Continuing with my lengthening series of tiny tango sequences from the first and second editions of F. Leslie Clendenen's compilation Dance Mad (St. Louis; both editions 1914), here's another short (sixteen-bar) tango sequence. If not performed by all the dancers on the floor in unison, it must be done with care, since the dancers move directly against line of dance at two separate points.
For such a short sequence, there are quite a few niggling little problems with the instructions and reconstruction, which I'll talk about a bit below.
The starting position for the dance is a regular ballroom hold with both dancers turned to face forward along line of dance, moving more-or-less side by side to start. The gentleman starts on the left foot, the lady on the right. Steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.
"Mixed Pickles" Tango (sixteen measures/thirty-two beats)
1234 Four walking steps along line of dance, LRLR
5678 Cross left foot over right and do four walking steps against line of dance (over elbows), LRLR
12 Facing partner, point left foot along line of dance
3 Close left foot to right, rising on toes
4 Sink onto heels
5678 Grapevine along line of dance, LRLR (see performance notes below)
1234 "Scissors": Cross left foot over right, step side right, cross left over right, and point right (movement and point are against line of dance)
5678 "Scissors": Cross right foot over left, step side left, cross right over left, and point left (movement and point are along line of dance)
1234 Draw steps: slide left along line of dance, close right to left, repeat
5678 Spin turn clockwise, rocking left back/twice
Performance and Reconstruction Notes
1. The grapevine. As usual, the instructions don't specify which grapevine, and there are four possibilities: a regular grapevine with the gentleman's first cross behind and the lady's in front, a regular grapevine with the reverse crosses, a mirror grapevine with both crossing in front, and a mirror grapevine with both crossing behind. There's no way to tell which is meant, so none of these are definitively or wrong, but I do have some opinions:
- regular grapevine with the gentleman's first cross behind and the lady's in front (generally the default): the lady's right foot will be placed precisely where it needs to be for the first cross of the following "scissors"; she needs only to shift her weight, while the gentlemen whips his left foot around. He needs to lead her to stay still while he moves, which is a little harder.
- regular grapevine with the gentleman's first cross in front and the lady's behind: the gentleman's left foot will already being in place for the beginning of scissors and he just shifts his weight while bringing the lady sharply around. This is easier to lead and gives the lady (and her swirlier clothes) the drama. My practice partner, dancing as the lady, was strongly in favor of this version.
- mirror grapevines with both crossing in front first: too similar to the preceding promenades and following "scissors".
- mirror grapevines with both crossing behind first: the most drama at the end, as both swing their first foot around to make the first cross of the "scissors", but slightly harder to initiate (leading her to cross behind while he also crosses behind) and in general needs long arms or a relatively petite partner.
My preference: regular grapevine with the gentleman crossing in front and the lady behind to start. It's easiest to lead and makes the lady happiest. More advanced dancers might add variety by switching versions on each iteration of the sequence.
2. The "scissors" section. Notice how repetitive "Mixed Pickles" is? Go this way, go that way, point, go this way, go that way, go this way, point, swirl. One wants to distinguish the "go this way, go that way" sequences so it doesn't feel like just promenading back and forth over and over, which is why I don't favor the third grapevine variation above. For the third section, with the "scissors" (also known by other names) back and forth, I feel that for maximum contrast with the walked back-and-forth of the first part, it's important to face one's partner as much as possible on these steps. If one's arms are long enough, keeping the shoulders parallel throughout is lovely; if not, it is also dramatic to do it with a lot of swivel, turning the whole body somewhat on the cross steps and twisting sharply to face partners on the intervening side step and the final point.
3. The draw steps. In the last movement of the preceding scissors motion, the instructions say for the dancer to "point L. to 2nd pos. and pivot half". This is followed (in the draw steps) by a step to 2nd with the left -- really, just putting the foot down where it already is pointed. Making a draw step sideways while trying to face the opposite way strikes me as ungraceful and unlikely. I think that "and pivot half" is an error caused by the author or editor copying the preceding scissors sequence, just changing the feet, without thinking. Dance Mad (like many dance publications) is riddled with minor errors like this. But if one feels strongly about following every single word of the instructions, then one could briefly pivot to face against line of dance and then swivel back to face partner while doing the draw steps.
4. The spin turn. Performance of this turn is described in detail here. There are only four weight shifts, so it is not as leisurely a turn as when there are eight, but the dancers really only have to move a little more than three-quarters of a turn, since the dance starts with them facing forward along the line of dance. On the last weight shift (gentleman's right back/lady's left forward) the dancers need to separate a bit to be ready to promenade along line of dance as the sequence restarts.
Music
The only note in dance mad is "Music -- Tango", by which I would infer that either there's a piece of tango music somewhere called "Mixed Pickles" or that one can use any tango. Since I haven't been able to locate a "Mixed Pickles" from the 1910s (though searching for it has been entertaining), I default to the latter.
Before everyone jumps into the comments with their personal Google results: note that "Mixed Pickles" by Ernst Fischer, which is more like a one-step than a tango but is the best candidate I've found, is still unlikely to be meant for this dance, since Fischer was born in 1900 and seems to have become active as a composer somewhat later than 1914. There is also this interesting piece performed by the Gminna Orkiestra Dęta Prószków, which I know nothing about, but it has tempo shifts that make it seem unlikely as well.
There was a "Mixed Pickles" stage comedy, starring former Confederate soldier Joseph B. Polk, as far back as 1883 and a "Mixed Pickles" comedy-burlesque act from noted performer-producer Dave Marion in 1907. Either might have supplied a piece of music, but since "mixed pickles" also seems, logically enough, to have been slang for a mixture of something, it's just as likely that there was no relationship to either show.
Special thanks to Christina for patiently dancing through every single grapevine combination!
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