Attn: English Country Dance / Jane Austen Fans

[quasigeostrophy]

Toni turned on the A&E miniseries version of Austen's Pride and Prejudice on the Biography Channel, and I was just watching the dance scene again, where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are snarking at each other while dancing. I've done ECD once, and I recall it being similar to contra and square dance in that at least the first time or first few times through there is a caller giving the moves to the dancers. I wonder if in this dramatization of Austen's novel, the caller has been left out of the scene for simplicity (understandable), or that people back then were taught specific dances and didn't use a caller at functions such as depicted in the drama.

Comments

[ame-chan.livejournal.com]

I am fairly sure that people learned specific dances - as a young lady, learning to dance was paramount and being able to acquit oneself nicely at a ball a necessary skill. Ditto for gentlemen, but if you were a young lady, dancing with gentlemen at balls was the ONLY way to get yourself seen on the marriage market by as many people as possible. Iirc, they might call the dance as it began, but not the whole dance. Just, to tell people which dance it was.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was kinda figuring hoity-toity society wouldn't have had callers during the dance. Just didn't seem proper. :-)

[ame-chan.livejournal.com]

Well and also, the country dances and ball dances of that time were like the Hustle or the Electric Slide, ya know? "Everyone" knew how to do them, they were just ubiquitous. Just like Bach was the pop music of his time, etc.

Modern ppl need callers because, well, we're all off doing the Boogaloo or the Wriggling Weasel generally, and not ECD. :-P

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

That makes perfect sense.

Hey Macarena!

*scampers off* ;-)