Capering & Kickery

May 2022 Gig Calendar

IN-PERSON EVENTS.  That pretty much sums it up.  See you on the real, live dance floor!

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Friday-Sunday, May 6th-8th  ~ St Katharine’s, Parmoor, Frieth, England
Early Dance Circle Biennial Conference 2022: Retrieving & Reconstructing the Past through Dance  (Facebook event)
This conference will feature an international set of speakers on historical dance topics spanning the 15th century to the 20th, plus five workshops, three performances, and an evening of participatory dance.  I will be presenting a paper on the opening "changes" of the mid- to late-18th century French contredanse (cotillion, square dance) and teaching a workshop on a late 1810s French version of Le Grand-Père, a Continental finishing dance.  A full list of contributors and paper/workshop topics is included on the registration form (pdf).

 

Saturday, May 21st ~ Essex, Connecticut
The Essex 1814 Ball  (Facebook event) - CANCELLED
A formal 1810s ball with live music by Marnen Laibow-Koser and Jean Monroe and an American-specific program of country dances and cotillions.  $25 in advance; ticket information here.

 

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I am once again available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, always providing the pandemic does not spiral back into disaster again.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

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Coming in May: a trip to Germany and an American Civil War Ball in Lackawanna, Pennsylvania!

April 2022 Gig Calendar

Spring has sprung, I'm still in the USA, and I have one more month of online events before transitioning back to primarily in-person teaching in May and June!

Please note: online events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, April 9th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, April 24th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Friday-Sunday, April 22nd-24th ~ ONLINE / Boston-based
New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) Online (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
Large festival featuring contra, English country dance, international folk dance, waltz, many other forms as well as music (lots!), crafts, etc.  I will be teaching two sessions with an emphasis on quick instruction and then participatory dancing: Hand Jive! (Saturday, 12:00-12:50pm) and Having a Brawl: 16th Century French Circle Dances (Sunday, 10:00-11:00am).  I will also have an informal dance history chat (about anything people want to discuss) in the Cafeteria breakout rooms on Saturday from 6:00-7:00pm - come to the Cafeteria and look or ask for the room.  The full schedule is posted here.  Registration info here.  

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in May: the Early Dance Circle conference and an 1814 Ball in Connecticut!  In person!!!

March 2022 Gig Calendar

Well. 

The major possibility I was expecting for March was to move back to Moscow and resume teaching dance in Russia and Ukraine, so I didn't plan much of anything else.  As anyone who has not been living under a rock for the last few days is no doubt aware, that is probably not happening this month, and it's hard to say whether it will happen in the foreseeable future.  Or at all.

So...new possibilities are needed.  I'll make a quick research trip to Boston early this month and will be working on other events and workshops in the USA for later this spring, plus planning for one or two conferences in Europe.  For those who've been wanting me in the USA but have been blocked first by my mostly being in Russia and then by the pandemic, this is a great time to book me.

Is anyone else tired of being resilient after the last two years?

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, March 20th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in April: online dance workshops at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)!

American Boy

Another dance associated with the Mahler family of dancing masters in St. Louis is the American Boy, an easy two-step sequence described by Jacob Mahler in the October 24th, 1909, issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  It is one of two sequences fully described in an article entitled "Five New Dances Now the Delight of Society" on page 65.  It's not clear whether Mahler choreographed it himself, and I've not been able to find any other source for the dance.

The starting position is the dancers side by side, gentleman on the left and lady on the right, holding inside hands as shown in the illustration at left from the Post-Dispatch article, and facing line of dance.  The gentleman starts on the left foot and the lady on the right.

Interestingly, Mahler gave the lady's steps, with the gentleman dancing opposite, so I will do the same.

Russian Militaire

"For children there have been accepted La Veta and the Russian Militaire, the latter a semi-drill and march step, combining simple and graceful poses for the little ones."

-- Marie Petravsky, "New Fads in Dances", The Sunday Morning Call (Lincoln, Nebraska). Sunday, October 25, 1896, p. 5.

The accepting organization referred to was The Western Association and Normal School of Masters of Dancing, which also accepted a number of dances for adults that year.  The newspaper article was timed to the start of the new dancing season in New York, but on the sheet music it is noted that the dance was adopted on June 11, 1896, in Toledo, Ohio.  It is also claimed, apparently inaccurately, that "This Dance was the only Dance adopted out of ten others presented." 

The choreographer of the dance was John A. Mahler, brother of the much better-known St. Louis dancing master Jacob Mahler.  Both brothers taught children; another of John Mahler's dances, the Two and a Half Step, was inscribed to "the Young Ladies of the Mary Institute and Hosmer Hall", two St. Louis schools.  There is no indication on the sheet music that it was meant for children, which makes one wonder how many of the other simple sequence dances of the period might also have been meant for the younger set!

February 2022 Gig Calendar

As we come out of the Omicron surge, I'm starting to plan actual, in-person events for later this spring (May/June), hoping they will actually take place this year.  Meanwhile, I'm back with the California-based Historical Tea & Dance Society again this month for another Zoom lecture and will have a research trip or two as well.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, February 19th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, February 20th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, February 26th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Dancing à la Carte: a Century of Dance Cards (Facebook event)
for The Historical Tea & Dance Society (Facebook page)
2pm Pacific/5pm Eastern.  "Whether plain or fancy, covered with feathers or in the shape of a fan, your dance card guided you through the ball. It ensured you didn't miss your waltz with Walter Whirligig or your quadrille with Quentin Quickstep, and then became a treasured souvenir forever after. But what were dance cards? When did they arise, what did they look like, and what can they tell us about dancing in the past?"  A popularly-oriented Zoom lecture on dance cards, primarily nineteenth century, with lots of lovely images! $5 per person, limited to fifty people.  Registration information in the sidebar here!

 

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in March: life is full of possibilities...

The National Park Quadrille (3 of 3)

(See the first and second posts in this series for the structure of the quadrille, the "chorus" figure, and the introductions to each figure.)

Completing the National Park Quadrille, here are the third and fourth figures!

Figure 3     (4b intro, A=8b, B=8b; played 4b + AABBx4)
4b    Introduction (not repeated): gentlemen step to the center and turns to face partners, all quickly bow/courtesy, and the gentlemen return to places

4b    Head trios forward and back
4b    Head trios turn opposites by two hands
4b    All twelve join hands, forward and back
4b    All twelve take hands three in trios and circle round to places
16b  "Chorus" figure (described in detail here)

Repeat three more times (heads, sides, sides).

The National Park Quadrille (2 of 3)

(See the previous post in this series for the structure of the quadrille and the "chorus" figure.)

Going on with the actual figures of the National Park Quadrille!

Note that the first figure does not open with eight bars for the standard honors to partners and corners or opposites.  There is a specific kind of honors for the four-bar introduction to each figure.

Figure 1     (4b intro, A=8b, B=16b; played 4b + AABx4)
4b    Introduction (not repeated): gentlemen step to the center and turns to face partners, all quickly bow/courtesy, and the gentlemen return to places

4b    Head gentlemen with right-hand ladies turn by the right hand (polka steps)
4b    Head gentlemen with left-hand ladies turn by the left hand (polka steps)
4b    Head gentlemen with right-hand ladies promenade halfway round
4b    Head gentlemen with right-hand ladies right and left (chaîne anglaise) to places
16b  "Chorus" figure (described in detail here)

At the end of the figure the two ladies in each trio will have exchanged places.  Head couples repeat, then side couples twice more.

