In honor of Burns night, here's a simple (and completely American) Scottish-themed "society" dance by Chicago dancing master Robert Alexander Campbell: The Bonnie Brae. Campbell, also the creator of The Vassar, was credited as both the choreographer of the dance and the composer of the music, though the latter was "harmonized" by Robert Heiss and on the sheet music the dance was co-credited to a Miss Josephine E. Rice.
Interestingly, this time Campbell labeled himself a member of the Western Association Normal School Masters of Dancing rather than the leader of Campbell's Solo Orchestra and apparently no longer felt the need to note that he was the pupil of C. A. Carr. Also of note: the cover gave not only a Chicago publisher but a London one as well. Apparently Campbell was moving up in the world! Though one notes that he did not state on the music that the dance had actually been accepted by the Western Association Normal School, which I discussed briefly here.
"Bonnie Brae" is Gaelic for "pleasant hill", according to this useful article about a street with that name in Los Angeles. Given his surname, perhaps Campbell came by the Gaelic honestly, or perhaps he just thought the phrase sounded suitably Scottish, a nice match for the tartan-clad dancers on the cover, which may be seen at left (click to enlarge). The lady at center might be Miss Rice.
The Bonnie Brae itself is a simple sequence with four measures of dancing in place in 4/4 time (sixteen beats total) followed by sixteen measures of waltz. Here's a brief clip of the music with four bars of introduction followed by once through the dance:
Bonnie Brae clip (click to play)
You can hear the "Scotch snap", the dotted notes characteristic of the strathspey or schottische, in the 4/4 section.
The first part of the dance consists of the dancers performing first a "posing" sequence and then what Campbell called the "Rocking Step". The dancers begin facing each other, holding left hands "elevated to about height of face", arms "akimbo". In the cover illustration, the lady is holding her skirt (and a fan, which I don't recommend for this dance), while the gentleman's arm is just gently curved at his side. But since they're not actually in the dance position, I wouldn't take the illustration as precise instruction.
The posing sequence (one bar of four beats) from the gentleman's perspective; the lady dances on opposite feet:
Count
1 Slide left foot to 2nd position
2 Close right to 5th position behind
& Slide left out and make a quick rond de jambe to 1st position
3 Slide right to 2nd position; point without weight
4 Slide right to 4th position in front and "pose" without weight
The Rocking Step (one bar of four beats), again from the gentleman's perspective:
Count
1 Slide right foot to 2nd position
2 Cut: close left foot to right, displacing right into 2nd position raised
&3 Chassé: close right to left and slide left to 2nd position with weight
4 Cut: close right foot to left, displacing left into 2nd position raised
The dancers then change hands (joining right hands at face height, left arms akimbo) and repeat the entire sequence leading with the right foot. This requires an additional "cut" to set up, turning the opening "&1" into a chassé:
Counts for the repeat (posing + rocking; two bars of four beats each)
&1 Chassé: close left to right and slide right to 2nd position with weight
2 Close left to 5th position behind
& Slide right out and make a quick rond de jambe to 1st position
3 Slide left to 2nd position; point without weight
4 Slide left to 4th position in front and "pose" without weight
1 Slide left foot to 2nd position
2 Cut: close right foot to left, displacing left into 2nd position raised
&3 Chassé: close left to right and slide right to 2nd position with weight
4 Cut: close left foot to right, displacing right into 2nd position raised
The gentleman must then "advance toward the lady", as the dancers shift more-or-less instantaneously to a closed ballroom hold, and waltz for sixteen measures.
Performance Notes
Those experienced at late nineteenth century couple dance may notice that the "Rocking Step" is actually a one-slide or galop racket.
For the waltz section, I would use the old valse à trois temps with its pirouette, since that seems to have remained popular in the midwest longer than on the east coast.
To make the shift into closed position work, the lady needs to release her skirt, if she is holding it, and get her left arm up and out of the way of the gentleman's descending right arm as it comes around her. Her left arm needs to curve out and then up to come to rest on his shoulder. Her right arm will fall naturally into position to join hands.
At the end of the last turn of the waltz, the dancers must break apart very quickly and join left hands again to repeat the dance. If the gentleman simply lets go of the lady, her left hand will naturally be at about the proper level and he can bring his up to join it as they allow their right arms to relax "akimbo".
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The complete published sheet music for The Bonnie Brae, with the dance instructions, is available online at the Goucher College Digital Library.
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