Friday Video: Astaire & Rogers 1933 dancing debut

Loretta reports:

My thanks to the FIDM Museum for this wonderful post about Fred Astaire's shoes.  It included not only a link to a fascinating interview with the great dancer, wherein he discusses his clothing choices in detail, but this clip from Flying Down to Rio—the first film in which Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire danced together.  They appear only for a short time, but the production is a great example of what musicals accomplished—with talented human beings and no computer special effects—in the 1930s.

Illustration:  Detail from City of New York Municipal Airports poster,  courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.      


Readers who receive our blog via email might see only a black rectangle or square or X where the video ought to be.  To watch the video, please click on the title of this post.

Wearing the right shoes & stockings in 1811

Loretta reports:

~~~

Be the foot eminently handsome, or the reverse, it alike requires to be arrayed soberly...On brilliant assembly nights, or court drawing-rooms, the spangled or diamond-decorated slipper has a magnificent and appropriate effect. But for the raiment of the leg, we totally disapprove, at all times, of the much ornamented stocking.
 

The open-wove clock and instep, instead of displaying fine proportion, confuse the contour; and may produce an impression of gaiety; but exclude that of beauty, whose rays always strike singly. But if the clock be a coloured or a gold one, as I have sometimes seen, how glaring is the exhibition! how coarse the association of ideas it produces in the fancy! Instead of a woman of refined manners and polished habits, your imagination reverts to the gross and repelling females of Portsmouth-point, or Plymouth-dock; or at least to the hired opera-dancer, whose business it is to make her foot and ancle the principal object which characterizes her charms, and attracts the coup d'œil of the whole assembly.
 

If I may give my fair friends a hint on this delicate subject, it would be that the finest rounded ancles are most effectually shown by wearing a silk stocking without any clock. The eye then slides easily over the unbroken line, and takes in all its beauties. But when the ancle is rather large, or square, then a pretty unobtrusive net clock, of the same colour as the stocking, will be a useful division, and induce the beholder to believe the perfect symmetry of the parts. A very thick leg cannot be disguised or amended ; and in this case I can only recommend absolute neatness in the dressing of the limb, and petticoats so long that there is hardly a chance of its ever being seen.
 

One cause of thick ancles in young women is want of exercise, and abiding much in overheated rooms. Standing too long has often the same effect, by subjecting the limb to an unnatural load, and therefore to swelling. The only preventive or cure for this malady is a strict attention to health You might as well expect to see a rose-bush spring, bud, and bloom, in a closely-pent oven, as anticipate fine proportions and complexion from a long continuance of the exotic fashions of these days.  —The Mirror of the Graces, 1811

Illustration from An analysis of country dancing, 1811, courtesy Library of Congress American Memory, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

Valentine Video: The Addams Family Dances

Loretta reports:

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I present one of my favorite romantic couples.  It would have been great if the holiday fell on Video Friday instead of inconveniently next Tuesday.  But then you have an excuse to watch it again.



 

Readers who receive our blog via email might see only a black rectangle where the video ought to be.  To watch the video, please click on this link to the  Two Nerdy History Girls blog.

From Mr. Darcy & Miss Bennett to Fred & Ginger

Loretta reports:

I've posted about Regency era dancing before (here and here and here).

Do you ever wonder what Elizabeth & Darcy would have made of this?

How to dance Regency style

Loretta reports:

During the early 19th century, gently-bred maidens were closely chaperoned.  This didn’t mean they had no chance for private conversations with gentlemen, but the opportunities were extremely limited.  Dancing was one method.

About halfway through this video clip is a fine example of a private conversation in a crowd.  (It continues in Episode 2 Part 5/6.)

Every time I watch this (and yes, it’s been many times), I marvel at Darcy and Elizabeth’s being able to talk while not missing their steps—and this was only one of many dances they would have to know.

And what, exactly, were the dances?  You’ll find the answers here at Regency Dances Org.

Etiquette in the world of Downton Abbey

Loretta reports:

As may be obvious by now, Downton Abbey has sent this NHG peering into the corners of the Edwardian era.  They sure had some complicated etiquette; the Regency era is positively freewheeling by comparison.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at Manners and Rules of Good Society.  If you want to make your head spin, turn to Chapter III, Leaving Cards.

“THE etiquette of card-leaving is a privilege which society places in the hands of ladies to govern and determine their acquaintanceships and intimacies, to regulate and decide whom they will, and whom they will not visit, whom they will admit into their friendship, and whom they will keep on the most distant footing, whose acquaintance they wish further to cultivate and whose to discontinue.”

If you want to time travel, this chapter is a wonderful door to the past.  On our early 21st century side of the door is Facebook and Twitter and texting.  On the early 20th century side are little pieces of cardboard printed in copperplate script.

Or try Chapter XLIII, Engaged.
~~~
It greatly depends upon the views held by parents as to the freedom of action accorded to a daughter during her engagement. Some entertain the strictest ideas on this head, and strenuously put them in force.

