Capering & Kickery

The Woodland Yorke

The Woodland Yorke was introduced by Maine conductor and dancing master Horace M. Pullen at the Seventeenth Annual Convention of the American Society of Professors of Dancing, held in New York City on September 4th-7th, 1894, and published in the proceedings of the convention.  Specifically, it was introduced on Tuesday, September 4th, 1894, as one of a list of eleven "works" placed in the hands of the Directors.  The convention then promptly adjoined to practice them.

The original text, as published in the convention proceedings:

"WOODLAND YORKE."
By Horace M. Pullen.

First Part. -- Slide left forward to fourth position (1); close right to left, and at same time slide left forward chassé (2);close right foot chassé to left (3).  1 bar.  Hop on right and slide left forward (1); close right to left (2); leap forward on left (3).  Repeat all the above with right foot.  4 bars.

Second Part. -- Face partners; make three slides with left foot (1 bar); change, make three slides with right foot.  Repeat the above.  4 bars in all.

Pose for first part.  Both facing same direction; join hands, gent's right, ladies' left.

 

Dorothea: a 1912 march figure

"Dorothea" is a full choreographed march taken from H. Layton Walker's Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912).  It combines some standard march figures used in unusual ways with less standard ones and enough mixer elements that it also qualifies as a fun cotillion (dance party game). 

Like many figures in Walker's book, this one probably originated elsewhere.  I don't know where, and I don't know the significance of the name.  But how could I possibly resist a march whose creator fully expected it to devolve into chaos at the end?    

"...when the dancers have become helplessly tangled at the sides of the room, trying to find out where to go next..."

It's comforting to know that if the figure goes terribly wrong the caller can just skip to the end and claim it was planned!  

It is not at all comforting, however, for the first diagram to present a problem.

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. 756

This brief description appeared in a "Chat" column which primarily covered the decor of several autumn-themed events (the "Dahlia Tennis Court" was my favorite).

Ocean Waves, 1914

As I go flying over the ocean waves for my miniature European tour, here's an appropriately-named one-step variation from the pages of Frank H. Norman's Complete Dance Instructor (Ottawa, 1914).  As far as I know, that is the only place "Ocean Waves" was ever published, so I would not consider it a common variation.  But it's kind of wacky fun and provides something besides boat swings to do with both arms outstretched, in case anyone was feeling the lack of such things.

The dance hold is as shown at left: partners facing with arms outstretched and hands joined.  The step itself is very simple.  I'll give the gentleman's feet; reverse for the lady.

Prepare by placing weight on the right foot and freeing the left foot in a raised second position.  It doesn't actually matter which way the dancers are facing, since the step turns on the spot, but since it will cause traffic problems, it's best done in the center of the room rather than right in the line of dance.

Ocean Waves
1&        Chassez: cut left foot to right, displacing right (1) and step to the right (&)
2           Cut: cut left foot to right, displacing right to raised second

1&        Chassez: cut right foot to left, displacing left (1) and step to the left (&)
2           Cut: cut right foot to left, displacing left to raised second

Repeat as many times as desired, turning in place and "allowing the hands to wave up and down at side imitating 'waves' ".  I don't find it graceful to move just the hands or even just the arms in this; I think what is meant, and certainly what I prefer, is something more maxixe-like, keeping the arms extended throughout and tilting the torso so that the left hand/arm/shoulder rises when the dancer is moving to his/her left and vice-versa.

The time signature was listed as "Tempo 3-4" -- tempo is misused this way repeatedly in the book -- but since it was notated in two and specifically said to be a variation that may be introduced in any one-step, I think this was simply a typo for "2-4".

Although Norman directs the dancers to turn, they could actually perform the step without any turn, either on the spot, going back and forth or progressing in a slight zig-zag along the line of dance, similarly to the one-slide racket, of which this is basically an accenting variation.  I don't personally count it as a racket since it lacks the characteristic slide on the strong (first) beat and distinctive fast "cut-cut" pairs, but it's certainly close kin.

The Detroit, 1886

The Detroit, published in 1886, was a very simple sequence dance which in theory uses a polka variant, though the 6/8 music feels more like a two-step.  The dance was choreographed by Herman A. Strassburg Jr. to music by John E. Fancher.  The cover of the sheet music, courtesy of the Detroit Historical Society, is shown at left (click to enlarge). 

The dance instructions were published with the sheet music as well as by M. B. Gilbert in his compilation Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) and by G. W. Lopp in La Danse (Paris, 1903).  Both attributed it to Strassburg. 

The dance instructions are essentially the same in all three sources, though the internal reference to polka variant is given by Strassburg as the Rush Polka, by Gilbert as the Glide Polka, and by Lopp as the polka coquette.  According to Gilbert, and discussed here, all three are different names for the same variation.  It's possible they are regional terms.

Jenny Lind Polka - German Polka (American contra dances)

I'm going to jointly cover the two contra dances prolific nineteenth century musician-caller-author-publisher Elias Howe published under the titles Jenny Lind Polka and German Polka because they share the same unusual eight-bar sequence of figures as well as an additional sixteen of the thirty-two bars total of each dance.  They're more variations on a theme than separate dances.

Their names refer to pieces of music.  "Jenny Lind Polka" was, of course, named for the famous "Swedish nightingale", shown at left, who toured the United States in 1850-1852.  It is still regularly played and recorded.  "German Polka" is more obscure.

Both dances were published with consistent wording for each in Howe's Complete ball-room handbook (1858), American dancing master, and ball-room prompter (1862 and 1866), and New American Dancing Master (1882 and 1892).  I think it extremely likely that the figures were arranged by Howe himself.  One or both dances also appeared in two works that were highly derivative of Howe: both of them in John M. Schell's Prompting, How To Do It. (New York/Boston/Chicago, 1890), and the Jenny Lind Polka alone, with a difference that was probably an error, in the anonymous Gems of the Ball Room Call Book. (Chicago, 1896).

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.

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

POLISH DANCE

    To be danced by an unlimited number of couples, and placed exactly in the same situation as for the Original Gallopade.

WALTZ TIME.

    Fig.— Promenade = = Poussette = = sett and turn partners = ladies’ hands across and back. joining hands to partners’, forming a cross = = all promenade in a cross and turn partners to places = = all the couples now fall into Quadrille parties of four, and perform La Pantalon, still in Waltz time = sauteuse = =.
    [This may be repeated at the pleasure of the party.]

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

I've previously discussed both Wells' "Original" Gallopade and the possibly-more-original Original Gallopade published by J. S. Pollock.  It's clear that the Polish Dance is performed in a circle of couples.  The reference is also a reminder that Wells was not necessarily the originator of many (any?) of the dances in his book; see here for another example. 

