200 Years of American

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Southam Festival, 2008

When dancers in England say “American” we usually mean squares and contras, and perhaps a few dances in other formations — a double contra, a circle, maybe one of Ted Sannella's triplets.  Whatever the formation, we tend to think of the American style as being a walking step, giving plenty of weight, lots of swings.  But when the Pilgrim Fathers reached America in 1620 they naturally brought their dances with them, just like their books and clothes (or if they frowned upon dancing it was later immigrants who brought the dances), and for at least a hundred years their dances were English Country Dances.  In 1730 James Alexander, who emigrated from Scotland and made his fortune in New York City, wrote out the instructions for twenty-seven dances in a notebook.  You find most of them in various editions of The Dancing Master — a few are from other English sources — and there's nothing American about them; the American gentry were dancing English Country Dances just like the English gentry.

Of course, as time went by people in America started composing their own Country Dances — both instructions and music — so let's start with two which most people class as American.

The Young Widow       

Source: The Gentleman & Lady's Companion; containing the newest cotillions and country dances; to which is added, instances of ill manners, to be carefully avoided by youth of both sexes.  1798.  Norwich, printed by J. Trumbull.

This was Norwich in Connecticut.  John Trumbull was the son of Jonathan Trumbull 1710-85, colonial governor of Connecticut, and you can find on the web an announcement of the Spanish declaration of war on Great Britain printed by him, with comments from Boston and Providence.

The same dance was published probably ten years earlier in A Collection of the newest and most fashionable Country Dances and Cotillions The greater Part by Mr. John Griffith Dancing-Master in Providence.

Formation: Longways triple

Original wording

Four hands across half round at top, back again, lead down the middle, and turn your partner half way, then up again, and cast off one couple, the first gentleman stand between the second and third ladies, so his partner-between the second and third gentleman, balance all six, then all half way round, first couple stand still, when the 2d & 3d couples balance in the middle, and half right and left, so every one come to their former places. 

A1:	Ones and twos right-hand star (skip-change step).  Left-hand star.
A2:	Ones give two hands and do four slip-steps down the middle; two-hand turn half-way.  Slip back, cast to second place (twos lead up).
B1:	Lines of three balance twice (see “fancy step” below).  Circle 6 left half-way (skip-change step).
B2:	Ones fall back slightly, the others face neighbour and keep inside hand with partner: set twice or fancy step.  Two changes of a circular hey with hands (skip-change step).

There's a different version (though with the same unusual B2) in Asa Willcox's book of figures, a manuscript source from 1793.  There's also a version, essentially the same, in Saltator, 1807, and a completely different dance for the tune (without that B2 figure) in the 1802 edition of Saltator, printed in Boston.

Susan de Guardiola says the circle would have used a late 18th century/early 19th century travelling step, which is almost identical to a skip-change step.

Alan Winston says,

Around 1800, it's likeliest that all travel would be chassé steps, either forward (“skip-change”) or sideways (“slip-step”).  Down-the-middle-and-back would be holding two hands, slip in a restrained way down the middle (probably for three, not four), some kind of finishing step (rigadoon, maybe), two-hand-turn halfway sounds plausible (although a baroque dancer suggested turning on the rigadoon), slip up the middle, cast off using skip change to middle place.

In my opinion, whenever you see eight counts of setting, it's an invitation to improvise, or show off.  It's perfectly adequate to pas-de-basque twice, but you can also do a clever little clog step, “beaten step” (hop on left while bringing right behind, hop again and bring right in front, repeat to right side — looks very Scottish) etc. 

Money in Both Pockets       

Source: American manuscript, circa 1800.  There's a different dance with the same title in the aforementioned book, as often happened with a popular tune.

I don't have the original wording to show you; if anyone has it please send me a copy.

Format: Longways duple

A1:	Ones balance twice to second lady (see “fancy step” below) who acknowledges them.  Those three circle left (skip-change step).
A2:	The same with second man.
B1:	Ones give two hands: slip down the middle and back and cast off.
B2:	Four changes of a circular hey, with hands (skip-change step).

“Money in Both Pockets” is one of the dances that appears on the “Caricature Fan” in the British Museum and is dated 1792.  The instructions on the fan are as above, which might suggest that its origin was the British Isles.

The word “balance” can mean many different things at different periods (and sometimes in the same period).  It could simply be what English dancers call “set” (just as Scottish dancers say “balance in line”) in both of these dances.

