure), here are figure two and the very exciting figure three!

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Figure Two: The Varied Chains
Music: A=8b, B=16b, played A+ (BA x4)

8b   Introduction (not repeated)

8b    Head couples turn to right diagonal, sides to left; right and left (chaîne anglaise)
4b   With same couples, half ladies' chain
(Pairs are now: 1st lady/3rd gent, 2nd lady/4th gent, 3rd lady/1st gent, 4th lady/2nd gent)
4b   All turn new partners
8b   All balance to corners and turn corners

8b    Head couples turn to left diagonal, sides to right; right and left (chaîne anglaise)
4b   With same couples, half ladies' chain
(Ladies are now opposite their original places)
4b   All turn new partners
8b   All forward and back at corners and turn corners

Repeat all of the above to bring ladies back to original places.

Lawn Tennis Quadrille (1 of 3)

This is the week of the U. S. Open, one of the four major tennis tournaments, so it's a perfect time for Lawn Tennis!

The Lawn Tennis Quadrille, usually referred to just as "Lawn Tennis", was published in 1881 as sheet music by George W. Allen with figures "composed by the society of Professors of Dancing, New York".  This raises the frightening specter of a quadrille composed by committee, which is unusual but not unprecedented in the nineteenth century. 

New York dancing master and author William De Garmo, in the third edition of The Dance of Society (reprinted exactly in the fourth and fifth editions) added some detail, noting that Lawn Tennis was introduced on January 2, 1881, and attributing it specifically to Lawrence De Garmo Brookes, it merely having been "accepted" by The American Society of Professors of Dancing, New York.  The cover image at left (click to enlarge), from a copy online at IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana at Indiana University, shows a nice mixed doubles set with a trio of spectators, the ladies in lovely "natural form" gowns.  Only one of them is actually watching the game.

Lawn Tennis pops up in a number of American dance manuals and call books during the 1880s, but it's difficult to say how popular it was with the general public.  Dancing masters would certainly have tried to push it with their students; it was advertised, for example, on the list of dances taught for the 1882-1883 season by A. J. Webster in Wilmington, Delaware (Daily Gazette, September 16, 1882).  It turns up now and then in newspaper coverage of balls -- for example, on a list of dances from a children's recital in St. Paul Minnesota in 1883 (covered in the Daily Globe).  There was enough general awareness of its existence for it to have appeared on a sort of hypothetical program from 1888 that was never actually danced (more about this program here) and in a rather gooey romantic tale in 1886, "Love to Rescue", that appeared in The Butler [Missouri] Weekly Times on March 10, 1886:

He was a fine fellow, and Betty knew it.  He had never looked nobler than he did at that moment; but De Vaux was a gentleman with invisible means of support; his hands were white, and he could dance the lawn tennis quadrilles beautifully.

September 2019 Gig Calendar

One last non-gig calendar for my extended summer vacation!  This month I am moving back to Russia, and starting in October there will once more be classes, parties, and the occasional weekend of travel.  I don't expect any public events this month.  In the meantime, I am still available for private lessons in Connecticut before I leave (though I will be super-busy packing!)  and in Moscow once I arrive.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

See you in October!

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Saturday, September 21st ~ Moscow
17:30-18:30.  Private lesson

Saturday, September 28th ~ Moscow
17:30-19:30.  Private lesson

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Connecticut: September 1-14
Moscow, Russia: September 17-30

CD Review: Hello, Frisco!

Hello, Frisco! (2007) is an album of vocal ragtime music featuring singer Ann Gibson and, once again, pianist Frederick Hodges (of Kitten on the Keys and Ragtime Dance Party).  As with Kitten on the Keys, this is a more of a listening album, but most of it still works well for dancing if, and only if, one likes dancing to music with lyrics.  Personally, I love it, but those who do not should avoid this album, since every single track has vocals.  For those who want to listen before (or instead of) buying, the entire album may be heard via a YouTube playlist here.