So, the Polish Dance should be done in a circle of couples, specifically, in an even number of couples, since in the second part of the dance, they form half-quadrille sets, couple-facing-couple, to perform the Pantalon figure of the French quadrille.  There are some minor reconstruction problems with the dance, but before going on to those, let's take a look at the basic structure of the dance:

• the couples move around the room, promenading and doing figures as a group
• they do a quadrille figure in pairs
• they end with sauteuse waltz

Does this remind you of anything? 

Lyra Figures, 1912

Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

The "Lyra Figures", a fancy march cotillion (dance party game) in which the columns of dancers outline the shape of a lyre within a wreath, were published in Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures, by H. Layton Walker (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912).  I suspect that, like the Winthrop(e), they were copied from some other source, but I do not currently have any idea what it might have been. 

This figure would be somewhat difficult for a ball preceptor to lead "cold", at least without multiple floor managers, but with a lead couple who knew the track, it wouldn't be all that difficult.  After a simple march-around lead-in, the leading lady and gentleman stay on their own sides of the room, leading their lines up and down curving tracks to form the shape of the lyre.  It might even work with only a single knowledgeable dancer, if their partner were good at moving in mirror image and the room not too crowded for them to see each other at opposite sides.  At the end, there is a simple march by platoons to end in facing lines for a waltz or other couple dance.

The Klondike Two-Step...Take Two!

Dance history research, at least if done well, is often not so much a matter of coming up with definitive solutions as a continual cycling back through old material in the light of new sources or new understanding and correcting and refining one's work.  I'm still in the middle of that process for the Klondike Two-Step, but as my region is currently undergoing an Arctic blast of cold air with a temperature similar to the average in the Klondike in January, it seems like a suitable moment to revisit the dance and check in on new developments.  When I first discussed it here thirteen-plus years ago, I was mainly concerned with the basic reconstruction of the dance, and since the single description I had for it was a bit of a mess, I had plenty to say about that and neither the desire nor the resources to delve more deeply. 

It would probably be helpful to go read my earlier post before going on.

So, what have I learned since I wrote it?

The Bonnie Brae, 1895

In honor of Burns night, here's a simple (and completely American) Scottish-themed "society" dance by Chicago dancing master Robert Alexander Campbell: The Bonnie Brae.  Campbell, also the creator of The Vassar, was credited as both the choreographer of the dance and the composer of the music, though the latter was "harmonized" by Robert Heiss and on the sheet music the dance was co-credited to a Miss Josephine E. Rice.

Interestingly, this time Campbell labeled himself a member of the Western Association Normal School Masters of Dancing rather than the leader of Campbell's Solo Orchestra and apparently no longer felt the need to note that he was the pupil of C. A. Carr.  Also of note: the cover gave not only a Chicago publisher but a London one as well.  Apparently Campbell was moving up in the world!  Though one notes that he did not state on the music that the dance had actually been accepted by the Western Association Normal School, which I discussed briefly here.

"Bonnie Brae" is Gaelic for "pleasant hill", according to this useful article about a street with that name in Los Angeles.  Given his surname, perhaps Campbell came by the Gaelic honestly, or perhaps he just thought the phrase sounded suitably Scottish, a nice match for the tartan-clad dancers on the cover, which may be seen at left (click to enlarge).  The lady at center might be Miss Rice.

Chivers' La Grande Polonaise, 1821 (1818?)

La Grande Polonaise was published as an individual work by G. M. S. Chivers, probably early in 1821.  The first trace of its publication I have found is toward the end of an ad from London's Morning Post on Thursday, March 1st, 1821, for an Assembly to be held the following Monday.  The ad is shown at left; click to enlarge.  [see update note below for more information about the dating of this dance] 

La Grande Polonaise is not on the list of dances definitely planned for the assembly, but the author -- presumably Chivers himself -- noted that "several new Species of Dancing" would also be introduced, so it is possible it was danced at that event.  Its price of two shillings is the same at which it would later be advertised in the back of Chivers' third major book, The Dancing Master in Miniature (1825). 

I am not aware of any surviving copy of the original publication, alas, but the figures for La Grande Polonaise were also printed in Chivers' second book, The Modern Dancing Master (1822).  Chivers' description of the dance from that book:

La GRANDE POLONAISE, is generally thought to have originated in Poland, and it is a favorite Dance of the Polish Nobility.

The dance commences with a Tune in March Time, and terminates with a Sauteuse, and will require at least ten or twelve couple to perform it.

Any number of persons can join in the Dance; observing that there is an even number of couples; and no person should join after the Dance has commenced.

The figure given, is the same as was performed when the Allied Sovereigns were at Aix-la-Chappel.

I am extremely skeptical of Chivers' claim that this was danced at the Congress of Aix-la-Chappelle in 1818.  While the average London dancer might not have been familiar with the polonaise, a musical form and dance in 3/4 time, the Continental attendees probably would have been, and are unlikely to have danced a "polonaise" to march (4/4) music.  I expect they danced a polonaise (probably more than one, as the Congress lasted for two months), but I very much doubt it was this "polonaise".

Given Chivers' track record of choreographic creativity and blithe unconcern for accuracy in labeling dances, however, I do find it perfectly plausible that he created this dance himself and, out of ignorance or deliberate choice, used a march tune and an ordinary marching (walking) step rather than a polonaise step.  I thus consider La Grande Polonaise to be a purely English invention, not a Polish or even French dance, and not representative of early nineteenth century polonaise in general.  Nor, as a niche dance by a specific dancing master, would I expect it to have been widely danced outside London or even outside Chivers' own events.  But for a specifically English ball of the early 1820s, it's reasonable and unusual enough to make a pleasant change of pace.

Saltator's "Promenades"

In the 1802 and 1807 editions of A Treatise on Dancing, the anonymous author, Saltator, provided a list of the "changes" for cotillions with a noticeable departure from the norm.  The mostly-standard list of cotillion changes was as follows:

le grand rond (all eight circle and back)
la main (turn by the right hand, turn by the left hand)
les deux mains (turn by two hands, then the other way)
moulinet des dames (ladies right hands across, left back)
moulinet des cavaliers (gents same)
rond des dames (ladies circle and back)
rond des cavaliers (gents same)
les allemandes (allemande right, allemande left)
le grand rond (same as at the beginning)

There are minor variations here and there; some lists insert a grand chaîne (grand chain) and/or promenade before the final grand rond.  Some lists include "balance and rigadaun" before each change; some don't.  And there are occasionally lists of entirely different changes.  But, in general, this set is pretty standard. 

