The Pasadena, a would-be replacement for the two-step, appears in the 1900 reprint of New York dancing master Allen Dodworth's 1885 tome, Dancing and its relations to education and social life, but can be dated back to at least 1898. It appears to have been created as a dancing school dance, as Dodworth's nephew, T. George Dodworth, discussed in his introduction to the new edition of his uncle's manual:
In order to bring the work up to date, I have been requested to write an introduction which will include a list of dances that have come into fashion since my uncle's book was originally published.
As a matter of fact, however, society dances have decreased, rather than increased, during this interval. When this work first appeared most of the round dances described in its pages were fashionable. But Dame Fashion is fickle, and, owing to some unaccountable change in taste, we now have only the Two Step, the Waltz, occasionally a Saratoga Lancers, and the Cotillion. In the dancing-schools the old dances are still taught, but with numerous new combinations, which are composed to improve the pupil and keep alive the interest. From these combinations we have the Tuxedo Lancers, the Amsterdam, Gavotte der Kaiserin, Minuet de la Cour (for four persons), and the Pasedena.
This tendency of the Two Step to destroy the Waltz and modesty in holding partners, were the principal reasons for arranging the Pasadena so as to offset the bad of the other. I wished to use the fine compositions of Sousa and others, and have succeeded in creating so intense an interest in the Pasadena that those who know both dances prefer the latter.
These "frank expressions" were included as part of a diatribe against the two-step as a threat to dancing in general (and the livelihood of dancing masters in particular) that was published in the March, 1898, edition of Gilbert's short-lived magazine, The Director, which was dedicated to "dancing, deportment, etiquette, aesthetics, physical training." This takes the composition of the Pasadena back at least two years, possibly to as early as 1897. Presumably, the dance was named after the southern California city, which in the late ninteenth century was a popular winter resort for east coast society. According to an article in the Pasadena Star-News, Allen Dodworth and his immediate family relocated there around 1890 and, according to his obituary in The New York Times, he died there in 1896. Perhaps the dance was created in memoriam.
While it is difficult to say whether a school dance was ever used in a purely social setting, the Pasadena was taught at least by yet another member of the family, Frank Dodworth (son of Allen and cousin of T. George), at his Brooklyn branch of the Dodworth academy. It appeared on the program for his "informal closing of classes" in the spring of 1898, an afternoon of social dancing joined by all of his students. The program was published in the May, 1898, issue of The Director.
Jig Time
The Pasadena is described as danceable to any two-step music, but the notation for the dance is shown in 6/8, jig time, and the rhythm of the end of the sequence really requires it. The dance is based on the waltz-galop with a complex sequence of slides added on. When dancing the waltz-galop in jig time, the leap of the leap-slide-cut is takes slightly longer: "one...a two, one...a two":
* * * * * *
1-&-a-2-&-a 1-&-a-2-&-a
Dancers who know the waltz-galop generally adopt this "slow-quick-slower" rhythm instinctively.
The Pasadena consists of an eight-measure sequence which is repeated, starting on the opposite foot and traveling "over elbows", for a complete sequence of sixteen bars. The original instructions may be seen on the Library of Congress website.
The dancers begin in waltz position, with the gentleman facing the wall and the lady the center of the room. The steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.
The Pasadena
a1...2 Hop (R) on the upbeat; slide (L) along line of dance; cut (R), turning one quarter
1...a2 Waltz-galop: leap-slide-cut (L-R-L), turning one quarter (gentleman facing center)
a1...2 Hop (L) on the upbeat; slide (R) along line of dance; cut (L), turning one quarter
1...a2 Waltz-galop: leap-slide-cut (R-L-R), turning halfway (gentleman's back to line of dance)
1...a2 Waltz-galop: leap-slide-cut (L-R-L), turning halfway (gentleman facing line of dance)
1...a2 Waltz-galop: leap-slide-cut (R-L-R), turning halfway (gentleman's back to line of dance)
1&a2 Leap (L) back along line of dance, turning one quarter, then slide-cut-slide (R-L-R) along line of dance "over elbows" (gentleman facing center)
a1...2 Continue along line of dance with cut-slide-cut (L-R...L).
At this point the gentleman is facing the center; he starts the sequence again from the beginning, this time hopping with the left foot on the upbeat.
The full sequence is counted:
a1...2, 1...a2, a1...2, 1...a2, 1...a2, 1...a2, 1&a2...a1...2
While no information is given about reversing, there is no physical reason why any of the waltz-galop measures could not be reversed, or the natural and reverse turns alternated at pleasure.
Music for the Pasadena
Like T. George Dodworth, I enjoy using the "fine compositions" of Sousa, quite a number of which are in jig time. Some possible Sousa tunes for the Pasadena include "The Bride Elect" (my personal favorite), "Semper Fidelis", and "El Capitan". "The Washington Post" is also in 6/8, but since there was a popular sequence dance already in existence for it, I would not use it for the Pasadena. Any album along the lines of Sousa's Greatest Hits
While it is supposedly possible to dance the Pasadena to Sousa's non-jig-time marches or to other two-step music, it throws off the rhythm of the final two bars of the sequence to use anything but 6/8 music.
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