Dancing through the Ages 1825-1850

Dancing through the Ages (October, 2020) is a 10,800 page work offering background on, reconstruction of, and chorded music for nearly 1,000 dances from between from 1400 to 1900, as well as extensive notes analysing links between these dances, the evolution of dance forms, movement ideas and notation systems through this 500 period, and the changing nature of ball culture and dance sources in countries across the old and new word.  The whole is supported by thousands of quotations, diagrams and illustrations from original sources.

The work is broken into 31 books, each of between 300 and 460 (average 350) double-sided A4 pages. After the 'Orientation and Overview' book 1, the work is organised into ten 'Volumes', each of 3 books.  

Each 3-book Volume is devoted to a particular period and consists of 1,000 plus pages of research, discussion, analysis, illustrations, musical scores, dance reconstructions, source extracts, transcriptions and translations. The first book (Part 1a-d) looks at dancing in general (the social, political and geographic contexts in which dance and the institution of the ball was evolving; the nature and evolution of the period’s main forms of dance; dance elements such as style, etiquette, honours, holds, formations, figures and steps; developments in dance teaching, notation and publication, and period-relevant primary sources (including little known ones). The second and third books (Part 2a and Part 2b respectively) offer sources and music for, and reconstructions and analysis of dozens of dances from the relevant period, presented in alphabetic order.

To order any or all of the books in this 31-book series go to LULU. The books are AUS$36 each (approximately US$27), plus postage which will diminish with the more books in your order. As your books will be sent from the nearest Lulu printer on your continent, you will not be paying for overseas shipping and will not be waiting long for the books to arrive. Orders are normally filled at local postage rates within a week.  

N.B. I recommend that in addition to ordering the books pertaining to the period you first think of, you also order books from the adjacent period collections plus the invaluable Book 1: 'Orientation and Overview'.  Indeed, because of the interconnectivity of dance over the 500 years covered by this series (and the cross-referencing between books in the series), I highly recommend the full set!

When on the LULU Spotlight page, in order to view the books in the order in which they appear in the series select 'Sort by Publication Date Ascending'

Below are the front covers and contents of the three books that constitute Volume VIII in the series

Part 1: Dance in general   ( Book 23)

PART 1a:  DANCE CONTEXT ~ 7

The relationship between the new ballet stars and social dance ~ 8

England ~ 10

Assembly dances ~ 10

Assembly room rules ~ 16

State balls ~ 18

Grand fancy-dress balls ~ 22

The Waverley ball ~ 24

The private ball ~ 28

Outdoor dancing and pleasure gardens ~ 35

Dancing booths and dancing rooms ~ 36

The charity ball ~ 38

The ‘Hops’ of the poor and the black ~ 38

Ireland ~ 43

Germany and Austria ~ 44

University dance culture ~ 44

The couples dance revolution ~ 45

The set dances ~ 50

The mixed programs ~ 51

France ~ 53

The outdoor public dance hall ~ 53

The outdoor public dance hall—Mabille ~ 56

The indoor public dance hall ~ 59

The public dancehall can-can ~ 60

The view from England ~ 62

Cellarius’ work and the shaping of modern dance ~ 69

America ~ 73

Its conservatism ~ 73

Innovations ~ 73

Growing regional variation ~ 75

Black dance ~ 75

Australia ~ 78

Dance among the convicts and ‘lower orders’ of society ~ 78

The balls ~ 80

Balls on boats ~ 83

Keeping abreast with fashion ~ 85

The new couple’s dances ~ 86

The informal dance party according to Annabella Boswell ~ 88

Poland and Russia ~ 90

Poland ~ 90

Russia ~ 91

 