The National Park Quadrille (1 of 3)

The sheet music for Clifford G. Sweet's National Park Quadrille, published in 1892, immediately intrigued me because the cover (shown at left, click to enlarge) proclaimed it "For 8 Ladies & 4 Gentlemen".  In other words, it was a trio quadrille, for four trios in a square, which is one of my favorite variant quadrille formations.  The sheet music was not accompanied by dance figures, but, happily, they are available elsewhere, though not in their original publication.  Two near-identical versions of the instructions may be found in The American Prompter and Guide to Etiquette by E. H. Kopp (Cincinnati-New York-Chicago, 1896) and a late edition of Clendenen's [Fashionable] Quadrille Book and Guide to Etiquette (Chicago, 1899).  Given how close the language is in the two sources, I suspect that both authors were copying from the missing original.

The National Park Quadrille is a four-figure set performed with either polka steps or plain steps ("according to the ability of the dancers") for most of the figures, with a generous amount of polka for couples thrown in during the "chorus" that ends each figure, during which the glide polka, discussed here, should be used.  This is essentially a combination of two slides of galop (one measure) plus a polka step (one measure).  If dancing the polka in the casual slide-together-slide style, which I suspect was typical at this time, it will feel much like a four-slide galop (as described here).

The most interesting element of this quadrille is the back-and-forth progression for the ladies: on each iteration of the quadrille, they change places within their trio, from left side of the gentleman to right and vice-versa.  Since the ladies on the left and right of each trio perform different figures, this prevents any imbalance in the dancing.  Each of the four figures should be performed four times, twice for the head couples and twice for the side couples.  It is noted that if this feels too long, the first three figures can be done only twice (once for heads and once for sides), but that produces a slightly strange result, with the ladies in different positions in each figure and one lady getting more polka-round opportunities than the other.

January 2022 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!  It's got to be better than the last one, right?  Did I say that last year, too?  (Nope.)

This month I'm back (online) with the California-based Historical Tea & Dance Society for another lecture and will have a research trip or two, but we're in the midst of the Omicron surge, so not much else is happening, alas.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, January 22nd ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, January 23rd ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, January 29th ~ ONLINE / California-based
From Jane Austen to Fezziwig, and Beyond: Why the last dance of the evening became the best dance of the night.  (Facebook event)
for The Historical Tea & Dance Society (Facebook page)
2:00-3:30pm.  A popularly-oriented Zoom lecture on three popular finishing/finale dances from England and France in the late 18th and 19th centuries.  The official description: "The ball is almost over: you've worn holes in your slippers, your hair is coming down, and you may be a little bit drunk -- but you still want that one last dance, the finishing dance! Whether it's La Boulangère (the only dance mentioned by name in Jane Austen's novels) or Sir Roger de Coverley (stretching through the Regency to Charles Dickens), or the Grandfather dance, the finishing dance was your last hurrah of the evening."  $5 per person, limited to fifty sixty people.  See the Facebook event or the HT&DS website for registration.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in February: more of the same, including another lecture!

December 2021 Gig Calendar

And...we may be heading into another winter viral surge.  Fortunately, I've only got online events this month, but I'll be making research trips to Boston and Washington, D.C., and continuing to push my writing (now with extra added translation!) forward.  Life may be quite, but it's not boring!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, December 11th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, December 12th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in January: a new year!  Better things?  Another lecture on La Boulangère?

November 2021 Gig Calendar

Back in the ballroom at last!  This month I will return to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for a Remembrance Day Ball (though in a different location and with a different organizer than in previous years) as well as doing a presentation for an online conference in the UK.  I'll squeeze in a research jaunt around the Gettysburg trip and expect to spend time early in the month sewing a new costume for it since my ballgown is (sigh) still in Moscow.  I'm so excited to get back on the dance floor in costume for the first time since early March, 2020!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, November 14th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, November 21st ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Remembrance Day Ball hosted by Civil War Lady / Joy Melcher
In person!  American Civil War-era dinner and ball.  I will be calling the dancing to live music by the Susquehanna Travellers.  This is not my usual Remembrance Day Ball, which is still on pandemic hiatus; this is a different organizer and location.  Tickets $40; Covid vaccination strongly recommended.  See the website for registration and hotel information.

Saturday-Sunday, November 27-28th ~ ONLINE / UK-based
An Assembly for Jane Austen
An online conference run by the UK's Historical Dance Society (Facebook page) with historians, dance researchers, and practitioners giving Austen-themed presentations.  There will also be an evening soiree with a nautical theme with live music by Green Ginger's Meryl and Ian Thomson and prompting by Lizzy Curzon.  I will be speaking at 4:20pm (UK time!) Saturday on the history of the Boulanger, the only dance mentioned by name in Jane Austen's works and letters.  Tickets £20; register here.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in November: a real, in-person ball in Gettysburg and an online Jane Austen conference in the UK!

October 2021 Gig Calendar

All right, this month is actually less of the same, relative to last month.  Let's hope that roots grow deep in the dark, because this is definitely a dark and quiet month for me.  But better things - including an in-person thing - are coming in November!  Edited to add: And better things have arrived!  I will be doing an in-person dance class!  In person!!!  Not open to the public, alas, but in person!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, October 17th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Monday, October 27th ~ New Britain, Connecticut
Dance workshop at Central Connecticut State University
9:25am-12:05pm.  Guest teaching (in person!!!) nineteenth-century dance for a dance history class.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in November: a real, in-person ball in Gettysburg and an online Jane Austen conference in the UK!

September 2021 Gig Calendar

I'm cautiously optimistic that things will start to pick up this autumn, though I'm not sure about winter.  This will be a fairly quiet month (like so many recently...) with an online lecture and a research trip.  

And if your dance group us back to actual in-person dancing, I'm willing to travel for small, vaccinated-only events and classes and, of course, to do Zoom lessons and talks for those who are not yet back to in-person events.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Tuesday, September 14th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Lecture on masquerades and fancy dress balls
for LIRA (Learning in Retirement Association - University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
10:00am-12:00pm (Massachusetts time). Zoom lecture. This will be similar to the lectures I've done this year on Regency-era masquerades, but expanded to cover the later nineteenth century and into the twentieth.

Saturday, September 18th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, September 19th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in October: likely more of the same, but it's very hard to plan, nowadays...

August 2021 Gig Calendar

I'm now in that in-between space in which online lesson series are no longer viable but, with the delta variant surge, in-person lesson and classes have not really started up again, at least not to the extent of hiring traveling teachers.  But I have a wonderful research trip planned this month -- two separate libraries, two days in each, plus seeing friends I haven't see since 2019 -- and expect to have plenty of work to keep me busy, what with wrapping up my July events, revamping my masquerades lecture for another outing in September, and pushing several research and writing projects forward.

That said, I'm also still somewhat willing to travel for small, vaccinated-only events, depending on what and where and how the pandemic is going.  And (sigh) to do Zoom lessons and talks.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, August 1st ~ ONLINE / California-based
Hand Jive Dance Review
for Stockton Folk Dance Camp
At approximately 6:25pm (Pacific time), I'll be doing a quick (ten-minute) review of my second Stockton Hand Jive class (the Hand Jive Dance) at the closing party.  The schedule is subject to slippage, so it may happen a bit later.  The overall festival is free, though it's a bit late to join in an eight-day event at this point, and donations are encouraged.  Register to attend here.

Saturday, August 28th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, August 29th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in September: another version of the masquerades lecture!  And maybe more!

July 2021 Gig Calendar

All right, this is getting a little ridiculous.  Remember I said last month that that series of online classes was really the last one?  Well...it wasn't. 

