Capering & Kickery

Regency & Victorian Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, February 1, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, February 1st.  Logistical details are below.

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 French quadrilles.  Specifically, we will dance and look at a step-sequences to use in L'Été and La Finale (second and fifth figures of the French quadrille) and the fifth figure of The Caledonians and will enjoy a Spanish Dance and an 1816 version of the classic Money Musk.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will be a review of some of the ballroom dances of the late nineteenth century (1880s).  Couple dances will include the polka, schottische, and galop, along with popular Victorian set dances such as the Polo Quadrille, Light Dragoon,  and the "star" cotillion figure.  This is in preparation for EAS's upcoming 1880s Bustle Ball on February 28th in New Haven, Connecticut (event flier 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.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Victorian class costs $15.

Tantivy: The New Hunt Dance

• Era: late 1890s-1900 England/France

"Tantivy: The New Hunt Dance," was invented by English dancing master R. M. Crompton, later to become the first president of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and a part of the early 20th-century movement to keep ballroom dance out of the hands of the "wrong" people, which primarily meant American, and especially African-American, influences.  That was all in the future in the 1890s, however, when this dance first appeared.  It may have first been published in Crompton's own book, Theory and Practice of Modern Dancing (London, c1891).  Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of Crompton's work.  The dance, however, can be found in at least three other works of the late 19th century, attributed in each case to Crompton.

I first noticed Tantivy in T. Leggett Byrne's Terpsichore: Her Votaries and Fashions, published in London in 1899 (but with a preface dated to Dublin in 1898) and made available online by Chris Brady here.  A second source is Saxon's Everybody's Guide to Ball-Room Dancing, written by Crompton's contemporary William Lamb and published in London circa 1898-1900 (it is listed in The English Catalogue of Books for those years, which was published in 1901).  The description of the dance in these two sources is word-for-word identical.  Finally, Tantivy was included in the massive French tome Traité de la Danse,  published in Paris in 1900 as volume II of an immense work on dance by Eugène Giraudet that went through dozens of editions in the late 19th century.  Giraudet dates the dance to October, 1896.  While Crompton was certainly known to American dance teachers (Philadelphia dance teacher and writer Albert Newman claimed in the early 1910s to have received dances directly from him), I have not so far found this particular dance in any American source.

The word tantivy is associated with hunting in England, with an implication of going full-speed or headlong, as discussed by Michael Quinion at World Wide Words, and the dance does require a certain enthusiastic commitment to perform successfully!

The Très-Chic

• Era: late 1890s-early 1900s

"The Très-Chic is a dance for couples in six-eight time, and is of very animated and lively character."

With these words, William Lamb introduces "A new Round Dance for the Ball-Room."  Lamb was a noted English dance teacher and writer who served as president of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing.  The Très-Chic appeared in his book Saxon's Everybody's Guide to Ball-Room Dancing (London, c1898-1900; it is listed in the 1901 English Catalogue of Books for those years), from which it was blatantly plagiarized by two dance writers publishing in the American Midwest in the first few years of the twentieth century, including A.C. Wirth in his Complete Quadrille Call Book (Chicago, 1902) and D.F. Jay in his ABC Guide to Ballroom Dancing (Chicago, c1900), both using Lamb's language to describe the dance.  (Some biographical information about Wirth may be found in my earlier post on the Rye Waltz.)

Mr. Newman's Two-Step Variations

• Era: circa 1900

Given the popularity of the two-step in the early years of the 20th century, it is surprising how few variations were recorded for the dance.  But in his 1903 dance manual, A Complete Practical Guide to Modern Society Dancing, Philadelphia dancing master Albert W. Newman included two short and easy two-step sequences, the "Glide Two Step" and the "Military Two Step."

The basic turn of the century two-step (not the same as either today's country western "Texas Two-Step" or today's "Nightclub Two-Step") is a slide-close-slide, similar to the polka but performed smoothly with no hop, turning to the left or right as desired.  Newman specified that the "close" of the feet should be to third rear position, which happens fairly naturally if the leading foot is turned so that the toe points along the line of dance.  The steps are described below for the gentleman; the lady dances on opposite feet.

Branle de Charlotte

• Era: mid-1500s

"Nous dancions lors entre aultres branles couppez, le branle de la Guerre, le branle d'Aridan, le branle de Charlotte, & une infinité d'aultres."
          -- Arbeau to Capriol in a dialogue from Orchésographie

The branle de Charlotte, or branle couppé Charlotte is one of the three "other" branles couppez described by Thoinot Arbeau (pseudonym of Jehan Taburot) in his 1589 dance manual, Orchésographie (available in English translation as Orchesography) after the suite of branles de Champagne couppez previously discussed.  Branles couppez are characterized by a mix of steps, kicks, and jumps derived from the opening set of branles, with the occasional insertion of "mesures diverses" which do not follow the regular rhythms of the opening set.

