The Rag-Time Crawl

I semi-jokingly call the Rag-Time Crawl "the dance for when I get tired of the Castle Schottische".  It basically fulfills the same function: easy to dance, accessible to beginners, and comforting to people who are not up to leading and following and enjoy the Macarena-like effect of everyone moving all together in the same pattern.

My source for the dance is Frank H. Norman's Complete Dance Instructor (Ottawa, 1914).  The author is J. B. McEwen of Glasgow, Scotland.  I don't know a lot about either of these gentlemen, but I can offer a few bits of trivia:

• There seems to have been considerable back-and-forth between North America and Europe by dancing masters in this era.  Norman's introductory pages note that he was a member, honorary member, or affiliate of dancing organizations in the U.S. and Canada, England, Scotland, and Paris.  

• He had been teaching long enough to include a testimonial from the Countess of Aberdeen (wife of the Governor-General of Canada from 1893-1898) for teaching her children back in 1894, and in 1919, he was the master of ceremonies for a ball in honor of the Prince of Wales in Montréal, as reported in the November, 1919, issue of the Buffalo (New York) dance journal, The Two-Step.

• McEwen published at least one book, The Ball Room Exponent and Guide to Fashionable Dancing (Glasgow, c1902), which I do not have a copy of, and by the 1920s had a dancing school associated with the Norwood Ballroom, as may be seen on The Glasgow Story website.  

• Like Norman, he boasted international connections; he is quoted as listing himself in his book as “the only Teacher of Dancing in Scotland possessing the British, French, and American Badges of Proficiency.”  He turns up in the same November, 1919, issue of The Two-Step in a blurb datelined London, November 5th:

The hesitation waltz is to be the dance of the season in London, in the opinion of J. B. McEwen, dance instructor de luxe, who has just completed his education in the latest dances in Paris and America.  

The hesitation dates back eight or ten years in the States, but McEwen has just discovered it, and he thinks it will be all the rage here in a few weeks.

The Rag-Time Crawl (16 bars)
Starting position: "skaters" hold, both dancers side by side, facing forward along line of dance, left hands joined and outstretched in front, right arms joined at lady's right side (gentleman's arm behind her back).  

Both dancers begin with the right foot.

2b    Step right to side, cross left over right, step right to side, cross left over right
2b    Step right forward, close left behind, step left back, close right in front
2b    Cross right over left, step left to side, cross right over left, step left to side
2b    Step right forward, close left behind, step left back, close right in front

2b    Step forward right, point left forward, step forward left, point right forward
2b    Repeat steps and points
2b    Turn as a couple to the left (counter-clockwise) completely round
2b    Walk forward four steps

Reconstruction and performance notes
This is a completely straightforward reconstruction.

In general, the dancers should turn their whole bodies, not just do hip isolations, and progress gently forward along the line of dance (at diagonal angles) in the step-cross sequences rather than move completely perpendicular to it.  

Note that the "closes" in the first half and the "points" in the second half are without weight.  The turn in the second-to-last pair of bars is what is nowadays called a "courtesy turn".

There is a mildly awkward transition at the end of the second bar from crossing left over right to stepping right forward, but it's not really a problem if the dancers are prepared.
 

Music
There is no specific music listed, merely "Tempo 2/4".  It could be interpreted as a tango or a one-step, or perhaps even a polka or two-step.  Despite the word "crawl" in the title, in the absence of any firmer data about the choreographer's preference, mine is for making it into a one-step.  

The tune I use for it is "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee", which has a musical pattern that suits the dance very nicely.  There are plenty of recordings for this piece; I favor either the one from Ian Whitcomb and The White Star Orchestra's Titanic: Music As Heard On The Fateful Voyage or Bob Milne's piano version on The Robert E. Lee.  The former is at 120 beats per minute, which is a nice and relaxing; the latter is at 131, which is brisk but workable.  Either could be tweaked with software for a faster or slower tempo.  There is also a version on the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra's Knockout Drops, but it is medleyed with another tune and way too fast at 148 beats per minute.

Here's a snippet from the Whitcomb/White Star version so you can hear the pattern:

Waiting For The Robert E. Lee

Sheet music for the tune is available in the companion book and elsewhere as well.

To use the Whitcomb recording, wait out the sixteen-bar introduction, and then there will be enough music for six times through the dance.  The Milne recording has some chords and then a four-bar introduction, followed by enough music for twelve times through the dance and eight more bars to repeat the first half only.  That actually works rather well, since the end of the first half is a step and close, which is a more elegant ending than the walking steps at the end of the full sequence.

There are many other recordings of "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee", and of course one could use some other one-step or other style of music entirely.

Enjoy!

Comments

[Susan de Guardiola]

I've recently been having fun dancing this to even slower music - foxtrots around 90bpm. It works nicely at this speed, too!

[Forrest Outman]

The pamphlet book "The Ball Room Exponent and Guide to Fashionable Dancing" was likely published later than 1902. The only source I know of for it is in Edinburgh Scotland and they date it c1909. The copy I have is the new edition from 1912 (it contains One Step and Crab Step).

Also something of note; the book spells the author's name J.B. M'Ewan, while inside it states several dances created by J.B. McEwan. Perhaps the author thought the alternate spelling sounded more sophisticated? I checked the ANAMOD Minutes and Dances for the annual congress of 1909 & 1910, both of which spell it J.B. McEwin.