This past weekend I got into an interesting online discussion about the definition of polka mazurka, during which one person sniffed that it was merely waltz invading mazurka. That's not actually true in the original technical sense of the dance, but late nineteenth-century French dancing masters did note some things people did as "polka mazurka" that bore no resemblance at all to the original steps. One of those things was the version supposedly done at public balls in Paris (by the lower classes), as opposed to in private salons (by the upper class). It was not "codified", complained the dancing masters. It was "untidy". But at least it did not lack grace if the movements were "rapid and regular".
The basic concept of the "polka mazurka of the public balls" was a mix of walking steps and pivoting. This is so non-technical and so unrelated to the original steps that I wouldn't call it polka mazurka, or even a polka mazurka variant. It's just a thing some people did to polka mazurka (or just mazurka) music. In the terminology of a later era, it's a one-step done in 3/4 time.
I have three descriptions of this walking/pivoting mix:
- Eugène Giraudet, in his Traité de la danse, 7th edition (Paris, c1890), repeated almost word-for-word in his La danse, la tenue, le maintien…, 55th edition (Paris, c1900).
- H.-M. Audran, in his Nouveau traité pratique de danse et de maintien (Paris, c1890)
- Lussan-Borel, in his Traité de danse avec musique contentant toutes les danses de salon (Paris, c1900 and c1904 editions)
I'll summarize the descriptions first and then give some tips on performance followed by translations of the originals.
Giraudet had the dancers starting out with the gentleman facing line of dance and moving forward as the lady goes backward. They walk for some even number of steps (2, 4, 6, 8, etc.) then continue with the gentleman going backward and the lady forward, then do pivots in place. Giraudet's instructions could be interpreted to mean that periodically the dancers turn halfway only and continue on with the gentleman moving backward or that they always do a full turn, and the part where the gentleman goes backward means only for a moment during the pivoting. I am taking the sequence of puis...ensuite to mean that these are separate moves, and one could do a half-turn, walk, do another half-turn, walk, and eventually do full turns, but it's hard to be completely certain.
Audran was more succinct: the dancers just pivot over and over again.
Lussan-Borel had the dancers walking "forward and backward" in units of six steps (two measures of music) followed by units of six pivot steps. Either step-unit could be performed multiple times before switching to the other. This description clarifies that it is definitely one step per beat rather than one step per measure, which in any case seemed far too sedate to rate the negative attitudes.
Taking these all together, my first conclusion would be that there was no standardized way of performing this, which fits perfectly with the atmosphere at a public ball where people are just walking (more like trotting, depending on the music tempo) and pivoting madly around instead of doing decorous technical steps. So what were the options if one wanted to be cheerfully lower-class to mazurka music?
- walk, backing the lady, one step to each beat - in other words, one-step
- pivot half-turn to back the gentleman
- presumably, make another pivot half-turn to back the lady again
- full pivot turns, badly, not traveling, and set off again in whatever direction works
- full pivot turns, competently, doing traveling turns
Given the inconsistencies among the sources and the general chaotic spirit of a public ball and people who would dance this way to mazurka music, I would mix and match all of the above at will.
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Here are the originals, with my translations (in bold) following each section and some commentary.
1. Giraudet (c1890):
Polka-Mazurka des bals publics
Marcher en avant et en arrière par série de 2, 4, 6, 8 pas et plus, mais toujours sur un nombre pair; le cavalier part du pied gauche en avant et la dame du pied droit en arrière puis le cavalier continue en partant du pied gauche en arrière, puis la dame du pied droit en avant ; ensuite tourner sur place. Se tourner sur place n’est autre qu’une marche en pivotant légèrement sur chaque pied, et en cherchant à tourner l’un autour de l’autre; c’est-à-dire, que le pied gauche du cavalier, doit toujours décrire un demi-cercle autour du pied droit de la dame et le pied gauche de la dame autour du pied droit du cavalier.
Polka Mazurka of the public balls
Walk forward and backward in series of 2, 4, 6, 8, or more steps, but always an even number; the gentleman begins on the left foot forward and the lady on the right foot backward, then the gentleman continues on the left foot back, the lady on the right foot forward; then turn in place. Turning in place is nothing other than a walking step pivoting lightly on each foot, finding oneself turning one around the other, which is to say that the gentleman's left foot must always describe a half-circle around the lady's right foot and the lady's left foot must always describe a half-circle around the gentleman's right foot.
Démonstration de ces pas. — Les deux pointes droites se trouvent toujours ensemble.
1er Pas. — Le cavalier pivote sur le pied droit avec le poids du corps sur cette jambe, en décrivant un demi-cercle avec le pied gauche soulevé. It le pose après ce mouvement.
2e Pas. — Le poids du corps étant sur la jambe gauche: pivoter sur le pied gauche en décrivant un demi-cercle en arrière avec le pied droit soulevé, et le ramener en avant sans qu’il ait touché terre; pendant ce mouvement il le pose entre les deux pieds de sa danseuse.
Explanation of these steps. The two points of the right feet always find themselves together.
First step: the gentleman pivots on the right foot with the weight of the body on that leg, making a half-circle with the left foot raised. He places it on the ground after this movement.
Second step: the weight of the body being on the left leg, pivot on the left foot, making a half-circle backward with the raised right foot, and placing it pointing forward without having touched the ground; during this movement one places it between the lady's feet.
Le cavalier et la dame doivent pivoter et décrire ces demi-cercles ensemble; sans oublier que le pied qui décrit, ne doit toucher terre, qu’une fois l’exécution de ce pas accompli.
