Capering & Kickery

Susan de Guardiola, Social Dance Historian

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Author: Susan de Guardiola

  • The Hesitation Undercut

    The hesitation undercut is so short that it seems more a variation for the hesitation waltz than a distinct dance.  F. Leslie Clendenen, in his 1914 collection Dance Mad, attributes it to S. Wallace Cortissoz, who was also credited in Dance Mad with a sixteen-bar sequence called the Twinkle Hesitation.

    The eight-bar sequence is begun with the dancers in normal waltz position, the gentleman facing the wall and the lady the center of the room.  Steps are given below for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. 

    The waltz step used would have been the "new" waltz step, with a pattern of step-side-close, much like today's box step, rather than the older rotary-style waltz of the nineteenth century.

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  • Three “Scottish” Setting Sequences for Regency-Era Quadrilles

    (This continues a very occasional series of posts on setting steps for quadrilles, with the previous posts including eight easy sequences and two French sequences.)

    Calling these three sequences “Scottish” is really a bit of a misnomer, since the sources are Alexander Strathy’s Elements of the Art of Dancing (Edinburgh, 1822), which is in large part a translation of a French manual by J. H. Goudoux, and an anonymous Scottish manuscript entitled Contre Danses à Paris 1818.  All three sequences are certainly French in their steps and style and quite possibly in origin.  They probably would not have caused anyone in Paris in that era to bat an eyelash.  But technically, they are documented to Scotland, not France, in the late 1810s-early 1820s.

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  • Two French Setting Sequences for Regency-era Quadrilles

    Several years ago I posted eight easy setting sequences for Regency-era French quadrilles and said in the comments I’d try to post more “soon”.  That has now stretched to more than five years, but, better late than never, here are a couple of others, this time directly from a trio of French manuals by J. H. Gourdoux (or Gourdoux-Daux):

    Principes et Notions Élémentaires sur l’Art de la Danse Pour la Ville (2nd edition, 1811)
    Recueil d’un Genre Nouveau de Contredanses et Walses (1819)
    De l’Art de la Danse (1823)

    Once again, these are easy sequences, but a bit more interesting than the previous set.

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  • Sorority Glide

    Most of the steps in Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914) were collected by “author” F. Leslie Clendenen from other dancing masters, but he gives himself credit for the Sorority Glide, a sixteen-bar one-step sequence that he recommends be danced to “Too Much Mustard” or “any One Step music of a similar swing.  It’s a fun little sequence with a very “Castles” feel to it and room for some personal style.  It works as an independent dance or can be plugged into a regular one-step as a variation.

    The dancers begin in a ballroom hold, turned out slightly so both face line of dance.  The dancers need to be far enough apart to make a cross step without crowding.  Weight should be shifted onto the forward (outside) foot, the gentleman’s left and the lady’s right, since the dance starts on the inside foot.

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  • December 2013 Gig Calendar

    I'm winding down my gig and class schedule for the year, so I have a light schedule through mid-month followed by seven quiet days at home with no teaching or travel before I go away over Christmas.  Here are the details:

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  • November 2013 Gig Calendar

    Lots of southward travel this month: New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.  Sadly, no Boston DJing this month, but I'm working on a couple more gigs, so check back for updates!

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  • Double Scotch Reel

    Double Scotch Reel does not seem to be Scotch and, as I reconstruct it, does not actually include any reels (heys).  It is a trio contra (three facing three in long lines own the room) which I have found only in one source: the Gems of the Ball Room Call Book published by E. T. Root & Sons in Chicago in 1896.  The Gems call book appears to have been published specifically as dance calls for quadrilles and contra dances to go with the tunes in a series of music books called Gems of the Ball Room also published by Root.

    The contra dance figures in Gems have some noticeable variations from those found in New England manuals such as those of Elias Howe, which might indicate regional variations between the northeast and midwest or might be simple carelessness on the part of the editor.  The language and format of the different figures makes it obvious that they were pulled from different sources, so I suspect that somewhere there is another source for Double Scotch Reel, and that the collator of dances for Gems copied it exactly.