I've talked about Frederick Hodges before, and don't want to repeat myself, but his improvisational piano style (authentic for ragtime) is always a treat.  His full bio may be found on his website.  Ann Gibson does not appear to have a website, but here's her brief bio from the liner notes:

Singer Ann Gibson, who has been crowned by her fans as “The Duchess of Ragtime,” has been gracing Bay Area stages for over ten years with her velvety voiced renditions of songs from the ragtime era through the 1930s. She has worked as vocalist for the Black Tie Jazz Orchestra and the California Pops Orchestra. She has also produced music reviews for the Art Deco Society of California acclaimed for their originality of content and attention to authentic detail in presenting popular music from the Art Deco Era. Miss Gibson was classically trained as a child on piano, French horn, and also sang with several local choirs. Her father, local band leader and composer Bob Soder, was instrumental in her development as he exposed her to many different forms of music, from classical to jazz.

Keep in mind that this was written in 2007.  A longer but equally out-of-date bio may be found here.

August 2019 Gig Calendar

I probably should start calling these summer calendars non-gig calendars, since I'm having a quiet summer dance-wise.  I don't have anything planned this month, nor am I planning to change that.  I am still available for private lessons in Connecticut when I'm there.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

See you in September!

Connecticut: August 1-12, 20-31
Dublin, Ireland: August 13-18

Cadet Waltz

Instructions for The Cadet Valse, by L. W. Vizay, instructor in dancing to the cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, were published in conjunction with sheet music for the dance composed by Frank Mayr.  A copy is available on line at the Chrystelle Trump Bond Dance and Music Collection, Goucher College Archives, from which the beautiful cover image at left (click to enlarge) is taken.  This copy is an English printing and dated 1892, but since the dance instructions appeared in M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) under the name Cadet Waltz, the dance and music must be at least a couple of years earlier than that.  The dance instructions also appeared, under the name La Valse Cadet, in George Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903).  All three sets of instructions are essentially identical, allowing for some shifts in terminology.

The Cadet Valse is an excellent example of dance steps specifically matched to music.  In this case, it's rather unusual music which alternates two bars of mazurka music with four bars of waltz.  With that pattern, the sequence is essentially undanceable to any other music.  I've done an electronic version of the first twelve bars, since it's really necessary to hear the musical accenting to understand the dance.

The Rutcher Waltz

In my earlier post on the Ruchter, I mentioned the mixed-tempo version described by William De Garmo in the fifth edition of The Dance of Society (New York, 1892).  This version was called the Rutcher (not Ruchter) Waltz, and was comprised of sixteen measures of 2/4 music, and sixteen measures of 3/4 (waltz) music.  To be precise, that is eight measures, repeated, of each, as may be seen in the music from De Garmo's book at left (click to enlarge).  This dual-time format is similar to that of the Rye Waltz, which shifts from 4/4 to 3/4.  De Garmo claimed that it was an old folk dance, which I find believable from its style, but I haven't found any trace of it under either Rutcher or Ruchter.  It may well be the original version of the dance, with the Gilbert/Lopp Ruchter being a variation created for a particular piece of music.

A quick summary of the dance is that it is a "doubled" version of the Ruchter using waltz music for the second part.  To break that down in more detail:

Baby-Polka (La Badoise)

Despite the instructions for the dance being listed as the Baby Polka in M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) and La Polka Bébé in George Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903), the first thing to know about the Baby Polka is that it is actually an older folk dance called La Badoise, for which French composer-choreographer François Paul appears to have either written new music or adapted a folk tune (as he did with Sir Roger de Coverley for his "Gigue anglaise croisée") and then credited himself with the choreography.  "Baby-Polka" thus appears to be simply the name of Paul's composition, which over the last century or so has become (or remained) strongly associated with the folk dance in France and elsewhere, though it is not the only tune attached to it.  The name Baby-Polka seems to have merged with Badoise to become the name of the dance as well.

The image at left above (click to enlarge) is from my own copy of Paul's "Baby-Polka" sheet music; it was reproduced exactly in Gilbert, as may be seen here.