A later source, Dick's Quadrille Call Book (1878) says,

BALANCE IN PLACE.— Slide the right foot to the right, bring the left foot in front of the right in third position, count two; slide the left foot to the left, bring the right foot in front of the left in third position, count two; repeat the whole, count four.

BALANCE TO PARTNERS.— Danced by each couple independently.  Partners face each other; make three short steps to the right, and stop, count four; three steps back again to the left, and stop; count eight.  Join hands and turn once around in places; count eight.

In calling this movement, it is sometimes termed set to partners. 

Maybe because this is a later publication, the steps have been converted to walking steps.

I'll go with Alan Winston's suggestion in both of these longways dances, and use a “fancy step” (though you can just set twice if you want to).

If you want more detail, “behind” is behind the supporting leg at mid-calf, “in front” is in front of the supporting leg at mid-calf.  In between, the foot goes out to the side (with considerable turnout, so the toe is pointing along the set line).  On the fourth beat you step on the right foot, hop and extend the left foot to the left, then repeat the sequence using the other foot.

I'm told that there is a similar step in Welsh dancing, and two ladies who were doing the step really well at the workshop put this down to their International dancing experience.  It's strange that lots of people seem to think their chosen dance form sprang into being fully formed, in complete isolation from any other dance form.  It's obvious to anyone who studies them that English, Scottish, Irish Set, Anerican Square and Contra are all interrelated.

The late 18th century French Contradanse was in square formation — a French version of the English Country Dance, which then returned to England as the Cotillion or Cotillon and was documented in 1770 by Giovanni Andrea Gallini.  It was described in 1802 by Saltator in the States:

The Figures of Cotillions, consist of two parts, the one is termed the change, the other the figure.  There are ten changes, which are the same in all regular cotillions, but every cotillion has a different figure, which is performed between every change, and once after the last change. 

Quoted in From the Ballroom to Hell.  Other sources say there were usually twelve changes, and my example has five changes.  These things weren't as set in stone as some writers would like you to think.

George Washington's Favourite       

Format: Square

Source: Asa Willcox's book of figures, 1793 manuscript

Asa Willcox calls it “G: Washingtons Favourite” (British spelling rather than American) and beside the title he notes that it is a Cotillon.  Despite what some people will tell you, it's not called “George Washington's Favourite Cotillion” — click on the source above to see the original wording and here to see the index (complete with misspelling).

Introduction:
A1:	Honour corner and partner.
Changes:
A1&2:	Take inside hand with partner and balance twice (or “fancy step”).  Slip circle left.  Step.  Slip circle right.
A1&2:	Step.  Men right-hand star.  Step.  Men left-hand star.
A1&2:	Step.  Ladies right-hand star.  Step.  Ladies left-hand star.
A1&2:	Step.  Grand right and left half-way round.  Step. Grand right and left to place.
A1&2:	Step.  Slip circle left.  Step.  Slip circle right.
Figure:	At the end of each change, heads step in to make lines of four and let go of partner: the figure is danced with your neighbour (corner).
B1:	Couples slip sideways to change ends of the line you're in (right-hand couple in front); set right and left.  With opposite couple right-hand star half-way; fall back into lines.
B2:	Slip sideways to change ends; set right and left.  With opposite couple circle left half-way, let go and meet partner at home.

In many publications the changes are given as 8 bars not 16, but Saltator in 1802 spells out that there is setting added before each of these, and reconstructors of Early American dance (Morrison, Keller & Sweet, Millar, Ticknor) all use eight counts of setting (or “set and rigadoon”) before the figure proper.  I'm not going to suggest a rigadoon, which I think is a silly step — I've taught it once and that was enough!

The cotillion was popular during the first two decades of the nineteenth century.  It was then gradually replaced by the quadrille, which dropped the standard set of changes and just concentrated on figures (in the plural).  In fact the change-over wasn't as simple as that, and some people still referred to quadrilles as cotillions, making for much confusion among researchers.  To add to the confusion, the word “cotillion” acquired a second meaning — by the mid- to late 19th century it was a series of dance games and mixers, some quite silly, in which small groups of couples danced by turns.  There were hundreds of figures, and these dance-games were known variously as “German Cotillions”, “Cotillions” and “Germans”.