So let's try this again:

Still no in-person classes, but this month I'll be doing one more series (the last one! really!) of cotillion working group classes, using a different potpourri scheme - multiple figures repeating multiple times.  I'll also be lecturing for the Regency Fiction Writers Virtual Conference and teaching hand jive at the fabulous (and free!) online Stockton Folk Dance Camp.  Stockton is a fabulous bargain - a week of classes with an international cast of teachers, tons of dancing and music, and free.

And if anyone is ready to sponsor in-person classes in the USA again...I'm fully vaccinated and ready to travel!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

 

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Saturdays, July 10th-31st ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group III: The Last Series
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Online lesson series experimenting with a three-figure, nine-change potpourri cotillion of the Federalist period (1780s-1800s).  Continuing students only.

Thursday-Saturday, July 22nd-24th ~ ONLINE / EDT-based
Lecture: Regency Masquerades
for the Regency Fiction Writers 1st Annual Conference - 2021 “A Brand New Day: The Many Facets of Regency Fiction”
Part of a three-day writers' conference for the Regency Fiction Writers (a.k.a. The Beau Monde).  My lecture will be from 3:00-4:00pm on Friday, July 23rd.  Attendance is limited to conference attendees.  Conference registration is open through July 15th.  More information at the RFW website.

Friday, July 23rd - Sunday, August 1st ~ ONLINE / California-based
Workshops: Hand Jive (two)
for Stockton Folk Dance Camp
I will be teaching two session of 1950s hand jive as part of this huge online folk dance event with teachers and musicians from all over the world.  My workshops will be Thursday the 29th at 3:00pm (Pacific time) and Friday the 30th at 4:00pm (Pacific time).  The first will be typical hand jive moves and clapping rhythms.  The second will be something new (for "1958" values of new) and rather unusual as hand jive goes.  Then at approximately 6:25pm (Pacific time) on Sunday the first, I'll be doing a quick (ten-minute) review of the second class at the closing party.  The event (the whole camp, not just my workshops) is free to all, though donations are encouraged.  Register to attend here.

Sunday, July 25th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in August: research time!  Because somehow I haven't had enough isolation?

June 2021 Gig Calendar

I just can't seem to quit the online classes!  Much to my surprise, I'm doing one more series - this is really the last one, I think - of experimenting on students with fresh cotillion research.  I also hope to add a couple of Connecticut-local, vaccinated-only, in-person classes later this month.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, June 5th-26th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group II: A Patriotic Potpourri!
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series experimenting with an American potpourri cotillion of the Federalist period (1780s-1800s).  Fresh research; students are the guinea pigs.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  To be followed by an online cotillion-dancing party on July 3rd.  Prerequisite: returning students or instructor permission.  Contact me directly for permission and registration information.

Sunday, June 13th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in July: Stockton Folk Dance Camp and the Regency Fiction Writers/Beau Monde Annual Conference, both online!

May 2021 Gig Calendar

Moving right along, pandemic-wise, I've now had both vaccinations (Pfizer/BioNTech) and am waiting out the two weeks until my immunity matures.  For May, I'm teaching what will probably be my last full series of online classes and starting to plan out summer travel, which will with luck include both research and, just maybe, some in-person teaching!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, May 1st-29th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Five-part Zoom series experimenting with American cotillions of the Federalist period (1780s-1800s).  Fresh research; students are the guinea pigs.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Plan (subject to change) is for four classes and a cotillion-dancing party.  Prerequisite: rigadaun step and previous experience with historical footwork.  $35 for the series; limited to twenty students.  Contact me directly for permission and registration information.

Sunday, May 16th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

April 2021 Gig Calendar

I am now half-vaccinated and anticipate being fully so around the end of the month!  Lessons and events continue to be online-only for me for now, with a return to limited in-person teaching possible as early as June.  This month's highlight for me: after many years, a return to NEFFA (online version) to teach, of all things, 1950s hand jive!  Details below!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, April 3rd-24th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102c (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite: 101 class or permission. This is the third in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 102c.  The class assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles and reels.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.


Sunday, April 11th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Tuesday, April 13th ~ ONLINE / Boston & Philadelphia-based
Social Time & Blues DJing (Facebook event)
for Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook group) & Powerhouse Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-8:15pm Social Time; 8:15-9:00 Dance lesson with Kerian Pearson.  9:00-10:00pm DJed dance music.  I'll be hanging out during the first half of the evening and spinning the tunes for at-home dancing for the second half!  Zoom link at Facebook event.  Suggested donation $5.00.

Sunday, April 25th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Hand Jive! 
at the Online New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)  (Facebook event)
11:00am-12:00pm.  1950s hand jive was much more than shown in "Grease," with many different movements, patterns, and musical rhythms. Learn different arm and hand motions for grooving to the music even when there's no space to dance. No partner needed, family-friendly, and accessible to those with lower-body disabilities.  Attendance only through the full Online NEFFA, which runs from 4:00pm on April 23rd to 7:00pm on April 25th and includes many online music, dance, and discussion lessons plus social spaces.  Pay what you can (suggested donation $40) for the festival as a whole; register here.

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

March 2021 Gig Calendar

The pandemic continues, but vaccines are rolling out apace in the USA, so I am feeling cautiously optimistic about later this year, though I've no idea when I'll be able to resume significant travel again.  In the meantime, I'm still online-only!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, March 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering absolute basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  No previous experience needed!  This is the first in the HT&DS footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 101, and is the prerequisite for the 102 and 103 level classes.  The class is intended for absolute beginners and moves very slowly.  Steps include the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Four Saturdays, March 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102b (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite: 101 class or permission. This is the second in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 102b.  The class assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles and reels.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Sunday, March 21st ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

February 2021 Gig Calendar

My excitement for February: returning to DJing blues!  I'm not a big blues dancer, but I love the music and look forward to spinning online for my old Boston-area pals at Bluesy Tuesy and new folks from Powerhouse Blues!  I'll also be returning to my ultra-basic footwork classes and might add another pop-up class or lecture somewhere in there...

Otherwise: it's still a pandemic.  But the vaccines are coming!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, February 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering absolute basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  No previous experience needed!  This is the first in the HT&DS footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 101, and is the prerequisite for the 102 and 103 level classes.  The class is intended for absolute beginners and moves very slowly.  Steps include the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Four Saturdays, February 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102a (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite: 101 class or permission. This is the first in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 102a.  The class assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles and reels.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Tuesday, February 9th ~ ONLINE / Boston & Philadelphia-based
Social Time & Blues DJing (Facebook event)
for Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook group) & Powerhouse Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-9:00pm Social Time; 9:00-10:00pm DJed dance music.  I'll be hanging out during the first half of the evening and spinning the tunes for at-home dancing for the second half!  See Facebook event for Zoom link.  Suggested donation $5.00.

Sunday, February 21st ~ ONLINE / UK-based
Online Club Session 9: Regency Ballroom: or the art of being improper (Facebook event)
for Nonsuch History & Dance (Facebook group)
1:00-3:00pm.  "Despite their success and long-lasting popularity, waltzes and quadrilles took time to conquer regency ballrooms. This session will connect dance master instructions with reviews, diaries and caricatures to understand the first impression these continental dance forms left on the British public before becoming long-term favourites."  I will be responsible for about half an hour of the event, briefly talking about quadrilles and teaching variations of turn for the figure dos-à-dos then discussing wilder dance moments from French ballrooms.  Other presenters include Darren Royston, Professor Michael Burden (University of Oxford), and Alena Shmakova.  Short talks and dance practices will include: a Strathy-based warmup, Regency waltz, eighteenth-century masquerades, body/posture-shaping devices, and ballroom etiquette.  Short Q&A at the end.  £10 per person; register in advance via the website or Facebook event.