By ‘strict ideas’ is meant that an engaged couple, except in the presence of a chaperon, are never, under any circumstances, permitted to enjoy a tête-à-tête sit together, walk together, ride together, or meet during any part of the day.

Wisdom and common-sense dictate a middle course of action for the consideration of parents, neither granting too much nor withholding too much.
. . .
To dance with each other at a ball, or dance more than three or four times in succession, and when not dancing to sit out in tea-rooms and conservatories, renders an engaged couple conspicuous, and this is precisely what many mothers are most anxious that their daughters should avoid being, and would rather that they were overprudent than that they should run the gauntlet of general criticism.
~~~
I leave you to speculate why, exactly, a daughter’s being conspicuous was so abhorrent to a mother 100 years ago, and what form the general criticism would take. 

Manners and Rules of Good Society, or Solecisms to be Avoided, by A Member of the Aristocracy (1911 ed.)

Dance Sensations of 1820

Loretta reports:

It was interesting to find, in the Fashions sections of the 1820 La Belle Assemblée, illustrations and descriptions of Parisian dances.  I can only assume that these were the latest fashions in dance.  What I can’t quite figure out, is how exactly the dances go.  This is not surprising.  When visting Colonial Williamsburg, I succumbed (against my better judgment) to the interpreters’ invitation to try 18th century dancing.  It was deuced difficult, and I continue amazed that I didn’t fall on my face or cause any injuries among the participants.  I decided to stick to writing.

Maybe some of those CW folks will recognize these.

No. 2.—A GROUP OF PARISIAN DANCERS.
The dance here represented, is known by the appellation of De l’Eté. The first couple advance forward, and chassez; then chassez back again across; which figure is repeated twice back again; the gentlemen then each performs the figure of balancez to his partner, whom he turns round, and which finishes the figure.

No. 2.—SECOND GROUP OF PARISIAN DANCERS.  FIGURE DANCE TO THE QUADRILLE MUSIC OF L'HORATIA.

The music of this dance, is the favourite Quadrille air of L’Horatia.—The dance commences with the English figure of right and left all round. Each gentleman then performs the balancez to his partner and turns her round with both hands. The ladies take hands all round, then follows the demi promenade à quatre, and the figure finishes with half right and left, after an open chassez by each couple.

Text and illustrations from La Belle Assemblée: or, Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine.  Addressed particularly to the ladies.  Vol. XXI—New Series.  From January 1, to June 20, 1820.

Men Behaving Festively: Plough Monday

Susan reporting:

While Twelfth Night is usually regarded as the end of the Christmas Season, in rural England there was one final celebration: Plough Monday.

The first part of the festivities, on the Sunday after Epiphany, was serious and solemn enough. A ribbon-decked plough was carried into the local church to be blessed in the hope of a prosperous, productive new year, and a symbolic return to work after the Christmas season.

The next day, however - Plough Monday - was marked by more pagan excess, with the newly-blessed plough dragged through the neighborhood by burly ploughmen with their faces painted black, loudly demanding pennies for a frolic afterwards. Anyone who didn't oblige risked having their yard ploughed up; think trick-or-treating with an attitude.

Afterwards followed much drinking, kissing-games, bonfires, drumming, and general partying in the street, led by Molly Dancers (ploughmen in hobnail boots and black-painted faces) dancing around the plough and with each other. Overseeing it all would be their "queen", Bessy, a big guy dressed as a woman. Traditions vary from region to region, but the basics (and the plough) seems to be much the same.

These two 19th c. prints capture the spirit of the day pretty well. I particularly like the resigned women and children watching from the front of their cottage, doubtless wondering what is up with their cross-dressing Dad.

Here are two 19th c. reports of Plough Monday, already a bit gilded with nostalgia: from Chamber's Book of Days (1879) and Hone's Everyday Book (1825). However, lest you think Plough Monday is now to be found only to Thomas-Hardy-Land, here's proof via YouTube (and in the pub afterwards, of course) that it's still going strong – at least with these Molly Dancers in Suffolk, UK. The band's traditional music is fun, too.

Illustration, top: "Plough Monday", from George Wilson's Costumes of Yorkshire, 1814.

Below: "Plough Monday", from Hone's Everyday Book, 1825