PART 1b: DANCE FORMS ~ 93

The Cotillion dance-game ~ 95

The mid-1820 and Petrovski ~ 95

Late 1820s, St. Petersburg collection and Helmke ~ 96

The 1830s, Hentschke and Maksin ~ 98

The early 1840s and Roller ~ 101

The late 1840s and Cellarius ~ 101

The Country Dance ~ 109

Its survival in England ~ 109

Its survival in Germany ~ 110

Changing fashion ~ 110

The Finishing dances ~ 113

The Galop ~ 114

The emergence of a ‘group/figured couples’ dance 1829-1839 ~ 114

The development of a dedicated couples form ~ 116

As an end-of-quadrille or end-of-evening dance ~ 118

The development of a quadrille form ~ 119

The Hybrid Dances ~ 120

The Mazurka ~ 123

In Poland ~ 123

In Russia ~ 125

To Germany ~ 128

Late 1820s descriptions of Tschüter and Wiener ~ 129

Early 1830s descriptions of Förster, Helmke and Nadler ~ 131

Late 1830s descriptions of Häcker, Hentschke and Bartholomay ~ 132

1840s ~ 135

To Austria and Italy ~ 135

Hłasko ~ 136

In Paris~ 137

The dance according to Coralli ~ 138

The dance according to Laborde ~ 143

The dance according to Cellarius ~ 147

Polka and mazurka confusion in illustrations ~ 152

To England ~ 153

To Scotland ~ 159

To America ~ 159

The Minuet ~ 163

Declining popularity of the ball dance ~ 163

The longways minuet ~ 165

The nostalgic display ~ 165

Different minuets ~ 166

The minuet quadrille and minuet waltz hybrid ~ 172

The Polka ~ 174

Its origins ~ 174

France ~ 175

The Paris polka craze ~ 178

Paris polka rivalries ~ 182

The Paris polka satires ~ 187

The Polka’s style ~ 191

In England ~ 192

In Germany ~ 214

In Australia ~ 218

In America ~ 220

In Mexico ~ 224

The Polonaise ~ 227

In Poland ~ 227

In Russia ~ 229

To the West ~ 232

The Quadrille~ 235

The late 1820s ~ 235

The early 1830s ~ 236

The late 1830s early 1840s ~ 239

The late 1840s ~ 240

The Waltz ~ 244

1820s variants ~ 248

The Vals à deux temps ~ 249

 

