The Mistletoe Hesitation

The Mistletoe Hesitation is a lovely little sixteen-bar hesitation waltz sequence originally published in F. Leslie Clendenen's Dance Mad, or the dances of the day (St. Louis, 1914), a collection of dances and dance moves borrowed liberally from other dance teachers and manuals.  The Mistletoe is attributed to M.W. Cain and is one of the earliest uses I have found of a twinkle step.

Dancers begin in "butterfly" position: standing side by side facing line of dance, gentleman on the left, slightly behind the lady, right hands joined over the lady's right shoulder and left hands joined in front.  Both start on the left foot.  The steps should be done with a lilting rise onto the toes to fill out the music, rather than just plodding through the sequence.  The time is a very fast 3/4; if the first three bars feel like you are dancing in slow motion, the music needs to be faster.

1b    Step left forward (1), swing right foot forward (2), hop on left (3)
2b    Repeat with right foot, then with left foot again
1b    Step right forward and pivot 180 degrees clockwise to face against line of dance
4b    Repeat the above in the opposite direction, pivoting counter-clockwise to end facing line of dance with left foot free

1b    Rock forward onto the left foot
1b    Twinkle: rock back onto right foot (1), bring left foot back behind right (2), step forward right (3)
1b    Step left forward and pivot 180 degrees clockwise to face against line of dance
1b    Step back on right, raising left slightly in front
4b    Repeat the above in the opposite direction, pivoting counter-clockwise to end facing line of dance with left foot free

Repeat from the beginning.

Note that this is not a friendly sequence to do spontaneously on the social dance floor, since half the time the dancers are moving against line of dance.  This will cause unpleasant collisions unless the entire room is dancing it in unison.

The Mistletoe Hesitation has been adapted into other dances at least twice by noted dance historian Richard Powers: in his Skater's Tango (1984 or earlier) and in his Beale Street Blues, introduced in 1990 at the University of the Pacific Folk Dance Camp.  In both cases the steps are shifted into 4/4 time and other moves are added to create a lengthier sequence.  Powers also notes the origin of the sequence in the hesitation waltz and suggests that it might be danced in half and half (5/4) time as well.

Addressing the same problem of a very short sequence, but keeping to the original waltz time, here are an additional, very simple, sixteen bars of my own that may be alternated with the original Mistletoe given above to lessen the repetitiveness and to allow the dancers to travel around the room.  The moves are adapted from Albert Newman's 1914 dance manual, from which Clendenen borrowed liberally: a three-step Boston, a hesitation, and the sideways draw from his five-step Boston, all done in the same "butterfly" position.

2b    Waltz step forward: forward left (1-2-3), forward right (4-5), close left (6)
2b    Waltz step forward: same as above, starting right foot
2b    Balance forward left then back right
2b    Slide left along line of dance (1-2) and close right to left (3); repeat (same foot)
8b    Repeat all of the above

The first four bars (of each repetition) should be done with a diagonal motion, swinging the left or right side forward with the appropriate foot.  The gentleman will be almost directly behind the lady on the last four bars, both facing out.  The gentleman can lead the lady in this part of the dance by using his hands to guide her onto the diagonal and into the balances and slides.  After the second repetition, he may lead her into the original Mistletoe sequence by stepping firmly forward and lifting his hands slightly to cue the hop at the end of the first bar.  If the lady is familiar with the twinkle step, the entire sequence can then be led by guiding the lady gently with the hands.  Confident dancers with ample floor space could, of course, mix and match these pieces to taste, keeping in mind the hazards and impoliteness of startling other dancers with sudden reverses of direction.

Comments

[Marilee J. Layman]

Where does the term "twinkle" come from? "Twinkle toes?"

[Susan de Guardiola]

From a different 1914 source:

"This change of feet is called the Twinkle, because it is done in the twinkling of an eye, so to speak."

Seems as good an explanation as any.