Day Course: A Regency Dance Day with Richard Powers

Day Course: A Regency Dance Day with Richard Powers

For dancers, Past events
Saturday 3rd August 2024 10.30 -17.30 St Pancras Church House, Lancing Street near Euston Station, London NW1 1NA This is a joint Early Dance Circle and Historical Dance Society event Enjoy a whole day of dancing country dances, cotillons and quadrilles for £40 per person (£35 for students and dancers on a low income). No partner is necessary. You should be aware that there will be some photography and filming of this workshop. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Lunch is not provided, so please bring a packed lunch or try a nearby cafe. Please wear soft soled flexible shoes as these will be best suited to the style of dance. There are no parking facilities at the hall, but parking spaces at the church can be booked via www.justpark.com In…
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A History of Country Dancing – Introduction

Dance history
A History of Country Dancingwith an emphasis on the steps Anne Daye, HDS Director of Education and Research Introduction A complete history of the country dance has yet to be written, and would form a major challenge. Here you will find an overview of the country dance from the 16th to 19th centuries, as a framework for discussion of the changing steps with which it was danced. The term ‘country dance’ is first recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary in the play Misogonus Act 2 scene iv, printed in 1577. This implies that the genre was well known at the time; if the play was written in 1560, then we can assume that the country dance was a well-established genre by the middle of the sixteenth century. The English measures…
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The Early Dance Circle Conference 2024

Other
The Early Dance Circle (EDC) Biennial Conference will be held 10-12 May 2024. The Conference brings together international specialists on historical dance topics spanning six centuries of dance history in the delightful surroundings of St Katharine’s Retreat House, Parmoor, Frieth, RG9 6NN, near High Wycombe. The theme for the 2024 gathering is Recovering Historical Dance: “We don’t reproduce the past, we create it” (Hilary Mantel). You can find more details at https://www.earlydancecircle.co.uk/events/#Conference
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America’s Dance Revolution: 1876–1900

America’s Dance Revolution: 1876–1900

For dancers, Past events
Weekend course led by Susan de Guardiola Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th November 2023 10.00–17.30 Racket, York, Newport, Knickerbocker…after the USA celebrated its centennial in 1876, newly organized and confident American dancing masters began creating distinctly American variations on the standard 19th century dance repertoire. This weekend workshop will cover a mix of notable American couple dances, unusual quadrilles, and lively country dances from the last quarter of the 19th century. Special attention will be given to understanding the commonalities in technique among different dances and developing solid fundamentals.Classes will be accessible to both beginner and experienced dancers. Susan de Guardiola is an internationally recognized expert on nineteenth-century social dance with a quarter-century of experience in historical dance teaching, research, and reconstruction. A…
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New book and CDs: Dances of Fashionable Society

New book and CDs: Dances of Fashionable Society

For dancers, Other
Dances of Fashionable Society: Cotillons, Quadrilles, Country Dances, Couple Dances and a Solo 1762 – 1887, a book and two CD set by Ellis and Christine Rogers, is now available in the HDS shop as a physical product or download. For this new book they have re-visited the dances they previously researched for HDS summer schools and selected Ellis’s favourites. The hope is that they will enthuse dancers to follow in his footsteps and pass them on to others. HDS Shop
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Dances of Fashionable Society

Dances of Fashionable Society

For dancers, Past events
Cotillons, quadrilles and country dances from the ballrooms and dance halls of Georgian and Victorian England St Pancras Church Hall, 1 Lancing Street, London, NW1 1NA. (Off Eversholt Street, beside Euston Station. Ring doorbell for entry.) Saturday 23rd September 2023 10.30 – 4.30 (arrival from 10.15) The workshop is led by Libby Curzon of Mrs Bennet’s Ballroom to launch the publication by the Historical Dance Society of Dances of Fashionable Society by Ellis and Christine Rogers. This book and CD is a compilation by Ellis of his favourite dances originally taught at [D]HDS Summer Schools.  Ellis Rogers Ellis Rogers Highly regarded teacher and researcher of nineteenth century dancing, founder with his wife Christine of Quadrille Club and author of The Quadrille. For full information on his achievements, see https://quadrilles.uk Libby Curzon As well as running Mrs Bennet’s…
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New journal article

Journal
The Cotillon: its origins, development and demise by Anne Daye. This account focuses on the origins and development of the cotillon in France and its adoption in England. Discussion of alterations in the practice of the cotillon in France reveals its metamorphosis into a distinct new genre of quadrille, also adopted in England, leading to the demise of the cotillon per se in most countries. See Historical Dance , Volume 4, Number 4
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On Common Ground 6: The Minuet in Time and Space (2007)

Conference publications
All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney, St Albans - 10-11 March 2007 The conference explored the essential dance of the 18th century, as a solo and a duet, from the 1700s to the 1900s, from the ballroom to the stage and even the silver screen. As well as listening to papers, participants experienced the variety of the minuet in several workshops. Most of the papers are available to download. Teresa Buckland – Keynote Lecture: The world we have lost: minuets and the past in late Victorian culture (not published in proceedings) Moira Goff – Seductive Decorum: the Solo Minuet for a Girl (Workshop) Download Grainne McArdle – The Minuet in Early Eighteenth-Century Dublin Society Download Giles Bennett – The Minuet in 18th-Century Dance Treatises (Workshop) Download Elizabeth Aldrich – Drooping…
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On Common Ground 3: John Playford and the English Dancing Master (2001)

Conference publications
Cecil Sharp House, London, 24-25 March 2001 Jointly organised with the English Folk Dance and Song Society Over 200 people from both the historical dance and folk dance worlds in Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Sweden and the USA gathered in London for this event jointly organised by the HDS and The English Folk Dance and Song Society. The formal paper presentations were divided into five sessions over the two days. All of the papers are available to download. Jennifer Kiek – 'That againe': an Exploration of the Formulaic Sequences in early English Country Dance Download Anne Daye – Taking the Measure of Dance Steps 1650-1700, through the Publications of John Playford Download Jeremy Barlow – Tunes in The English Dancing Master 1651: John Playford's Accidental Misprints?…
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