The word "badoise" refers to the German region of Baden, or possibly to the spa town Baden-Baden, so it makes perfect sense that French writers attributed the dance's origin to Germany.  Eugène Giraudet, in and early edition of his Traité de la danse (c1890) simply stated "La Badoise est d'origine allemande" (The Badoise is of German origin).  G. Desrat, in his Dictionnaire de la Danse (1895), noted less definitively that it "paraît être d'origine allemande" (would appear to be of German origin), though he also noted its close analogy to a Russian children's dance, "la menace".  In the Lussan-Borel Traité de la Danse (c1900 and c1904 editions), it was given an "origine teutonne".

Lopp, in La Danse, claimed to have researched the origin of the Baby Polka, to no avail:

La polka Bébé, une des premières danses champêtres connues, nous vient de la Bohême; mais à quelle époque remonte son origine? On n'en sait rien, elle se perd dans la nuit des temps. C'est en vain que j'ai fait des recherches, nulle trace; seule une tradition que j'ai pu trouver et d'après laquelle la polka Bébé aurait été composée par une maitresse d'école qui l'aurait fait danser par ses élèves devant un haut personnage pour fêter son passage.

My loose translation:

The baby polka, one of the premier known dances of the countryside, comes to us from Bohemia; but to what era does its origin go back? We do not know, it is lost in the darkness of time. I have searched in vain, no trace; only one tradition that I was able to find, according to which the baby polka was composed by a schoolmistress who would have had it danced by her students dance for an important personage to celebrate his passage.

He settled on it being Bohemian and cited a Mademoiselle Suski, who provided Lopp with some lyrics to sing while dancing.  

I haven't tried to trace the folk dance origins of the Badoise, but its finger-wagging "scolding" element goes back at least as far as Arbeau's sixteenth-century Branle des Lavandières (Washerwomen's Branle). 

Whatever its origins, in late nineteenth century France it was primarily conceived of as a children's dance.  Desrat on the topic:

La badoise, en raison des mouvements des mains coïncidant avec ceux des pieds, ne peut être dansée que dans les matinées enfantines.

My loose translation:

The badoise, because of the coordinated movements of the hands and feet, can be danced only at children's daytime events.

Other writers' similar thoughts will be noted below.

Diary of a Journey to England, 1761-1762

On November 22, 1902, The New York Times announced the discovery, translation, and publication of the travel journal kept by Count Frederick Kielmansegge on his visit to England in 1761-1762 for the coronation of George III.  The diary was discovered and translated by his great-granddaughter-in-law Philippa, then-Countess Kielmansegg (the spelling of the family name varied over the years).  The opening paragraph of the article may be seen at left; click to enlarge.  The complete article may be found online in The New York Times Archives.

Friedrich Graf von Kielmansegge (1728-1800), a lawyer and administrative official, and his brother Karl Rudolf August von Kielmansegge (1731-1810) were part of a prominent Hanoverian family (the Holstein/Hannover Kielmansegges) and second cousins once removed of George III through their grandmother, who was the illegitimate half-sister of George I, the first Hanoverian king of England.  Their family name variously spelled as Kielmansegg, Kielmansegge, and Kielmannsegge, but since the diary was published in English using the spelling "Kielmansegge", I'll keep to that version here.

The coronation was the brothers' excuse to travel, but Kielmansegge was an enthusiastic tourist and roamed all over England taking in the sights, which he described at great length.  He also socialized extensively and attended balls given by royalty and nobility in London as well as in other towns he visited.  The diary is a fascinating document in general, well worth reading, but the major attraction for the dance historian is that it contains useful information about the practice of dance in England in the mid-eighteenth century.  I have not read the original, which does not seem to be available to the public; I am dependent upon the English translation.  But I see no reason for the Countess to have edited or bowdlerized the dance information and therefore regard it as reasonably reliable.