By way of examples, here are the lists from Le répertoire des bals (La Cuisse, Paris, 1762), which is the earliest full explanation of the cotillion form (called la contredanse in France), and A New Collection of Forty-four Cotillons (Gallini, London, c1770).  Click to enlarge.

La Cuisse numbered the grand round first; Gallini considered that the opening figure (not listed on the page shown) and started his numbering with the right- and left-hand turns.  He also added the two extra changes before the final round.  But the core figures were the same, and in the same order.

Regency Oddities: Roger de Coverley

Wrapping up my little series on extended-Regency-era oddities, let's talk about an unusual version of the English finishing dance, Sir Roger de Coverley!  This is one of the rare dances where tune and dance are so tightly associated that it's reasonable to give the dance the tune name.

I discussed a typical Regency-era version of the classic Sir Roger de Coverley figure long, long ago.  Since then, I've accumulated a number of other versions of the figure with the same characteristic elements: opening figures performed on the long diagonals followed by whole-set figures that end with the original top couple progressed to the bottom.  I've written up a couple of later nineteenth century versions here and here.

Now, this is not to say that there were never any other, more typical, country dance figures set to the "Roger de Coverley" tune.  In its earliest appearance with dance figures in the ninth edition of Playford's The Dancing Master, published in 1695, it is printed with a normal progressive figure, completely unrelated to the later dance.  One hundred and thirty years after that, a different figure, very generic-Regency, was published with it in Analysis of the London Ball-Room (printed for Thomas Tegg, London, 1825).  Never underestimate the willingness of music publishers and dancers, to recycle a tune.

But there's one set of figures I've found printed with "Sir Roger de Coverley" which is a real oddity:

Regency Oddities: Heys for Four

When I add new extended-Regency-era country dance tune books to my collection of photos and scans, one of the things I do is quickly skim through the figures looking for anything out of the ordinary.  And while heys (or reels) are quite common figures for country dances in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (indeed, all the way back to the seventeenth century!), in this period, they are almost always heys for three.  Figures like "hey your own sides", "hey contrary sides and hey your own sides", "hey top and bottom" (where one dancer in a couple goes up and one goes down the set), and the corner-formation heys where the lady heys with two gentlemen and the gentleman with two ladies are all very common.  But these are all heys for three dancers.  A "right and left" quite round is technically a circular hey for four, but a classic, Scotch reel-style hey for four dancers in a line is not listed as a standard figure and doesn't really turn up.  

Until, of course, it does. 

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.

One might assume that this reception-with-dancing (and, presumably, afternoon tea) was less work than giving a full-scale ball, but lest the name give you the idea this was an intimate event, be aware that the Demorest's description claimed that five hundred non-dancing "friends" (meaning a large chunk of upper-class society) were said to attend such an event just as a reception, while the debutantes and their partners danced with a "delightful informality".  The potential following dinner would be a much smaller affair.

There's not much to the description -- no details of the dancing -- and what there is is mostly concerned with a set of coordinated outfits, but here is the original text in full:

Newman Hesitation Boston

Wrapping up my rather drawn-out examination of Albert W. Newman's Boston variations, here is an actual sequence mixing his Long Boston with various hesitations.  As usual, it's not clear how he distinguishes between Boston and hesitation waltz.  The Newman Hesitation Boston was published in Newman's Dances of to-day (Philadelphia, 1914) and later reprinted, with some minor edits, in F. Leslie Clendenen's Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914). 

Newman called his little sequence "one of the most popular dances at the present time", though I doubt that was actually true anywhere outside Newman's own sphere of influence.  In Dance Mad, he edited his claim to "The most popular Hesitation Waltz in Philadelphia at present."  He also described it in his own book as "very easy" and "most restful".  It is not only simple to dance, it's actually quite lovely.

General Fleury's Bal d'enfants travesti, 1867

On Tuesday, April 23, 1867, a children's fancy dress ball, or bal travesti, was held at the home of General Émile Félix Fleury, a prominent senator and equerry of the Emperor Napoleon III. The event was covered in the pages of Le Monde Illustré on May 4, 1867, with the illustration below (click to enlarge) and a brief description of the event.

Bal d’enfants travesti, donné le 23 avril, chez le général Fleury,
grand écuyer de S. M. L’Empereur — Le galop final.

Children's fancy dress ball, given the 23rd of April at the home of Général Fleury,
Grand Equerry of His Majesty the Emperor — The final galop.

A full transcription of the original article with my translation is given at the end of this post.

A Masquerade in Montana, 1899

And...it's back to masquerades, fancy dress balls, crazy cotillion figures, and other fun for the month of October!  First up: a Christmas masquerade ball in Montana in 1899.

The Degree of Honor masquerade ball was held on Christmas night at the Hefferlin Opera House in Livingston, Montana, the elaborate building at right in the postcard photo at left; click to enlarge.  At this time, the Degree of Honor was the ladies' auxiliary of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a post-Civil War "fraternal" mutual benefit society providing insurance, burial policies, etc, to working-class men.  In the late 1890s, the Degree of Honor was said to have had 40,000 members nationally.  It later spun off into a separate organization and existed independently until 2017.

Livingston itself was tiny at the time, having been founded as a cluster of tents at a future railroad stop in 1882.  Even today, its population is under ten thousand people (per the 2020 census); at the time of the ball, it was probably only around a thousand.  This puts into perspective its description as "largely attended" in the coverage of the ball in the social column of The Anaconda Standard on Sunday, December 31, 1889: seventy-five couples following the leaders of the march.  For a town of that size, that is actually quite impressive, and the coverage noted that the event succeeded both socially and financially.

Trouping the Colors

This is a bit of a thematic reach, but in honor of America's Independence Day, here's a simple cotillion mixer figure featuring American flags.  It is taken from H. Layton Walker's Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures, (Buffalo, NY: Two Step Publishing Company, 1912), which compiled figures from a variety of different sources.  The diagram at left is from Walker, in which it is arranged for fifty-seven couples, but the figure can easily be performed by a smaller (or larger) number.

The essence of the figure is to divide the dancing couples into groups of increasing size, with each group in turn (smallest to largest) first two-stepping and then, at a signal, forming a circle as the next group begins to dance.  Each new circle forms around the previous one(s) and circles in the opposite direction.  Once each group is circling, a signal starts the dancers doing a grand right and left in their own circle -- this is the mixer element -- and then, at the last signal, taking the person they are now facing as their partner for a final two-step.

Foxtrot with diagrams, 1919

Once again, we return to the pages of H. Layton Walker's The Two Step for that rarity of the 1910s: helpful footprint diagrams!

The Springfield School of Dancing of Springfield, Ohio, advertised a basic set of four foxtrot sequences, complete with little footprint diagrams, in the January, 1919, issue (Buffalo, NY; Volume XXIX, No. 1, p. 11). 

