Centenary Of Federation Ball Programme

On the 15th April 2001, the VFMC presented the "Centenary Of Federation Ball" as part of the National Folk Festival 2001 in Canberra. Peter Ellis prepared these notes to introduce the programme.

Programme and Notes

At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet to Sydney in 1788 and the establishment of the Colony there would have been no dancing - it was a penal settlement.

Alan Craig notes in "The Bicentenary Bush Dance" that dancing in Australia got off to a shaky start:

However, by 1803 is the first account of dancing at a wedding described in the Sydney Gazette of that year. The three dances mentioned are the Cheshire Rounds, Country Bumpkin and Irish Trot. they are representatives of the most popular form of dancing of the period known as "Country Dances". These were generally in longways and circular formation.

Cheshire Rounds

The Cheshire Rounds, to 2/3 music, is a very old form in longways formation divided into duple improper.

Country Bumpkin

The Country Bumpkin is another old Country Dance in which the music was originally in 6/4. That mentioned in the 1803 account is a simple version for four couples in standard longways arrangement. Another form also known as the "Ninesome Reel" was revived at Goulburn in the 1840's and at Lake Innes.

Soldier's Joy

The Soldier's Joy was a popular dance throughout Great Britain and Ireland in this period, and seems to have followed Scottish regiments wherever they went throughout the 17th and 18th century; there are several English, Irish, European and American versions of the dance. It is presumed it may have come to the Colony with Governor Macquarie's Royal Highlanders in 1810, but the reference to the dance in the words of the "Drover's Dream" is late in the 19th century. It is likely the Scottish Country Dance longways version is that which was known in Caledonian circles out here at the time.

The version adopted by the VFMC was introduced by Frank Pitt from an American source in the absence of any known Australian description. Although known as Soldier's Joy, it bears no resemblance to the true dance and more closely matches a Circassian Circle connection with its Sicilian formation.

It has remained the VFMC version because of its popularity as a pleasant Sicilian progressive dance.

First Set

The First Set was the original "Quadrille" introduced into Britain from France about 1812, with Australian music composed for it in Sydney in 1825.

Developing into several lively forms by the 20th century, the early dance was stately with intentional "standing out" time so that the inactive couples could socialise and hold conversation.

Any ball of note opened with the Grand March and First Set, often with double "tops and sides", "The Quadrille" was repeated several times in the evening, sometimes varied as Royal Irish and the Waltz Quadrille, and sometimes with the Stockyards as its finale.

Spanish Waltz

The Spanish Waltz developed from an adaptation of the English Country Dance into Waltz time, the waltz step eventually replacing the old pousette turn. They take their name from the popularity of Spanish waltz tunes of the day such as the Guaracha and the Cachuca.

Princess Polka / Plain Polka

The Polka became a world craze in the 1840's, spreading like wildfire and even fashions and clothes such as "the polka dot" were named after. The dance had arrived in Australia only months after its English debut of 1844 and it enjoyed several revivals again in the 1880's and early 20th century.

The Princess Polka is a derivative of a section of the early polka and the Plain Polka or "Three Hop Polka" is the basic circular form, as distinct from the Heel and Toe, Berlin and Princess Polkas.

Plain Schottische

The Schottische was a ballroom adaptation of a slow form of the German Polka, sometimes known as "Der Schottisch Polka" which became popular in the middle of the 19th century. The Barn Dance is a later derivative of the Schottische and their music in 4/4 is essentially the same.

Schottische with the e is an English error in the German word for a Scottish which has carried through history. The reason for the Germans applying a Scottish name is not known, but the dance was certainly readily accepted on Scottish soil with incorporation of Scottish tunes and stepping in the "Highland" form.

Like the polka, the term 'plain ' is used to distinguish the standard dance from derivatives such as the Highland and Prince of Wales Schottisches.

Lancers

The Lancers dating back to at least 1817 in Britain and Ireland did not gain popularity until the middle 19th century. It was extremely sedate and executed with martial precision for most of the 19th century and like the Quadrille and Waltz, repeated several times on a program.

As the 20th century preceded the Lancers became a vigorous and exhilarating set, but like the First Set became too wild by the 1950's! Both were banned from many dance venues leaving the more moderate Alberts and Waltz Cotillion to survive.

Circassian Circle

The Circassian Circle becoming popular in the 1860's was a very sociable dance based on popular figures of the Quadrilles - usually the first figure of the First Set or the Caledonians, arranged in progressive Sicilian formation. It remained on Australian programs into the early 20th century.

