For the first time in four years we have a non-gig calendar! Previous July plans have been postponed, so I will be hibernating quietly at home this month, getting things prepared for later in the year (autumn will be lively!) and taking care of non-dance business.
Author: Susan de Guardiola
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June 2023 Gig Calendar
June feels a bit like May, Take II: a quick trip to Boston early in the month to DJ and do a bit of library research, then holing up at home for research and writing…and yardwork and home renovations and all those little things I do when I'm not working.
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A Young Mothers’ Reception, 1891
In honor of Mother's Day in the USA, another specialized (and much smaller) dance event from the pages of the October, 1891, issue of Demorest's Family Magazine:
A young mothers' reception, with dancing, is the unique entertainment to which only young married couples are invited. Round dances are tabooed, and what time can be spared from the discussion of the charms and precocious sayings and doings of their little ones is devoted to sedate square dances. To give a little touch of piquancy to the affair, partners are selected by favors, children's toys being used for the purpose. The following day the guests call on the hostess, with their children.
— Demorest's Family Magazine, Volume XXVII, No. 12, October, 1891, p. 756This brief description appeared in a "Chat" column which primarily covered the decor of several autumn-themed events (the "Dahlia Tennis Court" was my favorite).
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May 2023 Gig Calendar
Tra la…it's May! Waltz workshops and DJing a waltz afternoon in Boston early in the month, then I'll be taking a break from travel for some needed time at home for research and writing!
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April 2023 Gig Calendar
As April begins I'll still be on my March Chicago trip, now extended to Wisconsin. Then after a couple of weeks at home, I'll be on the road again to the amazing New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) and a Civil War ball in Pennsylvania, with a bit of DJing tucked in between. I'm looking forward to a fabulous and eclectic month!
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March 2023 Gig Calendar
March for me will come in like the proverbial lion as I wrap up my little European tour with a weekend of workshops in Munich and go out, err, still like the lion with a trip to Chicago for research and an evening of country dancing (loosely defined). In between, I'll be in Boston for DJing (and more research). Updated: the DJing and Boston trip are canceled, conveniently replaced by a class at a local university! Whee!
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Polish Dance, 1832
This blandly named "Polish Dance" was published by expatriate English dancing master William George Wells in The danciad, or companion to the modern ball room in Montreal in 1832. I have my doubts about whether there is anything authentically Polish about it, but the dance itself is…interesting. Let me start with a transcription.
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POLISH DANCE
To be danced by an unlimited number of couples, and placed exactly in the same situation as for the Original Gallopade.
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February 2023 Gig Calendar
February starts gently for me with an online lecture that is a sort of sequel to one I did in Moscow eight (!!) years ago and one of my regular trips to Boston to DJ before I head off to Europe at the end of the month for a teaching trip to Belgium and Germany that will also take me briefly through Dublin and Amsterdam for research, art, and reunions.
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January 2023 Gig Calendar
Happy new year! I wasn't planning to travel for anything but library research this month while I wait out the post-holiday Covid surge and polish a bunch of old and new reconstructions for my European trip in February-March. But it seems I'm going to Boston to DJ again. Tomorrow! Whee!
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The Thé Dansante, 1891
Dropping back to the late nineteenth century, here's another short blurb from the pages of Demorest's Family Magazine, following the Thanksgiving Pumpkin Party I described last year. This little tidbit appeared in the "Chat" column of the February, 1891, issue, along with a description of a Valentine's party and comments on the overuse of floral decorations. The anonymous author described the fashion that season of using a thé dansante (tea dance) held at the "usual hours" for a reception, four o'clock to seven o'clock in the late afternoon, for the purpose of introducing debutantes to the fashionable world. The thé dansante could stand on its own as an event or might be the lead-in to a dinner.
