Capering & Kickery

Regency (TWO!) and Ragtime Dance Workshops, NYC (August 2 & 3, 2008)

I will be teaching three dance workshops in New York City this weekend, August 2nd and 3rd.  You can get a double dose of Regency-era dance on both Saturday and Sunday!

On Saturday, August 2nd, from 3:00-4:30pm, I will be teaching in Brooklyn for the New York Baroque Dance Company's regular first Saturday class.  Logistical details are here (scroll down the page).  I am substituting for Caroline Copeland.  I will not be teaching baroque dance; this will be an early 19th-century (Regency) class focusing on quadrille figures and steps.

I will then be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City on Sunday, August 3rd.  Logistical details for these two classes are here.

The first (1:00-3:45pm) will focus on the dances of the Regency era (1810-1820), including steps and figures for early 19th-century country dances and the Royal Scotch and Caledonian Quadrilles, plus the Regency-era sauteuse.  The Royal Scotch Quadrilles feature the "star" figure described in an earlier article here.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will look at two different hesitation waltzes of the early 1910s, pre-World War I era.  I will cover basic steps for the half and half, an interesting waltz done in 5/4 time and will teach the twinkle hesitation, a short sequence of waltz steps that can be done independently or as part of a regular waltz.  Information on pre-registration (at a small discount) for the ragtime class is here.  This class series will conclude in September with a workshop on the maxixe (freestyle, not choreographed).

Rustic Reel

• Era: mid-19th century America

The Rustic Reel is a simple contra dance found in mid-19th century American manuals, primarily during the Civil War era of the1860s, though it appears as early as 1841 and as late as the 1880s.  Some sources note that it is particularly well suited to being the last dance in an evening:

...this dance is continued until the master of the ceremonies thinks it has been gone equally through, and generally finishes the evening's festivity, and ought not to be used at any other time.
        --- The ball-room instructer [sic], 1841.

Note that the lines of three make it awkward to put on a dance card, since each dancer needs two partners.

Any lively twenty-four bar piece of music can be used; one source specifies 6/8 time, while another suggests a Scotch reel tune.  The dance is formed by lines of three (a gentleman between two ladies) facing three down the room or in a circle, as in the diagram below.  All dancers commence at the same time.

More Promiscuous Figures: Gavotte and Minuet

• Era: 1840s to early 1900s, America

Continuing on from my earlier post on promiscuous or fancy quadrille figures, which may be substituted for individual figures in the first set of quadrilles or other well-known sets, here are two more particularly interesting figures.  Both make use of an unusual figure known as "Sides Four," in which the dancers form diagonal lines across the set and then trade partners and reform the lines.  The Gavotte Figure is a lengthy one with one couple per repetition having a sequence of solo moves while the other six dancers watch.  The Minuet Figure is a shortened and simplified version which keeps more of the dancers moving throughout.  Once the essential Sides Four figure is mastered, the figures are easy to call and perform and can be used today as they were then, to add variety to a familiar quadrille, generally as a replacement for either the second or fifth figure.

Neither figure has any choreographic relationship to the gavottes and minuets of previous centuries.

Promiscuous Figures: Basket and Star

• Era: 1840s to early 1900s, America

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the five figures of the first set of quadrilles had grown drearily familiar, and several lively, standardized figures had developed which could be substituted in for one or more of its figures.  These replacement figures were known as "fancy figures" or "promiscuous figures" and could be used to enliven any quadrille.  Two popular ones were the Basket Figure and the Star Figure, with the Basket being slightly more common in period sources.  The Star appeared in dance manuals from the late 1850s all the way into the early 20th century.  The Basket is even earlier, appearing as far back as 1841.  The figures are equally useful today as a way to spice up a well-known quadrille without going to the bother of learning an entire new set of five figures.