 

Sunday, February 28th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

January 2021 Gig Calendar

Well, we're still online-only...this month is planned as a research/writing month, so while I'm doing one brand-new lecture, I'm not planning any other major teaching events, just a few low-key private pop-up classes, which will keep popping up here throughout the month.  I expect more organized public classes to resume in February!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Saturday, January 2nd ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Arbeau's Bransles
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  Fun and easy dances for the new year!  Sixteenth century line and circle dances.  Easy steps, great music, and no partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Saturday, January 9th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Regency Masquerade Lecture (Facebook event)
10:00-11:30am.  Lecture and discussion on late 18th- and early 19th-century masquerades and fancy dress balls in England.  Discussion time afterward.  $5 per person, preregistration required - see Facebook event for registration info.  Limited to 50 people and likely to sell out SOLD OUT.

Saturday, January 9th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Arbeau's Bransles II
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  Fun and easy dances for the new year!  Sixteenth century line and circle dances.  Easy steps, great music, and no partner needed!  Price split by number of students; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Saturday, January 16th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Minuet
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  Basic minuet step forward and sideways, basic minuet "Z" figure and hand turns.  No partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Saturday, January 23rd ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Minuet, part two
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  No partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Sunday, January 24th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Sunday, January 30th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Lecture on Regency ballroom practices/etiquette
for Teel House Emma Virtual Regency Retreat (Facebook event)
7:00-9:00pm.  Online "ball" with concerts, at-home dancing, and at some point my prerecorded lecture (about 25 minutes) and brief Q&A time.  Lecture will be first-person, living history style, on Regency ballroom practices and etiquette.  This event is limited to attendees of the weekend-long Teel House Emma Virtual Regency Retreat.  Register here.  Full schedule here.

Saturday, January 30th Sunday, January 31st ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Minuet, part three
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  No partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.  Rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday!

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

Coming in February: a return to regular basic footwork classes and an online blues DJing gig!

Foxtrot Styling, c1920

A nice little style detail for the foxtrot as danced in England in the years after World War I:

"A variation is also to be observed in the chassé done alternately to left and right, at an angle of 45 degrees to the line of the dance.  In the ordinary way of doing this, say, when the man is going forward, he slides the left foot forward to the left, and then brings the right foot up to the left, and again advances the left.  The new variation is to cross the right foot behind the left.  When the chassé is done to the right, it is of course the left foot which is crossed behind the right.  The lay (or the gentleman if he is going backwards), crosses her foot in front of the foot that is first moved."
        --- "The Sitter Out" (column) in The Dancing Times (London), January 1920, p.270.

By the "chassé", the writer means the two-step, as is clear from the description of the "ordinary way" of performing it.  The description is referenced again in March, 1920, issue (p. 439; the numbering is continuous across multiple issues).  In the "To-Day in the Ballroom" box shown at left (click to enlarge), under "Fox-Trot", there is a note that "The crossing of the feet (described in January) is popular and effective if the steps are kept small."

CD Review: Minuets & Optional Dances ~ Ignatius Sancho

I recently saw the eighteenth-century African-British composer Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) described as "largely forgotten", which struck me as an odd way to describe someone who's been the subject of a modern biography (Ignatius Sancho: African Man of Letters, by Reyahn King, Sukhdev Sandhu, James Walvin and Jane Girdham (1997)) and a one-man play in both London and New York City, recently had a new collection of his letters published (Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African, edited by Vincent Carretta (2015)), has had both facsimile and modern editions of his music published (including Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780), An Early African Composer in England: The Collected Editions of His Music in Facsimile, by Josephine B. Wright (1981) and at least five books of his works in modern notation from Africanus Editions), whose music is being recorded and performed, and, last but not least, whose dances have been the subject of at least a couple of books of reconstructions.  We should all be so forgotten!

It occurred to me that I had one of those recordings, Minuets & Optional Dances (2015), by the Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra, tucked away somewhere.  I hadn't ever done much with it because it consists primarily of minuets, which are not something I spend much time on.  But the 140th anniversary of his death seems like a good day to dig it out!

December 2020 Gig Calendar

Well, here we are at the last month of this very strange 2020.  As usual, I'm wrapping up my classes for the year.  As not-usual, they are online classes.  Hoping for better in 2021...

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Two Saturdays, December 5th & 12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 103b: Fitting Steps to Dances  (CONTINUED) (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
2:00pm-3:30pm.  The last two classes in a four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. Continuing the HT&DS series of historical steps for country dances and related forms, this second "fitting steps" series will again focus on using steps we've learned with the specific figures of dances from different historical periods. Some previous experience required - either our 101 class or basic knowledge of steps such as doubles and singles, the chassé-jeté-assemblé Regency sequence, and the rigadaun. Other steps will be reviewed or taught briefly as needed. This is a friendly, gently-paced class going beyond the absolute basics to how to apply steps in the ballroom.  CONTINUING SERIES STUDENTS ONLY.

Saturday, December 19th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Thomas Wilson's Sauteuse Waltz
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  A look at the sauteuse waltz described by London dancing master Thomas Wilson in the mid-1810s, including steps, turning technique, different time signatures, and attitudes of the arms.  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of  my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Sunday, December 20th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

November 2020 Gig Calendar

November is going to feel strange this year, with no trip to Gettysburg for the Remembrance Day Balls.  Hopefully they will be back next year!  In the meantime, I'm going to spend November ping-ponging from the 17th century (unusual for me) to the early 20th, with a detour for footwork classes focusing mostly on late 18th to early 19th century dance.  I'm especially excited about both the Playford Then and Now Festival, hosted by The Historical Dance Society (formerly the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society) in the UK with a great lineup of speakers, and the chance to repeat for the Historical Tea and Dance Society in California a lecture I gave for a university group back in September on the intertwined lives of the dancers Vernon and Irene Castle and the musician James Reese Europe.  Both the Castles and Europe are frequently discussed, lectured, and written about separately.  I'm thrilled to bring their stories together!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Saturday-Sunday, November 7-8th ~ ONLINE / UK-based
Playford Then and Now Festival (Facebook event)
for The Historical Dance Society (Facebook group page)
12:00-18:30 (UK time) Saturday / 12:00-18:00 (UK time) Sunday.  Please adjust times for your own time zone!  Online (Zoom) dance festival/conference centered around historical and modern English country dance.  I will be giving a presentation at 14:10 (UK time) Sunday on songs attached - or not - to the country dance tune "Jamaica".  Other presenters include Anne Daye, Charlotte Ewart, Jeremy Barlow, Colin Hume, Aaron Macks, and more.  More details on the event website.  Tickets £15; purchase online here.

Sunday, November 15th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, November 21st ~ ONLINE / California-based
A Ragtime Revolution: Vernon and Irene Castle and James Reese Europe (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
10:00-11:30 (Pacific time).  Online (Zoom) lecture: "For a few brief years in the 1910s, an English vaudeville actor, a New York socialite, and the son of a former slave were some of the most famous entertainers in America. Join us to explore their intertwined stories, ranging from Harlem to Broadway, from New York to Paris, from World War I’s flying aces to the trenches of France, before this magical historical moment ended in tragedy. This lecture will trace the parallel careers of James Reese Europe and the Castles, their complicated interracial collaboration, and their influence on music, dance, and entertainment."  Limited to 50 people, advance registration required, tickets $5.00/per person.  Ticket link here.

