The Double Glide Waltz, as described by Melvin B. Gilbert in his compendium Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), is an elaboration on the alternating measures of sliding and waltzing found in variations like the Metropole. In La Danse, by [George] Washington Lopp, published in Paris in 1903, it is called La Double Boston and credited to Lopp himself. Much of La Danse is a direct French translation of Gilbert, so Lopp's addition of the credit to himself is notable.
Like other late variations such as the Bowdoin and Fascination, the Double Glide Waltz alters the sliding steps, in this case to include in each sideways measure two "slide-closes", one slow and one fast. The pattern here is "one, two-and-three" or "slow, quick-quick-slow". It also reverses the Metropole pattern from slide/waltz/slide/waltz to waltz/slide/waltz/slide, a distinction which is not particularly significant when actually dancing.
The basic four-measure Double Glide Waltz pattern is given below. The steps are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. The gentlemen begins with his back to the line of dance and his left foot free; the lady facing line of dance with her right foot free. They would have arrived at this position in the process of normal turning in the waltz or, if starting off with the Double Glide Waltz, possibly with an elegant shift of position on the previous bar.
See below for a note about which waltz step to use on the first and third measures.
123 Waltz (step, side, close), starting left foot backward along line of dance
12&3 Slide right sideways along line of dance (1), close left (2), slide right (&), close left (3)
123 Waltz (step, side, close), starting right foot forward along line of dance
12&3 Slide left sideways along line of dance (1), close right (2), slide left (&), close right (3)
There is a quarter-turn clockwise involved in each measure:
- First measure: gentleman starts with back to line of dance, ends with right side to line of dance
- Second measure: gentleman starts with right side to line of dance, ends facing line of dance
- Third measure: gentleman starts facing line of dance and ends with left side to line of dance
- Fourth measure: gentleman starts with left side to line of dance and ends with back to line of dance, assuming he will repeat the sequence or continue to waltz
The waltz used here would be the "new waltz" of the later nineteenth century rather than the older, pirouetting valse à trois temps. Gilbert (and others') basic form of this waltz involves a leap-slide-cut pattern, but he also describes the "Glide Waltz" version which calms it down to step-slide-close. Lopp calls this gentler waltz the Boston. Since Gilbert's version has "glide" in the title and since Lopp both calls it La Double Boston and uses the term "boston" in his description of the waltz measures, I would use the gentler steps rather than the all-out leaping version for the waltz measures.
While neither Gilbert nor Lopp offers the option explicitly, in keeping with normal late-nineteenth-century practice, the waltz measures of the Double Glide Waltz could be danced with either natural or reverse turns. Change direction by simply making a quarter-turn counter-clockwise instead of clockwise at the end of a sliding measure.
Also within the general parameters of period practice would be following the the model of the Metropole/Gavotte Glide pair, which have the same four measures in a slightly different order (slide/waltz/slide/waltz vs. slide/slide/waltz/waltz) and rearranging the pieces of the Double Glide Waltz to do two consecutive measures of sliding followed by a complete waltz turn.
Other Double Glide Waltzes
Since the name Double Glide Waltz is both generic and obvious, it's not surprising that it turns up attached to different sequences. Two examples:
- A reverse-Metropole sequence (waltz/slide/waltz/slide) in the fifth edition of The Dance of Society (New York, 1892). Author William De Garmo claims that it was introduced in 1875. Since this edition appeared relatively soon after Round Dancing, De Garmo may have been aiming this deliberately at Gilbert.
- An interestingly asymmetrical sequence in collections such as Cartier's practical illustrated waltz instructor, ball room guide, and call book (New York, 1882) and Prof. M. J. Koncen's quadrille call book and ball room guide (St. Louis, 1883).
It would not surprise me if there were others as well.
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