Capering & Kickery

Susan de Guardiola, Social Dance Historian

Email Susan

Author: Susan de Guardiola

  • La Russe

    (Note 6/3/24: I’ve written a follow-up to this post; the link is at the end.  My reconstruction stands.)

    I picked La Russe out some time ago while looking for easy late nineteenth century waltz-time variations.  The name means “the Russian woman”, and I recently had the pleasure of teaching it in Moscow to a very talented group of Russian dancers.

    No specific choreographer is known for La Russe, but we can date it with unusual precision to just over 130 years ago.  Dancing master M. B. Gilbert, in his Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890), noted that it was “introduced by the American Society of Professors of Dancing, New York, May 1st, 1882,” and it turns up in a couple of other American dance manuals of the 1880s.  All the descriptions are quite consistent, though the terminology used varies.

    (more…)

  • Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Bronco

    Like the Rockaway, the Bronco is another dance listed under the “Miscellaneous” category in M.B. Gilbert’s Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) as suitable for either jig time (6/8) or galop time (2/4). 

    Please see my earlier post on the Rockaway for a discussion of jig and galop rhythms and a sample of jig music.

    Original description

    Leap backward from the right to left foot, 1; leap backward upon the right foot, 2; leap backward upon the left, 3; pass right to side and immediately draw left to right (à la Newport), & 4; pass right to side and draw left to right, & 5; leap forward upon the right, 6; pass left to side and draw right to left, & 7; pass left to side and draw right to left, & 8; four measures.  Repeat, commencing as at first. The second time the right foot may move backward at the sixth count, making the turn to the left.  Counterpart for lady.
            —  Gilbert, Round Dancing, p.165

    (more…)

  • Late 19th Century Jig-Time Dances: The Rockaway

    I’ve recently been looking more closely at some of the “Miscellaneous Dances” found in the back of M. B. Gilbert’s 1890 tome, Round Dancing, and noticed that quite a few of the dances there are labeled specifically as for dancing to jig time (6/8) or for either jig or galop (2/4) time.  The Rockaway is one of those given as suited for either time signature.

    The earliest source I have for this dance is a New York dance manual, and it seems likely that it was named for the Rockaway Peninsula, a part of Long Island which was a popular seaside resort area in the nineteenth century.  The description in Gilbert is considerably clearer and is the basis for this reconstruction.

    (more…)

  • May 2012 Gig Calendar

    I started out May in the wonderful city of Moscow, teaching nineteenth century dance at Anno Domini, and have a burst of events in the first half of the month before things quiet down substantially.  I may add a few more events later this month, but for now, here's the calendar:

    (more…)

  • CD Review: Returning Heroes

    Brand new this month — the release party is coming up in a couple of weeks — is the dance band Spare Parts‘ latest CD of mid-nineteenth-century dance music, Returning Heroes.  After dancing for many years to music from their earlier CD, The Civil War Ballroom, it’s a delight to have new music for this era!

    The short review: it’s a great CD; buy it immediately if you enjoy dancing of the Civil War era.

    The longer version follows.

    Disclaimer: the musicians of Spare Parts are personal friends, and my advance copy of this CD was sent to me as a gift.

    (more…)

  • February 2012 Gig Calendar

    Most of my major gigs are concentrated the first and last weekend of February, but I have a few Connecticut ones in between!

    I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and in New York City and the Boston area on specific dates.

    Here's a quick list with links for more information:

    (more…)

  • January 2012 Gig Calendar

    I have lots of dance workshops and events scheduled this month to start the new year off right — see the list below.

    I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and in New York City and the Boston area on specific dates.

    Here's a quick list with links for more information:

    (more…)

  • December 2011 Gig Calendar

    I have a bunch of small events and workshops this month before I take my brief winter break.  This is a particularly good month if you want to enjoy some waltzing — I have waltz events in New York, Connecticut, and Boston!

    I am also available for private lessons in Connecticut (New Haven or Middletown) generally, and in New York and the Boston area on specific dates.

    Here's a quick list with links for more information:

    (more…)

  • Harvest Home

    • Era: American, late 1850s-early 1860s

    In commemoration of the American Thanksgiving holiday, here’s a seasonally appropriate dance from the American Civil War era, a country dance for a set of six couples.

    While I have not done a comprehensive search, I appear to have instructions for “Harvest Home” only in a pair of dance manuals by Elias Howe: Howe’s Complete Ballroom Handbook (Boston, 1858) and American Dancing Master and Ball-Room Prompter (Boston, 1862), which include far more country dances than is typical of other dance manuals of the time period.  New England to this day retains a stronger country dance tradition, in the form of modern contra dance, than most other parts of the United States.

    (more…)

  • Gothic Ancestry: A Country Dance Gallopade

    • Era: 1830s, England

    A year or so ago I published a discussion and reconstruction of the 1862 country dance gallopade known as The Gothic Dance and mentioned that there was a very similar dance in London dancing master J. S. Pollock’s c1830 manual, A Companion to La Terpsichore Moderne (Second Edition).  I’ve taught this dance at the few 1830s events I’ve had an opportunity to run, but have not previously published a reconstruction.

    The original instructions for the dance, one of a pair of country dance gallopades with numbers but no titles, are as follows:

    No. 2.     (4 parts) 

        All advance, retire, and cross over, changing places with partners — advance, retire, and cross over back again — first and second couples right and left — first couple gallopade down the middle to the bottom of the dance, and remain at the bottom.

    (more…)

PLEASE NOTE: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made via the links at this site.

Capering & Kickery

Susan de Guardiola, Social Dance Historian

Email Susan

© Susan de Guardiola and Capering & Kickery, 2008-2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Susan de Guardiola and Capering & Kickery with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.