Capering & Kickery

Setting Steps for Reels: the Seby-trast

The Seby-trast is another of the steps for late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scotch reels described by Scottish dancing master Francis Peacock in Sketches relative to the history and theory, but more especially to the practice of dancing (Aberdeen, 1805).  It is subtitled "Chasing Steps, or Cross Slips", but since it clearly is not a traveling step, it is presumably meant for the footing (setting) part of reels.  Peacock explains its Gaelic etymology as "From Siabadh, to slip, and Trasd, across."

Peacock's description of the Seby-trast:

This step is like the Balotte.  You slip the right foot before the left; the left foot behind the right; the right again before the left, and hop upon it.  You do the same, beginning with the left foot.  This is a single step.

Setting Steps for Reels: the Single and Double Kemkóssy

The Single Kemkóssy and Double Kemkóssy are two "Setting or Footing" steps for late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scotch reels described by Scottish dancing master Francis Peacock in Sketches relative to the history and theory, but more especially to the practice of dancing (Aberdeen, 1805).  Peacock gives the Gaelic etymology of the term Kemkóssy as "Cèum-coisiche, from Cèum, a step, and Coiseachadh, to foot it, or ply the feet."

These steps also appear in a few English dance manuals from later in the century, including The Ball Room Annual (London, c1844) and Rudolph Radestock's The Royal Ball-Room Guide (London, c1877) with slightly different descriptions that were obviously derived from Peacock.  I will refer to these descriptions only when they add something useful.

Traveling Step for Reels: the Kemshóole

In Sketches relative to the history and theory, but more especially to the practice of dancing (Aberdeen, 1805), Scottish dancing master Francis Peacock describes the standard traveling step for Scotch reels:

Kemshóole, or Forward Step.-- This is the common step for the promenade, or figure of the Reel. It is done by advancing the right foot forward, the left following it behind: in advancing the same foot a second time, you hop upon it, and one step is finished. You do the same motions after advancing the left foot, and so on alternately with each foot, during the first measure of the tune played twice over...

Hand Jive Basics

I have a great nostalgic love for the 1978 movie-musical Grease, and particularly for the big "Born to Hand Jive" scene at the school dance. I usually avoid analyzing my favorite movies from a dance historian's perspective -- it can be painful -- but I couldn't resist looking into the hand jive. I found a few surprises in my research, but for this post I'll just stick to the basics, with more background to follow in the future.

The Gothic Dance

• Era: 1860s, America (New England)

The Gothic Dance seems at first glance to be an oddity among mid-century dances, appearing in only one manual that I have ever found, and unusual in format within the lengthy collection of contra dances in Elias Howe’s American Dancing Master and Ball-Room Prompter (Boston, 1862).  The dance was first reconstructed by my late mentor and friend, Patri Pugliese, whose reconstruction appears online in the companion dance notes to the CD The Civil War Ballroom.  The dance is a particularly easy one, energetic and fun for beginners and experienced dancers alike, and thus a good choice for balls with a large percentage of new dancers.

Go Figure!

At our recent Regency Assembly, one of the dancers challenged my call of a "half figure eight" in a country dance, asking why it wasn't called a "figure four".  Casey, being an experienced dancer, knew exactly why, but he has excellent comic timing, and the comment broke up the room for a moment.

A geekier question would be why I was using the term "half figure eight" rather than the more typical plain "half figure".  That was for added clarity for modern dancers, who may not be as familiar with the nuances of Regency terminology, in which a sentence like "The figure of the dance is a double figure made up of five figures, the first being the figure" makes perfect sense.  Since it doesn't for everyone, let's figure out all those different usages of "figure"!

Although every Country Dance is composed of a number of individual Figures, which may consist of "set and change sides," "whole Figure at top," "lead down the middle, up again," "allemande," "lead through the bottom," "right and left at top," &c. yet the whole movement united is called the Figure of the Dance.
    -- Thomas Wilson, in The Complete System of English Country Dancing, London, c1815.