These diagrams are particularly helpful for a dance like the foxtrot in which the speed of the steps varies ("quicks and slows") because the little feet are numbered, with "+" standing in for "&".  This makes it simple to understand the timing. 

The four sequences presented, going counter-clockwise from the upper right quarter, are:

A.    One Step and Two Step Combination

B.    One Step and Syncopated Combination

C.    One Step and Two Step or Jazz Combination

D.    One Step and Waltz Step Combination

The Castle Fox Trot (2 of 2)

Please see the previous post for the introduction to the Castle Fox Trot and the first three step-sequences.

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

Moving right along with the Castle Fox Trot, the two photos below (click to enlarge) illustrate the fourth step-sequence:

4. "Get over, Sal" and trot.  This is an odd little sequence, with two movements on each of the slow steps.  Let's start with Vernon's description, with an advance apology for his use of a racial term which was polite at the time but is no longer considered so:

For the next step, instead of taking two slow steps forward we take two drags to the side.  This drag is a very old negro step, often called “Get over, Sal.  It is done this way: You first take a small hop on your left foot, then quickly throw the weight of the body on the right, dragging the left up to the right.  This should take up one long beat.  I realize how difficult it is to understand this, but I can think of no simpler way of explaining it, and the sixth photograph should help considerably.  In it my wife is just about to drag the left foot up to the right.

After this you do exactly the same step on the other side (see the seventh photograph). 

The Castle Fox Trot (1 of 2)

In previous discussions of early foxtrot, I've examined individual step-sequences across multiple sources, if I have them -- many variations were unique to a single source.  Taking a different approach, I'd also like to look at the published sets of step-sequences of some of the famous and accomplished dancers of the period and see what repertoire they recommended.  I'll begin with the most notable (then and now) of these dancers: the powerhouse couple Vernon and Irene Castle.

In the December, 2014, issue of The Ladies' Home Journal, the Castles published an article illustrated with a series of photos, beginning with the pair at left, of a set of five step-sequences which they labeled The Castle Fox Trot.  This article was the third in a series of dance descriptions which began with the Castle Polka (October) and continued with the Castle Gavotte (November). 

Vernon Castle wrote in first person, addressing the presumably female readers of the magazine directly.  His introduction to the foxtrot:

In presenting the last of our three modern dances I am obliged to revert to the very old and true saying that “There is no new thing under the sun.”  However in the present dance you will find it a pleasant change, and as it is very like the one-step I think it should become popular.  On and off for the last three months we have been introducing this dance at various parties, and it has always been received with a great deal of enthusiasm. 

 

For the Queen's Jubilee

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Portrait

This being the beginning of Queen Elizabeth II of England's official Platinum Jubilee celebration, it seems appropriate to look back almost 125 years to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, for which English dancing master Walter Humphrey composed a sequence called, logically enough, The Victorian:

This dance was arranged as a novelty for the ball-room, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen in 1897, and, as it can be danced to Two-step music or Washington Post, makes a pleasant variety.

The sequence itself is short and the reconstruction ought to be straightforward, but, unfortunately, Humphrey's instructions complicate matters.  I'll present my reconstruction first then talk about the problems.

The Two-Step in Diagrams

Even rarer than clear descriptions of the two-step of the turn of beginning of the twentieth century are clear diagrams of the two-step.  The one below (click to enlarge), depicting the gentleman's steps, was provided by the Springfield School of Dancing (Springfield, Ohio) and published in the April, 1919, issue of H. Layton Walker's dance journal, The Two Step (Buffalo, NY; Volume XXIX, No. 4, p. 23.)  This is a very late description of the two-step, whose prime period of popularity was in the first decade of the twentieth century.  It does not appear to have evolved at all, at least not in Springfield, Ohio.

Sadly, it was not accompanied by a description of the dance, but the diagrams are very clear.  I'll break down the four variations shown, but first, let's look at the dance position.

Displeased by dancing, 1852

"Pleasing the Parish; or, The Minister's Wife", and its sequel, "Intervention", appeared in the January and July, 1852, issues of Godey's Lady's Book, probably the most prominent women's magazine of mid-19th century America.  The author remained anonymous, offering only a list of their previously published stories.

The first story is the sad tale of the overwhelming demands made upon Mrs. Stone, the wife of a theologian who accepts a position as rector of a large parish in New York City.  Her inability to fulfill all the demands on a rector's wife and her refusal to yield in all areas to the leading female parishioners makes her increasingly unpopular and, as a result, miserable.  In the second story, she has the temerity to attend a gathering of friends rather than the organizational meeting.  Both the gathering and its consequences offer brief insights into the practice and perception of dance in mid-nineteenth-century America.

American Boy

Another dance associated with the Mahler family of dancing masters in St. Louis is the American Boy, an easy two-step sequence described by Jacob Mahler in the October 24th, 1909, issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  It is one of two sequences fully described in an article entitled "Five New Dances Now the Delight of Society" on page 65.  It's not clear whether Mahler choreographed it himself, and I've not been able to find any other source for the dance.

The starting position is the dancers side by side, gentleman on the left and lady on the right, holding inside hands as shown in the illustration at left from the Post-Dispatch article, and facing line of dance.  The gentleman starts on the left foot and the lady on the right.

Interestingly, Mahler gave the lady's steps, with the gentleman dancing opposite, so I will do the same.

Russian Militaire

"For children there have been accepted La Veta and the Russian Militaire, the latter a semi-drill and march step, combining simple and graceful poses for the little ones."

-- Marie Petravsky, "New Fads in Dances", The Sunday Morning Call (Lincoln, Nebraska). Sunday, October 25, 1896, p. 5.

The accepting organization referred to was The Western Association and Normal School of Masters of Dancing, which also accepted a number of dances for adults that year.  The newspaper article was timed to the start of the new dancing season in New York, but on the sheet music it is noted that the dance was adopted on June 11, 1896, in Toledo, Ohio.  It is also claimed, apparently inaccurately, that "This Dance was the only Dance adopted out of ten others presented." 

The choreographer of the dance was John A. Mahler, brother of the much better-known St. Louis dancing master Jacob Mahler.  Both brothers taught children; another of John Mahler's dances, the Two and a Half Step, was inscribed to "the Young Ladies of the Mary Institute and Hosmer Hall", two St. Louis schools.  There is no indication on the sheet music that it was meant for children, which makes one wonder how many of the other simple sequence dances of the period might also have been meant for the younger set!

The National Park Quadrille (3 of 3)

(See the first and second posts in this series for the structure of the quadrille, the "chorus" figure, and the introductions to each figure.)

