Civilized Dancing

by Patsy Holden

(edited excerp from “Civilized Dancing: The Evolution of Ballroom Dancing from African Trance and Folk Dance,"
Undergraduate thesis, University of Central Florida, 2007)

In the year 1900, ballroom dancing consisted mainly of the Waltz, the Polka,

and a few other folk dances that had been popular

since the late seventeenth century.

For over a hundred years, the Waltz had been a favorite dance of ballroom dancers in Europe and in the larger cities of America, and its following typically consisted of the white upper class society.

Religious organizations were very much apposed to the Waltz and all ballroom dances, claiming that ballroom dancing was the work of the devil.

1800's — THE WALTZ

Consider the immodest pose taken in the Waltz,
and if you are not already blinded by lust,
you will have to admit that it is a direct violation of the
Sixth Commandment and diametrically opposed to the teachings
of Christ and His immaculate Church.

 Satori 1910:17

            Beginning in the late seventeenth century and continuing into the early twentieth century, the Waltz enjoyed almost exclusive popularity in the ballrooms of both Europe and America.  The Waltz, which is from the German word “walzen,” and means “to revolve,” describes a graceful and romantic couple's dance in ¾ time. It had originated from peasant dancing in rural areas of Europe and was brought into high society under the patronage of royal families and members of the aristocracy who craved refined and elite-worthy dance entertainment after centuries of the suppression of dance by the Church.  The peasant forms of folk dancing, which were considered to be pagan-like, were too crude and unpolished for upper class Europeans, therefore requiring dance choreographers of the time to rework these folk dances into elegant and stately forms that would be more befitting of elite expectations and mannerisms. The dance positions and patterns had to accommodate the luxurious full gowns that women wore and the swords that the men carried when in formal dress.  The men placed their right hands on the lady's waist and the couples revolved dangerously around the ballroom in a manner that was considered to be “morally decadent,” (Driver 2000:15) displaying a brightly colored kaleidoscope of the “flimsy and oftentime scanty attire of women” (Satori 1910:14).

       Throughout the entirety of the second half of the nineteenth century, ballroom dancing included numerous variations of the Waltz.  Most were danced at a quick tempo and performed to the many new Waltz compositions, especially those by Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899) who is known to musicians and dancers alike as the “King of Waltz.”  Other dances such as Quadrilles, Minuets, the Carlton, Mazurkas and the Polka were also popular, but the Waltz outnumbered all of them as the favorite and most seductive.  The dance positions for these ballroom dances were either 1) facing each other separately at arm's length, 2) side by side holding both hands in a criss-cross fashion, or 3) in a dance position similar to that of the closed position used today.  The “closed position” is the one that was, for the most part, utilized in the Waltz to enable the partners to whirl in circles while holding each other.  Although the Waltz, with its fast and dangerous whirling and its closed dance position, shocked polite society and developed a reputation as being the forbidden dance, it nevertheless became the dance of popular choice that challenged the morals of the white upper class.       

At this early phase of ballroom dancing (and apparently disregarded by those against ballroom dance), ballroom dancers strived for proper etiquette on the dance floor by stylizing the Waltz using Victorian Era and then the Edwardian Era etiquette and mannerisms of the white aristocracy and upper classes.  In 1863, The Ball-Room Manual of Contra Dances and Social Cotillions, With Remarks on Quadrilles and Spanish Dance was published. This manual, among many others, contained elucidated each dance that was popular at the time, and included a list of general guidelines that was to be followed at ballroom dances.  For example, “when a lady declines to dance with you, bear the declination with becoming grace, and if you afterwards see her dancing with another, seem not to notice it; otherwise, the lady is left with no choice of partners” (Washburn 1863:28).  The ballroom etiquette rules in this book are essentially the same as those promoted decades later by Irene and Vernon Castle, Arthur Murray, and Fred Astaire.  In fact, this early ballroom dance floor etiquette is much the same as the etiquette used today by modern ballroom dancers.  Therefore, in my opinion, the intent of ballroom dancing has always been to provide dance entertainment for the upper classes of society by incorporating the formal mannerisms with which they were familiar into the peasant dances that they secretly desired to participate in.  Ballroom dancing essentially became an activity which enabled the white, elite upper classes to enjoy dance without being associated with the poor classes and the perceived unruly dances from which the Waltz (and other ballroom dances) had originated.