The Bronco

Compared to other dances found in M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) and George Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903), the Bronco is a bit of a puzzle.  The tune "Le Bronco" was a schottische with an interestingly irregular accent which the dance matched precisely.  Both music and dance were composed by J. F. Davis, as may be seen on the cover at left, from the 1888 sheet music, which has been made available online by Richard Powers, here (PDF).  According to Powers' bibliography, there was also an earlier edition published in 1885.  

These publications obviously predate Gilbert (1890) and Lopp (1903).  But Gilbert and Lopp, who were usually quite good about crediting the creators of dances, did not attribute the Bronco to Davis.  They also gave a shorter sequence, only the first part of Davis's two-part dance, and listed it as for 6/8 (jig) or 2/4 (galop) music rather than schottische.  Why?  We don't know. 

The simplest explanation is that the shorter jig-time version was transmitted more widely and Gilbert either was unaware of the Davis version or, for some reason -- personal conflict, political difficulties between dance organizations, whatever -- just didn't want to give Davis the credit.  Lopp rarely offered a credit that Gilbert did not.  Or Gilbert might have created the shorter version himself, though in that case Lopp might likely have credited him. 

Another possibility is that there was an existing dance called the Bronco and that Davis incorporated it into a longer sequence and composed music to match.  I consider this less likely.

For now, the exact process by which we ended up with two variant Bronco sequences will have to remain a mystery.

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Hornpipe Polka

Taking yet another meander through M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), here's an extremely simple polka variation from Constantine Carpenter and Charles Martel, the same Philadelphia-based pair responsible for The Latest York.  The Hornpipe Polka itself is trivial, but it was composed to a very popular piece of music to which it is extremely well-matched and of which numerous early recordings survive.   Interestingly, it does not seem to have impressed G. W. Lopp, who did not include it in his La Danse (Paris, 1903), which incorporated translations of almost everything in Gilbert.

The variation itself is quite short.  The starting position is "military" position, opened up side by side (the gentleman's right hand on the lady's waist and her left hand resting on his shoulder or upper arm) as discussed and pictured here.  "First foot" below refers to the normal starting foot -- the gentleman's left and the lady's right; second is the opposite.

Hornpipe Polka (four measures of 2/4 time)
2b   Polka forward twice, starting on first foot, then second.
(take closed hold)
1b   Galop, starting with first foot, making a half turn
1b   Polka, starting with second foot, completing the full turn
(open up side by side and restart from the beginning)

July 2019 Gig Calendar

I am still mostly on my summer reading/research/writing break, but I plan to emerge briefly for my second lecture to the Beau Monde (Regency-focused) subgroup of the Romance Writers of America at their conference in New York in July.  Other events may emerge, but I'm not really seeking them.  Lots of work to do!

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Tuesday, July 23rd ~ New York City
Beau Monde Annual Conference and Soirée
3:15-4:15pm, lecture; 7:30-11:00pm, soirée.  Regency romance writers' conference.  I will be delivering a lecture on Regency-era dance and ballroom etiquette and leading the dancing at the evening soirée.  This event is open to registered members of the conference only, with a limit of one hundred attendees.  Pre-registration cutoff is July 13th.  See the conference webpage for details.

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

New Haven, CT: July 1-22, 25-31
New York City: July 23-24

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Maxina, 1917

On Thursday, July 26th, 1917, as part of its annual conference, the British Association of Teachers of Dancing held a competition for "round dances", which in this context means couple sequences.  The "first certificate" (winner) was "Maxina", by Madame Low Hurndall of London.  The choreography was published in The Dancing Times in September, 1917 (issue numbered New Series No. 84) as well as with the sheet music for the dance, composed by Marguerite Boissonade and W. F. Hurndall (husband of the choreographer).  The cover of my copy of the sheet music is shown at left; click to enlarge. 

The Maxina spread quickly, and not only within the British Empire; there is also a 1917 French translation of this "nouvelle danse qui fait fureur a Londres" online at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.  Sequence dances, however, were not considered quite as à la mode as regular couple dancing.  In 1919, Gregory D'Egville, in the first edition of How and What to Dance, reported haughtily that "Although not 'fashionable' in the ordinary sense of the word, the Maxina is danced a good deal at small dances outside London."  This did not stop him from publishing a version of the instructions with a slightly different ending. 