Completing the National Park Quadrille, here are the third and fourth figures!

Figure 3     (4b intro, A=8b, B=8b; played 4b + AABBx4)
4b    Introduction (not repeated): gentlemen step to the center and turns to face partners, all quickly bow/courtesy, and the gentlemen return to places

4b    Head trios forward and back
4b    Head trios turn opposites by two hands
4b    All twelve join hands, forward and back
4b    All twelve take hands three in trios and circle round to places
16b  "Chorus" figure (described in detail here)

Repeat three more times (heads, sides, sides).

The National Park Quadrille (2 of 3)

(See the previous post in this series for the structure of the quadrille and the "chorus" figure.)

Going on with the actual figures of the National Park Quadrille!

Note that the first figure does not open with eight bars for the standard honors to partners and corners or opposites.  There is a specific kind of honors for the four-bar introduction to each figure.

Figure 1     (4b intro, A=8b, B=16b; played 4b + AABx4)
4b    Introduction (not repeated): gentlemen step to the center and turns to face partners, all quickly bow/courtesy, and the gentlemen return to places

4b    Head gentlemen with right-hand ladies turn by the right hand (polka steps)
4b    Head gentlemen with left-hand ladies turn by the left hand (polka steps)
4b    Head gentlemen with right-hand ladies promenade halfway round
4b    Head gentlemen with right-hand ladies right and left (chaîne anglaise) to places
16b  "Chorus" figure (described in detail here)

At the end of the figure the two ladies in each trio will have exchanged places.  Head couples repeat, then side couples twice more.

The National Park Quadrille (1 of 3)

The sheet music for Clifford G. Sweet's National Park Quadrille, published in 1892, immediately intrigued me because the cover (shown at left, click to enlarge) proclaimed it "For 8 Ladies & 4 Gentlemen".  In other words, it was a trio quadrille, for four trios in a square, which is one of my favorite variant quadrille formations.  The sheet music was not accompanied by dance figures, but, happily, they are available elsewhere, though not in their original publication.  Two near-identical versions of the instructions may be found in The American Prompter and Guide to Etiquette by E. H. Kopp (Cincinnati-New York-Chicago, 1896) and a late edition of Clendenen's [Fashionable] Quadrille Book and Guide to Etiquette (Chicago, 1899).  Given how close the language is in the two sources, I suspect that both authors were copying from the missing original.

The National Park Quadrille is a four-figure set performed with either polka steps or plain steps ("according to the ability of the dancers") for most of the figures, with a generous amount of polka for couples thrown in during the "chorus" that ends each figure, during which the glide polka, discussed here, should be used.  This is essentially a combination of two slides of galop (one measure) plus a polka step (one measure).  If dancing the polka in the casual slide-together-slide style, which I suspect was typical at this time, it will feel much like a four-slide galop (as described here).

The most interesting element of this quadrille is the back-and-forth progression for the ladies: on each iteration of the quadrille, they change places within their trio, from left side of the gentleman to right and vice-versa.  Since the ladies on the left and right of each trio perform different figures, this prevents any imbalance in the dancing.  Each of the four figures should be performed four times, twice for the head couples and twice for the side couples.  It is noted that if this feels too long, the first three figures can be done only twice (once for heads and once for sides), but that produces a slightly strange result, with the ladies in different positions in each figure and one lady getting more polka-round opportunities than the other.

Pittsburgh Star, 1912

Like the Winthrop(e), the Pittsburgh Star is a cotillion (dance party game) figure in the guise of a march sequence which was published in H. Layton Walker's Twentieth Century Cotillion Figures (Two Step Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1912).  It was most likely copied from some other source; based on the apparent origin of the Winthrop, the original might have appeared in a publication of the National Association of Dancing Masters after a meeting in Pittsburgh. 

The Pittsburgh Star differs from the Winthrop, however, in incorporating the mixer element into the march sequence, which I find more interesting as a figure, rather than by having the dancers seek new partners before beginning the march.

Here are the original instructions for the figure followed by the two diagrams.  Note when reading the directions that "up" is toward the bottom of the diagrams.

PITTSBURGH STAR.
All two-step.  Signal, all march up centre of hall.  All mark time when in middle.  First couple forward in line of direction.  Second couple turn to right; second [third] couple turn to left.  Repeat this until four couples are in front, four on right side, four on left side, and four in back.  This forms the cross.  The four couples in back now wheel round and face other way, thus: [diagram on left]  Now, in single file, [ladies] march to right, gentlemen to left, meeting and going to centre, forming thus: [diagram on right] and all two-step with that person.

I corrected "second" with [third] where it was needed and interpolated [ladies] where it was obvious from the diagrams that it had been left out.

The Canteen Canter, 1918

The Canteen Canter was a specialty dance choreographed by Oscar Duryea to the music of Case White and published in 1918 as a "cantonment one-step", a cantonment being a military camp or garrison.  (More information about cantonments in the United States during World War I may be found here.) 

The cover image, shown at left (click to enlarge) makes the association obvious, though there is nothing particularly military or terribly unusual about the dance itself.  Given its name, it is appropriate that it prominently features canter steps.

Rather than a fixed choreography, this is a set of, for want of a better term, figures, short sequences of four bars that can be repeated as often as one likes to fill up the music.  The sequences are simple - walking steps with the occasional cross of the foot, basic box-step and spin turns, and of course the "canter steps", essentially the lame duck.

The original sheet music, with dance instructions, is online here as part of the Lee Schreiner Sheet Music Collection at Northern Illinois University.

I don't have a proper recording of the music, but a computer-generated version of it has been uploaded by Dorian Henry to his YouTube channel (RagtimeDorianHenry), so one can at least get an idea of how the piece, written in 6/8, sounds:

It's a fun piece, and proper musicians could make much more of it.

On to the actual dance!

The Seven-Step Boston (Newman's Boston Variations)

Still working my way slowly through Albert W. Newman's collection of Boston variations...

The Seven-Step Boston was another variation published by Newman in Dances of to-day (Philadelphia, 1914).  Newman attributed it to the noted English dancing master R. M. Crompton.  Like the Russian Boston, it did not make it into Dance Mad , the compendium of dances and dance sequences published by F. Leslie Clendenen in St. Louis in 1914.

Like the Boston Spanish and Herring Bone Boston, the Seven-Step Boston zig-zags along the line of dance, as shown in the diagram above.  Unlike those two variations, in the Seven-Step Boston the dancers actually make half-turns, so that each "zig" or "zag" starts with the gentleman dancing backward and the lady forward.  It's also musically odd, in that each "zig" or "zag" takes three measures of music, with the pattern repeating every six measures.  And the steps combine elements of the Long Boston, Newman's Original Boston, and both natural and reverse waltz half-turns.  That's a lot to squeeze into a single sequence, but once I got comfortable with it, I found it very enjoyable to dance.

The Russian Boston (Newman's Boston Variations)

Getting back to Albert W. Newman's collection of Boston variations:

As far as I know, there is nothing actually Russian about the Russian Boston, which was published by Newman in his Dances of to-day (Philadelphia, 1914), where he credited it to himself.  Presumably the "Russian" element is the use of the "mazourka step", which forms part of many nineteenth-century couple dances and variations.  How this fits into the typical historical aesthetic of the Boston, which is generally a dance of glides and gentle rising and falling rather than hopping and cutting is not clear to me, but I actually like the step-combination.  Unfortunately, the Russian Boston as given by Newman is a peculiar ten bars in length, which makes it irritating when matched with the typical eight-bar strains of most waltz music.  I'll give Newman's version followed by a suggested arrangement to make it a more comfortable sixteen bars.

Interestingly, this variation did not make it into the Dance Mad  compendium with Newman's other Bostons.  Did he not submit it or did it not make the cut?

Chivers' Troidrilles (2 of 2)

Continuing on with figures two and three of Chivers' Troidrilles...

Figure Two (Tune: Eté) 8b + 24bx4
8b    Introduction (not repeated)
2b    First head trio forward (en avant) and stop
2b    Opposite trio forward (en avant) and stop
4b    All retire to places, turning round to the right twice
8b    Four head ladies right hands across (moulinet) and left hands back
8b    Set (pas de basque) in trios (4b) and hands three round (4b)
Repeat three more times, other couples leading in turn

This is another straightforward reconstruction.  The figure is done four times as in standard quadrille practice: twice by the head couples (first couple leading, then opposite couple leading) then twice by the side couples, led first by the couple to the right of the first head couple.  

Steps
For the en avant, normally an opportunity for fancier steps, I would use a single chassé, jeté-assemblé because with three dancers holding hands, it's once again too awkward to have everyone dancing different steps.  For the retire to places, three chassé, jeté-assemblé.  The same each way for the moulinet and the final hands three round in trios.

Chivers' Troidrilles (1 of 2)

I adore dances that are for trios rather than couples.  There are so many interesting things one can do when there are three dancers in the mix rather than just two!  And, of course, it helps the address the problem that historical dance tends to be imbalanced in gender, with many more women than men interested, but many of them desiring to dance in historical gender roles...though those were not always as rigid as people believe.  Figures for one gentleman and two ladies go some way toward addressing this at balls.

I've written previously about G. M. S. Chivers' "Swedish" dances, trio country dances that were not actually Swedish, and the Scottish Sixdrilles, a reworking of the French quadrille to be danced by four trios rather than four couples.  The Troidrilles are more in the spirit of the latter (though the name is more harmonious): a miniature "quadrille" of only three figures for four trios published in Chivers' The Dancing Master in Miniature (London, 1825).  The figures are original, though very Chivers in style.

The Troidrilles were published as set to tunes -- presumably the English ones -- for the French quadrille: Pantalon, Eté, and Finale.  I believe that implies that there was no specific sheet music published for them.  Any quadrille set with a Finale figure of the same length (not always the case!) should work.  I generally teach and dance them using the recording of Paine's 12th Set of Quadrilles found on the album Music for Quadrilles by Kevin Smith and Green Ginger, with the Finale figure edited to remove the coda.

The formation, as noted, is a square of twelve dancers, each trio consisting of one gentleman between two ladies.  The head trios are the trio with their back to the music and the trio facing them.  The side trios are, obviously, the other two trios.  The figures were originally printed entirely in English; I've added French translations here and there for those who learned the figures in that language.  General familiarity with quadrille figures and steps is assumed; I will not explain either in detail.

I'll go through the figures one by one with notes on reconstruction or performance as required.

Another "Original" Gallopade

Whatever the Original Gallopade published by dancing master W. G. Wells ("late of London") in The danciad, or companion to the modern ball room (Montreal, 1832) may be, it's certainly not the "original", in the sense of being the first version, since it's clearly a variation of the Original Gallopade published in Companion to La Terpsichore Moderne (Second Edition) by J. S. Pollock (London, c1830).

The introductory material is also blatantly plagiarized from either Pollock or some common source, so it can hardly be called "original" in the creative sense either, and it is unlikely to be exactly what was originally introduced in 1829 and referenced in the introduction to the dance, which I will append in full at the bottom of this post.  I think that introduction is more about gallopade-as-a-dance-in-general rather than this specific gallopade.  But in any case, it's virtually identical to the introduction in Pollock, and they can't both be the original.

The one element actually original to Wells was a diagram showing the circle of couples (represented by X for gentlemen and O for ladies).  But all in all, I would say that "The Original Gallopade" should be considered a proper name rather than a description. 

That said, the dance figures themselves are an interesting variation on the Pollock dance, and I have such a small collection of figured gallopades for circles of couples that any addition is of interest.  

The America

In honor of America's birthday, here's an appropriately-named variation by C. A. Carr (creator of the Highland Glide) which is long enough with enough dancing in place that it should probably be classified as a sequence dance and danced by all dancers in unison, as it would be quite the annoyance to other couples if done in the midst of a normal dance.  In M. B. Gilbert's Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890) it is listed in the redowa/mazurka section and in George Washington Lopp's La Danse (Paris, 1903) under "Les mazurkas".  If forced to a decision, I'd call it a polka mazurka and note that it features a stealthy bit of York hidden inside it.

Early Foxtrot: the St. Denis Spiral

While thinking about mixing foxtrot and maxixe...

The St. Denis Spiral is a minor foxtrot variation from Edna Stuart Lee's Thirty Fox Trot Steps (New York, 1916) which, like the sequences in my previous post, incorporates maxixe styling in the two-step.  Like Lee's Pavlowa Extension, it is named for a famous dancer, in this case Ruth St. Denis.  I am not a scholar of modern dance (theatrical or otherwise), so I have only the most superficial knowledge of her career, but apparently she was indeed noted for incorporating spiral figures, as may be seen in "The Delirium of Senses" from Radha (1906), recorded at Jacob's Pillow in 1941.  I seriously doubt she had anything to do with this foxtrot variation, however; the name is most likely just an homage.

The sequence is just as easy as the other foxtrot-maxixe combinations:

3b    Six walking steps
6b    Six turning two-steps, bending and turning as in the maxixe
2b    Four walking steps

The gentleman starts on the left foot moving forward, the lady on the right moving backward.  During the two-steps, the dancers should "turn around to the right as far as possible with each step, advancing along the floor in a spiral fashion".  Normally when turning one spirals into the center of a ballroom accidentally, by underturning.  In this variation, attempting some overturn would keep the dancers moving more-or-less along the line of dance even while doing little spirals.

As is often the case with Lee's sequences, her sense of musicality, or lack of it, is just bizarre.  Six walking steps (three measures) of music to start?  An eleven-bar sequence?  Why???  I would entirely support altering the sequence to do four walking steps at the beginning.  With the six turning two-steps, that would make an eight-bar sequence, and the four at the end are just walking out of it into something else.

Lee's final comment on the step, and the maxixe:

"This is a vigorous and interesting step, with reminiscences of the departed maxixe, which apparently was too beautiful to live."

Early Foxtrot: a bit of maxixe

Maxixe in the foxtrot?  They mixed bits and pieces of every other dance of the ragtime era together, so why not jazz up your foxtrot with a little body sway?  

At least two different sources suggest using maxixe-styled two-step in the foxtrot: Joan Sawyer's How to Dance the Fox Trot (Columbia Graphaphone Company, New York,1914) and 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).

I'll start with Sawyer, since her booklet (dated November 23, 1914), is chronologically earlier.  Her foxtrot figures all consist of a pattern of a unique step or sequence followed by eight trotting steps.  Her third figure, the Maxixe-Glide and "Trot", starts with four measures of "Maxixe two-step" done moving along the line of dance (gentleman forward, lady backward) without turning.  The two-steps begin with the gentleman's left foot, lady's right; feet then alternate as usual

Sawyer's illustration of the "very first motion of the Maxixe-glide", shown at left (click to enlarge), is missing the characteristic heel lead of the maxixe, but it does hint at the body sway in the bend of the dancers toward their lead feet.  I would expect them to bring their joined hands up during the remainder of the first two-step and ended it with their bodies bent the opposite way, then swaying the other way as they two-step "over elbows" toward their second foot, ending in about the position shown in the illustration.

Following four two-steps forward (counted 1&2 each) for four bars total, the dancers then do eight trotting steps (counted 1&2&3&4&) for two bars total.  The entire six bars is then repeated, making a twelve-bar sequence.  This is really a very standard mix of two-step and trotting steps, very much in the pattern of other two-step combinations in the foxtrot.  Its only point of distinction is the maxixe styling.

Similarly, the figure standardized by the New York Society Teachers of Dancing and eventually published in the proceedings of their convention is a very ordinary combination, though at least it includes turning.  The two-steps and the running steps (trots) alternate:

1b    one turning"Maxixe two-step" (half-turn) (QQS)
1b    four running steps (QQQQ)
1b    one turning "Maxixe two-step" (half-turn) (QQS)
1b    four running steps (QQQQ)
4b    repeat all of the above

This is a nice, straightforward, musically square eight-bar sequence.  The gentleman starts on the left foot, the lady on the right, they make a half turn so that the first four running steps have the gentleman going backwards, then finish the turn and run again with the lady going backwards.  The only thing indicating the maxixe styling is the word "Maxixe" attached to the two-step.

Of the two, I actually prefer the dancing-masters version.  It's better matched to musical patterns, it has shorter pieces with more frequent alternation -- I am not a fan of long sequences of backward trotting steps for ladies -- and it turns.  I would also consider it valid to break up the sequences and just mix maxixe-styled two-step into walking and trotting in the same way one can mix a plain two-step.

The Boston Spanish and the Herring Bone Boston (Newman's Boston Variations)

Continuing on with Boston variations from Albert W. Newman's Dances of to-day (Philadelphia, 1914), here are two that are both zigzags of sorts, similar to the Picket Fence in one-step, but with the hesitation elements that distinguish most of Newman's Bostons.  With those elements, they can be danced to much faster waltz music.  In the Dance Mad compendium, both the Boston Spanish and the Herring Bone Boston are credited to Newman himself, though in his own book he only takes credit for the latter.

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

Newman described the Boston Spanish as a "design of steps or stairs" with the gentleman moving "down the stairs or obliquely to the rear and the lady going up the stairs or to the right obliquely forward".   It's actually much easier than that makes it sound: the gentleman steps back with his right foot and sideways with his left.  Over and over.  With closes without weight in between.

The Long Boston (Newman's Boston Variations)

"Boston" is a tremendously fuzzy term which meant several different things to different dancing masters at different times and in different places from the late nineteenth century all the way into the 1920s.  About all that is consistent among them is that they were in waltz time.  Bostons-as-a-whole are an enormous topic, so rather than try to cover it all at once, I'm going to take different authors' versions individually and eventually work my way to some sort of summary of the different meanings of the term, with whatever patterns (by time or geography or both) to those meanings emerges. 

I'm going to start with one of my favorite 1910s authors, Albert W. Newman, who, in his Dances of to-day (Philadelphia, 1914), published over a dozen different variations under the general term "Boston".  I long ago described the Three-Step Boston and the Five-Step Boston.  Now I'm planning to work through all the others.  First on that list is the first one Newman described with a whole list of names: the Philadelphia Boston, also known as the Long Boston, the One-Step Waltz, the Drop Step and, in England, the Berceuse or Cradle Boston.  Of all this collection, I prefer the Long Boston or One-Step Waltz, though Newman was evidently partial to Philadelphia Boston, under which name it appeared in the 1914 compendium Dance Mad, which collected variations from dancing masters all over the United States.  Newman described it there as "the form of Boston most popular in Philadelphia at present."

Cupid's Gavotte (5 of 6)

All right, it's time to put it all together!  I'm going to begin with the solo version.

The music for Cupid's Gavotte, as noted in the first post in this series, is in 4/4 and has a musical pattern of seven strains, some of which are duplicates, which fit the dance nicely:

Music                                          Dance                                                                                    
A      16 bars                                16 bars        #1 (4x to right, 4x to left)
B        8 bars                                  8 bars        #2 (4x alternating right and left)
C        8 bars                                  8 bars        #3 (4x alternating right and left)
D*      8 bars (vivace)                    8 bars        #4 (4x alternating right and left)
E         8 bars                                  8 bars        #5 (4x)
F         8 bars                                  8 bars        #6 (4x alternating right and left)
   *      8 bars (vivace)                    8 bars        #7 (4x alternating right and left)
G**  16 bars                                16 bars        #1 (4x to right), #7 (4x alt. right and left to exit
         80 bars                                80 bars

*    The D strain and the second half of the F strain are the same as the B strain
**  The G strain is the same as the A strain

My recording adds a four-bar introduction for practical reasons.

Cupid's Gavotte (4 of 6)

And, at last, here are the two final step-sequences for Cupid's Gavotte!