More from "Old Christmas": The Officer & the Young Lady

Susan reporting:

We're returning to the Christmas dance at Bracebridge Hall c. 1820 as described by Washington Irving in "Old Christmas" (from The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.) Irving might have been an American observer, but this almost sounds like the beginning to a Jane Austen story....

"The most interesting couple in the dance was a young officer and a ward of the Squire's, a beautiful blushing girl of seventeen. From several shy glances which I had noticed in the course of the evening, I suspected there was a little kindness growing up between them; and, indeed, the young soldier was just the hero to captivate a romantic girl. He was tall, slender, and handsome, and like most young British officers of late years, had picked up various small accomplishments on the Continent –– he could talk French and Italian –– draw landscapes, sing very tolerably –– dance divinely; but, above all, he had been wounded at Waterloo: –– what girl of seventeen, well read in poetry and romance, could resist such a mirror of chivalry and perfection!

"The moment the dance was over, he caught up a guitar, and lolling against the old marble fireplace, in an attitude which I am half inclined to suspect was studied, began the little French air of The Troubadour. The Squire, however, exclaimed against having anything on Christmas Eve but good old English; upon which the young minstrel, casting up

his eye for a moment as if in an effort of memory, struck into another strain, and, with a charming air of gallantry, gave Herrick's Night-Piece to Julia...

"The song might have been intended to compliment the fair Julia, for so I found his partner was called, or it might not; she, however, was certainly unconscious of any such application, for she never looked at the singer, but kept her eyes cast upon the floor. Her face was suffused, it is true, with a beautiful blush, and there was a gentle heaving of the bosom, but all that was doubtless caused by the exercise of the dance; indeed, so great was her indifference that she was amusing herself with plucking to pieces a choice bouquet of hothouse

flowers, and by the time the song was concluded, the nosegay lay in ruins on the floor...."

Illustrations from "Old Christmas" by Randolph Caldecott, 1875.

Revisiting "Old Christmas"

Susan reporting:

Some of the most charming recollections of Christmas past were written by the American author Washington Irving (1783-1859) for The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. , first published in seven parts in 1819-1820.  The section that is now called "Old Christmas" was based on notes Irving made while visiting England from 1805-1815 (think of it as an American's view of Regency England.) He was particularly intrigued by the old traditions and celebrations of a large country house called Bracebridge Hall, traditions which even in the early 19th c. were being regarded as part of a fading past.  Irving's descriptions influenced Charles Dickens, who, a generation later, wrote his own version of Christmas past in A Christmas Carol.

It seems in the spirit of both the season and the Two Nerdy History Girls to feature a few selections from "Old Christmas" this week.  The happiest holidays to you all!

"The [Christmas Eve] dance, like most dances after supper, was a merry one; some of the older folks joined in it, and the Squire himself figured down several couples with a partner with whom he affirmed he had danced at every Christmas for nearly half-a-century. Master Simon, who seemed to be a kind of connecting link between the old times and the new, and to be withal a little antiquated in the taste of his accomplishments, evidently piqued himself on his

dancing, and was endeavouring to gain credit by the heel and toe, rigadoon, and other graces of the ancient school; but he had unluckily assorted himself with a little romping girl from boarding-school, who, by her wild vivacity, kept him continually on the stretch, and defeated all his sober attempts at elegance; such are the ill-assorted matches to which antique gentleman are unfortunately prone!"

Illustrations for "Old Christmas" by Randolph Caldecott, 1875.

Gotta dance

Loretta reports:

As I've mentioned previously, I can be utterly captivated by masculine grace. Dancing men, like Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly or John Travolta hold me enthralled.

But when it comes to grace and dignity, no one can match Mr. Darcy. Now, thanks to the wonders of cyberspace we can all see it, too, right here.

To those who've already seen it, I say, "Well, watch it again." To those who haven't: Aren't you glad now you didn't miss it? And to everyone: This is just in case you started thinking we weren't shallow or something.