Capering & Kickery

Progressing Wilson's New Reel of Four

A postscript to my mini-series of posts on Regency-era Scotch reels:

There is not an iota of evidence that Regency dancing master Thomas Wilson intended his new reel of four to have any sort of progression (dancers moving from one starting location to another for each iteration of the reel), and, indeed, his lack of inclusion of a progression argues against one.  But it turns out to be remarkably easy to progress this reel, and my dance students, who have spent much of the last month patiently working through my experiments with reels, have been enthusiastic about this new variation. 

The concept of a progressive reel was not unfamiliar to Wilson; he mentions progression in his description of the classic reel for three and uses it in his new reels for five.  Here's how to do it in his new reel of four:

Setting Steps for Reels: the Aisig-thrasd

Winding up this mini-series of posts on early-nineteenth century reels, here's another interesting setting step from Scottish dancing master Francis Peacock, published in Sketches relative to the history and theory, but more especially to the practice of dancing (Aberdeen, 1805).  The Aisig-thrasd is subtitled "Cross Passes".  Peacock explains its Gaelic etymology as "From Aiseag, a pass, and Trasd across."

Peacock's description of the Aisig-thrasd:

This is a favourite step in many parts of the Highlands.  You spring a little to one side with the right foot, immediately passing to the left across it; hop and cross it again, and one step is finished; you then spring a little to one side with the left foot, making the like passes with the right.  This is a minor step; but it is often varied by passing the foot four times alternately behind and before, observing to make a hop previous to each pass, the first excepted, which must always be a spring, or bound: by these additional motions, it becomes a single step.

Wilson's New Reel of Four

Like his new reel of six and new reel of three, this reel of four is another of London dancing master Thomas Wilson's attempts to create variety in the dancing of reels in the early nineteenth century.  While this reel keeps the classic interweaving pattern of the standard reels for three and four, it contains no setting at all, which makes it a particularly accessible dance for those whose strength is more in floor patterns than complicated steps. 

The earliest source I have for this reel is the third edition of Thomas Wilson's An Analysis of Country Dancing (London, 1811), from which the diagram at left is taken.  The same diagram and description appear in Wilson's The Complete System of English Country Dancing (London, c1815).  The 1808 edition of An Analysis... included a different reel for four, which also appears in the fourth edition in 1822.

Wilson's New Reel of Three

This simple choreographed reel is another of English Regency dancing-master Thomas Wilson's attempts to create new and interesting dances in the Scottish style, centering around the characteristic figure-eight pattern known as a reel or hey.  It is an easy and delightful little sequence, and it is one of the few Regency-era dances that can be done with only three people. 

The earliest source I have for this reel is Wilson's An Analysis of Country Dancing (London, 1808).  The diagram at left is taken from the third edition of Analysis, dated 1811; click to enlarge.

Wilson notates this as a reel for two gentlemen and a lady or two ladies and a gentleman, but there is no reason it can't be danced by three dancers of the same gender. 

Skibo!

Skibo, "The New Ball Room Dance", is a short sequence dance by Professor R. O. Blackburn set to music by Joseph T. Kane.  It was published in Ohio in 1910.   The cover of the sheet music may be seen at left; click to enlarge.  The music is not labeled a schottische but does have a schottische-like feel and strathspey-like patterns with a sort of Scottish "snap".

The date of the dance and the Scottish flavor of the music suggest that it was named after Skibo Castle, originally built in the 12th century but extensively renovated by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century, who added a golf course.  Carnegie's renovations were covered in the American press (including articles in The New York Times).  A Carnegie family photo album with pictures of Skibo Castle from 1908-1910 may be found in Georgia's Virtual Vault.  The castle and the surrounding estate, no longer Carnegie-owned, are currently a private country club probably best known for hosting Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie in 2000.

I have no evidence that the dance was actually associated with the castle or the Carnegies.  I think it more likely that it was simply an attempt to cash in by association with the famous property of a wealthy family.  I've also never run across any mention of Skibo outside of this sheet music and suspect that calling it "The New Ball Room Dance" was merely ambitious advertising.

