#dancing master

I hope you aren’t cross with me for answering this question in a post, but I didn’t want to be dependent on the character limit for direct messages, so here’s a little post. :-)

If I remember correctly, you did ask me once before, and alas, I still have no idea. The closest I can offer you is The Female Sailor, which dates to approximately 1710.

That however, does not necessarily mean anything at all; considering the wealth of dancing instructions, books and annual releases such as Playford’s English Dancing Master or Thompson’s Country Dances, not to speak of the many, less famous others, I’d say chances that the one internet rando you know who does that sort of thing is familiar with this one specific dance or knows exactly where to find it were low from the start.

The ‘problem’ with country dances is, they’re vastly different from what would count as traditional ballroom dancing nowadays in that each melody has a distinct choreography. Consider now the amount of country dances in existence, and it becomes nigh impossible even for professionals to know them all. That’s also why different instructors or dance groups often have drastically different repertoires; there are just so many to choose from. To illustrate this, as I was chatting with my dancing instructor about personal writings as sources on dances and the social events connected to dancing, I mentioned reading about a Scottish tune and accompanying dance called Mony Musk in Elizabeth Simcoe’s Diary, which I knew because I have a background in making traditional (albeit Irish, not Scottish) music and thus had come across one or the other video of people dancing to the tune and assumed it was fairly popular and well-known. Well, she’d never heard of it before.

There is a reason why modern-day historical dance events are either regulated by sending you a list of choreographies to study beforehand, or opt for a person explaining each dance to the room while dancing. Historically speaking, particularly the latter option isn’t even that off; when a specific dance was requested, the leading couple (i.e. those who requested it) would show how it is done to their immediate neighbours, causing the dance to ‘travel’ down the rows of dancers who’d proceed to observe and then join in with a little delay.

Of course, I looked around some databases and indexes, but sadly couldn’t find what you are looking for.

As for the naming of country dances, the people who choreographed them needed to come up with a distinctive title for each dance, because on account of the sheer number of dances there were, vague descriptions such as “the one with the dos à dos“ or “yet another double minor longways” wouldn’t have helped.

…Which is how we end up with the most randomly named country dances such as Wooden Shoes, The Chestnut, Johnny I’ll Tickle Thee, Excuse Me, or, my favourite, Lawyers Leave Your Pleading. It’s probable the person coming up with the name often just let themselves influence by their immediate surroundings. There are also lots of country dances named for places, people both real and fictional or specific dates and holidays. Current affairs or patriotic sentiments could also inspire a choreographer in need of a name (e.g. Marlborough’s Victory, His Majesty’s Health), not to speak of the slightly more risqué titles (e.g. Frisky Mollie’s Delight, Buxom Betty).

So who knows, maybe the person who named The Female Soldier was indeed inspired by Deborah Sampson, particularly if the dance was of local origin. I would guess though that particularly in the case of dances whose titles were chosen as references to current events, people (unless really famous like e.g. royalty) and pop culture of the day, these would have faded over time, particularly since these dances enjoyed a long history, with some of them, e.g. from the first Playford manuals in the mid-17thcentury, still being danced in the early 19th century.

Perhaps the document you found the reference in might be helpful in uncovering The Female Soldier. Are there any other clues? I know my way around the dancing manuals of the British Isles to some degree, but perhaps looking for American publications might be an option worth exploring? Assuming the title does indeed refer to Deborah Sampson, I’d guess she would have been more famous stateside than in Britain.

Happy searching, and be assured that you’re not the only one searching for an obscure dance; my goal is to find the mysterious Le Jupon rouge (The Red Skirt), a French dance Elizabeth Simcoe enjoyed on one night out partying in Québec.

In the 15th century, social dancing was the standard for training gentlemen and women in the social behaviors so that they could conduct their lives with a manner of grace. Dancing masters taught dancing and social etiquette to the nobility. Dance teachers supplanted troubadours in artistic circles, achieving a high rank as companions of princes. [...]

With the dance master came dance theory. Three prominent dance masters from the 15th century—Domenico da Piacenza (or da Ferrara; ca. 1400–ca. 1476), Antonio Cornazano (ca. 1431–1515), and Guglielmo Ebreo (ca. 1440–1484)—had formed a nucleus of theory. Domenico’s treatise De Arte saltandi et choreas ducendi divides dance into components that focus on movements of the body, steps, and qualities. Domenico identified six prerequisites for dancers, saying that they must be able to

keep time with the music (misuro);

remember the steps in sequence (memoria);

have a sense of space—the floor pattern and the dimension of movements within it (partirer del terreno);

sway (aiere, which some translate as “uplifting of the body”);

demonstrate body coordination, direction, and shading in movement (maniera); and

move gracefully (movemento corporeo)

[...] Dance masters wrote treatises that defined dance terms and provided directions for performers, both in written form and as dance notation. Because they also accompanied dance lessons or rehearsals, they wrote the dance tunes. These dances and the accompanying music became more elaborate as time passed. As a result of the dance masters’ efforts, the first printed dance music appeared.

Astro City Vol. 3 #13 (2014)

Every savage can #dance. (Fitzwilliam Darcy) WOW ~ Word of the Week ~ Caper Merchant #Regency #Slang #vocab

“Come, Darcy,” said he, “I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.” ~ Charles Bingley to Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 3, Volume 1

Dancing provided one of the few socially acceptable ways for men and women to closely interact in Regency England. Hands brushed as they moved through the steps. Bits of…