The Maxina continues to be danced as a living tradition dance and has acquired several significant variations over the years.  My reconstruction is based on the earliest sources for the dance: the description published in The Dancing Times and the instructions on the sheet music.

Album Review: A Midsummer Regency Romp

Well, it's only taken me three years to get around to reviewing this digital-only album from the top-notch UK dance band Green Ginger!  A Midsummer Regency Romp came out in the summer of 2016, and I've been happily using tunes from it off and on ever since.

The short version of the review: buy the album from Bandcamp here!  But be aware that (1) the time range is rather wide for "Regency", (2) only eleven out of fourteen have suitable repeats (six) for historical style dancing, and (3) one of those is...problematic.  Contact Green Ginger directly for extended (twelve-repeat) tracks.  And be wary of the dance reconstructions in the accompanying booklet.

The Ruchter (Babies on our Block, Little Sally Waters, La Marsaielle)

Continuing to work my way through M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) and G. W. Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903), here's one of the more unusual dances: the Ruchter!  It was also known as "Babies on our Block" and "Little Sally Waters" for reasons I will discuss below, as well as, apparently, "La Marsaielle".  The Ruchter as given in Gilbert and Lopp is a polka.  There is also a double-length mixed-time signature version, the Rutcher [sic] Waltz, which appears in the fifth edition of William De Garmo's The Dance of Society (New York, 1892) and which may be the original form of the dance.  De Garmo adds a footnote to his discussion of the Rutcher Waltz acknowledging the shorter just-plain-"Rutcher" with a slight variation in the second part.

(Edited 7/26/19 to add) I have described the Rutcher Waltz here. (end addition)

The Ruchter is unusual primarily because it's standard starting position is with the two dancers facing each other across the line of dance, both hands joined and extended somewhat outward.  Gilbert's illustration of this position is above; Lopp's is at left (click either to enlarge).  Note that the dancers need to be as far apart as is comfortable since, as depicting in Gilbert's illustration, they're about to be moving mirrored feet straight toward each other.

Mrs. Underwood's Reception and Exhibition, 1901

This dance program is a bit unusual: it's not for a ball in the usual sense, but for a dance teacher's "reception and exhibition", which in this case means an evening that starts with a bit of social dancing, then breaks for a children's dance recital, then continues on with more social dancing.  This was a common mix for dance school recitals; numerous descriptions of similar events  were published in the pages of the dance masters' journal The Director in 1897-1898.  For example, George Prutting's sixteenth annual exhibition and reception, held on April 22, 1898, in Hartford, Connecticut, started with children's exhibition dances and ended with a social program of sixteen dances, "including the waltz, two step, schottische, lancers, etc." (The Director, Vol. 1, No. 6, May 1898, p. 186).  Mrs. Underwood's reception, held on February 15, 1901, actually had three separate dance programs: an initial set of social dances probably performed just by the students, the exhibition or "fancy" dances, and the social dances for "general dancing" at the end of the evening.

Dancing to "The Bishop"

I recently attended a modern English country dance evening and happened to dance what in modern tradition is known "The Bishop", done to the tune "Miss Dolland's Delight".  As can be deduced from the title of this post, I would phrase that differently, but I'll get to that later on.

I play a little private game at modern dance events of trying to guess the decade of those dances that are based on historical sources and then figure out what (if anything) has been done to modernize them beyond removing the historical steps in favor of walking.  "The Bishop" was easy to guess as 1770s (it turns out to be from 1778).  It was also very easy for me to spot the three biggest modifications to it. 

Ready to play?

Here are the directions for the modern dance:

A1    1st Man cast to middle place, set to & turn 3rd Woman with 2 hands, finishing in middle place
A2    1st Woman the same with 3rd Man
B1    1st Couple gate up through 2nd Couple as 3rd Couple gypsy clockwise, then circle hands 6 L half way round
B2    1st Couple gate up through 3rd Couple as 2nd Couple gypsy clockwise, then circle hands 6 L half way round

It may be easier to visualize these figures with the help of a video.  Here's one that's well-made and shows the modern figures clearly.  The music is "Miss Dolland's Delight".