In 1858 Elias Howe wrote Howe's Complete Ball-Room Hand Book.  There are lots of good quotes in this — some may seem quaint, but many are still relevant today.  For instance:

Every caller should have a good variety of figures, well arranged, but easy, and never, unless on some particular occasion, or request, call wild, crooked and outlandish figures, that mix the company all up together, where they are left to get back to their places the best way they can.  In large companies, if there seem to be a number who are not much acquainted with figures, or who do not dance often, which is generally the case at such times, let the figures be simple and easy, and be particular to call the same figures for the side couples, that you do for the first four, or top couples; as those who are not much acquainted with figures, often take their places on the sides, to see how they are performed.  In calling, let the voice be natural and easy, speaking just loud enough to be distinctly heard throughout the room. 

He also recommends (in effect) taking hands six from the top:

In forming for Contra Dances, let there be space enough between the ladies' and gentlemen's lines to pass down and up the centre.  It is usual for those at the foot of the set to wait until the first couple has passed down, and they have arrived at the head of the set; but there is no good reason why they should so wait, as every fourth couple should commence with the first couple. 

Here's a quadrille from his book.

Belle Brandon Set       

Source: Howe's Complete Ball-Room Hand Book, 1858.  Original wording:

BELLE BRANDON SET.

No. 1. (3 strains.) First four right and left — balance and turn partners — ladies chain — promenade four — side couples the same. 

No. 2. (2 strains.) First two forward and back, cross over — chassee cross, back — balance and turn partners — next two the same, and so on. 

No. 3. (2 strains.) First two give right hands, cross over, left hand back and form a line — balance forward and back, half promenade — chassee across four — forward and back, half right and left to place — next two the same. 

No. 4. (3 strains.) Forward two, back to back — balance and turn partners — four ladies chain — all chassee across — other couples same. 

No. 5. (3 strains.) First four lead to the right and form a line — right and left from lines — ladies chain, from lines — all forward and back, and turn partners to places — side couples same. 

Susan notes that this (like most mid-century quadrille sets) is a variation on the First Set, with the main variation, typically, coming on the fourth and fifth figures while the first three are essentially the standard ones.

What of steps?  In 1858 Elias Howe wrote on page 23,

Fifty years ago or more, the Country Dance was the only one danced in this country, except in the cities and large towns, where several fancy dances were occasionally performed; but even in those places the country dance reigned triumphant…  It was then the custom to take all the steps in each of the different changes, and to introduce the “Pigeon's Wing,” or some other flourish, as often as possible; dancers at that time often boasted that they “put in so much work” as to wear out a pair of dancing slippers in one evening.  The walking or sliding through the different changes, so fashionable at the present day, would have filled our forefathers with horror and disgust. 

So in 1858 quadrilles were walked — the transition period was before this.  For an example of an earlier quadrille with steps, you can watch a video of Susan's group dancing a quadrille.

Each figure starts with an eight-bar introduction; for the first figure you honour partner and corner; for the others you do nothing.  To give this in more detail: Man step left (2nd position), close right foot (1st or 3rd position), bow and rise.  Woman step right (2nd position), close left foot behind (4th position), sink, bending both knees, weight on left foot, lifting right heel slightly, holding skirts of gown (out, not up), then rise bringing the weight onto the right foot and closing left into first position.  This takes two bars; repeat in the other direction.  Notice that you are moving the same way as your partner, unlike modern English Country Dance.

You will probably recognise the names of all the figures, but they may not be as you expect them.

