334 History repeats itself
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 18:07:49 -0800
From: Sergio <cachafaz@ADELPHIA.NET>
Subject: History repeats itself
It seems that the beginnings of Waltz encountered the same opposition as
tango did but a century earlier.
Summary : Historical publications in reference to the beginnings of Viennese
Waltz.
"It was, indeed, rural lads and lasses who first found these whirling steps
so appealing. And so, the waltz originally was decidedly low-brow and
provincial. In those days, there was something unsavory about a woman being
gripped in a man's embrace while whirling in a frenzy around the dance
floor.
The close contact with one's partners body contrasted sharply with the
stately dances of the aristocracy - the minuets, polonaises, and
quadrilles - in which one kept one's distance. A first-hand account of a
village dance in the latter part of the eighteenth century read "The men
dancers held up the dresses of their partners very high so that they should
not trail and be stepped on, wrapped themselves both tightly in the
covering, bringing their bodies as closely together as possible, and thus
whirling about went on in the most indecent positions....
As they waltzed around on the darker side of the room, the kissing and the
hugging became still bolder. It is the custom of the country, I know, and
not as bad as it looks, but I can quite understand why the waltz has been
banned in parts of Swabia and Switzerland."
Probably the first waltz melody was "Das Lied vom lieben Augustin" written
in 1679 in 3/4 time. It was introduced in Paris in 1775, but it took some
time before it became popular. In 1813 Mr. Byron condemned the waltz as
being
unchaste. In July of 1816, the waltz was included in a ball given in London
by the Prince Regent. A blistering editorial in The Times a few days later
stated:
"We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was
introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday
last ... it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous
intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their
dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which
has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this
obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not
think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on
the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors,
we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so
fatal a contagion."
Even as late as 1866 an article in the English magazine Belgravia stated:
"We who go forth of nights and see without the slightest discomposure our
sister and our wife seized on by a strange man and subjected to violent
embraces and canterings round a small-sized apartment - the only apparent
excuse for such treatment being that is done to the sound of music - can
scarcely realize the horror which greeted the introduction of this wicked
dance."
However popular the waltz became, opposition was persistent. Dancing masters
saw
the waltz as a threat to the profession. The basic steps of the waltz could
be learned in relatively short time, whereas, the minuet and other court
dances required considerable practice, not only to learn the many complex
figures, but also to develop suitable postures and deportment.
The waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its
closer hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost
unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful. Continental court circles held
out obstinately against the waltz. In England, (a land of strict morals),
the waltz was accepted even more slowly."
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 15:15:47 +0900
From: astrid <astrid@RUBY.PLALA.OR.JP>
Subject: Re: History repeats itself
"The men
> dancers held up the dresses of their partners very high so that they
should
> not trail and be stepped on, wrapped themselves both tightly in the
> covering, bringing their bodies as closely together as possible, and thus
> whirling about went on in the most indecent positions....
>
> "We who go forth of nights and see without the slightest discomposure our
> sister and our wife seized on by a strange man and subjected to violent
> embraces and canterings round a small-sized apartment - the only apparent
> excuse for such treatment being that is done to the sound of music -
Yes, Sergio, you are right, history repeats itself.
Some people here have gotten used to watching a lot of close embracing
without protest. But I wonder what they would think, if one day I showed up
in some long voluminous dress with numerous skirts, only to wrap myself and
my partner into this improvised blanket and tangoed "around the darker side
of the room with him assuming the most indecent positions"... ; ) ; )
And to allow ourselves to "be seized on by a strange man and subjected to
violent embraces"- indeed, how has the world come to this ?
Tango certainly presents wonderfully artistic excuse for showing all this
outrageous behaviour.
Enjoying herself more than ever
Astrid
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 08:37:58 -0800
From: Marisa Holmes <mariholmes@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: History repeats itself
And a passage I just ran across:
"10 January, 1914
To one of those new night-clubs, Murray's in Bleak
Street. Here were numerous people dancing the tango
and the maxixe with jealous precision; the latter is a
rather graceful dance, but, as to the former, the old
lady in the current anecdote was not far wrong - 'I
whip my dog when he does that.'
Not that these people seemed to get any physical fun
out of the thing, as they were all grimly preoccupied
with trying to tread it out according to the rules."
End of an Era: Letters and Journals of Sir Alan
Lascelles. Hamish Hamilton: London, 1986.
Cheers!
Marisa