Can you pick out the three big modernizations aside from everyone just walking through it?

It's easy, right?

Early Foxtrot: Quick Dips

Ah, June, when one turns one's thoughts (and feet) to...weird little foxtrot variations! 

This time around, let's look at a pair of steps, or rather step-sequences, from Edna Stuart Lee's Thirty Fox Trot Steps (New York, 1916) that both involve quick dips.  These are actually ever-so-slightly harder to do than the usually run of walks, trots, glides, and two-steps that make up a great deal of the 1910s foxtrot repertoire.  Lee noted that the first of these, The Coney Island Dip, is "very exhilarating and excellent exercise for the lungs."

The gentleman's steps are given; the lady dances opposite.

CD Review: Kitten on the Keys

Kitten On the Keys is an album of "Ragtime, Novelty, and Stride Classics" from famed concert pianist Frederick Hodges, previously noted here as part of the Crown Syncopators, whose album Ragtime Dance Party I heartily recommend for both dancers and listeners.  Kitten on the Keys is more of a listening album, with enough musical flourishes that the dance beat on some pieces can be hard to track.  I wouldn't necessarily suggest using many of these pieces for newer dancers, but it's a treat for listeners and more experienced dancers should be able to manage fairly well.  

The brief liner notes explain Hodges' approach: 

The professional pianist, however, correctly understood that sheet music was to be used as a guide or a blueprint for constructing a full and satisfying piano solo...the professional pianist strove to create a unique and special arrangement that gave the piano roll and record buying public a good reason to buy yet another record of the rag hit of the day.  

Employing this historically correct approach, I have taken delight in creating my own arrangements of the rags on this CD.  Only in rare instances do my arrangements reflect the published sheet music, and then only when the published arrangement or sections thereof were so musically satisfying that little embellishment or expansion was required.  Nevertheless, my goal has been to perform these rags in an authentic manner, fully consistent with the performance styles of their composers and of the best professional pianists of the ragtime era.

More information about Hodges' substantial accomplishments may be found on his own website (warning: music autoplays!)

This is a piano-only recording, which is appropriate for the ragtime era.  Most of the music is best suited to one or more of the two-step/one-step/foxtrot family of dances, but the highlight of the album for me is a rare half-and-half track, "Drawing Room Echoes".  The liner notes are brief, but interesting.  

June 2019 Gig Calendar

I have some personal and research travel planned during June, but otherwise am taking my annual summer reading/research/writing break.  I don't expect (and am not looking for) any public events at all this month.  I am still available for private lessons in Connecticut, or while on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Connecticut: June 1-7, 14-18, 25-30
New York City: June 8-9
Boston area: June 10-13

Elite Lanciers (3 of 3)

Wrapping up Gilbert's Elite Lanciers, here are the fourth and fifth figures.  Introductory material and the first figure may be found in my first post in this series; the second and third figures are in the second.

The fourth figure as given in Link:

8b   Introduction [not repeated]
4b   All swing corners with right hand half round address
4b   All turn and swing with left hand half round, address
4b   All join hands, forward & back, address
8b   Four ladies cross right hand, half round, left hand back
Played 4 times
3rd & 4th time gents

This is another figure where Link's brevity completely obscures the interesting part: that this is a mixer figure, in which the dancers change positions and partners every time until they regain their home positions after the fourth time through!

Elite Lanciers (2 of 3)

Continuing along with Gilbert's Elite Lanciers, here are figures two and three!  An introduction and the first figure may be found in my previous post.

The second figure as given in Link:

8b   Introduction [not repeated]
4b   Head ladies forward & back
4b   Cross over
4b   Head couples chassa to the left & right
4b   Head ladies pass to the couples on their left and swing gent with the right hand half round
4b   Chassa
4b   Turn partner to place
Played 4 times
3rd & 4th time gents

The interesting element that is not obvious from these instructions is which dancers do the second "chassa".  Following Rivers, it's meant to be done by six dancers in two trios in "wavy" formation, with the gentleman facing two ladies, holding hands, and all three moving in the same direction.

