Capering & Kickery

Pop Goes the Weasel

• Era: 1850s through early 1900s, England and America

No, it isn't just a children's rhyme!  The tune is older, but in the mid-nineteenth century a rather silly dance began appearing both on sheet music and in dance manuals.  It seems to have been hugely popular, which reminds me that (1) dancing was a pastime for young adults and (2) most nineteenth-century punch recipes involved significant amounts of alcohol.

The Passing Salute in the Victorian Era

The final important salutation of the Victorian era was the passing salute or bow, used when the lady or gentleman was in motion, rather than stationary (as at the commencement of a dance).  Writing in 1863, Thomas Hillgrove explained that the passing bow

is the proper salutation for both sexes when passing each other in the street or in public places, and is performed without halting.  It is a proper salutation also on entering a parlor or ball-room.

Hillgrove actually wavered a bit as to whether a lady should make a full courtesy or merely a passing salute when entering a ballroom.  Allen Dodworth, in 1885, emphasized the importance of the knowledge of the different forms of salutations and when to make use of them:

The manner of making these motions are sure indications of the standing and associations of both lady or gentleman, but more especially of the latter.  The various circumstances of social intercourse requiring their use in almost unlimited variety, unmistakably show the difference between good habitual motions and an occasional attempt.

He later expanded upon this:

Every degree of respect may be indicated by the courtesy and bow in their several forms, from the supercilious nod, which says, "How are you, Billy," with an upper inflection of voice and sneering expression, to the movement which plainly means, "I present myself before you with profound respect."

As I have already discussed the methods of making the gentleman's bow and lady's courtesy in the context of a ballroom and the beginning of a dance, this post will review the nuances of the passing salute.

The Lady's Courtesy in the Victorian Ballroom

After discussing the correct performance of the gentleman's bow in the ballroom, it seems appropriate to tackle the movements necessary for ladies to properly perform a courtesy.  In 1875, William De Garmo explained the major difference between the two moves:

In courtesying the knees bend and the body sinks; in bowing the knees do not bend and the upper part of the body is projected forward.  In courtesying, as well as in bowing, the slightest possible inclination of the head forward is admissible.

Ten years later, Allen Dodworth noted that

[The courtesy] is a combination of motions, of no little difficulty, requiring repeated practice for its accomplishment with the necessary ease.  It is singularly artificial and unnatural, and yet is of great beauty when executed by a well-trained lady.

How to perform these unnatural motions?  The sources, unfortunately, are somewhat inconsistent.

The Gentleman's Bow in the Victorian Ballroom

Mid-19th century dance teacher Edward Ferrero writes of the bow and courtesy that they

"...are among the most important rudiments of the Terpsichorean art.  A proper knowledge of them is indispensable to both sexes.  There is no movement so awkward as a stiff bow or courtesy...We have lately been more fully impressed with the necessity of a greater attention, among dancers, to this branch of the art."

It thus seems useful to the modern social dancer or performer to examine the details of the gentleman's bow as performed in the mid- to late 19th century ballroom.  Several dancing masters address the topic in their writing.  Interestingly, all that I have found are American authors; European writers seem not to have felt it necessary to describe the bow.  I suspect this reflects the middle-class audience of the American manuals.

Wrestling with Belle Brandon

(Note: since this post was written, I've expanded my research on this figure and written a follow-up post, Revisiting Chassé Out, which discusses further sources and slightly alters my conclusion about the performance of the chassé out figure.)

Recently my English friend and fellow dance teacher/reconstructor Colin Hume asked on the English Country Dance mailing list for help on some American dances he plans to teach later this month at a festival.  He posted his notes (the final version is now up here) and asked for advice, since he's not a specialist on historical American dance.  I do a lot with quadrilles (French, American, English, Spanish, etc.) so I pounced on the challenge of the 1858 set he proposed to use, the Belle Brandon Set.  This five-figure quadrille is drawn from Howe's Ball-Room Handbook (Boston, 1858) by Massachusetts dancing master and music publisher Elias Howe. 

The first four figures were fairly straightforward, with the first three being pretty much the usual figures of the "First Set" of quadrilles that had been popular for nearly half a century when the manual was published.  Interestingly, they were a more old-fashioned version than those which were popular in the mid-century and which Howe prints elsewhere in the same manual.  Tell-tales include the use of "balance and turn partners" instead of a long balance figure and, in Figure 3, two people crossing back and forth and forming a line rather than four crossing back and forth and going into a basket formation.  It had been common practice from the 1810s onward to use three of the standard figures and then vary the last two, so this set is well within the quadrille tradition.  But the fifth figure proved a real challenge to reconstruct.