It's been quite some time since I've added a nineteenth-century American contra dance to Kickery. Here's a waltz contra from the ever-useful Elias Howe that, with only a few bars of turning waltz, is an easy dance for beginners. The set of figures appears in near-identical form in at least four of Howe's numerous dance manuals: the Complete ball-room handbook (1858), The pocket ball-room prompter (1858), and the American dancing master, and ball-room prompter (1862 and 1866).
The original text:
First couple balance, cross over and go down outside below two couples — first couple balance again and waltz up to place — down the centre, back and cast off — swing six
In the two 1858 manuals, the figures appear under the name "Aurora Waltz", and in the 1862 and 1866 books, they appear under "Hungarian Waltz". I think that as with earlier country dances, the names actually belong to tunes, rather than the dance figures, and I have no special preference as to which tune and name should be used. Very similar figures (minus the waltz up the center and with a right and left instead of the swing six) appear at least as far back as the 1850s as non-waltz contra dance figures (under several different names) in Howe's and other manuals. It looks to me like Howe just made minor tweaks to a common set of figures to take advantage of the waltz music.
The formation is a longways country dance set, gentlemen on one side and lady on the other. The dance is triple minor, and the action is primarily for the active couples; for twenty-four bars out of thirty-two, they are the only ones moving. With both of those factors in play, for this dance I would take Howe's forward-looking advice to have every fourth couple start the dance simultaneously, rather than the older "snowball" start, and keep the sets fairly short.
Reconstruction - 32-bar waltz contra dance
4b Active couple balances right, left, right, left
4b Active couple crosses the set and goes down the outside to below the third couple
4b Active couple balances again, approaching each other and taking closed ballroom position
4b Active couple waltzes back up the set to original places (see performance note below)
8b Active couple goes down the middle (2b), turns as a couple (2b), comes back up (2b), and casts off to second place on their own sides (2b)
8b Hands six all the way around (or half round and back; see note)
Repeat from the beginning; end with breaking the set and all waltzing down the hall
Reconstruction and performance notes
Obviously, the dance is in waltz time. A waltz walk (three small steps per measure) should be used throughout. The balance step can be a simple step to the side and close or a gentle pas de basque.
After the active couple has crossed and cast off, they rejoin each other with the lady's left shoulder and the gentleman's right shoulder toward the top of the set. If the lady fudges her last balance step as the two approach, she can free her left foot and the couple can start the waltz "over elbows" with the second half of the waltz (she steps left around the gentleman; he steps right between her feet).
Because the "down the middle and back" follows on a waltz segment, I prefer it to be a distinct figure so the dance doesn't turn into "waltz up, waltz down, waltz up again". At the end of the four measures of waltz, the two dancers can easily open side-by-side, dropping their joined hands and facing down the set for "down the middle" improper (gentleman still toward the ladies's side of the set and vice-versa), keeping the same hold as they turn as a couple (letting the lady move forward while the gentleman backs up!) to become proper again for heading back up the set and casting off.
As may be seen (or, rather, not seen) in the instructions above, none of these details are actually specified by Howe, who never bothers to include the fine points. They are aesthetic choices on my part.
Whether the formation is proper (partners facing across the set) or not is unclear in the 1858 sources; the instruction "Form as for common Contra dance" is attached to the first of the waltz country dance figures (under "Cinderella Waltz") only. From the instructions on some of the others, it appears to me that all of them should be proper. This is clarified in the 1862 and 1866 sources, in which there is a specific note that the dance should be formed in the "common" way, meaning proper.
Howe commonly uses "swing" to mean "hands round". At the bottom of the set, there will be no couple below the active couple after the progression, so the final hands six turns into hands four with the couple above them. With only four dancers, eight bars, especially in waltz time, is far too much music for going around once. Because of this end effect, I prefer to use "hands round and back" rather than just "hands round" for this figure, even when done with six dancers. Both figures are historically justifiable, though it's a minor stretch to interpret a plain "swing six" as being round and back.
In the 1858 books, it is noted that this and other waltz country dances may be ended with "all waltz round the hall."
Music
As noted above, the dance was attached by Howe to at least two tunes: "Aurora Waltz" and "Hungarian Waltz". I haven't been able to find a nineteenth-century "Aurora Waltz", though the Traditional Tune Archive offers a transcription of one that exists in manuscript form here.
"Hungarian Waltz" is much easier to find. While there are a number of tunes by that name, we can be reasonably certain which one Howe meant because he actually published it in (at least) his 1843 School for the Clarionet (click to enlarge):
This was a popular tune which dates back to at least the late 1810s, when it was used (or possibly originated?) in the ballet Love Among the Roses, as may be seen by early publications here and here. The ballet may have been English, or may have originated in America, and the tune may have been original to the score or an older tune incorporated into it. Whatever its origin, the tune seems to have been a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The Traditional Tune Archive offers transcriptions of several manuscript versions from England in the 1830s and 1840s, gives several alternate titles ("Drink Your Tea Love", "Grand Duke Nicholas", "When I was a Lady"), and notes that it was referenced by Thomas Hardy in his notes for The Dynasts (1904-1908):
"The 'Hungarian Waltz' having also been danced, the hostess calls up the Highland soldiers to show the foreign guests what a Scotch reel is like. The men put their hands on their hips and tread it out briskly. While they stand aside and rest 'The Hanovarian Dance' is called.
The Archive suggests that the associated dance was a Rheinlander or schottische. I see no evidence of this, but either way, it's not particularly relevant to Howe's use of the tune for a waltz contra dance.
A recording of the "Hungarian Waltz" in medley with the "Copenhagen Waltz" is available on the 1999 album The Dance At The Phoenix
Since Howe felt free to pair the figures with different tunes, I also see no particular reason to worry about dancing it to any period waltz music played with a suitable 32-bar repeat.
Keeping the tempo to around 125 beats per minute will make it easier for the dancers to keep their steps with the music.
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