First Figure:
A1:	Heads full right and left (with hands, the man turning in at the end of each half).
A2:	Heads balance to partner (four slip steps right, four left).  Two-hand turn.
B1:	Ladies chain across and back — no arm round the waist, and the man turns in at the end of each half.
B2:	Promenade inside the set all the way, using a cross-hand hold.
Sides repeat the figure.
Second Figure: (Ones have their backs to the band, Twos are facing the band, Threes are on the Ones' right and Fours are on the Ones' left.)
A1:	First lady and opposite man forward and back.  Cross over and face each other.
A2:	Same people chassé four steps to the right (slanting slightly to stay within the set); four to the left.  Cross over and face partner.
B:	Head couples balance and two-hand turn.
Then second lady with opposite man, third, fourth.
Third Figure:
A1:	First lady second man cross giving right hands.  Cross back with a left, keep hold, give right to partner in a wave.
A2:	Balance forward and back in line twice.  Half promenade across.
To start the half promenade, second lady just turns in to face the same way as her partner, but the ones need to do a right-hand turn half-way and then the lady turn in while starting to promenade around — there isn't time to turn and then think about promenading.
B1:	Head couples chassé across to change places with partner (lady in front); set to opposite.  Chassé back (lady again in front); take inside hand with partner and set to opposite.
B2:	Forward and back.  Half right and left to place.
Then second lady with opposite man, third, fourth.
Fourth Figure:
A1:	First lady second man forward and back.  Back-to-back.
A2:	Balance and turn partners.
B1:	Four ladies chain — men turn in at the end to punctuate it rather than just flowing into the second half. Chain back.
B2:	All four couples chassé across to change places with partner; set to the person you have now met.  Chassé back; take inside hand with partner and set to opposite.
Then second lady with opposite man, third, fourth.
Fifth Figure:
A1:	Heads lead to the right; set to this side couple.  Give two hands to opposite and slip away from partner while turning half-way, to form lines across (facing partner); set in lines.
B1:	With the opposite couple, full right and left.
A2:	With the same couple, full ladies chain.
B2:	Lines forward and back.  Two-hand turn partner to place — men need to move strongly towards your partner to start the turn.
Sides repeat the figure.

Lots of unknowns here!  After the chassé across, is it a balance forward and back, a set, or some fancier step.  The sources don't say.  Are you balancing to someone or in isolation?  I've made some choices in the instructions above, but other people will tell you differently.

You can see lots of figures here which Americans would think of as typical American Square figures, and others frequently included were a grand chain (right and left grand) and a grand square.  But if you know traditional English squares such as La Russe and Yorkshire Square Eight you will find similar figures, and for the same reason: both styles developed from the quadrilles.

Much of this reconstruction comes from Susan de Guardiola, who says that balancing for this period could be:

• slide to the right, back to the left (slips)
• four little steps forward and back to your partner (siding)
• take cross hands and galop diagonally across the set and back (men in each couple passing back to back)

Of the music, Susan says,

No. 1 is three strains probably played A BACA BACA
No. 2 is two strains and could be A ABA ABA ABA ABA
No. 3 is likewise two strains and I'd bet on A ABBA ABBA ABBA ABBA
No. 4 is three strains and probably A BACA BACA BACA BACA
No. 5 is three strains and probably A BACA BACA

Figures typically start on the second strain (either the B part of a repeat of the A part) and end with a repeat of the A strain, and generally alternate back musically to the A strain over and over again.

A strain is usually (but not always) 8 bars, so when Howe says the first figure is three strains he means the music has A, B and C sections — in modern contra terminology a three-part tune.  I don't think I'm going to cope with this when calling the dance, so (for the moment at least) I'm leaving the music the way the band and I would expect it, but be aware that this is not correct.

When I looked at the start of the fifth figure, “First four lead to the right and form a line”, I immediately thought of the traditional square dance move, “Heade lead to the right, circle left with this couple, head gents break to form side lines”.  Susan didn't agree with this at all, and we exchanged several emails, at the end of which she came up with her third version of this “really obscure figure”.  Susan says,

Earlier versions of the figure (1810s-1820s): the heads moving to the sides followed by the chassez apart and into the lines of eight is a standard enough figure to be in manuals as a sequence.  Look on the Library of Congress Collection for the books by Strathy and by Gourdoux-Daux for things like “trait for going to the side couples” or “figurer a droit sur les cotes”.

Howe himself has the chassez apart in some versions of the figure in his different sets; I think it's an unspoken part of “form lines”.  Unspoken bits aren't uncommon — example, “forward two” in some usages is the same as “forward two, cross over, chassez dechassez, cross back”, which is hardly obvious from the call!

I've looked through dozens of quadrilles in Howe and elsewhere and not seen a single one that uses your circling out into lines figure — I just don't see it in the 19thc repertoire.  And it doesn't leave partners opposite each other, which is generally part of 19thc “lines” figures. 

Susan has written the whole thing up at http://www.kickery.com/2008/08/belle-brandon-u.html.

The tune (which would be used for the final figure — presumably the climax of the dance) is that of an American sentimental ballad “Bell Brandon” with words by T. E. Garrett, published in St. Louis — the first verse should give you the flavour:

'Neath a tree by the margin of the woodland,
Whose spreading leafy boughs sweep the ground;
With a path leading thither o'er the prairie;
When silence hung her night garb around.
There often have I wandered in the evening,
When the summer winds are fragrant on the lea
There I saw the little beauty Bell Brandon,
And we met 'neath the old Arbor tree.
These two lines were repeated in the original, with a pause on 'don' — I've removed the first occurrence (and the pause).

