Capering & Kickery

February 2019 Gig Calendar

I will spend most of February in Moscow, with one trip to Saratov at the end of the month for a weekend of classes on late nineteenth and early twentieth century dance, with an emphasis on improvisation in everything from tango and foxtrot to polka mazurka and quadrilles.  This is something of a sequel to my intensive weekend in Samara three years ago.  I'm really excited about teaching this material -- finally, back to advanced nineteenth century! -- and visiting a new Russian city!

Other than that -- my usual classes, a waltz party, and balls to attend!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Tuesdays, February 5th, 12th, 19th  ~ Moscow, Russia
Cross-Step Waltz for Beginners: Skater's Variations (VK post - in Russian)
7:00-8:15pm; practice time 8:15-8:45pm
Concentration on "skater's" variations done with matched feet and making smooth foot changes, plus a cross-step line dance!  Pay by the week or for a full month including the waltz party on the 26th.

Tuesdays, February 5th, 12th, 19th ~ Moscow, Russia
Intermediate Cross-Step Waltz: Skater's Variatons (VK post - in Russian)
8:45-10:00pm; practice time 8:15-8:45pm
More complex figures and techniques for shifting between shadow, skater's, hammerlock, and cradle positions.  Pay by the week or for a full month including the waltz party on the 26th.

Thursday, February 7th ~ Moscow, Russia
Open Cross-Step Practice (VK post - in Russian)
7:00-9:00pm
Open dance floor for cross-step practice.  I will DJ and practice with people individually but am not doing any formal teaching.

Thursdays, February 14th, 21st, 28th ~ Moscow, Russia
Late 19th Century Polka Mazurka Variations (VK post - in Russian, second, third)
7:00-9:00pm
Three classes on improvisation in polka mazurka using steps and sequences from American variations of the 1880s.  Emphasis on musicality.  Steps work with polka-mazurka, redowa, and mazurka music.

Saturday-Sunday, February 23rd-24th - Saratov, Russia
Master Classes in XIX and XX Century Dance (VK community - in Russian)
Weekend of classes in the dances of the late nineteenth to early twentieth century; emphasis on couple dance improvisation.  Topic include: late nineteenth century waltz, polka, and polka-mazurka variations; 1840s polka figures and the Orientale; 1910s tango and foxtrot; and American-style called quadrilles (both dancing and calling).

Tuesday, February 26th ~ Moscow, Russia
Mardi Gras Waltz Party (VK event - in Russian)
7:00-10:00pm.  Waltz, waltz, and more waltz!  Light refreshments.  Purple/green/gold clothing and masks encouraged (but not required)!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available for private lessons in Moscow, or while 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.

Moscow, Russia: February 1-21, 25-28

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Les Cinq Parties du Monde

When I watched a performance of an unfamiliar quadrille back in December, I was informed that it was called Les Cinq Parties du Monde and was from 1876.  Both pieces of information turned out to be...not entirely accurate.  And I was far from the only person fascinated by the unusual figures; at least two French researchers and one Russian have taken a crack at them as well.  As a result, this is an interesting opportunity to compare different people's work and demonstrate why I disagree with some of their decisions.

But first, the basics: the figures were indeed published with the quadrille music "Les Cinq Parties du Monde" in 1876.  They are credited to Henri Cellarius "neveu", the illegitimate nephew of the more famous Cellarius.  The music is by Emile Kohler.  The sheet music cover may be seen above (click to enlarge).  So why do I disagree?

Well, as part of my reconstruction process, I look at other works by the same author to see if there are any clues about some of the more unusual descriptions.  I am only aware of one other publication by Cellarius neveu, another polka quadrille, Arcachon, published in 1865, with figures by Cellarius neveu and music by H[ippolyte]. Barrez.

Both sets are available online at the Bibliothèque nationale de France; look here ("Cinq Parties") and here ("Arcachon") for reference.

But when I looked at the figures included with the "Arcachon" music, hoping for some useful insights, I discovered that the figures were exactly the same as those with the "Cinq Parties" music.  Not only did I not get any new information, I got a puzzle to solve.  Two sets of quadrille tunes with the same figures published eleven years apart is somewhat odd.  Were either of the dates wrong? 

Nope!  

Here (second listing from the top in the right-hand column) is the "Arcachon" music listed in the 1865 Bibliographie de la France, and here (halfway down the left column; second listing under "Musique Pour Piano") is the "Cinq Parties" music listed in the 1876 edition.  "Arcachon" is definitely the earlier publication.  The "Cinq Parties" music must have been written, or at least arranged, specifically for these figures, since they're of unusual lengths.  But why?  The figures are certainly unusual, but were they so popular that they needed a new set of tunes?  Was Cellarius neveu so famous that it was worth republishing his figures eleven years later, but not famous enough to have any more (surviving?) published work?  I feel like there might be an interesting story here, but I don't know what it is.

Reconstruction-wise, knowing the figures are from 1865 means that figure performance needs to take into account the massive hoop skirts of the mid-1860s, such as the one shown at left (click to enlarge, or look at more illustrations here).  Even if you exclude the train, which might have been looped up for dancing, that's still a whole lot of skirt to accommodate, which affects how I choose to reconstruct and perform some figures.

 

 

 

 

 

Radcliffe girls lead, 1897

I almost passed right by the brief Boston Daily Globe article from early 1897 in my endless digging for newspaper coverage of social dance.  Although I have an interest in historical recital or performance pieces like skirt dances, they're not my major research focus.  I'm glad I took a closer look, though, because when those wild and crazy Radcliffe students drew the curtains of Fay House for an all-girl post-exam party, not only did one perform a skirt dance, they also danced couple dances...which meant that the ladies were leading!

For Radcliffe girls are nothing if not adaptable.  They can read Greek and Sanskrit, write plays, dance skirt dances, play basket ball and lead in the waltz with equal proficiency.

Whatever debate some dancing masters were having in the late 1890s about ladies learning to lead (and dance backward), the Radcliffe girls were obviously both willing and able to do so among themselves.

January 2019 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!  January is going to be a quiet month for me.  I'm going to DJ blues in Russia for the first time at a swing dance camp, which I'm really looking forward to, and restart my regular waltz and historical dance classes and parties at some point (edited 1/27/19 to add) with a waltz evening at the end of the month before beginning regular classes in February.  Most of my time after the holidays (through January 8th in Russia!) is going to be spent on some research projects and pulling together a bunch of material for my February weekend in Saratov.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Friday/Saturday, January 4th/5th ~ Moscow, Russia area
Moscow Christmas Swing Dance Camp (January 3rd-8th)
Five-day camp covering Lindy, Balboa, blues, and more.  I will be DJing a blues set or two late (after 1:00am) the night of the 4th -- technically, in the very early hours of the 5th.

Tuesday, January 29th ~ Moscow, Russia
Winter Waltz Party (VK Event - in Russian)
7:00-10:00pm.  Waltz, waltz, and more waltz.  Light refreshments.

Thursday, January 31st ~ Moscow, Russia
Private class

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available for private lessons in Moscow, or while 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.

Moscow, Russia: January 6-31

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming in February: a weekend of nineteenth and early twentieth century dance in Saratov!