Les pas de la dame sont les mêmes que ceux du cavalier; mais elle commence au 2e pas du cavalier, qui est son 1er pas.
The gentleman and lady must pivot and make these half-circles together, without forgetting that the circling foot does not touch the ground except at the completion of the step.
The lady's steps are the same as those of the gentleman, but she begins with the second step of the gentlemen, which is her first step.
Commentary
Giraudet's requirement of an even number of steps becomes clear here: the gentleman's weight must be on his right foot in order to step around the lady with his left in a typical natural turn. It's nice to see the detail that the dancer pivoting on the left foot must place their right foot between the other dancer's feet -- that's a key element in successful pivoting, which I describe in detail here. If done well, it's actually hard to do pivot in place; with perfect pivot technique, one will travel in a straight line. If one does it badly, however, one will only muddle around more-or-less on the spot. At the end of such poor pivots, the dancers can set off again in whatever the direction the gentleman is facing, which would add nicely to the general chaos of the public ball and the irritation of perfectionist dancing masters.
A few more words from Giraudet's summary of possible polka mazurkas:
Le 10e genre (Bals publics) se fait en marchant en avant et en arrière; en tournant et en pivotant alternativement sur chaque pied.
J’ajouterai que ces différentes manières d’exécuter la polka-mazurka, se rapportent très bien avec la musique de cette danse.
The tenth style (public balls) is done walking forward and backward, turning and pivoting alternately on each foot.
I would add that these different ways of performing the polka mazurka fit the music of this dance very well.
In Giraudet's later work (c1900), there were a few minor changes of wording. The first sentence changed from:
Marcher en avant et en arrière par série de 2, 4, 6, 8 pas
to
Marcher en avant et en arrière, les jambes pliées, par série de 2, 4, 6, 8 pas marchés
Giraudet was clarifying that the legs should be relaxed (bent) rather than stiffly straight and that the dancers should walk with, er, walking steps.
In the detailed description of the steps, the word "pas" (step) was changed to "temps" (movement) and first and last were spelled out in full. In the second step, he clarified that the right foot should be placed between one's partner's feet at the end (après) of the movement instead of during (pendant) it.
2. Audran (c1890):
Il existe bien une autre manière de danser la polka-mazurka, mais cette manière n’est pas acceptée dans les salons, à cause de son allure échevelée. Elle consiste à pivoter sur un pied et à faire exécuter à l’autre pied un cercle autour du premier, en le maintenant sans cesse en équerre. Si le cavalier pivote autour du pied gauche, la dame pivote autour du pied droit, et réciproquement. Cette façon de danser est très usité dans les bals publics; elle ne manque pas de grâce lorsque les mouvements sont rapides et réguliers, mais elle exige une tête solide et des jambes nerveuses : la tête tourne facilement et l’équilibre est malaisé a maintenir.
There does exist another manner of dancing the polka-mazurka, but this way is not accepted in salons because of its untidy style. It consists of pivoting on one foot and causing the other foot to describe a circle around the first, keeping it constantly at right angles. If the gentleman pivots around the left foot, the lady pivots around the right foot, and vice-versa. This way of dancing is much used at public balls; it does not lack grace when the movements are rapid and regular, but it requires a steady head and vigorous legs: the head turns easily and balance is difficult to maintain.
Commentary
I believe Audran's reference to right angles (en équerre) refers to the way the feet end up angled during the pivots rather than anything about the path of the dancers. He is completely correct about the need for a steady head and vigorous legs if one is going to do nothing but pivot for the entire length of the music! I am skeptical of the practicality of this idea.
3. Lussan-Borel (c1900 and c1904):
Mazurka des Bals Publiques
Cette danse se compose d’une marche rythmée en avant et en arrière, par séries de six pas (2 mesures). (Une ou plusieurs séries.)
Puis le cavalier et la dame pivotent l’un autour de l’autre, toujours par séries de six pas.
Nous indiquons cette variante à pur titre de renseignement, car ce n’est pas une danse classée.
Mazurka of the public balls
This dance is composed of a rhythmic walk forward and backward in units of six steps (two measures). (One or more units.)
Then the gentleman and lady pivot, one around the other, always in units of six steps.
We give this variant purely for informational purposes, since this is not a codified dance.
Commentary
The descriptions are identical in both editions.
Though it is obviously the same concept as in Giraudet and Audran, Lussan-Borel called this a mazurka rather than a polka mazurka. He also included music labeled simply "mazurka" with his description of the actual polka mazurka. There were certainly technical differences between the mazurka and polka mazurka in their original forms, but by the end of the century polka mazurka sometimes appeared in treatises as "mazurka", possibly because few people outside eastern Europe were still dancing the mazurka in its original form. I suspect that the "mazurkas" on ball programs were more polka mazurkas than true mazurkas.
This is the most structured of the descriptions, with everything being done in neat two-measure phrases, but making it work depends on the ability of the dancers to do six pivots in a row. That's easy if one is not concerned with traveling and content to just sort of circle around in place, but harder to do competently. Competence, of course, may not have been a major concern among dancers who are mixing walking and pivoting instead of doing more complex steps!
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Music
Mazurka and polka mazurka music was played more slowly than waltz music, but given how fast waltzes of the late nineteenth century could be played, "slow" is a relative concept. I would suggest a tempo of around 144 beats per minute, as listed by the Americans M. B. Gilbert and G. W. Lopp. If looking for a practice piece that doesn't need its tempo altered, the "Bostonia Polka Mazurka" on Lexington Vintage Dance's album A Romantic Revel (available for purchase here) is almost exactly right.
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