While the branles Guerre, Aridan, and Charlotte are often added to the Champagne suite in the order in which they appear in Orchésographie (Charlotte-Guerre-Aridan), Arbeau does not actually describe them as part of that suite, merely as some of the "infinity of others" in the subtype of branles couppez.

The Union Dance

• Era: 1860s-1880s

The Union Dance is a short, schottische-like dance sequence which I have found in only two sources: Thomas Hillgrove's 1863 A Complete Practical Guide to the Art of Dancing (pp. 170-171) and the 1883 Professor M.J. Koncen's Quadrille Call Book and Ball Room Guide (p. 89)  The latter is a compilation of numerous other sources and the instructions therein are nearly identical to the earlier ones, so Hillgrove may be regarded as the preferred source for dating this dance.  Given the timing and Hillgrove's location in New York, it is possible that the name of the dance was meant as a political statement, though it is also possible that it was simply the name of a tune to which it was danced or a completely random title.

The Pan-American Glide (a 1910s Schottische)

An early anniversary gift for Michelle & Peter, who asked about 1910s schottisches:

By the 1910s, the schottische had almost complete vanished from the ballroom floor.  But a few dancing masters were still creating variations, among them the "Pan-American Glide," published in the F. Leslie Clendenen's collection Dance Mad, or the Dances of the Day in St. Louis in 1914.  It is attributed to F.W. Bouley.

The name of the dance does not signify anything special about it choreographically.  It appears to merely be one of many uses of the term "Pan-American" in the early 20th century, playing off of the Pan American Union (so named in 1910) and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.

For music, any schottische tempo tune or two-step is suggested.  The couples start in closed ballroom hold, with their joined hands pointing along the line of dance.  There are four parts to the dance, each taking one (4/4) bar of music and making a standard four-bar schottische sequence:

1. Slide left to the side, close right to first position.  Repeat.  (count 1-2-3-4)

2. Turning two-step once around.  (count 1&2, 3&4)

3. Repeat first part (count 1-2-3-4)

(open out side by side facing line of dance)

4. Walk forward four steps (count 1-2-3-4)

At the end of the four walking steps, close up again to repeat from the beginning.

I'm not aware of any great popularity for this variation, and it's quite possible that it was never done anywhere other than in Mr. Bouley's lessons.  But it makes a particularly easy sequence for beginners and allows for a bit of schottische mixed into the usual dances of the 1910s.

The Rye Waltz

• Era: 1890s-1900s America (Midwest/West)

The Rye Waltz is a simple sequence dance dating to the late 19th century and done to a special arrangement of the tune "Coming Through the Rye" which alternates between duple (schottische) and triple (waltz) time.  The oldest description I have found is in E.H. Kopp's The American Prompter and Guide to Etiquette, which was published by the John Church Company, operating in Cincinnati, New York, and Chicago, in 1896.  Kopp called himself a "compiler" rather than an author, and attributes many of the dances in his book to other dancing masters, often lifting his text directly from their works.  Kopp attributed the Rye Waltz to A.C. Wirth, and his description is virtually identical to that found in Wirth's Complete Quadrille Call Book and Dancing Master, published in Chicago in 1902 and reprinted in 1903.

Andrew Charles Wirth (right) taught dance in the Milwaukee area, and a contemporary biographical entry in the 1897 Men of Progress: Wisconsin (pages 167 & 168) states that he had written a book on dancing, so it is likely that the 1902 book is either a second work or a later edition of an older original.  Wirth and Kopp's books are among several of the 1890s and early 1900s from both America and England containing language which has clearly been copied directly from one to another, though it is not clear which was the original source and none other than Kopp and Wirth include the Rye Waltz.  In the absence of more definitive evidence, it is reasonable to consider Wirth the choreographer of the dance.

Regency & Victorian Dance Workshops, NYC (Sunday, January 4, 2009)

I will be teaching two dance workshops for The Elegant Arts Society in New York City this Sunday, January 4th.  Logistical details are below.

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 dance and look at a step-sequences to use in L'Été and La Finale (second and fifth figures of the French quadrille) and will enjoy a Spanish Dance and an 1816 version of the classic Money Musk.

The second class (4:00-6:00pm) will be dedicated to the waltz styles of the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when the older rotary style of waltz was giving way to the new waltz that eventually became today's ballroom dance.  We will also dance some of the easy choreographed waltz sequence dances that became popular during this period.

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.

The classes are held at Dick Shea's (a capoeira studio), 104 W. 14th Street at 6th Avenue, New York City.  Ring buzzer #3, up 2 flights, first door on the right.  For more information, please email EAS.

The Regency class costs $18, or $12 for people attending for the first time; the Victorian class costs $15.