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  • Late Victorian Waltz Variations: Polka Dot Waltz

    The Polka Dot Waltz was either a sequence dance or waltz variant described by Melvin B. Gilbert in Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) and later by [George] Washington Lopp in his translation-plus of Gilbert’s book, La Danse (Paris, 1903), in which it is listed as Polka Dot (Valse).  Both Gilbert and Lopp credit it to Herman Strassburg, presumably the same dancing master who was the author of the Call Book of Modern Quadrilles (Detroit, 1889).

    The pattern of the Polka Dot, its imaginative name, and the way Lopp formats the title make me suspect that this was not a variation for normal waltzing but instead was intended as a choreographed sequence dance matched to a particular piece of music.  I’ve only been able to find one piece of sheet music by that title, “The Polka Dot Waltz”, by Edward A. Abell, (San Francisco, 1873), which is archived on the Library of Congress website.  It does not include dance instructions.  It is possible that Strassburg wrote this as choreography to go with it, or with a different waltz by the same name, but in the absence of proof one way or the other, it is also possible to dance it to any waltz music with even eight-bar phrases, either by the entire room dancing it in unison or by individual couples using it (carefully!) as a variation.

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  • Late Victorian Waltz Variations: Double Glide Waltz

    The Double Glide Waltz, as described by Melvin B. Gilbert in his compendium Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), is an elaboration on the alternating measures of sliding and waltzing found in variations like the Metropole.  In La Danse, by [George] Washington Lopp, published in Paris in 1903, it is called La Double Boston and credited to Lopp himself.  Much of La Danse is a direct French translation of Gilbert, so Lopp’s addition of the credit to himself is notable.

    Like other late variations such as the Bowdoin and Fascination, the Double Glide Waltz alters the sliding steps, in this case to include in each sideways measure two “slide-closes”, one slow and one fast.  The pattern here is “one, two-and-three” or “slow, quick-quick-slow”.  It also reverses the Metropole pattern from slide/waltz/slide/waltz to waltz/slide/waltz/slide, a distinction which is not particularly significant when actually dancing.

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  • Figure Four?

    In a post a while back on the Regency “figure eight” and the many meanings of the term “figure” in that era, I mentioned a joking suggestion made by a guest at one of my Regency balls that a half figure eight should be called a “figure four”.  Much to my astonishment, while pursuing some research on American country dance of this era, I actually found a figure four!

    The figure is in an American manual published in 1808 in upstate New York, in the figure given for the tune “Flowers of Glasgow”:

    Flowers of Glasgow
    First couple figure four with second couple, cast down two couple, back again, cross over, down one couple, balance, lead up, hands round with third couple, and right and left at top.
        — A Select Collection of the Newest and Most Favorite Country Dances, Otsego, NY, 1808.

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  • October 2013 Gig Calendar

    The big event this month is the 11th Regency Assembly, this year with a masquerade theme!  Other than that, this is a quiet month between the wildness of September and November, with just my usual New York/New England travels and a bit of DJing.  I'll be making some short research trips mid-month in my continuing quest to track down every tiny little American country dance/cotillion manual in New England, and then I'm spending a few days in Florida with family.

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  • New Scotia Quadrille

    A while back I discussed the wonderful dance CD Music for Quadrilles, by the English band Green Ginger (with Kevin Smith).  At the time, I skimmed over the tracks for five modern Scottish (RSCDS) dances, since I didn’t have any way to check the ones with historical sources against the originals.  Since then, I’ve come across a copy of one of the editions of D. (David) Anderson’s Ball-Room Guide, a “New, Enlarged, & Complete Edition”, which the liner notes of Music for Quadrilles cite as the source for one of the historical dances, New Scotia Quadrille.

