June and July are my relatively quiet months this year, at least for public events, though I'm still adding things to my calender. Here's the current status, with more TBA:
Month: May 2012
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Late Victorian Waltz Variations: Fascination
Fascination is another of the myriad minor waltz variations given by dancing master M. B. Gilbert, in his Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), who includes the dance “by permission of D. B. Brenneke”, presumably the creator. It is essentially a longer and slightly more complex elaboration on the Gavotte Glide.
Gilbert’s description reads:
First Part:–Slide left foot to side (2d), 1, 2; draw right to left, placing weight on right, 3; one measure. Repeat one measure. Slide left to side, 1, 2; draw right to left and slide left to side (chassé), & 3; one measures. Draw right to left and slide left to side, & 1, 3; draw right to left, placing weight on right. 3; one measure.
Second Part:–Waltz four measures. Recommence at first part.
Counterpart for lady.
The dancers are in standard waltz position, the gentleman facing the wall. The lady dances the same moves on opposite feet.
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La Russe
(Note 6/3/24: I’ve written a follow-up to this post; the link is at the end. My reconstruction stands.)
I picked La Russe out some time ago while looking for easy late nineteenth century waltz-time variations. The name means “the Russian woman”, and I recently had the pleasure of teaching it in Moscow to a very talented group of Russian dancers.
No specific choreographer is known for La Russe, but we can date it with unusual precision to just over 130 years ago. Dancing master M. B. Gilbert, in his Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), noted that it was “introduced by the American Society of Professors of Dancing, New York, May 1st, 1882,” and it turns up in a couple of other American dance manuals of the 1880s. All the descriptions are quite consistent, though the terminology used varies.
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Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Bronco
Like the Rockaway, the Bronco is another dance listed under the “Miscellaneous” category in M.B. Gilbert’s Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) as suitable for either jig time (6/8) or galop time (2/4).
Please see my earlier post on the Rockaway for a discussion of jig and galop rhythms and a sample of jig music.
Original description
Leap backward from the right to left foot, 1; leap backward upon the right foot, 2; leap backward upon the left, 3; pass right to side and immediately draw left to right (à la Newport), & 4; pass right to side and draw left to right, & 5; leap forward upon the right, 6; pass left to side and draw right to left, & 7; pass left to side and draw right to left, & 8; four measures. Repeat, commencing as at first. The second time the right foot may move backward at the sixth count, making the turn to the left. Counterpart for lady.
— Gilbert, Round Dancing, p.165 -
Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Rockaway
I’ve recently been looking more closely at some of the “Miscellaneous Dances” found in the back of M. B. Gilbert’s 1890 tome, Round Dancing, and noticed that quite a few of the dances there are labeled specifically as for dancing to jig time (6/8) or for either jig or galop (2/4) time. The Rockaway is one of those given as suited for either time signature.
The earliest source I have for this dance is a New York dance manual, and it seems likely that it was named for the Rockaway Peninsula, a part of Long Island which was a popular seaside resort area in the nineteenth century. The description in Gilbert is considerably clearer and is the basis for this reconstruction.
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May 2012 Gig Calendar
I started out May in the wonderful city of Moscow, teaching nineteenth century dance at Anno Domini, and have a burst of events in the first half of the month before things quiet down substantially. I may add a few more events later this month, but for now, here's the calendar:
