Capering & Kickery

December 2023 Gig Calendar

It feels like November is going to stretch for two more days as I wind up an intense trip to the UK that has so far involved two days of teaching and visits to three different libraries and archives in three different cities/towns.  Today and tomorrow will be library #4 in yet another town.  On Saturday I fly home and have one entire day there before turning around and heading to Boston for my last public event of the year: DJing once more for Bluesy Tuesy!  I'll be sneaking in some research there, too.  Weather permitting, this may include a cemetery stroll...

Edited 12/20/23 to add:
Okay, one more public event: I will be teaching some Lancers (quadrille) at Yiddish New York 2023!  It's a long story....

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

Tuesday, December 5th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks required (N95 preferred).  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

Monday, December 25th ~ New York City (in person and online)
The Lancers (Quadrille) for Yiddish New York 2023
9:30-10:45am.  As part of Dr. Sonia Gollance's class on dance in Yiddish literature, I will be coming in to teach part of an 1870 Lancers from Odesa.  This class will be online as well as in person!  There are a complex ticket options for various combinations of days and in person/online for this festival; see registration options here.  An online pass for just this class would be $18, or $25 for in-person attendance.  Ticket sales close on December 23rd.  Note that there is a strict Covid policy (masks/vax/testing) for in-person attendance!

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

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in January: I'm back in England for the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies 53rd Annual Conference “Work and Play” at Oxford University!

Early Foxtrot: The Zig-Zag

I don't usually write about foxtrot in November, but I don't usually teach foxtrot in Ukraine in the middle of a war, either, and last month, the dancers of Kyiv's Vintage Dance Community wanted something for foxtrot that I hadn't previously described here on Kickery.  Here is the description for their future reference and that of others interested in the variations for the foxtrot of the 1910s.

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

At least two versions of a zig-zag sequence appeared in short booklets published in 1914 and 1915:

• The Zig-Zag Step and "Trot": Joan Sawyer's How to Dance the Fox Trot (Columbia Graphaphone Company, New York,1914)
  
  
• The Zig-Zag Run: Description of Modern Dances as Standardized by the New York Society Teachers of Dancing and approved by the Congress of Dancing Societies of America at meeting held December 27th, 1914, in New York City, N. Y. (American National Association Masters of Dancing, Pittsburgh, 1915)

Sawyer characterized the figure as a "hard one" but also "loads of fun".  Her description:

November 2023 Gig Calendar

This month will be very, very quiet for sixteen days.  Then it will be very, very busy for ten days as I ricochet from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to London, England, leading balls and teaching.  Whee!

After my London weekend I will be wandering around the UK for a few days doing research.  Dorset, here I come!

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

Friday-Saturday, November 17-18th ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The 19th Annual Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball (Facebook community) 
5:30pm-midnight each day.  TWO nights!  TWO formal dinners!  TWO balls!  Both evenings will be formal Civil War-era events with pre-1865 costume (civilian or military) required.  Hosted by John & Nancy Newbold.  Advance reservations (dinner and ball - $86.00 or ball-only - $40.00) are needed, and this event generally sells out well in advance!  Friday night: 1860s fancy dress ball.  Saturday night: classic formal Civil War ball.  I will be calling with live music both evenings by Calliope and different beginner-friendly dance programs!  Registration is open through November 6th only for dinner/ball tickets; ball-only later and at the door if available.

Sunday, November 19th ~ Lancaster, Pennsylvania area
Quadrille Workshop for Historic Rock Ford
Private event.

Saturday-Sunday, November 25-26th ~ London, England
America's Dance Revolution: 1876-1900 for The Historical Dance Society
A weekend of workshops on couple dances, quadrilles, and contra dances of the late nineteenth century.  This weekend will be accessible to all levels of dancers from beginners to experienced, and teachers will find my approach to couple dance technique and teaching of interest as well.  One- and two-day pricing; special rates for HDS members.  Registration is now open at the HDS website.

 

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

 

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!