    According to J. P. (Joan) and T. M. Flett in Traditional Dancing in Scotland (paid link), David Anderson taught in Dundee and in a number of other towns from c1850-1911.  His Ball-Room Guide seems to have gone through at least five editions, with the “New, Enlarged” versions appearing between the mid-1880s and late 1890s.  Since the one I examined is not dated, and I have no others to compare it to, I cannot date it precisely.

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  • September 2013 Gig Calendar

    Back in the swing of things for fall!  I'll be teaching 19th century dance in Chicago, Connecticut, and New York and doing blues DJ gigs in New York, New Haven, and Boston.  In between there'll be a bit of Renaissance dance and a Regency tea dance in Connecticut, a basic cross-step waltz class series, and a walking tour of historical song and dance in Boston!  Here's the schedule as it stands, subject to a few more additions.  I'll be adding details and Facebook event links as they become available.

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  • Another Country Dance Gallopade

    • Era: 1830s, England

    This dance is one of a pair of country dance gallopades published in London dancing master J. S. Pollock's c1830 manual, A Companion to La Terpsichore Moderne (Second Edition).  They have no names or specific music, just numbers.  I've previously discussed the second one; now here's the first.  It's a very straightforward reconstruction.

    Here are the original instructions:

    No. 1.     (4 parts) 

        The whole of the party arranged in the same way as for a country dance stand facing the top of the room, and chassez croise all with partners — then facing your partners, all advance, retire, and back to back — first and second couples hands across and back again — first lady pass outside the ladies to the bottom of the dance, the first gent. at the same time going down outside of the gents. and turn partner with both hands, remaining at bottom.

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  • August 2013 Gig Calendar

    One more fellowship trip, a couple of workshops, and another ball, all crammed into early August!  I may add a couple of DJ stints or other workshops, but mostly this is a recovery-and-writing month after three months of near-constant travel.  I'll have some much-needed vacation time at the end before things pick up again in the fall.

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  • Progressing Wilson’s New Reel of Four

    A postscript to my mini-series of posts on Regency-era Scotch reels:

    There is not an iota of evidence that Regency dancing master Thomas Wilson intended his new reel of four to have any sort of progression (dancers moving from one starting location to another for each iteration of the reel), and, indeed, his lack of inclusion of a progression argues against one.  But it turns out to be remarkably easy to progress this reel, and my dance students, who have spent much of the last month patiently working through my experiments with reels, have been enthusiastic about this new variation.

    The concept of a progressive reel was not unfamiliar to Wilson; he mentions progression in his description of the classic reel for three and uses it in his new reels for five.  Here’s how to do it in his new reel of four:

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  • Wilson’s New Reel of Four

    Reel4-1811Like his new reel of six and new reel of three, this reel of four is another of London dancing master Thomas Wilson’s attempts to create variety in the dancing of reels in the early nineteenth century.  While this reel keeps the classic interweaving pattern of the standard reels for three and four, it contains no setting at all, which makes it a particularly accessible dance for those whose strength is more in floor patterns than complicated steps.

    The earliest source I have for this reel is the third edition of Thomas Wilson’s An Analysis of Country Dancing (London, 1811), from which the diagram at left is taken.  The same diagram and description appear in Wilson’s The Complete System of English Country Dancing (London, c1815).  The 1808 edition of An Analysis… included a different reel for four, which also appears in the fourth edition in 1822.

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  • Setting a higher standard

    Moving on from what ought to be the rock-bottom minimal standard for anything calling itself a “Jane Austen ball”, even in the modern English country dance community, let me talk a little about higher standards, and what you’d want to do if you were interested in actually approaching as close as is practical to period practice.  I’ve made two lists, one of what I consider to be important and one of elements that I do not consider as critical.  Some items are characteristics of the dancing itself, and some have to do with ball format, because the latter is just as important as the former in establishing a period atmosphere and breaking people out of the modern mindset.