Four Saturdays, November 21st-28th/December 5-12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 103b: Fitting Steps to Dances (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
2:00pm-3:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. Continuing the HT&DS series of historical steps for country dances and related forms, this second "fitting steps" series will again focus on using steps we've learned with the specific figures of dances from different historical periods. Some previous experience required - either our 101 class or basic knowledge of steps such as doubles and singles, the chassé-jeté-assemblé Regency sequence, and the rigadaun. Other steps will be reviewed or taught briefly as needed. This is a friendly, gently-paced class going beyond the absolute basics to how to apply steps in the ballroom.  $20 for the series; registration link here.

Saturday, November 28th ~ ONLINE / Maryland-based
Macoronarena! (Facebook announcement)
for Chessiecon 2020 (Facebook group)
4:00-5:00pm.  A short dance class in Sidney Grant's new solo dance, the Macoronarena, a pandemic-inspired, socially-distanced variation of the Macarena.  Catchy bilingual music, easy dance, family-friendly, and lower-body-disability-friendly - can be done upper-body only!  This event is limited to members of Chessiecon, an online science fiction convention, only.  Weekend memberships $10 or free with purchase of 2021 membership - see webpage for details.

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Coming in December: I wrap up my classes for the year...and perhaps do a Jane Austen event?

I am available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

The Way it Ended, 1855

I came across this story in a California newspaper, The Weekly Placer Herald, and didn't find it particularly believable.  But it was not original to the Herald; the attribution at the end is to the Albany Dutchman, which seems to have been more of a weekly humor publication than a newspaper.  Per the Library of Congress's Chronicling America website, it described itself  in 1849 as "A weekly newspaper-devoted to fun, literature, good advice, women and other luxuries."  I don't have any way to check the attribution at the moment, as the Albany Dutchman doesn't seem to be online, but that fits with my impression that this is a tall tale, not an actual incident.  It nonetheless makes a light-hearted ending to my month of masquerades!

In the story, two friends, Bob and Frank, lie to Bob's wife about his having to help a sick uncle.  In reality, they are sneaking off to a masquerade ball.  While Bob is a married man, Frank is "a roue, and as a matter of course is a great favorite with the ladies—roues always are." 

A Louisville Masquerade, 1843

Here's a lively account of a jolly and slightly drunken masquerade held in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1843.  This account has a little of everything: costumes, bad puns, a bit about the dances, and the effects of alcohol on the revelers.  It's too long a report to comment on every bit of it, but the entire thing is transcribed at the bottom of this post.

The report starts out with a lot of philosophy about the joys of masquerades, but the first really useful bit is that as in A Few Friends, the unmasking is done at supper-time, which was probably around midnight:

The unmasking at the supper table is often a great source of laughter and surprise, when it discovers the faces of numerous acquaintances who have been playing off their wit and raillery against each other all the evening, under their various disguises. 

All sorts of people attended masquerades, which is part of what made them scandalous.  In Kentucky, at least, this mixing was not to be feared, though I suspect the upper classes might have differed on this point:

A masquerade is an unsorted class of society, it must be admitted; but are you not liable to mix with bad persons in the best regulated companies?  Even robberies have frequently been committed in churches; and if you keep aloof from mankind on that account, you may soon become a crying philosopher, afraid to stir from your own fireside, in order to prevent contamination, and be devoured by hypochondria the remainder of your days.

The writer had a few drinks before arriving and is thus in a good mood:

It was at a late hour that I entered the room, and I was in a right good humor for fun and frolic, and the scene before me, having taken a glass or two of Walker’s rich old wines, the vivifying qualities of which would almost make the dumb to chatter. 

Remember "vivifying".  The extra "life" provided by alcohol recurs later.

Wandering around in the dark, 1912

Since wandering around with small lanterns in a dark room looking for people to dance with also seems like a suitable spooky, or at least entertaining, activity for Halloween balls and cotillion parties, here are another pair of cotillion figures from H. Layton Walker's Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912) that feature that very activity!

These are both simple mixer figures in which pairs of ladies and gentlemen must find their designated match, either by number or by name.  

1. LANTERN FIGURE.  Original description:

Palm Fronds and Canary Warblers, 1912

Along with masquerade and fancy dress balls and costumes, the other topic I generally include in October is suitably wacky cotillion figures, dance party games that could be part of the final section of a ball or of a stand-alone event.  Most of them are simple mixers, but I have a gleeful passion for the stranger ones that involve costumes or props or simply strike me as delightfully weird.  Here are a couple of the latter, both taken from H. Layton Walker's Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912).

1. Human Palm Trees.  Original description:

Professor Webster's Masquerade Party, 1876

On March 18, 1876, the Morning Herald of Wilmington, Delaware, published a short blurb covering a recent "masquerade party" given by one Professor Webster at the Dancing Academy Hall.  Unusually, the newspaper coverage says nothing about the costumes other than that there were enough of them to "have exhausted a first class costumer’s establishment, and have taxed the ingenuity of an artist."  Instead, we get an actual dance program, consisting entirely of quadrilles, Lanciers, and glide waltzes, and accompanied by names which might be masquerade costumes, though I'm not certain of that.

Professor Webster was a long-time Wilmington dancing master - he was still teaching as late as June 4, 1899, when the Sunday Morning Star reported on the closing reception of his current series of dance classes (see about two-thirds of the way down the first column here.)

Here's the list of dances, in order.

A promenade of 15 minutes, presumably the Grand March, followed by a polka.
1. Quadrille, plain, Des Layton, No. 100, Thatcher
2. Waltz Glide, Flag of Truce, White
3. Quadrille, Lanciers, Tin Fiddle, Hildreth
4. Quadrille, plain, Jigiana, Cleland
5. Quadrille Polka, Mary’s Lamb, Osborne
6. Waltz, Glide, Old Mother Goose, McIntire
7. Quadrille, Robinson, Fandango, Aiken
8. Quadrille, blain [sic], Auld Lang Syne, Burk
9. Quadrille, Polacca, breakdown, Stidham
10. Waltz, Glide, Timber Heels, Simmons
11. Quadrille, Mazourka, Red, White and Blue, Grant
12. Quadrille, plain, Lunatic, Pierson
13. Quadrille, varieties, La Manayunk
14. Waltz, glide. Spring Chicken, Vanderbreak
15. Quadrille, plain, Piccodilly [sic], Mose
15. [sic] Lanciers, Shoddy, McCall
17. Waltz, glide, Go, Lang.

A Fancy Dress Party (from A Few Friends), 1864

A Few Friends, by Korman Lynn, was serialized in nine parts in Godey's Lady's Book during the year 1864.  The serial doesn't have a lot of plot; it describes eight evenings of a group of friends gathering together to, for the most part, play parlor games.  It's great for anyone who wants to research mid-nineteenth century parlor games, which are described in elaborate detail, but the only section of any real interest to me is the final one, in which the friends gather for a fancy dress party.

To pick up the story at this point, it is only necessary to know that the kind and generous Ben Stykes has been quietly pursuing the lively Mary Gliddon from the beginning of the story, though a certain Mr. Hedges, a young man from Liverpool, is also interested in her.

Even a single part of the story is too long for me to transcribe here, but I'll quote the costume descriptions, some of which are detailed and unusual, and the resolution of the romance.

A Fancy Dress Hop at West Point, 1865

On Saturday, September 9, 1865, The New York Times published an account of a fancy dress "hop" given by the ladies of Cozzens' Hotel in West Point, New York, home of the famous U. S. Military Academy. 

Cozzens', established in 1849, was a prominent hotel near the Academy.  The original building was destroyed by fire in the March of 1861 but quickly rebuilt.  The image below is a late-nineteenth-century print by Max Egalu of the view of the Hudson River from the hotel; the original is in the collection of the Boston Public Library.