Chorus (in four-part harmony):
Repeat the last two lines twice.

She dies in the last verse.

Other quotes from the quotable Mr. Howe:

In dancing, let your steps be few, but well and easily performed, the feet should be raised but very little from the ground, the motions of the body should be easy and natural, prefering to lead your partner gracefully through the figure, than by exhibiting your agility by a vigorous display of your muscles, in the performance of an entre chats or a pigeons wing, which may do very well for a hornpipe, but would be quite out of place in a Quadrille or Cotillon. 

Persons who have no ear for music, that is so say, a false one, ought to refrain from dancing. 

Never hazard taking part in a quadrille, unless you know how to dance tolerably; for if you are a novice, or but little skilled, you would bring disorder into the midst of pleasure. 

I'm struck by the similarities to Irish Set Dancing.  A quadrille has a number of figures, with a break between each (and different music for each, often with different rhythms).  Each figure has an eight-bar introduction before you start dancing.  In Howe's book they are almost all called “--- Set”.  Even the numbering is similar, though in Irish the threes and fours are usually (but not always) the other way round:

In forming the sets on the floor, the first and second couples stand opposite to each other, and the third and fourth couples opposite; the third couple stands on the right of the first couple, and the fourth couple on the left of the first couple. In the été and all similar figures, the first 2 forward and back, &c., means, first lady and second gentleman; the next 2, second lady and first gentleman; the first 2 on the sides are the third lady and fourth gentleman; and the next or last 2, the fourth lady and third gentleman. 

This is not the same as Playford numbering (clockwise) or American Square numbering (anti-clockwise).  I had assumed the Irish just wanted to be different, but it seems they had a good precedent.  And the last part of the fourth figure, with the chassé across and the setting, is so similar to the Irish “Sevens and threes”.

Sometimes the music was traditional reels, jigs and marches; sometimes it was taken from popular classical works.  Howe gives instructions for the Leonore Set (presumably to tunes from Beethoven's opera), the Trovatore and Traviata Sets (ditto Verdi), and other books give many other examples.

Now here's a longways whole set dance from Mr. Howe:

The Gothic Dance       

Elias Howe -- Howe's Complete Ball-Room Hand Book, 1858.  Original wording:

Form two lines down the room, the ladies on the right and gentlemen on the left.

No. 1. Ladies advance two bars. Gentlemen then advance while ladies retire: gentlemen stop and hold up both their hands, while ladies pass under them to the other side. Repeat the whole to places.

No. 2. Two ladies and two gentlemen hands four round; gentlemen stop across the room and hold up their hands while the ladies pass under and twice round their partners; first and second couple galop down to the bottom and stop. Repeat the whole until into place. 

Formation: Longways whole set       Music: 32 bar jigs

A1:	All join hands in lines: Ladies forward four steps; ladies fall back, men forward.  Men arch, ladies under (passing right shoulder with partner); all turn round.
A2:	All that again, to places.
B1:	Top two couples circle left ¾; men make a two-hand arch, ladies lead through the arch and round partner the first lady goes 1¼ and the second lady 1¾ so you both finish facing your partner, facing in original direction.
B2:	Those couples take two-hand hold (or ballroom hold), galop to the bottom and finish on your own side, the others moving up.
Repeat the dance until back in original places.

This is based on a reconstruction by Patri Pugliese in The Civil War Ballroom, with further clarification by Susan, who points out that the second lady has further to go and therefore in practice the ones tend to galop down ahead of the twos rather than four abreast — it doesn't matter that the ones and twos have changed places when they join the bottom of the set.  She also warns that there's very little time for the galop to the bottom, particularly in a long set, and compares this to the trash-compactor scene in the original “Star Wars” movie — the walls are closing in!!!  At least in this session the ladies aren't dancing in hooped skirts, which would really have slowed things down.

Howe prints a programme of an actual dance held on January 1st, 1858.  It contains a Grand March, 8 Cotillons, 3 Contras, 2 Quadrilles, plus “Waltz and Schottishe” in the first half and “Waltz, Schottishe and Redowa” in the second half which I assume were couple dances, not called — they were unnumbered and therefore did not appear on the Lady's Engagement Card.

