The Military Schottische Series is a "class dance", a practice or exercise series to work on the movements of a particular dance. It is a particular characteristic of the Military Schottische (briefly described here) and its descendants that the first part is done side by side, both dancers facing forward, and the second turning, the dancers in closed position. The Series doesn't follow that pattern precisely (there is no closed position turn at all), but it keeps the general concept of the first half traveling along line of dance and the second doing some sort of turn.
The Series is described in gender-neutral terms: the "dancer on the left" and the "dancer on the right". In a dance school setting it would be quite normal to have two girls or two boys dance together.
It would also be possible to use this as a performance or recital piece.
I have two sources for the Series, with the same general sequence of figures:
- The Director, June 1898. This was a short-lived dance periodical edited by M. B. Gilbert.
- School Dances, 1913. This is a posthumous publication attributed to M. B. Gilbert but edited by Susan Hoffman Gilman.
Gilbert was a major figure in American dance of the late nineteenth century and is best known today from his collection of couple dances, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890). I talked a bit more about his various pursuits here. The Military Schottische Series is uncredited, but I think it very possible that he wrote it himself.
In The Director the Series has eight parts, each part repeated either two or four times, meaning that 64 or 128 bars of 4/4 times music are needed. In School Dances the seventh part is skipped, leaving only seven remaining, and each part is done twice, requiring 56 bars total. That could be a deliberate change or it could be an error introduced over the years. In The Director, the music for the Series is listed as "In de Moonlight, Barn Dance. By Theo Bonheur." In School Dances, an schottische cited as "F. R. Webb. Op. 82." is given. I don't think it particularly matters what piece of schottische music one uses.
Only two step-sequences are used in this series: the forward schottische step and the step-hop.
The forward schottische step is given in The Director as "Three running steps forward on toes, count 1-2-3; hop and extend free foot forward, well stretched, toe well pointed toward the floor, heel well forward, count (4); one measure." This is the step used in the first half of the Star Schottische (as published by Gilbert in Round Dancing). Run-run-run-hop became one of the common ways to perform the first half of the schottische even as the more technical nineteenth-century version (slide-cut-leap-hop) faded into the smoother step-together-step-hop.
The step-hop is just what it sounds like: step on one foot and hop on it. Repeat three more times, alternating feet. The free foot can be extended in various directions or held in a raised position, toe down. The description in The Director sometimes specifies a "with point in front", which I would interpret as extending the leg as on the hop of the forward step. In the instructions below, this is rendered as "pointing the toe forward". When it does not so specify, I would use a raised 3rd or 1st position, knee bent, toes down. It should never be a kick backward!
The general pattern of the dance is straightforward to reconstruct, but there are some ambiguous descriptions and a few places where the sources are contradictory. I've noted those below, with my preferences where there are contradictions and my best guesses where the descriptions are ambiguous.
Military Schottische Series
Dance formation: couples around the room.
Starting foot: outside foot (furthest from partner).
Each part consists four bars (two for the forward step and two for the step-hops), repeated, the variation coming in the figures, direction, and method of holding one's partner.
1.
Forward steps: inside hands joined, facing and traveling along line of dance.
Step-hops: both hands joined (The Director) or at waist (School Dances), facing partner, step-hop to side, back and forth
Repeat all of the above
*Note: I prefer hands at waist for the step-hops
2.
Forward steps: as in #1
Step-hops: two-hand turn; join both hands and circle once to left
Repeat all of the above
3.
Forward steps: as in #1
Step-hops: underarm turn; raise inside hands and dancer on the right turns while dancer on the left makes the step-hops in place, pointing the toe forward
Repeat all of the above
*Note: it is not specified in the sources, but I would perform this as an outside (clockwise) turn.
4.
Forward steps: as in #1
Step-hops: cast away; hands at waist, partners turn away from each other in a circular path and return
Repeat all of the above
5.
Forward steps: as in #1, but cross-hand hold (right in right, left in left)
Step-hops: tossacross; keeping cross-hand hold, dancer on left step-hops in place, pointing the toe forward, while dancer on right crosses in front to end on the left
Repeat all of the above, the dancer who is now on the left crossing back to original place on the right.
* Note that the repeat will start on the original first foot, which is now the inside foot!
6.
Forward steps: as in #5, cross-hand hold
Step-hops: barrel roll; both dancers make a complete turn, keeping joined hands
Repeat all of the above
*Note: in The Director, the turn is outward; in School Dances, the turn is inward. I prefer inward. The dancers must stay close together to make the roll work smoothly.
7. (does not appear in School Dances)
Forward steps: as in #1, but holding left hands
Step-hops: cross-step to side, changing places with partner and changing hands
Repeat all of the above, changing back to original sides and left hands
*See note below for my interpretation of the cross-step
8.
Forward steps: as in #1, but not holding hands; arms in amplified third position
Step-hops: cast away, as in #4
Repeat forward steps
Pirouette and salutation (replacing step-hops)
* See note below regarding arm position on the forward steps, pirouette and salutation
The overall mnemonic is: facing, two-hand turn, underarm turn, cast away, cross/toss, cross/roll, one-hand turn, cast/finale.
Reconstruction and performance notes
1. The position of the free arm in the forward steps in part 1. This is described in The Director as "Disengaged hands always in front support position" and not described at all in School Dances. I don't think "front support position" means hand at waist, since that phrase is used elsewhere, but I don't have a better guess for a male dancer. For a female dancer, holding the skirt gently out to the side would be suitable.
2. The cross-step in part 7. The dancer at left has the left foot free; the dancer at right has the right foot free. They are holding left hands, which means they need to move counter-clockwise to change places. I would have the dancers face and move sideways to their own right, alternating side steps and cross steps as required. The dancer at left would do "cross-hop, side-hop, cross-hop, side-hop" while the dancer at right does "side-hop, cross-hop, side-hop, cross-hop". No directions are given for the repeat, but since they have changed hands, they would need to move clockwise (to their own left), meaning that the pattern of side and cross steps would reverse for each dancer.
3. Arm position for the forward steps in part 8. In The Director, the position is described as "arms in intermediate position"; in School Dances, it is "arms extended to third position amplified; on extension at end of step, arms intermediate position." I would interpret "third position amplified" as in the illustration at right (from Friedrich A. Zorn, Grammar of the Art of Dancing, English edition 1905) and "intermediate" as halfway between normal second and third positions -- a bit lower than the level as in the illustration, and curved rather than straight. Note that palms are held downward! The implication in School Dances is that the arms are straightening outward on the running steps and curving inward on the hop during the forward steps. But I would much prefer to see the dancers hold a single position, as in The Director, if they can't do the change smoothly and gracefully at speed.
4. Pirouette and salutation in part 8 (two measures, eight beats). To pirouette, each dancer swings the outside foot around behind the other and spins on the toes (two beats), repeating this (two beats) to end facing their partner (a total of three-quarters of turning; each pirouette movement must underturn slightly). For the salutation, a simple sinking curtsy in third or fifth position for female dancers or an unadorned bow, arms down, for male dancers. Two beats down, two beats up.
Music note
As stated above, I don't think the music choice matters. But weirdly enough, I have two recordings of the same piece, "Ripley's Schottische", in 56-bar and 64-bar lengths, from the American Brass Quintet's The Yankee Brass Band
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