With its ready supply of eager cadets from the Academy, Cozzens' was a popular site for dances.  In 1859, an article in Harper's Weekly explained that:

"...the rigors of military etiquette are mitigated thrice a week by balls or hops, which are given by the cadets to their friends and guests at Cozzens’s Hotel and elsewhere in the neighborhood. These gay parties are justly famed among the fair sex; for better and more indefatigable dancers than the cadets are not to be found even in New York. Pretty girls who go to West Point to spend a few days in the bracing air, and enjoy the lovely Hudson scenery, invariably declare that they never enjoyed any ball in their life so much as the Cadet Hops."

        --- Harper's Weekly, September 3, 1859

 

The article was accompanied by an engraving of such a "hop", specifically described as "a scene familiar to the happy people who spend summer days at Cozzens's at West Point."

 

The original may be seen at archive.org (engraving, article).

 

A more detailed history of the hotel may be found at The News of the Highlands.

Anti-Masquerade Americans, 1794 and 1837

Welcome to October: masquerade and fancy dress month on Kickery!

To start things off on a different note, let's look at some of the anti-masquerade sentiment found in the early years of America.  Full transcriptions of the articles cited may be found at the end of the post.

On December 22, 1794, the Gazette of the United States and daily evening advertiser (Philadelphia) published an "extract of a letter from an American Gentleman in London" dated December 20th.  This might or might not have been a genuine letter, as opposed to editorial-moralizing-disguised-as-correspondence, but it represented the conservative sentiment about masquerades in what was at the time the capital city of the young United States.  Naturally, the English were still attending such shocking entertainments, providing the convenient opportunity to run a titillating description for their readers.

The gentleman, upon entering the masquerade, at first found his situation "awkward" and felt "sensations, bordering upon disagreeable".  But, realizing his anonymity, 

"...the apparent ease of all around me; the intoxicating strains of the well adapted music, and above all the indescribably contagious influence of the place; set me free from every restraint, and gave my soul the same riotous sense of pleasure, which seemed to have full possession of all around me."

Above left is an 1811 English drawing of a masquerade (click to enlarge) by prominent caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson; you can see the "freedom from restraint" in the prominent "HORNS TO SELL" sign (suggesting a volunteer for cuckoldry) and the man in the red domino at far right about to pinch the derrière of the cross-dressed woman in yellow.  The women's small half-masks are obvious, but some (possibly all) of the apparent faces, particularly the bearded and long-nosed ones, were also masks.  The anonymity of masks was, theoretically, the difference between a masquerade and a fancy dress ball, which involved costumes without masks.  This difference could get somewhat blurry, especially with costumes that worked as disguises.

October 2020 Gig Calendar

Life continues on in pandemic time, which feels like a cross between time flying by and a sort of vague timelessness. 

October will be a quiet teaching month for me while I work on a new research project for a festival next month, but I have a new double series of California-based basic country dance footwork classes this month before we probably take a break over the holiday period.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, October 3rd-24th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102c (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  (FIRST CLASS ONE HOUR EARLIER)  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. This is the third in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes! Footwork 102c assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles, cotillions, country dances, and reels, covering different material than 102a and 102b.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see webpage for registration link.

Four Saturdays, October 3rd-24th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 103a: Fitting Steps to Dances (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  (FIRST CLASS ONE HOUR EARLIER)  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. Continuing the HT&DS series of historical steps for country dances and related forms, this new class series will focus on fitting steps we've learned into the specific figures of favorite dances from different historical periods. Some previous experience required - either our 101 class or basic knowledge of steps such as doubles and singles, the chassé-jeté-assemblé Regency sequence, and the rigadaun. Other steps will be reviewed or taught briefly as needed. This is a friendly, gently-paced class going beyond the absolute basics to how to apply steps in the ballroom.  $20 for the series; see webpage for registration link.

Sunday, October 11th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-1:00pm.  Private event.

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Coming in November: a country dance history festival based in England!

I am also available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice); please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

September 2020 Gig Calendar

Well, I had hoped to be moving back to Russia this month as usual, but it's clearly not to be.  So, online lessons continue.  September is going to be a (relatively) lively month for me, bookended by a lecture and class at a Russia-based festival at the beginning of the month and wrapping up with a pair of USA-based lectures at the end.  In between, my double series of California-based basic country dance footwork classes continues!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Saturday-Sunday, September 5-6th ~ ONLINE / Saint Petersburg-based
Historical Dance Festival Online  (Facebook)  (VK - in Russian)
for Международный фестиваль"Анно Домини"
10:00-18:00 (Moscow time) Saturday / 9:00-19:00 (Moscow time) Sunday.  An online festival of classes and lectures with teachers from Russia, France, England, and the USA!  There will be a total of eighteen hours of classes, lectures, and seminars offered in English (eight hours) and Russian (ten hours) with translation both ways.  Material will range from the 16th century through the 1920s.  I will be offering both a class and a lecture, unrelated to each other.  The class will be on an 1896 American recital solo, "Cachucha", which is based on the famous ballet solo "La Cachucha" performed by Fanny Elssler in 1836.  The class will be in some mixture of English and Russian, with translation as needed, and will be held from 16:00-17:00 Moscow time/9:00-10:00am NYC time on Saturday.  The lecture (in English with Russian translation) will be "Hunt the Squirrel, Chase the Lady!" and will cover two centuries' worth of evolution of this country dance, from early 18th century England to late 19th century America.  This will be from 14:00-15:00 Moscow time/7:00-8:00am NYC time on Sunday.  Please adjust times for your own time zone!  Registration: fifteen Euros or 1000 rubles for the entire weekend.  Tickets: in English and in Russian.

Saturday, September 5th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Class #3 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Saturday, September 5th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102b (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Class #3 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Saturday, September 12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Class #4 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Saturday, September 12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102b (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Class #4 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Sunday, September 13th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-1:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, September 26th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Lecture: "Hunt the Squirrel, Chase the Lady!" (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
2:00-3:30pm (California time).  Zoom lecture.  The lady flees and the man pursues her…and then when she turns to him he runs away!  Is it a dance or the story of courtship?  How did the elegant weaving figures of an early eighteenth century English country dance turn into the simple chases of a late nineteenth-century American contra dance?  Or did they?  The lecture will look at how a single country dance evolves, disappears, and - perhaps - reappears over the course of two centuries and two countries and place it in context with other chasing dances and figures from both Europe and America.  $5.  See the Facebook event for registration link!

 

Wednesday, September 30th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Lecture: "A Ragtime Revolution: Vernon and Irene Castle and James Reese Europe"
for LIRA (Learning in Retirement Association - University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
10:00am-12:00pm (Massachusetts time).  Zoom lecture.  For a few brief years in the 1910s, an English vaudeville actor, a New York socialite, and the son of a former slave were some of the most famous entertainers in America.  Join us to explore their intertwined stories, ranging from Harlem to Broadway, from New York to Paris, from World War I’s flying aces to the trenches of France, before this magical historical moment ended in tragedy.  In this lecture, I will trace the parallel careers of James Reese Europe and the Castles, their interracial collaboration, and their influence on the music and dance of the 1910s and onward.

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Coming in October: more California-based basic footwork classes!

I am also available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice); please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Aunt Nellie's Diary, 1849

Louisa May Alcott is one of those authors I enjoyed much more as a child, when the more treacly moralizing elements of her most popular books flew right over my head.  As an adult, I find it harder to tolerate, an opinion that Alcott evidently shared.  So I'd only ever revisited one of them -- Little Women, of course -- for its dance references.  But I was nonetheless quite intrigued to read last month that a newly-discovered early story fragment by Alcott, dated 1849, when she was only seventeen, and containing a masquerade ball scene, would be published in the next issue of Strand Magazine, dated February-May 2020 but being released, no doubt for pandemic-related reasons, in late June.  I promptly ordered a copy, which finally turned up in the mail this week.  

