Capering & Kickery

Changes coming...

As I wrap up six (!!!) years of blogging, I've been looking back over Kickery's history and content, and I wanted to let folks know that sometime in the new year, hopefully fairly soon, I'll be making a few changes.  I've made a list of some of the areas I want to work on.  I'm open to suggestions for any other elements of Kickery that need addressing.

A Victorian "Sir Roger de Coverley"

Several years ago I wrote up a description of a version of Sir Roger de Coverley from the early nineteenth century and talked a little about the background of the tune and the association of the dance with Charles Dickens' famous novel, A Christmas Carol.

 

Over time, Sir Roger de Coverley mutated in various ways, and I promised back then to describe some of them.  Better five years late than never, here's another version, a "modernized" English one from the mid-nineteenth century which moves along much more briskly than the earlier version, even with a fairly lengthy set.  According to Mrs. Nicholas Henderson, who seems to have been the first to publish this version, the country dance was generally in decline in the English ballroom by the early 1850s, but Sir Roger de Coverley was an exception:

 

To make amends for the fashionable dereliction and banishment of the old favourites of "Merrie Englande," it is usual to conclude the evening's festivities with one particular species of Country Dance, called "Sir Roger de Coverley."  It has of late enjoyed considerable vogue, and is patronised by her Majesty, at her own entertainments.  We give it as at present danced at the Palace, somewhat modernised and adapted to the prevailing taste.

 

The Twinkle Hesitation Waltz

Like the similarly-named Twinkle Hesitation and the Mistletoe Hesitation, the Twinkle Hesitation Waltz is a sixteen-bar hesitation waltz sequence found in F. Leslie Clendenen's compilation Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914) that uses the quick step-change-step known as a "twinkle".  Clendenen attributes it to T. MacDougall.  It can be used as a sequence dance to any fast 1910s waltz music, or the two parts can be used together or separately as variations in a regular hesitation waltz.

The dancers start in a normal ballroom hold, opened out to side by side facing line of dance.  Steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.

The waltz step used would be the box-shaped "new waltz" of the era rather than the fast-spinning rotary waltz of the nineteenth century.

Part One
1b    Step forward left
1b    Step forward right
1b    Step back left
1b    Twinkle by stepping back right to close feet on (1) and forward again left (3)
1b    Step forward right
1b    Step forward left
1b    Step back right
1b    Twinkle by stepping back left to close feet on (1) and forward again right (3)
(Turn to face each other, beginning to swing around clockwise to put the gentleman's back to line of dance)

Part Two
1b    Step left backward (lady forward) along line of dance
1b    Half-turn of reverse (counter-clockwise) waltz, right-left-right (back-side-close)
(Gentleman is now facing line of dance; continue the momentum of the reverse turn into the next two bars)
1b    Step left forward, pivoting a half-turn counter-clockwise
(Gentleman now has his back to line of dance, or close to it; the half-turn can be completed on the next step)
1b    Step right backward and dip (lady lunges forward); rise on (3) to prepare for next step
4b    Repeat all of above

Both the reconstruction and the dance itself are very straightforward.  The sequence and its component parts are easy enough to enter and exit from a regular hesitation waltz that no further explanation seems necessary.

The Hesitation Undercut

The hesitation undercut is so short that it seems more a variation for the hesitation waltz than a distinct dance.  F. Leslie Clendenen, in his 1914 collection Dance Mad, attributes it to S. Wallace Cortissoz, who was also credited in Dance Mad with a sixteen-bar sequence called the Twinkle Hesitation.

The eight-bar sequence is begun with the dancers in normal waltz position, the gentleman facing the wall and the lady the center of the room.  Steps are given below for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. 

The waltz step used would have been the "new" waltz step, with a pattern of step-side-close, much like today's box step, rather than the older rotary-style waltz of the nineteenth century.

Three "Scottish" Setting Sequences for Regency-Era Quadrilles

(This continues a very occasional series of posts on setting steps for quadrilles, with the previous posts including eight easy sequences and two French sequences.)