Step #6: Side Movement (two bars of 4/4 time)
1    Step right foot to side
2    Cross left foot behind right
3    Step right foot to side
4    Cross left in front of right, pirouetting halfway to right (clockwise)
12  Point left foot to side
34  (raising foot slightly to prepare) Point left foot again

The similarity among the various step sequences should quite obvious by now.  Here we have a grapevine ending in a half-pirouette, followed by two of the pointing-that-is-almost-tapping movements to the side.  The mnemonic for this one is "side-back-side-spin, point...point..."  In this direction, the dancer's back is to the audience during the pointing.

Cupid's Gavotte (3 of 6)

Moving right along: two more step-sequences for Cupid's Gavotte!

Step #4: Forward Step and Turn (two bars of 4/4 time)
1         Step forward on right foot
&        Close left foot to right
2         Extend right foot forward, raised
3&4    Repeat all of the above with the same feet
1         Step right foot to side
2         Cross left foot over right making a complete pirouette to the right (clockwise)
3         Step right foot to side (completing pirouette)
4         Point left in front of right; raised fifth position

The first four beats are a sort of weird chassé step in which instead of stepping at the end, you simply cut the forward foot into the air and leave it so you can repeat on the same foot.  The pirouette is a bit difficult to accomplish in one beat of music, but keeping weight on the left foot and throwing the right foot out to the side for the following step helps carry one around.  The fifth position at the end was specified by Mr. Walters, though having it raised is my interpretation of his "Point L in front of R 5th Pos."

Cupid's Gavotte (2 of 6)

Continuing on with Cupid's Gavotte: once you have mastered the first step sequence, here are a couple more to work on!

Step #2: Forward Step Diagonally (two bars of 4/4 time)
1        Step right foot forward at slight diagonal
2        Hop on right foot and point left forward raised
3        Step left foot forward continuing on slight diagonal
4        Hop on left foot and point right forward raised
1        Step right foot forward continuing on slight diagonal
234    Hop on right foot three times, moving backward, retracing diagonal      

The step-sequence is performed alternately to the right and to the left; here's the reverse:

1        Step left foot forward at slight diagonal
2        Hop on left foot and point right forward raised
3        Step right foot forward continuing on slight diagonal
4        Hop on right foot and point left forward raised
1        Step left foot forward continuing on slight diagonal
234    Hop on left foot three times, moving backward, retracing diagonal

Happily, there are no problems with the transition; the opposite foot is always free at the end.  It hardly needs a mnemonic, but it would be "step-hop, step-hop, step-hop-hop-hop".

Cupid's Gavotte (1 of 6)

After a long hiatus, I return once more to the works of Massachusetts dancing master George F. Walters, creator of the Exeter Waltz and Exeter Caprice!  Cupid's Gavotte (1915) is something different, both for Mr. Walters and myself: rather than a social dance, it is intended as a performance piece for a group of four or eight girls, or as a solo.  Dance school recital pieces are not normally a major interest of mine, but since I happen to own the sheet music and social dancing continues to not be much of a thing due to the pandemic, well, here we are with something that can be danced entirely alone, though of course it's more impressive in a group. 

Over the course of this series of posts I'll cover the individual steps and then the full sequence with my reconstructions for solo or group performance.

The music of Cupid's Gavotte is notated in 4/4 and is essentially a schottische, but since the dance was created for a specific tune, I commissioned a basic piano recording to match my reconstruction from Alexandra Neronova, which may be purchased here.  (Edited 5/31/22 to add: payment for this recording goes to me; it does not benefit anyone in Russia.)

Foxtrot Styling, c1920

A nice little style detail for the foxtrot as danced in England in the years after World War I:

"A variation is also to be observed in the chassé done alternately to left and right, at an angle of 45 degrees to the line of the dance.  In the ordinary way of doing this, say, when the man is going forward, he slides the left foot forward to the left, and then brings the right foot up to the left, and again advances the left.  The new variation is to cross the right foot behind the left.  When the chassé is done to the right, it is of course the left foot which is crossed behind the right.  The lady (or the gentleman if he is going backwards), crosses her foot in front of the foot that is first moved."
        --- "The Sitter Out" (column) in The Dancing Times (London), January 1920, p.270.

By the "chassé", the writer means the two-step, as is clear from the description of the "ordinary way" of performing it.  The description is referenced again in March, 1920, issue (p. 439; the numbering is continuous across multiple issues).  In the "To-Day in the Ballroom" box shown at left (click to enlarge), under "Fox-Trot", there is a note that "The crossing of the feet (described in January) is popular and effective if the steps are kept small."

CD Review: Minuets & Optional Dances ~ Ignatius Sancho

I recently saw the eighteenth-century African-British composer Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) described as "largely forgotten", which struck me as an odd way to describe someone who's been the subject of a modern biography (Ignatius Sancho: African Man of Letters, by Reyahn King, Sukhdev Sandhu, James Walvin and Jane Girdham (1997)) and a one-man play in both London and New York City, recently had a new collection of his letters published (Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African, edited by Vincent Carretta (2015)), has had both facsimile and modern editions of his music published (including Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780), An Early African Composer in England: The Collected Editions of His Music in Facsimile, by Josephine B. Wright (1981) and at least five books of his works in modern notation from Africanus Editions), whose music is being recorded and performed, and, last but not least, whose dances have been the subject of at least a couple of books of reconstructions.  We should all be so forgotten!

It occurred to me that I had one of those recordings, Minuets & Optional Dances (2015), by the Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra, tucked away somewhere.  I hadn't ever done much with it because it consists primarily of minuets, which are not something I spend much time on.  But the 240th anniversary of his death seems like a good day to dig it out!

A Pumpkin Party 1890

A Pumpkin Party may seem misplaced in the calendar at this point, but this is specifically a Thanksgiving pumpkin party, taking place the evening of Thanksgiving Day, so it should be considered more like pumpkin pie and less like a jack-o-lantern, though there's definitely an element of that in the theme as well.  The overall concept is more harvest than Halloween, however, similar to the Red Ear Party except more, err, orange.

The description of the party -- possibly, but not necessarily, fictional -- was published in Demorest's Family Magazine, No. CCCXXIX, Vol. XXVII, No. 1, dated November 1890.  Demorest's began as a fashion magazine but expanded to include a wide range of material, including quite a few little dance tidbits.

The pumpkin theme began from the very start, with the invitations, which were sent on "pumpkin-colored round cards".  The party was held in a "pretty little stone barn and stable" with illuminated "pumpkin lanterns of all shapes and devices, some wearing the old familiar goblin-like 'eyes, nose, and mouth.' while others were cut in stars and flowers and geometrical designs."  This is, quite literally, a barn dance.