In honor of America's birthday, here's an appropriately-named variation by C. A. Carr (creator of the Highland Glide) which is long enough with enough dancing in place that it should probably be classified as a sequence dance and danced by all dancers in unison, as it would be quite the annoyance to other couples if done in the midst of a normal dance. In M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) it is listed in the redowa/mazurka section and in George Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903) under "Les mazurkas". If forced to a decision, I'd call it a polka mazurka and note that it features a stealthy bit of York hidden inside it.
I fully expect that there is specific sheet music for this dance out there somewhere, but my best attempts have not located it. In its continuing absence, the America may be danced to suitable polka mazurka, mazurka, or redowa music that has a repeat structure suited to the sixteen-bar dance. Lopp gives his usual brisk tempo of 144 beats per minute, which I find rather hectic; I find 124-134 more comfortable for most dancers.
The reconstruction is straightforward. The gentleman's steps are given below; the lady dances opposite. The starting position is side by side, holding inside hands, both facing line of dance.
The America (16 bars of 3/4 time with redowa/mazurka accent)
1b Polka redowa forward starting left foot (see below)
1b Point right foot in 2nd (toward partner)
1b Close right foot to 5th behind left
1b Polka redowa forward starting right foot
(take closed ballroom hold)
1b Point left foot in 2nd (along line of dance)
1b Close left foot to 5th behind right
2b York, starting left foot and making a half-turn clockwise (see below)
(open up to holding inside hands, gentleman now on right)
8b Repeat all of the above leading with the opposite foot
To polka redowa starting left foot
& hop on right foot
1 slide left foot
2 cut with right foot displacing left to raised 2nd
3 leap onto left foot
This can be done straight forward or making a half turn
To York starting left foot (1b sideways travel, 1b polka redowa half-turn)
1 slide left foot along line of dance
&2 chassé: close right to left and slide left to 2nd
3 cut with the right foot, displacing left to raised 2nd
then polka redowa starting with the left foot for a natural (clockwise) half-turn
Reconstruction and performance notes
1. The above reconstruction is based on Gilbert, whom I believe was more likely to have followed the original correctly. Lopp's version has one difference: instead of bringing the extended foot back on bar six, he has an actual step on bar five and a close with the trailing foot on bar six. I disagree; I think that the movements in the 2nd/3rd and 5th/6th bars are meant to be the same: a point of the foot, then bringing that same foot back in, and that Lopp is therefore in error. This cannot be definitively resolved without finding the original instructions, which were most likely printed on the original sheet music.
2. Neither Gilbert nor Lopp describes the polka redowa step movement by movement; both simply note that it is the polka step in redowa/mazurka accent. I believe that this should include the initiating hop of the polka, for a rhythm of "&123" except when preceded by another hop, as in the plain polka mazurka or similar variations.
3. The original instructions do not use "York" in describing the last two bars; both sources break them down movement by movement. They are, nonetheless, a York, though without the optional heel-click at the start of the polka redowa segment. I prefer to call this sequence a York to make the connections between these little variations more obvious.
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