Special thanks to Alan Winston and Susan de Guardiola for their help in interpreting the above dances.

I can't resist this quote from Dick's Quadrille Call Book:

This is a very lively dance, and keeps everybody busy.  Gentlemen should not attempt to ask their partners any momentous questions, as the ladies have no time to answer, much less to deliberate first what the answer should be; and if a lady should attempt to reply to a confidential question, she would be very likely to tell it to the wrong man.

Let's move on to a contra that you might actually see at a contra dance today (though the hot shots wouldn't like it):

Petronella       

Original wording from Prompter's pocket instruction book, by Prof. L. H. Elmwell, Boston's popular prompter, 1892.  Notice the British spelling of “centre”.

First couple balance to side (4); Balance to centre (4); Balance to side (4); Balance to centre (4); First couple down the centre, back and cast off (8); Right and left (8). 

Format: Longways duple proper.

A1:	Ones spin clockwise to own right into a diamond; all take hands and balance in and out.  All spin one place; balance.
A2:	All spin one place; balance.  All spin one place; balance.
B1:	Twos move or spin home as ones lead down the centre.  Twos face up as ones lead back, and gate the ones round into progressed place.
B2:	Right and left through.  And back.  [Pass through, then wheel around with the left-hand person moving backwards.]

Originally only the ones did the spinning and balancing.  This version is from the early 1970's.  Many modern contra dancers wouldn't be happy doing a right and left through in proper formation.  Petronella started as a Scottish dance (indeed it's the first dance in RSCDS book 1) and the RSCDS version has exactly this move for the ones, except that the set comes before rather than after the travelling turn single.  So the moving and spinning isn't an American invention.

Susan has found a version of Petronella in the manuscript “Contre Danses a Paris 1818” (which also has notes from 1849, although she believes the Petronella to be part of the 1818 material) which is very similar to the 1890s one — clearly an older version of the same dance.  And it does indeed have the move-and-set, though it's fast — four moves and sets in only 8 bars of music, as in the traditional English dance “Roxburgh Castle” from the North-East of England — very close to Scotland.  That's followed by down the middle and up to second place (8 bars) and poussette with the top couple (8 bars, and would be a Scottish-style leaping-and-turning poussette).  That is exactly the RSCDC version except that the first section has been expanded to 16 bars.  The instructions say to “turn to the right and set”; it's not clear if that implies the spinning or just moving to the right.  But the moving is very clearly spelled out, and the spinning is a very reasonable interpretation.

This manuscript is in the National Library of Scotland and is considered a Scottish source, despite having a French name and being concerned in large part with French steps for quadrilles.  The Auld Alliance really lasted in the area of dance; one of the best English-language sources on early French quadrilles was by a Scot.

Most of the old contras were very unequal — the ones had all the action and the twos just assisted as necessary.  Exactly the same as in 18th century English Country Dances, but then the dance ran until everyone had had the same number of turns being ones.

Let's move on to a square which at last looks like an American Square.

The Ocean Wave       

Source: Old Square Dances of America.  Neva Boyd & Tressie Dunlavy, 1925.

Break:	Balance & swing.  Allemande left corner, grand chain, promenade.
Figure:	First couple balance and swing.  Lead out to the twos.
	Lead through the twos (4 steps); cast back to the centre (4 steps); swing once around (4 steps, walked).  Repeat: lead, cast, swing.
	Ones do the same through the threes, twice, twos follow 4 steps behind.
	Ones do the same through the fours, twice, twos and threes follow 4 & 8 steps behind.  During the final swing, each couple swings home.

The book is called “Old Square Dances of America”, so the dances were old in 1925.  It includes “Bird in the Cage”, “Texas Star”, “Lady Round Lady”, “Right and Left Six”, and many more.  Every dance in the book has the same break.  In the foreword, Miss Dunlavy says, “The old square dance does not express the stateliness of its aristocratic cousin, the minuet, and yet it does possess its own spirit of decorum and propriety and is danced by the older generation with charm and grace.”  I think the implication is that the youngsters don't do it properly — people have been saying that for centuries!  About this one they say, “Note: This quadrille is not only difficult to call but difficult to dance; practice, however, will usually make it run smoothly.”

In 1926 Henry Ford with his dancing master Benjamin Lovett published “Good Morning”, a book of American Squares which he was very keen to revive.  The cover said,

GOOD MORNING
After a Sleep of Twenty-Five Years,
Old Fashioned Dancing is being revived
by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford.