As with the term plain, it has become necessary to refer to the Circassian Circle as part 1 to distinguish from the later big circle introduced as part 2 in English Folk Dance. Part 2 is possibly an adaptation of the last figure of the First Set which was sometimes known as "Circassian figure" and as the Stockyards in a simpler form in Australia.

Varsoviana

The Varsoviana is a folk dance widely known throughout Europe and introduced to the ballroom by the 1860's, possibly as a show of support for the Poles when under threat from their Russian and German neighbours. It's name literally means "Woman of Warsaw", although the dance may originally have Scandinavian origins. Other countries also claim it - La Versoviana by the Italians. It was erronously known in Australia as "The Waltz of Vienna" in the 20th century. Varsoviana is the English spelling, Versovienne the French.

Caledonians

Caledonians is one of the earlier Quadrilles from the late 1820's that has Scottish sentiments but possibly not in origin. It was popular in Australia by the 1860's and survived into the 20th century in livelier forms. The inclusion of both the Caledonians and the Royal Irish on programs provided popular representation of Scottish and Irish music respectively.

The Tempest

The Tempest introduced as La Tempete in the middle 1860's combined the pleasantness of the Country Dance with the sociability of the Quadrille. It remained popular in Melbourne until the early years of the 20th century.

The Tempest is a folk form of La Tempete that has been found in various parts of Great Britain and Europe including Germany for example.

Haymakers Jig

The Haymaker is one of the older of the Country Dances that survived the longest and known for it's formal ballroom version as Sir Roger de Coverley, possibly the name a corruption of Roger the Cavalier.

Most likely danced in Australia from dance or ball inauguration there is a reference in Shirley Andrews "Take Your Partners" to Haymaker in Melbourne in 1841.

Like most Country Dances the Haymaker has it's own three part tune in 6/8, not unlike "Round and Round the Mulberry Bush" and nursery rhymes were popular tunes of the day. Sir Roger also has it's own three part tune in 9/8. It was frequently the concluding dance for a 19th century ball.

Dashing White Sergeant

The Dashing White Sergeant appeared in the second half of the 19th century but the tune is not Scottish having been composed by Henry Bishop in 1826. Henry Bishop was also the composer of Home Sweet Home. The Dashing White Sergeant with similarities to the Highland Reel was sufficiently Scottish in style to be accepted by the Scots as one of their own. It has always been popular in Caledonian and Scottish Country Dance circles in Australia.

Waltz Cotillions

A popular single figure quadrille formation set the Waltz Cotillion provided pleasant contrast to the First Set and Lancers. Like the Alberts it became more popular in the 20th century. It's origin is obscure although some say it developed from a section of the numerous variations of figures of the party type Cotillion of the mid 19th century.

Virginia Reel

The Virginia Reel is an American variation of the old English Sir Roger de Coverley. Some forms of Sir Roger de Coverley such as the Scottish Maltman had a serpentine section which is the forerunner of the Strip the Willow found in the Virginia Reel. Duke Tritton refers to the Virginia Reels being danced at open air parties in the 1890's in Australia and I have seen one account of it being taught in Bendigo in the 1870's.

The Two Step

The Two Step is a derivative of the old Galop with the Washington Post of the 1890's being intermediate form. The introduction of the American Two-Step is vague, but it's music, originally in 2/4 can be found in Allan's of Australia Dance Albums of the first decade of the 20th century.

Music for the Two-Step later changed to 6/8 and the danced became absorbed into the Foxtrot thus disappearing. It was the pattern for some sequence dances that were based on it and the music - namely Boston-2-Step, Military-2-Step, Eva-3-Step etc.

Waltz Country Dance

The Waltz Country Dance known as the Spanish Waltz in the 19th century is developed into the present form by the 1890's and was popular on programs and also substituted into figure 4 of the Alberts in place of the half Waltz Cotillion.

Veleta Waltz

Choreographed by Arthur Morris in England in 1900 is a credited with being the first sequence dance of that style that led to an influx of English sequence dances later to be known as "Old Time" and New Vogue in a modernise form in Australia. The Veleta Waltz also qualifies as a Colonial dance just making it at the close of the 19th century and Victorian Era. Charlie Reardon recalled it arriving at Nariel about 1912. It was popular on programs for many years.