Capering & Kickery

Regency & Victorian/Civil War Era Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, November 2, 2008)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, November 2nd.  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, French quadrilles, and the nine-person reel known as The Country Bumpkin.  Specifically, we will look at a variety of step-sequences to use for L'Été (second figure of the French quadrille) and will enjoy a new Spanish Dance, the peculiar clapping figure in La Bateuse, and the 1816 version of the classic Money Musk.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will be dedicated to two dances composed by the 1850s London dance teacher Mrs. Nicholas Henderson.  Unusually for a woman of her era, Mrs. Henderson was internationally known and was cited respectfully by American dance master Charles Durang in his own manual as being a better writer than her male colleagues!  We will be doing her delightful Double Quadrille as well as her galopade-country dance, Holly Berry (previously posted about here).

These are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed, no partner is required, and clean leather-soled flat shoes (not high heels) are recommended.  Gender balance is not guaranteed.

Advancing & Retiring Sequences for Regency-Era French Quadilles

For the fourth in my series of posts (previously: setting, crossing over, and chassez-dechassez) on the step-sequences usable for various Regency-era French quadrille figures, I've pulled together three easy sequences which may be used for the figure En avant et en arrière (advance and retire or, more colloquially, forward and back), in which some number of dancers move forward to the halfway point of the quadrille set and then backward to places.  It is an extremely common figure; in the first set alone, it appears in multiple figures: L'Été, La Poule, La Trenise, La Pastourelle, and the many versions of the Finale figure which incorporate L'Été.  The move is sometimes written simply as En avant deux (trois, quatre, etc.); the return backwards is implied unless otherwise specified.

Chassez-Dechassez Sequences for Regency-Era French Quadrilles

Chassez, or Move to the Right and Left.
Are terms generally used in Quadrille and Cotillion Dancing, and signify a Movement or Figure made sideways in a straight line, either to the right hand or left of the situation from whence it is performed.
        -- Thomas Wilson in The quadrille and cotillion panorama, 2nd edition, 1822

Continuing on with my series of posts (previously: setting and crossing over) on the step-sequences usable for various Regency-era French quadrille figures, I've pulled together a few sequences suitable for the sideways move known variously as A droite et à gauche (dance or move to the right and to the left) or Chassez-dechassez, in which two dancers opposite each other dance as described: to the right and back to the left.  This figure appears in L'Été, the second figure of the first set of French quadrilles, and in the many versions of the Finale figure which incorporate L'Été.  Wilson, ever the perfectionist, complained to no avail that the figure was wrongly named,

...as they both move to the right and back again to their places, instead of to the left, as described in the title of the Figure. The Movement should be named from the situation in which it is performed, as, to the right or left of the situation from which they move...
        -- Ibid.

Crossing Over Sequences for Regency-Era French Quadrilles

As with setting, there are a number of different step sequences available for dancers to use in the Regency-era quadrille figure Traversez (cross over), in which a lady and the gentleman opposite her exchange places.  Traversez appears most notably in L'Été, the second figure of the first set of French quadrilles, and in the many versions of the Finale figure which incorporate L'Été.  Below I will give a sample of five of the easier step sequences that may be used to dance Traversez.  This is not an exhaustive list of all the period sequences I have for this move, but it should suffice for most dancers.

Eight Easy Setting Sequences for Regency-Era French Quadrilles

I rarely have the opportunity to teach a wide range of Regency-era setting sequences, but there are dozens of them extant and suitable for use in French quadrilles such as the first set.  Using variant setting sequences when setting to one's partner is one of three ways to jazz up the oft-danced first set (the other two being using more exotic sequences for the other figures and changing the figures themselves) as well as in other French quadrilles for the setting part of the omnipresent "Balancez et un tour de mains" (set and turn your partners) figure.

The following selection of eight four-bar setting sequences is drawn from two sources in particular: the Scottish manuscript Contre Danses à Paris 1818 and the useful Elements of the Art of Dancing by Alexander Strathy (Edinburgh, 1822).  Curiously, the best sources for quadrille steps other than the actual French manuals come from Scotland -- the Auld Alliance revived in dance!

Reminder: Regency Assembly in CT this weekend (10/18-19)!

A quick reminder to folks who read Kickery for the Regency stuff: this weekend is The Elegant Arts Society's annual Regency Assembly, to be held in New Haven, Connecticut on the weekend of October 18-19, 2008.  On the Saturday, I will be teaching an afternoon dance workshop and precepting the evening ball to the accompaniment of the wonderful music of Spare Parts.  On the Sunday, there will be a costumed stroll in the park and then tea and Regency-era gaming (card games, dominoes, spillikins, backgammon, etc.)

Officially pre-reg is closed, but should your check arrive before the end of the week, you can still get the pre-reg rate.  Registration information is on the Assembly website.  Paypal cash transfers (NOT credit card payments) are accepted.

"A very old established Figure" -- Reconstructing "Lead outsides"

In the comment thread on an earlier Kickery post, How Do You Cast Off?, Ukrainian reader Oleksiy asked whether I reconstructed the country dance figure, "lead outsides."  I haven't used this figure in my own teaching because I've been hesitant to establish a definitive reconstruction in the absence of definitive source material.  But I've since revisited the figure and more thoroughly reviewed my sources and am now ready to offer a reconstruction which I consider to be fairly solid.

Regency & Victorian/Civil War Era Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, October 5, 2008)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, October 5th.  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 in preparation for the upcoming Regency Assembly in New Haven on October 18-19th.  The Royal Scotch Quadrilles feature the "star" figure described in an earlier article here.  We will also dance the nine person reel known as the Bumpkin!

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will cover the earliest versions of the schottische in the 1850s and 1860s, including an interesting four-figure schottische quadrille from 1862.

These are beginner-level classes.  No experience is needed, no partner is required, and clean leather-soled flat shoes (not high heels) are recommended.  Gender balance is not guaranteed.