Setting a higher standard

Moving on from what ought to be the rock-bottom minimal standard for anything calling itself a "Jane Austen ball", even in the modern English country dance community, let me talk a little about higher standards, and what you'd want to do if you were interested in actually approaching as close as is practical to period practice.  I've made two lists, one of what I consider to be important and one of elements that I do not consider as critical.  Some items are characteristics of the dancing itself, and some have to do with ball format, because the latter is just as important as the former in establishing a period atmosphere and breaking people out of the modern mindset.

Modern English country dance groups are unlikely to want to try most (or any!) of this, but I hope it's interesting to see how different an experience a ball would have been two hundred years ago.  Some people have the bizarre idea that by suggesting that using "dances" (in the modern sense) from Jane Austen's lifetime for something called a "Jane Austen ball", I am somehow trying to impose actual historical practices on them.  No, really, not!

For simplicity's sake, I've limited this to just things pertaining to country dancing, rather than trying to cover the entire range of possible dance forms for either Austen herself or the actual decade of the Regency.

Jane Austen balls for dummies

First off, let me note that the title of this post is not a comment on anyone's intellect.  It's a riff on the titles of the popular series of "For Dummies" books, which are intended simply as accessible how-to guides for people who are not familiar with a topic.  I have a couple of them myself.  Neither I nor this post have any actual connection with these books, and no copyright infringement is intended.

It's been pointed out to me that negative critiques of historically ludicrous "Regency" ball programs, however justified, are not actually helpful for people who are not dance scholars and whose audience is not interested in serious study of historical dance, but who would like to do a decent job programming such a ball, or at least avoid making obvious idiots of themselves by calling seventeenth-century dances at a Regency- or Jane Austen-themed event.  

That's a reasonable complaint.  It's always easier to criticize than to be constructive.  And most of Kickery delves too deeply into the details for a modern country dance caller who just wants to do their gig.

I'm not going to write a modern caller's guide to doing such balls (not as a blog post, anyway!)  But I can at least give some basic help to people who don't have the time (or motivation) to go for higher levels of authenticity.  

I went with "Jane Austen" in the title rather than "Regency" because I think the name recognition and audience are higher for the author than for the era and because the single easy-to-find reference I'm using has more dances drawn from sources published in Austen's lifetime than from the years of the actual Regency.  But everything below would be acceptable, if not exactly the latest fashion, for country-dance-focused Regency balls as well.

Sackett's Harbor

There is no way in which this mid-nineteenth century American country (contra) dance can be said to be traditional in format, either for the Civil War era or before.  That's precisely what attracted me to it: the unusual twist in the figures makes them stand out from the many others published in the mid-nineteenth century.

On the matter of names
The more contra dances of the 1850s and 1860s that I look at, the more I suspect that the interchangeability of tunes and figures of the Regency era applies just as much later in the century, eventually evolving into the modern contra practice of dance figures having names and, with a very few traditional exceptions, being done to whatever tune suits the fancy of the musicians.  In this case, these figures appear under at least four different names, which suggests to me that the names belong to the music rather than the dance figures:

July 2013 Gig Calendar

This is another month that's going to be mostly occupied by fellowship research, but I'll also be spending a week at dance camp and then doing a cluster of workshops and a ball at the end of the month!  I'm barely leaving Connecticut, but I'll be ping-ponging constantly among four different cities.  Here are the details:

Sunday, July 7th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing swing from 8:00-9:30 and blues from 9:30-11:00.

Wedneday, July 10th ~ Northhampton, Massachusetts
Private event

Saturday, July 13th through Friday, July 19th ~ New London, Connecticut
New London Assembly
Just attending, not teaching!

Saturday, July 20th ~ New York City
1880s Quadrille Workshop for The New York Nineteenth Century Society (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Sunday, July 21st ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm

Tuesday, July 23rd ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event page)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Saturday, July 27th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Dance workshop & ball for the Jane Austen Society of Connecticut Summer Camp
Workshop 6:00-7:00pm, ball 9:15pm.  Tickets must be purchased in advance by July 19th -- no at-the-door!

Sunday, July 28th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-11:00pm  DJing blues from 9:30-11:00.

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I am available for private lessons in Connecticut or on my various travels; during the latter, you must provide the dance space.  Email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

New York City: July 20-21
New Haven & Middletown, Connecticut: July 1-8, 22-23, 29-31
Hartford, Connecticut: July 9-11, 24-26
New London, Connecticut: July 13-19

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