Eiite Lanciers (1 of 3)

The Elite Lanciers is a variant Lancers set created by M. B. Gilbert, most famous for his couple dance collection, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890).  The Elite Lanciers does not appear in Round Dancing.  I came across it first in the Unique Dancing Call Book by Charles Link (Rochester, NY, c1893), where it did not impress me as particularly interesting.  What changed my mind about these figures was finding a second source: New Dances, by C. H. Rivers (Brooklyn, c1890), with an attribution to Gilbert.  Link trimmed the calls in his book to a bare minimum (and didn't mention the creators of the figures).  Rivers not only offered more detailed calls but also added some additional notes and gave Gilbert his credit.  Along with being a fun set of figures, this makes the Elite Lanciers an interesting example of how a minimalist set of calls can make what's actually quite a nice set of figures into something that looks too boring to bother with. 

The Latest York

Years ago, when I was working intensely on the "York set" of variations (see here, here, here, here, and here), I somehow skipped The Latest York, possibly because, unlike all those other "Yorks", it does not feature the characteristic York step sequence of slide-close-slide-cut/close in "1&23" rhythm.  

M. B. Gilbert published The Latest York in his Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) "by permission of Constantine Carpenter, Son, and Charles C. Martel".  This style of credit generally refers to the choreographer of the sequence and/or composer of the music.  The same pair are also credited with the Gavotte Glide.  Carpenter is listed in Gilbert's directory of dancing masters as living in Philadelphia.  Martel is not in Gilbert's directory, but his name appears in Philadelphia newspapers (The Times, October 21, 1894, e.g.) during the 1890s offering parties and lessons. 

Interestingly, The Latest York is one of the few dances from Gilbert that G. W. Lopp did not translate and reprint in La Danse (Paris, 1903).

Rye, just Rye

Moving right along with late nineteenth-century variations from the usual pair of M. B. Gilbert (Round Dancing, Portland, Maine, 1890) and G. W. Lopp (La Danse, Paris, 1903), here's a short one that's classified as a redowa or mazurka.  Lopp attributed La Rye to Gilbert, who had previously printed it in his own work without attribution.  Gilbert did not ever credit himself specifically in his own book, unfortunately, which makes it difficult to be absolutely certain of the attribution.

The name of the variation suggests that it was meant to be danced to a musical setting of the famous Robert Burns poem, "Comin' Thro' the Rye", which was set in both waltz and schottische rhythms (including both alternately in the Rye Waltz, a sequence dance dating back to at least the 1890s).  The waltz version of the tune, which may be heard on this YouTube video, is not accented like a redowa or mazurka and does not offer especially good musical support to this sequence of steps.  There may have been a version published with a more mazurka- or redowa-like style, but I haven't been able to locate one.  Skilled musicians might also be able to tweak it musically on the fly.  It's also possible that there was a completely different tune called "The Rye", but I actually find this less likely, as the word was so strongly associated with a particular tune.  There was a 1922 novelty dance ("The New Rye Dance") published which combined a "redowa, Rye movement, and waltz" using "Comin' Thro' the Rye", but that's much too late to mean anything more than that people really liked adapting "Comin' Thro' the Rye" for dancing. 

In the absence of adventurous musicians or a mazurka/redowa-accented recording of "Comin' Thro' the Rye", I'd not really recommend that piece for these steps.  They work much better with an appropriate polka mazurka or redowa tune.  For tempo, Lopp offered his typical  recommendation of 144 beats per minute, which works quite well and matches Gilbert's overall recommendation for  redowa/mazurka.

