The Canteen Canter was a specialty dance choreographed by Oscar Duryea to the music of Case White and published in 1918 as a "cantonment one-step", a cantonment being a military camp or garrison. (More information about cantonments in the United States during World War I may be found here.)
The cover image, shown at left (click to enlarge) makes the association obvious, though there is nothing particularly military or terribly unusual about the dance itself. Given its name, it is appropriate that it prominently features canter steps.
Rather than a fixed choreography, this is a set of, for want of a better term, figures, short sequences of four bars that can be repeated as often as one likes to fill up the music. The sequences are simple - walking steps with the occasional cross of the foot, basic box-step and spin turns, and of course the "canter steps", essentially the lame duck.
The original sheet music, with dance instructions, is online here as part of the Lee Schreiner Sheet Music Collection at Northern Illinois University.
I don't have a proper recording of the music, but a computer-generated version of it has been uploaded by Dorian Henry to his YouTube channel (RagtimeDorianHenry), so one can at least get an idea of how the piece, written in 6/8, sounds:
It's a fun piece, and proper musicians could make much more of it.
On to the actual dance!
The Canteen Canter is done in closed ballroom hold throughout. The gentleman starts on the left foot, facing forward along line of dance. The lady starts moving backward on her right foot. The steps given below are the gentleman's; the lady dances opposite. Each sequence is four bars with two steps per bar for a total of eight steps. I'll give the six sequences then talk about how to combine them.
1. forward travel
1, 2 Walk forward two steps L, R
3, 4 Step L to side, close R foot to L with weight
5, 6 Walk forward L, then diagonally forward R
7, 8 Close L foot to right with weight, then R foot forward
2. the Right Turn (steps 2-3-4-5-7 are a standard box turn)
1, 2 Step L forward, then diagonally forward R, turning to right
3, 4 Step L foot to the side (along line of dance) and close R to L with weight, continuing to turn to the right to complete a half-turn
(gentleman now has his back to line of dance, lady faces line of dance)
5, 6 Step L back, continuing to turn to right, then R to side (along line of dance)
7, 8 Close L foot to R with weight, completing the turn, then step R forward along line of dance
(after the close of feet in the previous bar the gentleman is facing line of dance again)
3. half turn to right (steps 2-3-4 are a half box turn)
1, 2 Step L forward, then diagonally forward R, turning to right
3, 4 Step L foot to the side (along line of dance) and close R to L with weight, continuing to turn to the right to complete a half-turn
(gentleman now has his back to line of dance, lady faces line of dance)
5, 6 Step backward L, R
7, 8 Cross L foot over R with weight, then step back R
4. Canter movement (while half-turned)
1, 2 Step backward L onto toe, step backward R, rising slightly then dropping onto the R foot (Canter movement)
3, 4 Repeat Canter movement
5, 6 Repeat Canter movement
7, 8 Cross L foot over R with weight, then step back R
(Note: the sets of Canter movement may be taken straight back or zig-zagging, which in effect means angling the right foot alternately back toward the center or toward the wall)
5. to face line of dance again with a half-turn to the left (on steps 6-7-8)
1, 2 Step backward L onto toe, step backward R, rising slightly then dropping onto the R foot (Canter movement)
3, 4 Repeat Canter movement
5, 6 Step backward L onto toe, then backward R turning to the left
7, 8 Cross the L foot over the R with weight, then step backward R, continuing the L turn
(Note: it helps to think of steps 6-7-8 as a spin turn, as described here)
6. the Left Turn (actually a half box turn on steps 5-6-7)
1, 2 Step forward L, R
3, 4 Step L to the side, close the R foot with weight
5, 6 Step forward L, turning to the left, then R to side along line of dance
7, 8 Close L to R with weight, completing the turn, then R backward
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Now, how to arrange these pieces for dancing? The music is nicely square: the strains all break down neatly into four-bar pieces.
The six sequences are given in a particular order, with notes that the first sequence, the right turn, the Canter movement, and the half left turn at the end can be repeated as many times as the dancers like, though the implication is that they should still go in order overall. Here's the list in short form:
1. forward travel (repeat ad lib.)
2. right turn (repeat ad lib.)
3. half right turn
4. Canter movement (repeat ad lib.)
5. half left turn to face line of dance
6. half left turn (repeat ad lib.)
There's an obvious problem with this: the final sequence, the half-left turn, can't be repeated. The dancers are already in reverse orientation, and the steps as given won't work to fix that unless they go directly against line of dance, which is not a good idea in ballroom full of other dancers. Either the steps must be reversed on every other repeat or the sixth sequence must be followed by the fifth. And at that point, why not throw in some Canter movements in between?
The other possibility is that the pieces really are meant to be mixed and matched throughout, and that this was just too obvious to mention. In that case, here are some ideas:
The first sequence is all forward and side travel, and the second sequence is a full box-step turn to the right. One can mix and match these two indefinitely or use them as filler later in the dance.
The third sequence is a half-turn to the right with a nice little crossing step afterward. I would have the lady cross behind when the gentleman crosses in front; this needs to be clearly led. Once the dancers are reoriented this way (gentleman's back to line of dance, lady facing line of dance), they can then do as many of the Canter movement sequence as they like before using the fifth sequence to return to original orientation with the gentleman moving forward along line of dance.
At this point they could throw in more of the first two sequences, the forward travel and the right turn, before another series of the half-turn, some number of Canter movements, and the other half-turn.
Finally, there's that half-left turn at the end that leaves the dancers in reverse orientation. It can be followed by Canter movements and the fifth sequence to get the dancers back to their original orientation again, at which point they can have a bit more of the first sequence and the full right turn.
To end the dance, I would use the forward-forward-side-close steps that make up the first two measures of both the first sequence and the sixth (left turn) sequence, dancing them twice, so as to end the dance with the feet in a closed position.
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It's always hard to answer the question "was this actually danced?" But in the case of the Canteen Canter, we actually have a hint.
The dance was advertised in The Two-Step, a dance journal published in Buffalo, New York. The ad at left (click to enlarge) for Oscar Duryea's Normal School, appeared in the January and February issues in 1919 (Volume XXIX, Nos. 1 & 2). The Canteen Canter was one of the dances taught, as a "dance developed from the Soldier life at the Cantonments", which seems like pure commercial puffery.
Duryea obviously had an incentive to teach and promote his own dance (which was duly listed every month as one of the latest dances). But on page twenty-five of the February, 1919, issue (Volume XXIX, No. 2), there is a description of the "Ralli Club Dance" in Brighton, which in this case means the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Included on the program were the "newest American dances", including the "Canteen canter, which proved very popular".
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