It also included some of the classic contra dances including Chorus Jig, Fisher's Hornpipe, Hull's Victory and Money Musk — the line of descent from authors such as Howe is clear.  The book even gives brief instructions for the minuet, but says,

The steps are somewhat complicated and require a great deal of practice.  It will be found desirable to obtain instructions from a dancing master or other person thoroughly familiar with the movements. 

In 1939 Lloyd Shaw published “Cowboy Dances”, which added much information to Ford's work and was equally influential.

In the 1950's, Square Dancing started to evolve.  Modern Western Square Dancing (MWSD) grew out of Traditional Square Dancing and a major change was that the figures of the dance could be altered as the dancers were doing them, rather than doing a particular dance the same way every time.  This meant that the caller became more important; it also meant that some kind of amplification was necessary.  The process is documented in the book “Step by Step through Modern Square Dancing” (2003) by Jim Mayo, who was heavily involved in it all as a caller and organiser.  Kathy Anderson calls many squares from the 1950's, written when things were changing but had not gone so far that you needed a series of lessons before you could do any of the dances.  Here's one which I suspect is a mix of styles — and unlike the cotillions or quadrilles it's not phrased to the music at all — another revolutionary idea!

Milagro Square       

Source: Unknown, 1950's.  “Milagro” means “Miracle” in Spanish. 

	Heads lead out to the right, face the sides, separate and swing on the outside while sides lead in, circle left once around and pass through to face the outside couple.
	Sides separate and swing on the outside while heads lead in, circle left once around and pass through to face the outsides.
	Heads again.
	Sides again.
	Circle 4.  Do-paso (turn partner left half-way, men cross right shoulder, turn opposite right half-way, men cross left shoulder, partner left, opposite right).  Bouquet Waltz around the other four (form two circles which move round each other anti-clockwise while circling left about twice around), etc.

If I have time I might try to give people a flavour of MWSD by calling basic level figures which they should already know, without a walkthrough.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KRbfRcdyMk for an example of MWSD from the early sixties — I'm told the caller is Tracy Swartz and the band is the New Lost City Ramblers with extra musicians.

MWSD was amazingly popular all over the world, but it is now in a state of decline (certainly in the States and England) — in his book Jim Mayo explains why he thinks this is.  On the other hand, contra dancing which once survived only in a few backwaters has gone from strength to strength.  Mary Dart, in her book “Contra Dance Choreography” (1995) asks how it can be that the contra dance has achieved such a remarkable comeback, after coming so close to extinction.  Her conclusion is that the contra dances enjoyed in the States today bear little resemblance to the traditional ones.  The text of the book is now on the CDSS website at www.cdss.org/ebrary/dart/.  Modern contras are almost all longways duple improper, everyone moving all the time, the ones and twos doing the same thing, and (most important of all) with both partner and neighbour swings.  Here's an example.

Trite and True       

Formation: Longways Becket

Dance: Charlie Fenton 1995       Music: 32 bar American marches/reels

A1:	Circle left ¾, pass through up and down the set.  Left-hand star ¾ with the next couple (hands across).
A2:	Men drop out, ladies left-hand turn ¾ to face partner.  Pass right shoulder: straight hey ¾ to face neighbour.
B1:	Gipsy right neighbour.  Swing neighbour on the side of the set.
B2:	Circle left ¾.  Swing partner on the side of the set.

Charlie wrote and called this dance to end a NEFFA contra medley in 1995 going from old to new, fitting as many of the recent “trends” (clichés) as he could into one dance.  Fractional figures allow time for two swings!

Becket formation dances are very popular in the States, because the figure can finish with everyone swinging partner.  If you wonder why a normal longways dance couldn't finish like this, you've never seen the energetic way contra dancers swing in the States.

In a medley there's no walkthrough — they do each dance six times and then the next caller takes over and calls the next dance — for 25 minutes.  It works, because people are on the ball and because every move flows into the next, which is one of the hallmarks of modern contras.

Finally, putting the whole thing into perspective, Allison Thompson wrote,

In America, as in England, the dominant dance of the 19th century ballroom was the round dance: waltz, mazurka, redowa, polka, galop and all the variations thereof.  Contras and squares (quadrilles) were being steadily marginalized in the fashionable ballroom throughout the period, until contras, in particular, were rediscovered by Progressive dance educator Elizabeth Burchenal in the 1920s.