However, no matter what the intent was of the early Waltz dancers, the fact was that the closed dance position and the abundance of fun seemingly “caused” by dancing the Waltz continued to be a problem for the religious and moral leaders of early America.  Couples dancing in a closed embrace had never been tolerated by Christianity.  The Waltz caused so many problems within the religious sects of both Europe and America at the end of the nineteenth century that an abundance of texts discussing the moral sins of dancing the Waltz were published and widely distributed in an attempt to ban couples dancing.  Many religious leaders preached explicitly against ballroom dancing.  For example, a sermon preached by Reverend J.R. Sikes (1892) claimed that Christian parents and ministers were frequently annoyed by balls, or dances.  In his sermon, Sikes distinguishes dance that was free of sin according to the Bible from dance that was sinful because of its pagan roots.  “The ancient Pagans were very fond of dancing. Indeed, the modern style of dancing is derived from them.”  In one of his arguments in which he discusses the morality of ballroom dancing, especially in regard to women, Sikes states that the Bishop's opinion about dancing was that it “will do very well for monkeys, but does not become refined and accomplished young ladies.”  The Reverend Sikes continues:

I shall confine myself to one particular result—the demoralizing effects of the ball-room on females. Of all the inventions devised by the arch enemy of souls for robbing virtuous females of that which to them is more valuable than life itself (I mean their virtue) the ball-room is the best adapted to and most successful in the accomplishment of this fiendish design.

Reverend Sikes went even further, suggesting that dancing would be punishable in the afterlife and stated that those who dance on earth may be amused by it while still alive, but will pay in the afterlife when they go to perdition through its influence.

T.A. Faulkner (1892:7), a former dance teacher and title-holding competitive round dancer, claimed in his book From the Ball-room to Hell that he had converted “from a dancing master and servant of the Evil One to an earnest Christian and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  His description of the experience of a young lady's first Waltz lesson can be read with much amusement today, but in the late 1800's and early 1900's it was common for mainstream Christian America to voice negative opinions of ballroom dancing, and the Waltz in particular.  Faulkner writes:

It is her first experience in the arms of a strange man, with his limbs pressed to hers, and in her natural modesty she shrinks from so unfamiliar a touch. It brings a bright flush of indignation to her cheek as she thinks what an unladylike and indecent position to assume with a man who, but a few hours before, was an utter stranger, but she says to herself: ‘This is the position every one must take who waltzes in the most approved styles—church members and all—so of course it is no harm for me. ’ She thus takes the first step in casting aside that delicate God-given instinct which should be the guide of every pure woman in such matters. (1892:9)

Despite the attempts by many to ban the Waltz, it nevertheless remained the most popular dance at the turn of the twentieth century in both European and American ballrooms, even after it had already enjoyed well over one hundred years of almost exclusive popularity.  It is estimated that around 1910, about three-quarters of the dances at balls were Waltzes (Driver 2000:15).  The Waltz became extremely popular because it gave white elite society its first opportunity to express itself emotionally and to enjoy pleasures that had always been unavailable to them. Physical forms of expression in social settings had previously been forbidden and were considered uncivilized behavior, and Driver (15)  states that “personal pleasure and the individual search for expression were to become the overwhelmingly dominant themes in the evolution of dancing throughout the twentieth century.”

 Bibliography

Faulkner, T.A..  “From Ball-Room to Hell.”  Chicago, 1892. Dance Instruction Manuals, Library of Congress.
       6 April 2006 http://www.loc.gov/index.html