As noted, Aunt Nellie's Diary is only a fragment, around nine thousand words, and ending, literally, in mid-sentence: "I begged and prayed she would..."  The story is set up fully, however, and the general direction is clear: the orphaned Annie and her friend Isabel come to stay with Annie's Aunt Nellie, along with the handsome Edward, who is recovering from illness.  Annie is gentle and innocent; Isabel is both colder and more flirtatious.  Edward is too good to be true.  Isabel is interested in Edward, but he is clearly smitten by Annie. It seems obvious that they would have ended up together, while Isabel likely would have repented of her less-than-perfect ways and wound up with the fiancé she had jilted before the story began, who reappears dramatically at the masquerade ball just before the fragment ends.  This is very like far too much of the other nineteenth-century women's fiction I periodically wade through looking for dance references, though even at seventeen, Alcott is a noticeably better writer than most.

Early Foxtrot: The Minuet Turn

Keeping with the foxtrot theme, here's one more little sequence for foxtrot or one-step from Edna Stuart Lee's Thirty Fox Trot Steps (New York, 1916).  Despite its overt simplicity, it actually manages to present a minor reconstruction issue!  As for the name...well, to be perfectly honest, I see absolutely no connection here to the minuet, any more than I do with Newman's Minuet Tango.  There seems to have been some concept of "minuet" in the 1910s which I have completely failed to grasp.

The gentleman's steps are given; the lady dances opposite.  The dancers begin in normal ballroom hold, the gentleman facing forward along line of dance and the lady backward.

Early Foxtrot: The Pavlowa Extension

For no reason other than habit, June is always foxtrot month for me, and despite the general shutdown of dance classes, I'm lucky enough to have a convenient partner at hand for experimentation with new variations.  So let's look at yet another of the many step-sequences described in Edna Stuart Lee's Thirty Fox Trot Steps (New York, 1916)!

The Pavlowa Extension was, of course, named for the famous ballerina Anna Pavlowa (Pavlova), who toured America in the mid-1910s and dipped into social dance choreography with a music-composition contest resulting in a trio of dances published in The Ladies' Home Journal in early 1915.  She (or her ghostwriter) and (supposedly) members of her troupe also offered opinions and suggestions about dancing the one-step, Boston, and foxtrot.  This variation, however, is not among those even indirectly associated with Pavlova.  It probably was merely named in her honor, or perhaps was inspired by a characteristic movement in her dancing.

Lee described this as "an easy step, and very graceful, savoring a little of the stage."  She also connected it to the hesitation waltz which involved a similar slight lift while hesitating: "The hesitation, while it lasted, was full of such steps and they were much appreciated."  The half-and-half was another dance that used a similar technique to fill time.

The variation is done in a normal closed ballroom hold, facing line of dance.  The gentleman's steps are given below; the lady dances opposite except as noted.  

May 2020 Gig Calendar

As I slowly regain my footing in this new pandemic world, I am beginning to schedule online events of various sorts.  It's not as rewarding as teaching or lecturing in person, but given the worldwide emergency and the extreme risk of in-person dancing right now, it's the best we can do.

Note that the events below are being hosted in different cities (and countries!) in different time zones - please remember to adjust times for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

There will be some updates to the events below and possibly a couple of other events added later in the month; check back mid-month for more information!

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Saturday, May 16th ~ ONLINE / California-based
"5 Things...inside the Dancing Mind of Susan de Guardiola"
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
10:00am-12:00pm (California time).  Online interview (one hour) then post-interview discussion.  Interview hosted on Zoom and Facebook Live; discussion on Zoom.  Preregistration required for Zoom.  Details are posted on Facebook here!  No set price, but donations (Paypal) are requested.

Sunday, May 17th ~ ONLINE / Ukraine-based
Онлайн-пікнік зі Сьюзан де Гуардіола та історії ампірної доби (Facebook event)
Online Regency Picnic and StoryTime with Susan de Guardiola
19:00-21:30 (Kyiv time).  Dress up in Regency costume and take tea with me online!  The first hour will be story time on the theme of "Regency Dancers Behaving Badly" with time for questions.  This will be followed by tea (make your own!) and social time, during which I will take and answer random dance questions as best I can.  Questions submitted in advance via the Facebook event will have the best chance of getting good answers!  Regency costume is admired but not required - other historical or fantastical costume, or simply nice modern clothes are also fine.  Language: English from Susan, translation to Ukrainian/Russian as needed.  No set price, but donations (Paypal) are happily accepted.  Arrangements are being made for Ukrainians to donate by credit/debit card.

Saturday-Sunday, May 23rd-24th ~ ONLINE / Russia-based
Historical Dance Festival Online (Facebook - English)  (VK-Russian)
for Международный фестиваль"Анно Домини"
10:00-18:00 (Moscow time) Saturday / 10:00-19:00 (Moscow time) Sunday.  An online festival of classes and lectures with teachers from Russia, France, England, and the USA!  Material will range from the early 17th century through the 1920s.  I will deliver a lecture/class (Facebook link-English, VK link-Russian)  intended as a pair, though each also stands alone.  The lecture (in English with Russian translation) will be on the ballroom gavottes of the 1910s.  This will be from 18:00-19:00 Moscow time on Saturday.  The class will be on a specific gavotte recital piece which can be danced solo - perfect for quarantined individuals! - though it was also noted as possible for four or eight dancers.  This class will be in some mixture of English and Russian, with translation as needed in both directions, and will be held from 15:00-16:00 Moscow time on Sunday.  Full weekend price: 10 Euros through May 15, then 15 after.

Sunday, May 24th ~ ONLINE / Maryland-based
Balticon 54 (Facebook)
A Zoom-hosted workshop and a DJ'ed dance party!  11:00-11:50am, basic hand jive movements and practice time.  10-11pm (or midnight if interest is high!) DJ'ed blues/slow dance music.  Video optional for both - watch/listen privately or turn on the camera so we can see your moves.  Misbehavior on camera or mic will get you booted!  Free, but pre-registration for each is required.  Open the drop-down menu for Sunday, May 24th, on this page and register for each item individually.

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Coming in June: online classes on dance reconstruction and composing/calling Regency-era country dances!

I am also available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice); please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

Dance Card: United Six, 1879

And...here's the "United Six" dance card that inspired me to write about "Roy's Wife"!

The back of the card (click to enlarge) gives the printer as "Danvers Mirror Print", a printing company located in Danvers, Massachusetts (formerly Salem Village, of the famous Salem witchcraft trials) in the late nineteenth century.  The date on the front of the card, April 2, 1879, called "Fast Eve" confirms the Massachusetts connection -- in 1879, April third was proclaimed Fast Day, a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" by then-Governor Thomas Talbot.  His original proclamation may be seen at the Boston Atheneum Digital Collections. 

Sadly, there is no further information about the location of the ball on the card, and I have not been inspired to do a lengthy search.  When the card was originally posted on Facebook, it was speculated that the ball was held by six local Masonic Lodges; I have no evidence one way or the other for that.

Fast Days in the young United States could be proclaimed anytime, but a springtime Fast Day was an ongoing tradition in many New England states in the nineteenth century.  The day was officially religious in nature, and at least one Fast Day sermon from 1879, "The Future of New England", by noted minister Edward Everett Hale of the South Congregational Church. was later published and may be read here.