PART 1c:  DANCE ELEMENTS ~ 253

Style ~ 254

A new naturalism ~ 254

Shunning exhibitionism ~ 255

Arms ~ 256

Grace ~ 258

Etiquette ~ 261

Honours ~ 264

The man’s bow ~ 264

The woman’s courtesy ~ 264

Holds and positions ~ 266

Five positions ~ 266

Quadrille holds ~ 268

Couple’s holds ~ 268

Formations, figures and steps in set dances ~ 275

Figures for the mazurka ~ 278

Figures for the polka ~ 280

Allemande passes (including the ‘lassoo’ and ‘twirl’) ~ 280

Backing partner ~ 280

The Bohemian / Bremen step / Heel & toe 281

The Coquette ~ 281

Changing lady from side to side ~ 282

Chase / Pursuit / Love chase ~ 282

En carré ~ 282

Galops sequence ~ 282

Go in opposite directions ~ 283

Moulinet / Right and left hand ~ 283

Promenade ~ 283

The retreat / ‘window-washing’ ~ 284

Waltz / Vals ~ 284

Tabulation of figures for polkas ~ 285

Steps for the mazurka ~ 286

The Running Step ~ 289

Pas de basque (Polonois) ~ 291

Pas glissé (1) – hop first ~ 296

Pas glissé (2) – glide first ~ 298

‘The Soccer kick’ ~ 299

Coup de talon (1) / Pas Polonais / Hobble (1) ~ 300

Coup de talon (2) / Heel-clicks in a row ~ 303

Pas boiteux / Hobble (2) ~ 304

Pas coupé poussé ~ 307

Holubiec / Tour sur place ~ 308

Pas Assemblé / Pas Frappé ~ 317

Steps for the polka ~ 319

The basic step (1) ~ 319

Heel and Toe ~ 325

Other steps ~ 327

PART 1d: DANCE TEACHING ~ 329

The Profession ~ 330

Convict dancing masters ~ 330

The rural dancing master in Cumbria and Ireland ~ 331

The teacher’s responsibilities ~ 336

Dance schools ~ 337

Dancing master’s changing dance repertoire ~ 341

Dance school staff ~ 343

Dance school extras ~ 344

Dance school parties and balls ~ 345

Calling and notation ~ 349

Calling ~ 349

Notation systems ~ 349

Anonymous and collected works ~ 352

Anonymous manuscripts ~ 352

Anonymous books ~ 353

Folio features ~ 356

Authors and their works ~ 357

Barnett ~ 357

Baron ~ 357

Bartholomay ~ 357

Blasis ~ 358

Boulogne ~ 359

Brunet ~ 360

Burgmuller ~ 360

Casorti~ 360

Cellarius~ 361

Coulon ~ 362

Day ~ 362

D’Orsay ~ 363

Durang ~ 363

Förster ~ 364

Franken ~ 364

Frankenstein ~ 365

Glover ~ 365

Häcker ~ 365

Helmke ~ 365

Hentschke ~ 366

Hłasko ~ 366

Knox ~ 367

Laborde ~ 367

Lopez ~ 367

Lowe ~ 368

Lund ~ 369

Mason ~ 369

Nadel ~ 370

Narrey ~ 370

Petrovski ~ 370

Perrot ~ 371

Pollock ~ 371

Powell ~ 372

Prince ~ 372

Roller ~ 372

Saunders ~ 373

Stanhope ~ 373

Staczynskich ~ 374

T.B. ~ 374

Théleur ~ 374

Vitu ~ 374

Wiener ~ 375

Whale ~ 375

Part 2a: Dances in detail A-M   (Book 24)

Blasis’ new set of Quadrilles ~ 6

The Cinderella Cotillion ~ 20

Circassian Circle (2)—Pollock’s ~ 32

Cotillon 1829 (Helmke) ~ 36

Cotillon 1836 (Hentschke) ~ 57

Cotillon 1839 (Maksin) ~ 62

Cotillon 1843 (Roller) ~ 66

Cotillon 1847 (Cellarius)—for any number ~ 72

Cotillon 1847 (Cellarius)—for 3 couples ~ 78

Cotillon 1847 (Cellarius)—for more W ~ 85

Cotillon 1847 (Cellarius)—for 4 couples ~ 89

Cotillon 1847 (Cellarius)—with cushion / Cushion dance (4) ~ 95

Les Cuirassiers ~ 97

Ecossaise Waltzer (1) & (2) ~ 100

Fancy Quadrille Figures ~ 107

The Five Step Waltz (1) ~ 132

Galop (1) / Galopade (2) ~ 139

Galopade (3)—Pollock’s Original ~ 156

Galopade Quadrille / Quadrille Galope ~ 162

Galopade Country dance (1&2) ~ 171

Highland Reel (1) ~ 173

Hull’s Victory ~ 177

La Jalouse ~ 180

Lowe’s Gallopade finale ~ 184

Mazurka Quadrille (2) ~ 189

Mazurka Quadrille (3) ~ 267

Mazurka Quadrille (4) ~ 292

Mazurka Waltz (1) / La Cellarius ~ 319

Minuet (3) ~ 339

Part 2b: Dances in detail N-Z   (Book 25)

The Pickwick Quadrilles ~ 6

Polka (1) ~ 25

Polka (2) ~ 52

Polka (3) / Grand Polkas ~ 71

Polka Quadrille / London Polka Quadrille ~ 85

Polonaise (4) ~ 114

Portland Fancy ~ 122

Quadrille Français (2c) / Mundy’s First Set / L’Albert Quadrille ~ 127

The Redowa (1) ~ 158

The Royal Gallopade ~ 177

The Serious Family Polka ~ 180

Sir Roger de Coverley (4a) / Virginia Reel (1) ~ 187

Sixdrilles / Quadrille Français (1b) ~ 194

Soldier’s Joy (3) ~ 205

Spanish Dance (2) / Spanish Waltz (1) ~ 209

Spanish Waltz (2) ~ 219

Styrienne ~ 231

Swedish Dance (1), (2) and (3) ~ 236

Les Sylphides ~ 237

La Tempête (2) ~ 248

The Triumph (3) ~ 250

The Triumph (4) / Lady’s Triumph ~ 254

Triolet (2) ~ 257

Triolet Waltzer ~ 261

Waltz (3) / Valse à deux Temps ~ 268

Waltz (4) / Valse à trois temps ~ 302

Waltz Cotillion ~ 322

Waverley Quadrilles / Quadrille Français (2b) ~ 332

Wiener Waltz ~ 341