Capering & Kickery

Regency & Ragtime Dance Workshops, NYC (June 29, 2008)

Along with this Saturday's Regency Assembly at the 92nd Street Y, I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City on Sunday, June 29th.  Logistical details are here.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), including steps and figures for country dances and the Royal Scotch and Caledonian Quadrilles, plus the Regency-era waltz.  The Royal Scotch Quadrilles feature the "star" figure described in an earlier article here.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will cover basic steps and some variations for two popular dances of the early 1910s, the one-step and the tango, including the eight step and various hesitations as described in previous articles here.  The tango is neither the modern ballroom style nor the current Argentine style, but rather the tango as danced in the American ballroom in the early part of this century, related to but not quite the same as the current forms of the dance.  This is the first class nin a three-part series which will continue in August with a class on the half and half and twinkle hesitation and conclude in September with the maxixe.  Information on pre-registration (at a small discount) for the ragtime class or the series is here.

Historical Summer Dance Workshop at Goucher, Baltimore, MD (June 21-22)

This weekend, I will be attending the Historical Dance Workshop  sponsored by the New York Baroque Dance Company down at Goucher College, near Baltimore.  I'm going down there primarily to take the 19th- and 20th-century dance classes being taught by Richard Powers, though I may take some of the Renaissance dance as well, depending on exactly what's being taught.  My Baroque dance skills are minimal so I probably won't do much (if any) in that area.

I'm traveling down Friday night and back Sunday night, but Saturday night the social dancing ends fairly early (8:30), and I'd enjoy getting together that evening with anyone else who likes to talk about social dance history and reconstruction.

Regency Assembly, NYC (June 28, 2008)

At the end of June, I will be running a Regency Assembly at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, ably assisted by the ladies of The Elegant Arts Society.  The evening will feature the dances of the early 19th century (the era of Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Beau Brummell and Napoleon), including country dances, waltzes, and quadrilles.  Live music will be provided by Spare Parts.  Light refreshments made from period recipes will be served.  Period costume or formal dress is requested, but not required.

Advance registration is available online at the 92nd Street Y website through June 21st.  The event is limited to 80 people due to the size of the hall, so preregistration is strongly encouraged.  A flier for the event (and information for registering by mail if you prefer to send a check) is here.

I'll be occupied during the actual dance sets, but if you read Kickery, please do come and say hi during an intermission!

Society of Dance History Scholars Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY (June 12-15, 2008)

I will be attending the annual conference of the Society of Dance History Scholars this weekend up in Saratoga Springs, New York.  I am not presenting at the conference, but I hope to meet other scholars with an interest in social dance history and reconstruction and possibly involve myself in some of the working groups that match my interests (Reconstruction, Early Dance, and Popular/Social/Vernacular Dance).

This will be my first SDHS conference, and I don't expect to know too many people there.  I'd be very happy to meet anyone who reads this blog or hear from anyone I already know that you're attending.

The Star as a Cotillion (German) Figure

The star figure dates back at least to the Regency era (1810s), when Thomas Wilson either composed it himself or found it common enough to include in his 1815 quadrille manual, though I have never seen it used in a quadrille other than Wilson's own Royal Scotch Quadrilles (1824).  After a long absence, it reappeared in a late 1870s manual of cotillion figures (in the sense of party games or "Germans" rather than the 18th century French dance), intended to be used as part of a full evening of dance games.  I have previously discussed the challenges in reconstructing this figure; the following is a practical description of how to dance it and how to use it as a German.  See the end of this post for a video of dancers performing the Star.

The original source described the figure briefly:

VIII. STAR.
Four ladies, right hand across, swing opposite gentleman to center. Cross right hands, and half circling, swing their partners to center. This is continued until the gentlemen again reach their partners and dance.
    Anon., The German. How to give it. How to lead it. How to dance it. (Chicago, 1878)

In the 19th century, "swing" meant to turn your partner by the hand rather than the modern contra "buzz swing".

This is not the sort of figure that can be easily called "cold", but if dancers are taught the figure in advance, it makes a lovely addition to a ball or evening of cotillions.

A Waltz Quadrille (1893)

By the end of the 19th century, quite a number of quadrilles were being published that didn't follow the earlier form of having multiple separate figures.  Although this dance does have two distinct dance parts, the original instructions (which may be seen here) are clear that they should be treated as one long figure:

Play an ordinary waltz and do not stop between the numbers.

The source of the dance is The Prompter’s Handbook by J.A. French, published in Boston in 1893.  I haven't looked for any other sources for this particular set of figures - it's a trivial little quadrille which I reconstructed in order to have a late-evening set dance that was easy and provided an excuse for plenty of waltzing.

The Twinkle Hesitation

The Twinkle Hesitation, attributed to S. Wallace Cortissoz, was published in Leslie Clendenen's collection, Dance Mad, in St. Louis in 1914.  I'd been looking at dances in that book that incorporated twinkle steps, and this one caught my eye as fun to dance.  The dance itself is a sixteen-bar, three-part sequence, but each part also makes a nifty independent addition to any hesitation waltz.