Calling these three sequences "Scottish" is really a bit of a misnomer, since the sources are Alexander Strathy's Elements of the Art of Dancing (Edinburgh, 1822), which is in large part a translation of a French manual by J. H. Goudoux, and an anonymous Scottish manuscript entitled Contre Danses à Paris 1818.  All three sequences are certainly French in their steps and style and quite possibly in origin.  They probably would not have caused anyone in Paris in that era to bat an eyelash.  But technically, they are documented to Scotland, not France, in the late 1810s-early 1820s.

Two French Setting Sequences for Regency-era Quadrilles

Several years ago I posted eight easy setting sequences for Regency-era French quadrilles and said in the comments I'd try to post more "soon".  That has now stretched to more than five years, but, better late than never, here are a couple of others, this time directly from a trio of French manuals by J. H. Gourdoux (or Gourdoux-Daux):

Principes et Notions Élémentaires sur l’Art de la Danse Pour la Ville (2nd edition, 1811)
Recueil d’un Genre Nouveau de Contredanses et Walses (1819)
De l’Art de la Danse (1823)

Once again, these are easy sequences, but a bit more interesting than the previous set.

Sorority Glide

Most of the steps in Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914) were collected by "author" F. Leslie Clendenen from other dancing masters, but he gives himself credit for the Sorority Glide, a sixteen-bar one-step sequence that he recommends be danced to "Too Much Mustard" or "any One Step music of a similar swing.  It's a fun little sequence with a very "Castles" feel to it and room for some personal style.  It works as an independent dance or can be plugged into a regular one-step as a variation.

The dancers begin in a ballroom hold, turned out slightly so both face line of dance.  The dancers need to be far enough apart to make a cross step without crowding.  Weight should be shifted onto the forward (outside) foot, the gentleman's left and the lady's right, since the dance starts on the inside foot.

The Sorority Glide
1. Cross-Chassez (four bars/eight counts)
Cross inside foot (his right/her left) over outside foot (1) and use outside foot to make a chassez, closing and pushing the inside foot forward again (&2).  Repeat, counting 1&2&3&4&5&6&7&8, ending on a cross of the inside foot.

2. Point-cross-point-close (two bars/four counts)
Point outside foot (his left/her right) sideways along line of dance (1), cross it over inside foot (2), point inside foot (his right/her left) sideways against line of dance (3), and close it to the other foot with weight (4).

3. Draw steps (two bars/four counts)
Step sideways along line of dance (1), close (2), step sideways (3), close (4).

4. Gallop and half-turn (four bars/eight counts)
Gallop one bar (side-close-side-close, 1&2&) then step side (3) and close (4).  The half-turn is a slow, three-count two-step turn: side, starting to turn (5); close (6); side, completing turn (7).  The dancers are now turned halfway; line of dance is "over elbows".  Point the inside foot (his right/her left) along line of dance without weight (8).

Repeat the gallop and half-turn over elbows, but at the end, put weight on the pointing foot (his left, her right) to set up for a repeat of the sequence.

December 2013 Gig Calendar

I'm winding down my gig and class schedule for the year, so I have a light schedule through mid-month followed by seven quiet days at home with no teaching or travel before I go away over Christmas.  Here are the details:

Tuesday, December 3rd ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen Era Dancing (Facebook event)
Beginner-friendly lesson 8:15-9:30pm.  No costume needed.

Friday, December 6th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Holiday Cross-Step Waltz & Blues Party (Facebook event)
Beginner waltz lesson 7-8pm, DJing waltz 8-10pm, DJing blues 10-midnight

Sunday, December 8th ~ New York City
Regency Dance Workshop  (Facebook event)
Beginner-friendly lesson 3:00-5:00pm.  No costume needed.

Tuesday, December 10th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy
7:30-11:00pm.  DJing blues from 9:45-11:00.

Saturday, December 14th ~ Rockville Centre, New York (NYC area)
Private event

Sunday, December 15th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Jane Austen's Birthday Dance (Facebook event)
2:00-5:00 pm

Sunday, December 15th ~ New Haven, Connecticut
Swing & Blues Practicum for Yale Swing & Blues  (Facebook event)
8:00-10:50pm  DJing blues from 9:25-10:50

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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 Haven/Middletown/Hartford, Connecticut: December 3-6, 9, 12-13, 16-23
New York City: December 7-8

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Coming in January: Regency, blues, and a 1770s ball!