Capering & Kickery

Rhymes with Terpsichore

This post is dedicated to Tania, with thanks for the unexpected shout-out that made my day!

Giving this blog a name was quite the challenge.  I wanted something memorable and dance-related, but not obviously specific to any one era, since I post about dance across several centuries.  I found the phrase "capering & kickery" in the chorus of a Regency-era song on the quadrille fad hitting London in the late 1810s.  How could I resist any phrase that rhymes with “flirting with Terpsichore”?

The song is "Quadrilling", published in Birmingham in 1820.  I am reproducing the complete lyrics below; you can see them reprinted (fairly legibly) here in the 1834 collection The Universal Songster, courtesy of Google Book Search, and can also see a facsimile of the original handwritten lithograph edition (with the music and hilarious illustrations!) at the wonderful Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music at Johns Hopkins University, which has webbed it here.  There are minor variations, primarily in punctuation and capitalization, between the two editions which I have not bothered to mark; I have generally followed the 1834 printed edition below.  I have also gone through and annotated the dance terms and other period references for your amusement and/or edification.  The overall theme of the song is the wide range of people infatuated with the quadrille, referenced both in the chorus (lines 5-7) and in almost every stanza as noted below.

À la Militaire: Late Victorian Dance Variations from M.B. Gilbert

• Era: 1880s-early 1900s

By the 1880s, the major couple dances of the mid-19th century were losing their dominance in the ballroom.  While the waltz retained its popularity, the polka, schottische, and galop had begun to drift out of fashion, soon to be superseded by the two-step in the 1890s.  Dance teachers such as Melvin B. Gilbert and his fellow members of the American Society of Professors of Dancing, fearing for their livelihoods, continued to create new variations on the old dances, and variations on the variations, with, apparently, little luck in making any of them fashionable.

The two major American dance manuals of the late 19th century were by Allen Dodworth (Dancing and its relations to education and social life, 1885), who primarily looks back at the older dances, and Gilbert himself (Round dancing, 1890), who published an astonishing collection of variations by himself and other dancing masters for all of the major couple dances.  While most of these faded into obscurity (in many cases, deservedly so), there is one group of dances with the common tag of "Military" in their names which is notable in actually having a survivor: the Military Schottische appears occasionally in other dance manuals of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Country Dances, Two by Two

In the comments to a previous post of mine on the realities of Austen-era country dancing, alison[sic] asked about a scene in Pride and Prejudice:

...when describing the ball to Mr Bennet, Mrs Bennet refers to the dances by what I assumed were the time signatures: "Then the two third he danced with Miss King, and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the two fifths with Jane again, and the two sixth with Lizzy, and the Boulanger---"  Or does this indicate some sort of dance configuration?

The short answer is that this is the way dances were organized at that time: with each partner, you would perform two dances in series before taking a rest and changing partners.  Thomas Wilson, a noted dancing master (and prolific author) in London during the first quarter of the 19th century, wrote that:

"When the Ball commences, the company should not leave their places, or rest, till after the second Dance.  Should the sets be short, they may Dance three Dances before they rest." 
-- A Companion to the Ball Room, 1816

Victorian Bustle Ball ~ New Haven, CT (March 29, 2008)

Coming up in just a couple of weeks:

On Saturday, March 29th, I will be precepting a small Victorian Ball for The Elegant Arts Society in New Haven, Connecticut.  The theme is 1880s, the era of the bustle in ladies' costume, but period costume is not required - come have fun dancing regardless!  There will be live music from the wonderful dance musicians of Spare Parts and delicious refreshments made from Victorian recipes. 

Dances will include the waltz, polka, and schottische, plus the Polo Quadrille and the "star" figure described in an earlier article here, in the form of a polka cotillion figure (German).  There will also be period contra (country) dances and a waltz-mazurka (during which those not knowing the waltz-mazurka may simply waltz).

Beginners are completely welcome.  There is an afternoon workshop for those wanting a some dance instruction before the evening.  The event is not gender-balanced, which experience suggests will result in more ladies than gentlemen in attendance (so if you are or have a gentleman who might want to dance...)

The cost is $25 per person in advance, more at the door.  Full information here.

Real Regency Dancers Don't Turn Single: Ten Tips for Judging Authenticity

As a specialist in early 19th century dance, I regularly get asked what I think of the dancing in the various films of Jane Austen's novels and how to tell if the dancing in the films or being taught by someone or other is authentic to the Regency era (1810-1820).  Sadly, the answer is usually "no."  Here's a little checklist you can use to judge for yourself, either when watching a film or listening to someone teach "just like it was in the Regency" or "the same way Jane Austen danced":

Hesitate, Hesitate, Hesitate!

• Era: 1910s
• Dance: One-Step

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

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

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