    Modern English country dance groups are unlikely to want to try most (or any!) of this, but I hope it’s interesting to see how different an experience a ball would have been two hundred years ago.  Some people have the bizarre idea that by suggesting that using “dances” (in the modern sense) from Jane Austen’s lifetime for something called a “Jane Austen ball”, I am somehow trying to impose actual historical practices on them.  No, really, not!

    For simplicity’s sake, I’ve limited this to just things pertaining to country dancing, rather than trying to cover the entire range of possible dance forms for either Austen herself or the actual decade of the Regency.

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  • Jane Austen balls for dummies

    First off, let me note that the title of this post is not a comment on anyone’s intellect.  It’s a riff on the titles of the popular series of “For Dummies” books, which are intended simply as accessible how-to guides for people who are not familiar with a topic.  I have a couple of them myself.  Neither I nor this post have any actual connection with these books, and no copyright infringement is intended.

    It’s been pointed out to me that negative critiques of historically ludicrous “Regency” ball programs, however justified, are not actually helpful for people who are not dance scholars and whose audience is not interested in serious study of historical dance, but who would like to do a decent job programming such a ball, or at least avoid making obvious idiots of themselves by calling seventeenth-century dances at a Regency- or Jane Austen-themed event.

    That’s a reasonable complaint.  It’s always easier to criticize than to be constructive.  And most of Kickery delves too deeply into the details for a modern country dance caller who just wants to do their gig.

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  • July 2013 Gig Calendar

    This is another month that's going to be mostly occupied by fellowship research, but I'll also be spending a week at dance camp and then doing a cluster of workshops and a ball at the end of the month!  I'm barely leaving Connecticut, but I'll be ping-ponging constantly among four different cities.  Here are the details:

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  • They ought to be ashamed of themselves

    A while back, a friend sent me a flyer and the dance program for a “Regency ball” (the organizers’ term, not mine) in their area.  I’m not going to tell you where, or when, or who the caller was, because there are plenty of similar events going on all over (at least) the English-speaking world.  But I am going to tell you one thing:

    This program is utter bullshit.

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  • Dixie Swirl

    The Dixie Swirl is a short tango-ish sequence found in F. Leslie Clendenen's compilation Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914).  While it is not actually in the tango section and doesn't really have much of a tango feel, the brief description states that it is to be done to tango music.  It is attributed to Mrs. Nantoinette Ohnmeiss, about whom I've not been able to discover any information.

    The sequence appears at first glance to be eight bars, which is really too short to be interesting:

    2b    Gallop four times along line of dance (slide-close x4)
    2b    Two-step (presumably a full turn)
    4b    Swirl (the spin turn described here)
    Repeat from the beginning

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  • New England Regional Fellowship

    Much obliged for the quadrilles, which I am grown to think pretty enough, though of course they are very inferior to the cotillions of my own day.
                — Jane Austen, letter of February 20, 1816, to her niece Fanny

    A formal announcement has at last been made: I will be spending the next year (June 1, 2013-May 31, 2014) as one of the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium research fellows.  I'm very excited and honored to have received a research grant which more typically goes to those with a conventional academic career path.  And I'm thrilled that this will enable me to devote months of intense research time to the complicated topic of cotillions, which I've been looking into off and on over the past year or so.

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  • June 2013 Gig Calendar

    I'm going to spend large parts of June on fellowship-related research work, so my public gig schedule is very light this month.  The schedule as it currently stands now is below.  DJ gigs appear on my schedule somewhat randomly, so check back for those!

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  • May 2013 Gig Calendar

    Along with my usual monthly classes, this month I'll be calling for a Regency-era ball with an American theme and making a trip down south to teach waltz in North Carolina before making my way slowly back up the east coast.  The schedule as it stands now is below.  As usual, I add DJ gigs to my schedule somewhat randomly, so check back to see when those appear.

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Capering & Kickery

Susan de Guardiola, Social Dance Historian

Email Susan

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