Wayside Gavotte

Just to be thorough, here's a quick reconstruction of the Wayside Gavotte I mentioned in my previous post on the Stephanie Gavotte.  This is another short couple dance sequence, but unlike M. B. Gilbert's Stephanie Gavotte, it moves normally along line of dance throughout and loosely follows a "doubled" schottische pattern with four bars of forward travel and four bars (more-or-less) of turning.  Though it is meant to be danced to "Stéphanie-Gavotte", there is no reason it can't be danced to other schottische music.

Per Gilbert Dances, Vol. II (1913, Susan Hoffman Gilman, ed.), the Wayside Gavotte was choreographed by Helen C. Way, whom I presume to have been a student of Gilbert's.  It is undated, and since, according to the biography in Gilbert Dances, Vol. I, Gilbert was teaching until his death, it could be from as late as the beginning of 1910.  The use of the waltz-galop step feels to me more reminiscent of the schottische sequences of the 1880s-1890s, however, so I suspect it is from closer to 1900.

Stephanie Gavotte

The Stephanie Gavotte is a short (eight-bar) schottische/gavotte sequence which George Washington Lopp, in La Danse (Paris, 1903), attributed to M. B. Gilbert.  It had previously appeared in Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) without any specific attribution.  

The sequence was almost certainly created for the popular "Stéphanie-Gavotte", op. 312 of Austro-Hungarian composer Alphons Czibulka (1842-1894).  The piece was composed in 1880 in honor of the engagement of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, to Princess Stéphanie of Belgium and apparently became enormously popular.  It's quite easy to find the sheet music; the Library of Congress alone has eighteen copies of it online, including this 1885 edition, from which the image at left was taken.  Performances and recordings of it are likewise easy to find; here's a nice one by the Belgian orchestra Brabelio:

May 2019 Gig Calendar

Last month in Moscow!  Along with preparing for my homeward migration at the end of the month, I'll be traveling to Odessa for Vintage Dance Exchange 2019 - By the Sea and teaching a full slate of waltz and nineteenth-century classes and private lessons.

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Friday, May 3rd ~ Moscow, Russia
Private class
3:00-6:00pm
Noted here just to hold the date/time.

Sunday, May 5th ~ Moscow, Russia
Private lesson
6:00-8:00pm
Noted here just to hold the date/time.

Thursday-Sunday, May 9-12th ~ Odessa, Ukraine
Vintage Dance Exchange 2019 - By the Sea (Facebook event)
A weekend of classes, balls, and parties with multiple teachers and both historical and folk dance!  My classes will include: Gentle Polka Mazurka Variations (late 19th century American), Dolce Amoroso Fuoco (16th century Italian), Musicality: New Waltz Musical Crossovers (late 19th century American), Quadrille Cinq Parties du Monde (mid-19th century French), and more!  Events will include an open mic dance party, a Renaissance ball, a Regency picnic, a late nineteenth century ball, a trip to the Odessa opera, and an early twentieth century afterparty.

Tuesdays, May 14th & 21st  ~ Moscow, Russia
Intermediate Cross-Step Waltz
7:00-10:00pm; lessons 7:00-8:15/8:30-9:45 + two 15-minute practice sessions.  New variations and review of material from 2018-2019 season.

Thursdays, May 16th, 23rd, 30th ~ Moscow, Russia
Late 19th Century Polka Mazurka Plus
7:00-9:00pm
Improvisation in polka mazurka using steps and sequences from American variations of the 1880s.  Emphasis on musicality.  Steps work with polka-mazurka, redowa, and mazurka music.  Also: applying these variations in galop and jig time!  Pay by the week or for the full four-week course.

Friday, May 24th ~ Moscow, Russia
Beginner's couple dance class
8:00pm
Easy partner dance choreographies from the early 20th century!  Beginner-friendly! 

Saturdays, May 19th & 26th ~ Moscow, Russia
Private lessons
5:15-7:15pm
Noted here just to hold the dates/times.

Tuesday, May 28th ~ Moscow, Russia
Farewell Waltz Party (VK event - in Russian)
7:00-10:00pm.  Waltz, waltz, and more waltz!  Light refreshments.

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

Moscow, Russia: May 1-6, 13-31
Odessa, Ukraine: May 8-12

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