Not everyone's mind was solely focused on religion, however.  The Pilot, a Boston-area Catholic newspaper, reported on March 22nd that the St. Mary's Young Men's Temperance Society, Bunker Hill District, would hold "an interesting exhibition of gymnastics on Fast Day" and on April 12th that members of St. Augustine's Lyceum had held a "Pedestrian Contest", a series of footraces, that day.  In 1894, Massachusetts, perhaps bowing to the inevitable, converted Fast Day into Patriot's Day (April 19th), commemorating several battles -- most famously, those of Lexington and Concord.

The Vienna (La Viennoise)

The Vienna, or La Viennoise, is a late nineteenth century schottische variant which originated in America and traveled to France with the inimitable George Washington Lopp, though it's not clear to me whether it had much (or any) popularity there or, for that matter, in America. 

My first American source for the dance was, unsurprisingly, M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), which collected a wide assortment of the couple dances of the 1870s and 1880s.  Gilbert and Lopp (in La Danse, 1903) agreed on how the Vienna was danced.  Going with Gilbert's description, giving the gentleman's steps (lady dances opposite):

The Vienna (four measures of 4/4 schottische music)
(joining right hands with partner, facing the opposite direction)
1b   Slide-cut-leap-hop forward, starting left, raising right to fourth on the hop
1b   Repeat, starting on right foot

1b    Slide left to side (1), close right to left (2), leap back onto left (&), slide right to side (3), close left to right (4)
1b    Repeat, starting on right foot, leaping forward

Lopp mostly agreed, though he had the final repeat also leaping backward, which I believe to have been an editing error, since his instructions are otherwise almost word-for-word from Gilbert, translated into French.

There are...some problems with this.

Two Walker Editions

One of the dull but necessary tasks I do as a dance historian, right up/down there with reading terrible Victorian novels for their dance references, is comparing different editions of the same book to see what changed over time.  Most of these comparisons aren't as exciting as, say, Dance Mad, which underwent enormous changes in less than a year in its second edition.  But they're still useful for very fine-grained dance tracking, particularly in 1914 when things were changing very rapidly and the tango, maxixe, foxtrot, and half and half either originated or were enjoying bursts of popularity.  And that's before even getting to the fad dances like the Lulu Fado, the Ta Tao, and the Furlana.

Comparing two editions of Caroline Walker's The Modern Dances is pretty tame in comparison, since the changes are mostly just in pagination and arrangement of photos, but it's still a useful window into how rapidly things were changing in 1914.

For reference, here are the known editions with their very helpful specific dates:

First - January 27, 1914
Second - February 12,1914
Third - March 20, 1914

That's impressively fast!  The second and third editions were only five weeks apart, but apparently the major change, the addition of the Argentine Tango, was important enough to warrant not just an added section but also renumbering of the illustrations and having a few rephotographed completely to alter the recommended positions.

I own a copy of the second edition, and the third edition is available at the Library of Congress website.  I have never seen a copy of the first edition, so I will be comparing only the second and third.

Table Talk

Here's a 1966 sitting-down dance that is clearly a direct descendant of the late 1950s hand jive: Table Talk, published in a dance manual that was a tie-in to the musical variety television series Hullabaloo.  The series ran from 1965 to early 1966 on American television channel NBC, amassing an impressive lineup of stars as hosts and performances by major musical acts (including The Rolling Stones, Sonny and Cher, and The Supremes). 

An important element of the show was a dance troupe, choreographed by multi-talented actor-director-dancer-choreographer David Winters (among many other things, he originated the role of A-Rab in West Side Story (1957) and was recast in the 1961 film as well) called the Hullabaloo Dancers.  They were a talented group whose alumni included Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie, choreographer/director and star (Cassie), respectively, of the 1975 Broadway musical, A Chorus Line.  There's a video of the Hullabaloo dancers here.  The video quality is poor, but their skill shines through.  They still have a dedicated Facebook fan page, and a "reconstruction" of Hullabaloo was briefly featured with Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - the clip may be seen here.

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. 

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.  Edited to add: and I am teaching at an online dance festival!  See below!

Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

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Saturday-Sunday, April 18-19th ~ ONLINE / RUSSIA-BASED
Historical Dance Festival Online
for Международный фестиваль"Анно Домини"
(VK schedule - Russian)  (Facebook event - English)
An online festival!  A dozen or so Russian teachers and I, thirteen hours of classes and lectures over two days.  The times are 11:00-18:00 Moscow time, or 4:00-11:00am Eastern (NYC) time, daily.  Adjust for your time zone!  My particular items:

(1) Saturday, 17:00-18:00 (Moscow time), "The Hunting of the Panurge", a lecture on looking for the history of "La Nouvelle Panurge", published by Collinet c1823.  (Facebook link with a bit more detail.)

(2) Sunday, 14:00-15:00 (Moscow time), "Five-Step Schottische", a workshop on the connections between waltz and schottische in the late nineteenth century.  (Facebook link with a bit more detail.)

(3) Sunday, 15:00-16:00 (Moscow time), "Schottische in the Ragtime Era", a lecture on the schottische variants that originated in the late nineteenth century and persisted into the early twentieth.  (Facebook link with a bit more detail.)

The festival costs a nominal five euros or 500 rubles for the weekend; register and pay in advance to receive the Zoom conference link.  For more information about the festival and about the other ten hours of classes and teachers in English, please see the Facebook and VK links above.  Russian info about the classes and teachers here; registration, here; schedule, at the link above.

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Coming in May:  More online things - talks and classes.  Watch this blog!

Caroline Walker's Dream Waltz, 1914

The Dream Waltz appeared in Caroline Walker's book The Modern Dances, three editions of which appeared in the year 1914.  Her Dream Waltz appeared in at least the second and third editions; the latter is available online here.  Another Dream Waltz appeared in both editions of F. Leslie Clendenen's Dance Mad (also both 1914), but it is distinct enough to be considered a separate dance, which I will look at in some future post.

The Dream Waltz is a simple hesitation sequence.  The dancers take normal closed ballroom hold.  The gentleman starts on the left foot, the lady on the right.  Steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.
  

The Dream Waltz (16 bars of fast 3/4 waltz music)
1b    Slide left foot to the side (1), slowly closing right foot to left with weight on (3)
1b    Slide left foot to the side (1), swinging right foot to left (2) and away again (3)
            (making a quarter-turn)

1b    Step onto right foot (1), slowly closing left foot to right with weight on (3)
1b    Slide right foot to the side (1), swinging left foot to right (2) and away again (3)
            (making a quarter-turn)

4b    Four walking steps backward, one step per measure, starting left foot, dipping on fourth step
4b    Three walking steps forward, one step per measure, starting left foot, then shift weight back and dip backward on the fourth measure

4b    Balance forward onto left foot, back onto right, forward onto left, back onto right, rotating counter-clockwise (spin turn)

Repeat from the beginning.

Gaby Glide

"The Gaby Glide" was a piece of music written as a star turn for dancers Gaby Deslys and Harry Pilcer in the Broadway operetta Vera Violetta, which opened in New York in November, 1911. The famous and popular Deslys was its namesake:

Gaby brought the dance and it's got us all a going
Since she came no other twirl has had any showing
It's a music treat, for your dancing feet
It is flashy but neat

The tune was composed by Louis A. Hirsch, with lyrics attributed to Pilcer himself.  An original 1912 recording may be heard via the Library of Congress archives here., and a lovely modern performance by Mark Nadler may be seen and heard here:

Sadly, tempo changes and pauses make Nadler's version more difficult to dance to than the original.  If one has live musicians, the sheet music, from which the image at the top was taken, may be found here. 

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!